For what it's worth, here is a summary of their measurements and conclusions.
• The researchers compared ten international level Kenyan runners to 10 non-trained white males, matching them for height.
• The participants performed a maximum hopping drill which isolates, to some extent, the contribution made by the calf muscles and Achilles tendon.
• They measured various anthropometric outcomes (achilles tendon length, for example), and kinematic outcomes, like power, contact time, and rebound height.
• The full list of what was measured in shown the table below, and I've highlighted in yellow the key differences between the Kenyan and white participants.
To summarize, the Kenyans have:
• Longer Achilles tendons
• Shorter contact times during hopping
• Longer flight time• Greater rebound height
• Greater jumping powerAll in all, it's a picture of compelling and significant differences between the Kenyan and white athletes, and points towards greater elasticity in the Kenyan calves.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/20 ... elasticity
• The participants performed a maximum hopping drill which isolates, to some extent, the contribution made by the calf muscles and Achilles tendon.
• They measured various anthropometric outcomes (achilles tendon length, for example), and kinematic outcomes, like power, contact time, and rebound height.
• The full list of what was measured in shown the table below, and I've highlighted in yellow the key differences between the Kenyan and white participants.
To summarize, the Kenyans have:
• Longer Achilles tendons
• Shorter contact times during hopping
• Longer flight time• Greater rebound height
• Greater jumping powerAll in all, it's a picture of compelling and significant differences between the Kenyan and white athletes, and points towards greater elasticity in the Kenyan calves.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/20 ... elasticity
What the study is NOT, however, is any kind of proof of what makes Kenyan runners so good compared to European/Caucasian runners.
And herein lies the catch. When performing a comparison between two groups like this, it's very important to know what you have to match. And if you don't match the groups correctly, then the conclusions you reach will be entirely misdirected, and this is what I would suggest is happening in this research study.
To illustrate, the authors make the following conclusion in the paper:
"the Kenyan MG muscle–tendon unit is optimized to favor efficient storage and recoil of elastic energy".
However, you could just as easily have concluded as follows:
"The muscle tendon unit of highly trained, international caliber athletes, is optimized to favor efficient storage and recoil of elastic energy when compared to people who are inactive and untrained"
And herein lies the catch. When performing a comparison between two groups like this, it's very important to know what you have to match. And if you don't match the groups correctly, then the conclusions you reach will be entirely misdirected, and this is what I would suggest is happening in this research study.
To illustrate, the authors make the following conclusion in the paper:
"the Kenyan MG muscle–tendon unit is optimized to favor efficient storage and recoil of elastic energy".
However, you could just as easily have concluded as follows:
"The muscle tendon unit of highly trained, international caliber athletes, is optimized to favor efficient storage and recoil of elastic energy when compared to people who are inactive and untrained"
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