Re:Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
by Xenoamorphous on Saturday August 02, 2025 @01:10PM
(#44769326)
How much of that is due to only using two limbs? Which also makes us slower I guess.
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There is actually some evidence that, in a sprint, humans might be able to run faster on all 4 limbs than on 2
The article was published in 2016, and the authors extrapolated from 7 data points (!) over about 7 years of progress in the world record. This is obviously insufficient to project 30 years into the future.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27446911/#&gid=article-figur...
That record progressed
2008 18.58
2015 15.71
If we check in on more recent progress since then, we find the current record is 15.66 set in 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20241222175947/https://www.guinn...
Another 7 years, for an improvement of 0.05 seconds, or about 850 years of linear improvement to reach Bolt's 9.58 seconds.
Anyone wanting to bet on beating Bolt by 2048?
Re:Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
by _Algernon_ on Saturday August 02, 2025 @01:37PM
(#44769582)
>some evidence
I think it's sort of reasonable in this case, given there's very little investment in running on 4 limbs, while nation states fund track and field programs to the tune of millions of dollars. That the small number of 4 limbed runners are making progress against 2 limbed runners does indicate it might allow higher peak performance. Of course, 4 limbed runners have probably already plucked the low hanging fruit in performance improvements, but the researchers aren't projecting linear improvement
Don't sprinters start with 4 limbs on the ground? The advantage of the 4 limbs seems to be gone by the second step.
Trail runners often run with poles on up or down hills. Not sure about top speed, but from experience the poles definitely help with endurance.
It's a tradeoff. Having two general purpose limbs is useful for all sorts of things, but not escaping scary things, so endurance can somewhat make up for that.
Two limbs combined with afro hair (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro) which acted as a sun shade allowed humans to move faster and longer at midday in Africa than most of their prey. Lack of sun hitting the body being upright plus sweat from the largely hairless skin made them overheat less than the prey.