Human Running Speeds of 35 to 40 Mph May Be Biologically Possible

Advancement in sports medicine definitely can have potential military application. Can you guys imagine that a group of "super" soldiers that can run at the speed indicated with full gear on....
Human Running Speeds of 35 to 40 Mph May Be Biologically Possible
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100122102843.htm


A new study identifies the critical variable imposing the biological limit to running speed, and projects how the biological limits might be pushed to perhaps 35 or even 40 miles per hour. (Credit: iStockphoto)

"Our simple projections indicate that muscle contractile speeds that would allow for maximal or near-maximal forces would permit running speeds of 35 to 40 miles per hour and conceivably faster," Bundle said.

wow..gimme some of that!

The Amerindians in the northeast part of what is now the U.S. were known to be able to run down deer. How they did it was from the time their young could walk, they were always encouraged to run for everything. Eventually they could run down deer. Now deer have more endurance so could keep their speed longer, but what this (or these) tribes would do is have runners waiting along the projected path of a deer they were stalking. They first runner would run, then next, and so on until the last runner could catch up to the deer and take it done with a knife. I can't remember which tribe it's been some time.

Interesting indeed...i.e. Barefoot runners have much stronger muscles and tendons. Humans tend to lose muscular development as civilization progressed....

wilderness wrote:The Amerindians in the northeast part of what is now the U.S. were known to be able to run down deer. How they did it was from the time their young could walk, they were always encouraged to run for everything. Eventually they could run down deer. Now deer have more endurance so could keep their speed longer, but what this (or these) tribes would do is have runners waiting along the projected path of a deer they were stalking. They first runner would run, then next, and so on until the last runner could catch up to the deer and take it done with a knife. I can't remember which tribe it's been some time.

Running barefoot produces less foot stress
http://www.alarabonline.org/english/display.asp?fname=2010\01\01-28\zhealthz\970.htm&dismode=x&ts=28/01/2010%2004:09:21%20ã


People can run barefoot on hard surfaces

People can run barefoot on hard surfaces without the slightest discomfort and pain -- if they develop some calluses on the feet, a U.S. researcher says.

Study co-author Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and colleagues at Harvard, the University of Glasgow and Moi University in Kenya, found people who run barefoot -- or with minimal footwear -- tend to avoid "heel-striking" and land with a springy step toward the middle or front of the foot.

People who run in bare feet land on the ball of the foot or the middle of the foot -- avoiding hurtful and potentially damaging impacts, equivalent to two to three times body weight -- that heel-strikers, who wear footwear, repeatedly experience, the Harvard Gazette reported.

"Our feet were made in part for running," the study authors said. "Humans have engaged in endurance running for millions of years, but the modern running shoe was not invented until the 1970s. For most of human evolutionary history, runners were either barefoot or wore minimal footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels and little cushioning."

For those who have always worn footwear, Lieberman warns a slow transition is necessary to build up calf and foot muscles because heel-strikers use different muscles.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.