Skip to main content

Week 8 [03.12-09.12.18] Are we becoming faster, better and stronger?

Are we becoming faster, better and stronger?


As we hear athletes break world records every year we begin to wonder: are we becoming fitter than 50 years ago? Have we evolved into faster, stronger and better species? Maybe progress that we made in sports was caused by something else? Here is the video that might answer some of those questions:



Questions to discuss:
What in your opinion had the biggest impact on athletes’ better results during past 60-70 years? Was it technology? More knowledge about the human body? Or maybe something else? Do you agree with the statement made by the author at the end of the video?
How important role do genes play in sports nowadays? 
How important is the mindset in sports overall? Would you rank its importance above the equipment, training conditions or physical predispositions?

Comments

Lukasz Mroczek said…
It’s hard to determine what had the biggest impact but in my opinion the most important was technology. It allowed people to find more knowledge about human body. It also gave opportunities to inspect, examine or explore human bodies. Without it, doctors wouldn’t do anything relying only on the knowledge which they have in books. Not without reason is the fact that machines to make special medial examination are so expensive. I think that genes do play important role in sports but no one will be good athlete without form. It’s the most important factor. For me mindset importance is high not only in sports but talking about athletes it’s as important as equipment, form and training conditions.
I quite agree with you ;) When it comes to sports I do not think that Messi or Ronaldo are better than Pele. I mean, they are better but only because nowadays people are able to workout in more advanced way.
My favourite sport (and pretty much the only one I keep track of) is Formula 1. And I can say that throughout its history it has changed drastically. I think that mentioning technology is not worth here, since all this whole show is dependent on technology. Basically, the pilots possess knowledge of physics, engineering, aerodynamics, and many more things that are required to succeed in this sport. But most importantly -- developing an inhuman reaction. For sure, there are more things that depend on a pilot rather than on a racing car itself, although the latter is a topic as complicated as a rocket science, since it operates in an extreme speed. The post about how the car works would take unreasonable amount of space, so we better stop here saying that F1 is one of the fastest developing sports.
Bartosz Barnat said…
It's hard to say what had the biggest impact on athlete's better results. I think everything was important. Nowadays people have easy access to any knowledge that is the key to success. New technology in shoes and equipement really helps to get 100% from it and even evolution did it's work and changed people's body.

Nowadays genes is really important and sometimes can just shut the door for some people who are too tall or for example are thin. I think it genes helps but sometimes doing hard work you can catch up with that people who were just gifted.

Mindset is the key in every sport. If you don't have good mindset and discipline in yourself you won't get far. Equipment, money and genes helps but they are nothing compared to mindset and self spirit.
I have to agree with you as well. That's you good point you have made about technology allowing us to acquire more knowledge about our bodies. Without it both doctors and coaches wouldn't be able to help athletes in the way they do now.
Thank you for the comment :) . I think that you are right. Proper mindset is a important basis for any athlete. Motivation and attitude is necessary for people to achieve all goals, not only those connected with sports.
I don't know much about Formula 1 and I have never spent much time to get to know more about it. However, I always admired courage of Formula 1 drivers. They are racing at extreme speeds and at least to me, this seems very dangerous. I wonder, if you had an opportunity to become a F1 driver, would you try it?
Unknown said…
My opinion on this topic is: the greatest influence is made by the true desire to achieve results. Improvements in technology, body knowledge, and other factors play an important role. But for me, the biggest achievement is "the desire to break the record." It seems to me to bring true results, the desire to achieve them. For 50 years, a lot of time has passed, and for us now there is a dramatic difference between the results, but every year there were minor exaggerations of records.
I think parents of the same sports will be born to the same children, but they do not have to go in for sports.
For me in sports, my thoughts and attitudes toward sports play the most important role. When I went in for sports professionally, I had my own results; in order to improve them, I had to think where and what I had to change. And of course, the mood to win is also born in the brain!
Unknown said…
I think all the aspects you have mentioned have contributed to the improvement of athletes’ result in the last century. I would also add years of research on nutrition, performance-enhancing drugs and training methods. I agree with the statement made by the author at the end of the video - continuous development in sports environment is constantly pushing boundaries of what human body is capable of.
As it was mentioned in the video genes play crucial role in sports - different sport disciplines privilege different types of human body and it is inevitably connected with genes.
I perceive sport psychology as the area which have developed the most in sports in recent years. I believe that 60-70 years ago nobody really cared about mental preparation in sport and today psychologist is the key member of every professional sport team. I would rank it first nowadays as this is the area which can really make a difference in the results of athletes with comparable physical predispositions and training methods.
I fully agree with the speaker from the presentation. Technology, knowledge and psychology were all responsible of advancements in sport.
I think that genes are very important if someone wants to become a professional sportsman. I can’t imagine that team of average size basketball players could win with over 2 meter average height team, even if their skills would match.
In my opinion mindset is probably most important to reach someone's full potential. Only if people are fully devoted and convinced to do something the can do incredible things and beats records.
Unknown said…
I think that the biggest impact on better results was the combination of technology and knowledge about the human body. Technology helped to get to know the human body, so coaches and the whole training staff know how to choose a training. The device measures heart rate, etc. , and the trainers know how to adjust the training.
Genes play a very big influence, something like an additional advantage. However, we must remember that genes and talent are not everything.
It is not without reason that professional athletes have their own psychiatrists, especially after serious injuries, they help in the way of thinking.
I guess you are right with the part about genes. Sometimes height or certain physical traits give you too much advantage. On top level competition this is simply too significant.
Thank you for the comment. It's really nice to hear someone opinion based on own experiences. It gives much more insight to the whole topic.
Past 60-70 years? Well no doubt technology would be my answer, although not in "conventional" way of thinking. We have better training and monitoring equipment thats true, but we also have better materials all around us that provide athletes with more comfort, performance and stability, im talking track quality, shoes, clothes, all of those pieces had been made better to the point that many old record's cant even be referenced nowadays since they weer set in drastically different environments.

