Thursday, October 22, 2009

Are we all Wusses?

Greg. T sent me this link, it's pretty interesting. The idea is that previous iterations of humans were a hell of a lot fitter than even the most fit among us today. Maybe we're all headed toward becoming the humans in that cinematic classic, Wall-E. They floated around on soft couches swilling their food, with no need to ever move...

I missed my usual Tuesday post as I've been fighting either a really bad cold or some form of Influenza A. Hard to tell which, maybe both, but mild fever, bad headache, cough, etc., it all reduced my mental and physical energy to basically nothing. Like no working out, first time I've missed the training program in weeks. But if I do have some version of the Flying Pig flu then it's best to not push it too much. Not that I feel like pushing it... But I'm up off the mat now, just chilling as much as anyone with a life and a two-year old can. May you avoid the seasonal plagues!

Best,

WG

PS--I have been surfing the net some, this is a cool climbing video if you haven't already seen it. The Power of Youth!

6 comments:

DSD said...

Get better soon Will.
Had something similar two weeks back. Really took the wind out of me!

Tom Payne said...

Reckon you're a wuss? T8 may have been clocked at 37kph, but rather than comparing ourselves against the quickest of the bunch I'd like to see how quick T one through seven were. According to legend, Pheidippides (the origin of the marathon) collapsed and died at the end of his run, whereas nowadays hundreds of thousands of people run marathons and ultramarathons for fun every weekend. Human performance, measured in athletic terms, has increased year upon year since records began. Maybe 18th century Man was the wussiest of the wusses, but since then nutrition and training have meant that there's been a continual improvement. Nowadays we recognise male humans as being at the peak of their endurance in the mid thirties to early forties. In a time when the life expectancy was 25 years do you really think so many reached such heights?

Will Gadd said...

Tom, that's an interesting take. I think the article argues that basic bone and muscle structure would have meant a faster and more powerful human way back in the day, even if the adults died earlier.

18th century man was obviously very similar to us with sometimes poorer nutrition, but definitely no shortage of "tough."

For me the idea that we're not the pinnacles of physical perfection is kinda humorous given the seemingly ingrained idea modern man is the epitome of all things highly evolved. In a twisted science fiction future we might have races between the various types of humans over history, as well as cage matches etc. Blade Runner meets Jurassic Park. Could happen.

olddude said...

Humans havent changed for a good long time. Sixty years ago we were carpet bombing european cities and 150 years ago slavery was intact in north america. A few individuals of any generation are remarkable athletes, the rest are obese mall walkers in training. Ten thousand years ago if you "tweaked your knee" you died.Now we bitch about wait times in the medical system until we can go again.

Sarah Palin said...

Didn't God create us just as we are, about 7000 years ago?

Steve Harper said...

Yes, that is true. Still on for drinks tonite Sarah?