What makes black men so good at running?

Question

The white men running in the olympics look so out of place next to the black athletes.

Is there something physically different with black bodies compared to white bodies that make them run fast?

Answer 1

Beneath Black skin there is more muscle and less fat. White athletes have more fat and less muscle. Research was carried out by the Copanhagen Institute of Sports. Sciences on Kenyans from the Kalenjin trube of the GreatRift valley. It shows different genetics that help them store more oxygen in the body and lessen fatigue. This helped them to cope with hot conditons at high altitudes. Also when they were being transported in slave ships, ones that could retain the most salt and water survived. This became the dominant gene and caused the muscles to become strong and withstanding. This buildup continued over generations of the black population. The slave owners also bred them like horses to be the fastest runners etc so its also down the specialised breeding. they have denser muscles and that is why alot of them cannot swim well or even at all

Answer 2

YOU turn them on so they start running

Answer 3

i've actually learned about this in psychology. some people bring up the point that they have different dna and their bodies are shaped differently allowing them to run better. others believe that what i just said is an excuse. believe what you want.

Answer 4

I am a former runner at a college camp and the answer is genetics. Many of the arguments here are by people who are sitting in their air conditioned rooms and think they know something about sports when they are actually posers. Fast twitch muscle fibers has nothing to do with it! Are you kidding me? Do you even really know what myosin is? Black people are good distance runners and sprinters with disportionate amounts of either fast twitch for sprinting and slow twitch for distance running. They have stronger legs and are taller. White people have proportionally stronger upper bodies. There is very little social argument to this. The World is becoming too PC. 100 years ago people based athletes totally on race and now it is the extreme opposite. The reality is what you see--Black people are genetically better runners.  

Answer 5

i am blindly guessing because of the lower tech they have, no vehicles for transportation, so they have to endure sweltering heat to move about with their legs etc. then over the years they are somehow adapted to it, and then under much cooler circumstances like in beijing, they find it easier to move about and can run faster since the conditions are better.

Answer 6

West African low lands higher levels of oxygen they adapted to this creating thicker bone strutter faster twitch muscles and stronger built bodies allowing the the capabilities to run, jump and punch quicker. Now West Africans during the slave trade were shipped to North, Central South America and the Caribbean and these black simply carry this trait.

Sprint

Basketball

Boxing

They simply have an advantage in those sports

Answer 7

i dont know if this is true or not but someone told me that  we have an extra tendon in our legs

Answer 8

Allan Wells is the exception to the rule!

Answer 9

There's probably a combination of hereditary and socio-economic factors at work there. Black people tend to be very good athletes overall.

Answer 10

I've heard the theory Jeremy brought up.  It says that all muscles are composed of both fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers.  Fast-twitch provides speed and explosiveness, slow-twitch provides endurance and control.  You can't change the proportion of fast-twitch & twitch in you, but you can improve each type of muscle independently.  For example, if you want to be a sprinter, you should do lots of sprints and bursts.  Also, you should avoid distance running or weights with lots of reps because that will build up your slow-twitch muscles, and the extra weight will slow you down.

Anyway, the theory also says blacks tend to have more fast-twitch than other races.

Frankly, I think it's a fishy theory, but I can't think of anything better.

Answer 11

They get a whole lot of practice running from the cops...

Answer 12

i believe i've heard the term "fast twitch muscles" before

could just be a myth? but i'm white and athletic but some of my black friends can still burn me