Why are black people so fast?

[reds4ever]

Most black europeans would have come from stock that underwent similar selective pressures to the americans. ie the planations of the carribean.

The only recent top class African sprinter i can think of is Frankie Fredericks, but i could name dozens of black europeans and americans

[Pekka]

Yeah, black people outside US dominate white folks too like Frankie Frederiks as reds4ever mentioned (I stood next to him in line at airport Yoohoo!) that Canadian dude who was champ some years ago and that guy from Trinidad and Tobago who runs with those glasses on.. etc etc etc.. That UK guy, lindford or something..

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by UberKruX


they should kill off a lot of their capita.

One more like that, and you'll be gone for a while.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by reds4ever
Most black europeans would have come from stock that underwent similar selective pressures to the americans. ie the planations of the carribean.

The only recent top class African sprinter i can think of is Frankie Fredericks, but i could name dozens of black europeans and americans

World-class sprinting is more dependent on specialized weight training, diet, anaerobic conditioning and development of sprinting technique. Access to that level of training is less available in Africa.

Long-distance running is much more a self-training event.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Buck Birdseed
The altitude thing was discarded entirely- if they train and compete at high altitude they should actually be at a disadvantage compared to ground-level people!

No, the reason, as far as the documentary team was able to ascertain, was as simple as the fact that they had thin ankles. No, seriously. The volume of their lower legs was significantly lower than that of most other peoples', and thus they ran faster.

Well let's see a link or a name for the documentary.

I find it hard to believe that altitude has no affect on physical fitness. People who live at higher altitudes require more blood cells because of the reduced oxgen content. Put them into a lower altitude setting and the higher number of blood cells allows them to transmit more oxygen to the blood. That's been proven time and again.

[Tingkai]

So what do we have after six pages of discussion?

We all would agree that black people come in all shapes and sizes. Some blacks have bodies that are ideal for boxing, others for sprinting, others for marathon, some have the height for basketball, some are short, some are incredibly fat, others are stick-thin.

Seems to me that the extreme diversity of body types within the so-called black race is proof that blacks are not necessarily faster than whites or Asians.

[Az]

Tingkai:

up next: extreme sports are dominated by whites, because Blacks are chicken****.

[Zero]

Originally posted by Tingkai
So what do we have after six pages of discussion?

We all would agree that black people come in all shapes and sizes. Some blacks have bodies that are ideal for boxing, others for sprinting, others for marathon, some have the height for basketball, some are short, some are incredibly fat, others are stick-thin.

Seems to me that the extreme diversity of body types within the so-called black race is proof that blacks are not necessarily faster than whites or Asians.

Tingkai is like the only person here that is actually making sense in this thread.

[Gangerolf]

here's some interesting reading

http://run-down.com/guests/je_black_athletes_p1.php

http://run-down.com/guests/je_black_athletes_p2.php

[Imran Siddiqui]

I find it hard to believe that altitude has no affect on physical fitness.

Well, what about Scandinavians, like Buck was talking about?

And, of course, this doesn't even BEGIN to explain why the fastest sprinters and track & field athelets are all black. Like someone said there hasn't been a white guy that has run an under 10 second 100 meters, while plenty of black atheletes have. There must be some sort of reason for this.

[Gangerolf]

check out those links. It says that black people's muscles are better suited (or somehing like that)

btw, most scandinavians don't live at high altitudes

[Imran Siddiqui]

Then substitute Tibetans or something .

[Berzerker]

Tingkai -

The "height is caused by environment" is an outdated and flawed theory. It's full of holes.

That's why the "height is caused by diet" theory is now accepted as being more valid.

Asians eating a western diet have gotten taller because of the differences in diet. Do tall Africans eat a western diet? According to that logic, asians would become giants if they lived a few generations with some of those really tall African peoples. Sorry, diet doesn't explain why the tallest peoples in the world are found in Africa.

We have statistical proof for different races and countries that average heights have increased as diets have improved. The Japanese are much taller now, on average, compared to 50 years ago, because their diet has improved. So are North Americans.

Then the Watusi must have the best diets, huh.

The food theory explains why Northern Chinese are generally taller than Southern Chinese. Their diets are different (grain-based in the north, rice-based in the south).

Diet is just one more factor, but to dismiss environment is to ignore 100,000's of years of fossils and common sense. Bodies in hot climates with little access to shade will evolve to increase skin area relative to body mass to help evaporation, and in colder climates, skin area will decrease relative to body mass to conserve heat.

I find it hard to believe that altitude has no affect on physical fitness. People who live at higher altitudes require more blood cells because of the reduced oxgen content. Put them into a lower altitude setting and the higher number of blood cells allows them to transmit more oxygen to the blood. That's been proven time and again.

As well as lung capacity to accomodate those blood cells, but you just contradicted your previous argument that environment doesn't effect physique. If altitude can produce such profound changes, why wouldn't climate?

We all would agree that black people come in all shapes and sizes. Some blacks have bodies that are ideal for boxing, others for sprinting, others for marathon, some have the height for basketball, some are short, some are incredibly fat, others are stick-thin.

You won't find many fat people in Africa, that's more a product of junk food and/or the sedentary lifestyle we see in western cultures, especially North America.

Seems to me that the extreme diversity of body types within the so-called black race is proof that blacks are not necessarily faster than whites or Asians.

We weren't discussing whether or not a fat black or pygmy can beat a thin, tall white man in a race? This was why blacks dominate running events, so obviously we're talking about certain black body types and how those body types came to exist. Talking about "averages" is futile since we don't see the average white and black in races, just the cream of the crop.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Azazel
Tingkai:

up next: extreme sports are dominated by whites, because Blacks are chicken****.

I thought the irony of Azazel's comment bore repeating.

The fact that Kenyan's might exell at long distance running (specifically Masai) only means that one particular subgroup of Black people is exceptionally good at this, not that Black people in general are better at it than white people in general.

Why do white folks dominate hockey, jai lai, la cross, polo, vollyball, baseball, etc.?

It's not genetic, it's not cultural. It's opportunity and the lack therof that drives people in certain directions. Provide people with more opportunities and they will tend to scatter their efforts. Narrow people's opportunities, and they will tend to excell in those areas remaining open to them. Or do you suppose Jews just had a natural predisposition towards being good with money in the Middle Ages?

[Zero]

When referring to japanese, I dont think Their diets "improved" because we introduced western style of diets. How does feeding them fatty and fast foods improved the diet?