The Heffalump Hunt

[Marlow]

article linked on home page is about 2 'scientists' who seek the Holy Grail of sprinting, the 'trigger' that activates fast-twitch muscles and enables Jamaicans to run so fast. Perhaps Daisy may say I'm way off-base, but to this layman, it would seem a fruitless search. Here's the pertinent excerpt.

Therein lies the search that Charlton and Irving have embarked upon; the hunt for the 'trigger' that allows Jamaican athletes to make greater use of the 'fast-twitch' advantage than apparently any other country in the world.

[tandfman]

Re: The Heffalump Hunt

article linked on home page is about 2 'scientists' who seek the Holy Grail of sprinting, the 'trigger' that activates fast-twitch muscles and enables Jamaicans to run so fast. . . . to this layman, it would seem a fruitless search.

Ah, yes. But I suspect the history of science is filled with stories of clever and diligent folks succeeding in searches that laymen (and even some scientists) had thought would be fruitless.

[Marlow]

Re: The Heffalump Hunt

But I suspect the history of science is filled with stories of clever and diligent folks succeeding in searches that laymen (and even some scientists) had thought would be fruitless.

It is also filled with alchemy and black magic stories that many fell for.

[tandfman]

Of course. But no great scientist or inventor was ever deterred by the fact that some thought their ideas were quackery.

[tandfman]

Re: The Heffalump Hunt

But I suspect the history of science is filled with stories of clever and diligent folks succeeding in searches that laymen (and even some scientists) had thought would be fruitless.

It is also filled with alchemy and black magic stories that many fell for.

So let me tell you about a "Glove" that can significantly increase one's capacity for physical work. (See article now on home page.)

[Marlow]

Re: The Heffalump Hunt

So let me tell you about a "Glove" that can significantly increase one's capacity for physical work. (See article now on home page.)

How about the gadget that tones you by exercising for you? And the pill that makes you lose weight no matter what you eat!!

[DrJay]

My dad's softball team was called the Heffalumps. They had a lot of slow-twitch fibers, maybe no-twitch fibers as well.

[polevaultpower]

This thread keeps making me think of Puffalumps.

[hi-tech]

Which one?

It would be easy to decide which warmup to use or how much, or which "Glove" to use if we had device that shows the runner's maximum speed. Same goes for trying out different starts. Whichever means allows the athlete to reach a faster maximum speed is the one we'd want to use. The only device I know of that incorporates a computer for measuring speed is the Riksha Runner.
Website: www.riksharunner.com