Are Athletes Getting Stronger and Faster? (TED)

[Galant]

Interesting TED Talk:



For those who engage in sports/athletics, how much do you feel your sport/event is/has been influenced by technology, body type and mentality?

[TooNice]

"My" sport (snowboarding) doesn't look like it has peaked yet. The pros are still constantly trying to push that limit. Many of what used to be ground breaking, one of a kind manoeuvre a some years ago has become standard, anyone who seeking to compete at pro level need to be able to pull. I supposed that much like figure skating there is probably a hard limit as to how many times you can spin even if assuming you do everything perfectly due to the laws of physics and human body but it still look like they are still pushing those limits. There is definitely a mental aspect. Once someone has done what was thought to be the impossible, lots of people are going to try, some or a few will succeed and and suddenly the impossible becomes to new possible / normal.

In terms of technology, well the snowboard of today is certainly different from the very first snowboards.. or even the ones I used to see when I was a skier over two decades ago. Not sure how much those are helping pro riders, but I think that a lot of improvement has been made to help casual riders. Perhaps more importantly, snowboarding is now accepted. Most resort (but not without exceptions) allow snowboarding. That was not always the case.

I haven't seen the video yet (on my phone right now), but I do expect the boundaries of all sports to be pushed until the day (if) people lose all interests in sports.

[opel80uk]

I've played rugby since I was 13, and the change in players over the last 22 years has been amazing. This coincided with the game going professional in 1995 of course, and as monetary stakes became involved, and full-time players who are able to train full-time, the players have become massive. I'm 6 foot, and I weigh 101kg with a body fat ratio of around 15%; I would have been considered huge going back just 20 years, bigger than a lot of international players of the time, yet in the team I play for now I'm only very slightly above average. And I'm no full time professional; I get 70Euro a match. To put me into context, I recently played a match where I estimated I was smaller and lighter than every starting player on the opposition team, and they were in the same division as us.

I was fortunate that when I was in my late teens, the size of players was increasing quite slowly, but I watched the U-20 world cup the other day, and the size of the teenagers playing now is frightening. The wear and tear on a formative body dealing with the types of collisions we are seeing now cannot be underestimated, and that is without considering the effect concussion is having. When I started playing, it was rare to see someone go off with a head injury – now it's rare to see someone not go off with one. And despite what is being advised, we still see players come back on after receiving head injuries – which studies now show is one of the leading causes of long term brain injury in sports people. The macho culture that permeates through the sport will undoubtedly lead to many future cases of brain injury, I have absolutely no doubt about that. Then there is both the legal and illegal supplement culture, both of which that absolutely help men get bigger and stronger.

And sadly, I cannot see a way round it. You cannot impose upper limits on what players weigh (although underage rugby could and should separate participants by weight rather than age), and I have no doubt we are not at all far off from seeing a professional player killed on the pitch, like we have already seen with school children and amateur players.

All of that has effectively made rugby an incredibly dangerous sport to play. I absolutely love the sport, and apart from boxing is the only sport I've ever been properly involved in, but I would certainly do my very best to dissuade any son of mine from getting involved.