Nov 17, 2002
Q; why ancient decathletes jumped with loads (halteres) in their hands? Was that for enhancing the distance or to make the jump tougher?
A: by using computer simulations and real experiments we demonstrated that, against intuition, we can extend the jump distance by using added loads. This results both from an improved take-off and landing position of the body centre of mass, and from the maintenance (or slight increase) of the maximum power obtainable from our muscles, despite of the extra load imposed. Also, we showed that the optimum mass to add has to be about 3-3.5 kg (for each dumbell), which is in line with specimens of halteres shown at the British Museum and in Athens National Museum.
REF Minetti A. E. and L. P. Ardigò. Nature 420: 14-15, 2002.
click REF to request a pdf file
upper panel: paintings on vases representing the flight and the landing phase of the standing jump, as done in ancient Olympics
left panel: animation obtained by sequencing images published by Ebert
illustration from Natural History, 112(3): 42-43, 4/2003