I would say that genes still play a decent part in sports. Ones potential, his natural predisposition, higher lung capacity , longer legs is still coded deep inside his genes. on the other hand its role is been minimized by proper training techniques and preparation as seen in many inspiring stories of dedicated athletes.

Strength of mind is very important quality of sportsman's, equipment wont help if mind is weak and lacks motivation.
I guess as the sport was made to be a professional endeavor, all the factors had influence. People are now more motivated to beat the records, we have better technology to both train those motivated people and equip them with best available gear and we've been choosing those that will perform best - so the genetics has it's saying as well.
But I think a sport is not just the professional arena. Every one of us can enjoy a sport. We can play games, we can strive to beat our own records. So genetics might be important for those on top, best of the best, but it doesn't matter that much to us. If you want to be a basketball player, you're free to do it regardless of your height. And I think this is important - to be inspired by "stars" and to take part in this on our own terms.
Filip Sawicki said…
I think that the reason we are becoming faster, better and stronger is only because of our greater efficiency in training. That is thanks to technology, better understanding of our body and nutrition. However there is a limit and we are very close to it, current technology won’t help us anymore in achieving better results. Unless we start genetic modification or inserting robotic parts into our body of course, but that’s cheating 😊.
Unknown said…
It’s hard to say what has made the biggest impact on athletes’ results, probably it’s combinations of everything, science, equipment, new training methods… We should also remember that people are simply becoming higher, which means longer and stronger legs and arms, and it’s extremely important in a lot of sport disciplines.
Genes play extremely important role, predisposition to sport is not a myth, athletes’ children can achieve high results even without trainings and extremely high results if trained.
Mindset in sport is important. I cannot rank it’s importance above the equipment, training conditions or physical predisposition, it should be an integral part of hard trainings in order to achieve success. But it’s proven, that if you are competing with athlete which is stronger than you, you can achieve better results.
Unknown said…
Technology definitely had the greatest impact on the development of athletes at the turn of 60-70 years. Yes, I agree with the speaker and his opinion at the end of the film. Knowledge has given us much more in terms of performance and capabilities.
From the movie it can be deduced that genes play a huge role in sport. I liked the fragment of high people very much and brought them to the NBA players. I never knew that there is such a big chance in America to talk to the NBA player without even being aware of it.
Mindset is very important in sport. You can move the mountains from putting everything in your head. It is even better not to start taking off record breaking without it.

Popular posts from this blog

Week 11 [03-09.06.2019] The problem with ecological cars emission in UK

The problem with ecological cars emission in UK Since the adoption of the European Emission Allowance Directive in the European Parliament, all car makers have tried to submit. Since 1992, the Euro I standard has been in force, which limited the emission of carbon monoxide to the atmosphere. The Euro VI standard currently applies, which limits the series of exhaust gases. These include: hydrocarbons, nitrogen and carbon oxides, and dust.   The most significant change was brought by the Euro IV standard. For the first time it introduced the limitation of nitrogen oxides, which are responsible for the harmful compounds of smog.   What is smog?   Smog consists of sulfur oxides, nitrogen and carbon. In addition, solid substances such as suspended dust (PM). Dust suspend in atmospheric aerosols may be in liquid and solid form. These can be particles of sea salt, clouds from the Sahara and artificial compounds made by people. These compounds often come fr

Week 12 (12.01-18.01.15) Are you an early bird or a night owl ?

Owls are nocturnal creatures. They’re wide awake at night and they sleep during the day. If this sounds like bliss to you, then, like about 20 percent of the population who find themselves most active at around 9 pm, you may fall into the same category as our feathered friend. Night owls often have difficulty waking up in the morning, and like to be up late at night.  Studies of animal behaviour indicate that being a night owl may actually be built into some people’s genes. This would explain why those late-to-bed, late-to-rise people find it so difficult to change their behaviour. The trouble for night owls is that they just have to be at places such as work and school far too early. This is when the alarm clock becomes the night owl’s most important survival tool. Experts say that one way for a night owl to beat their dependence on their alarm clocks is to sleep with the curtains open. The Theory is that if they do so, the morning sunlight will awaken them gently and naturally.

Week 4 [06-12.11.2017] This is what happens when you reply to spam email.

James Veitch is a British comedian. In today’s Ted Talk James with characteristic for himself a sense of humor shows how he deals with spam emails and why responding to junk messages may be sometimes dangerous. Questions: What do you think about James’s  way of dealing with spam? Why are junk messages legal, even though it sometimes may be a fraud? Dou you have a problem with spam? How do you deal with with it?