Advantage? Long legs or short legs for distance running?

Sounds like leg length isn't that much of a limiting factor overall. Geb and Bekele are shorter than 5ft5 while solinksy, mottram, and treat are 6th plus.

Why do you need a "study"? What are you looking for?

Devilish details wrote:

Geb and Bekele are shorter than 5ft5 while solinksy, mottram, and treat are 6th plus.

I guess there must be no difference then since Solinsky, Mottram and treat were all as good as Bekele and Geb. O wait...

tall guy with short legs would not be optimal.

tall vs short wrote:

Are there any research studies that look into biomechanical advantages with leg lengths? Lever arm systems and such...

I know Geb and a few other world class Kenyans are no taller than 5'8, while Paul Tergat is well over 6'3.

The purpose of this thread is to see if there are any actual studies that form any sort of conclusion on this.

Why would you post about s**t like this? This is why W guys are so slow in the usa.

tall vs short wrote:

Are there any research studies that look into biomechanical advantages with leg lengths? Lever arm systems and such...

I know Geb and a few other world class Kenyans are no taller than 5'8, while Paul Tergat is well over 6'3.

The purpose of this thread is to see if there are any actual studies that form any sort of conclusion on this.

Speed at any distance, part particularly middle and long distance, is all about leg turnover. Short legs will have a higher volume of leg turnover and consequently are going to produce better results.

Who are you coaching abunch of midgets? Leo Manzano is the shortest runner I have seen on the professional level. I have seen him beat guys with legs about as long as him. Galen Rupp is more of on the average size of height for runners and he is already proving he can run with the best in the world. Some of the African runners are significantly taller and obviously can run with anybody in the world. Go back to coaching your middle school xc team and stay off this board

1:41 800m - Rudisha vs Kipketer = 8" height difference

1500m gold medalists- Most around 5'8"-5'11"

10k/marathon - Tergat vs Geb = 7" height difference

Bolt = way taller than everyone by about 5"

I honestly don't see any patterns at the highest level.

tall vs short wrote:

Paul Tergat is well over 6'3.

Paul Tergat is not over 6'3". Most sources list him at 182cm which is just under 6 feet, missing the benchmark that distinguishes men between average and tall.

Back on topic: there should be an advantage for men with long legs in comparison to their torso. On the other hand, that would mean Asians have a disadvantage with their short legs. Japanese runners and Chinese (female) runners however show that they can be quite competitive.

tall vs short wrote:

Are there any research studies that look into biomechanical advantages with leg lengths? Lever arm systems and such...

Yes there are.

Do they not teach how to do literature searches in schools anymore?

It doesn't take a research study to see that long legs are advantageous to distance running. Meaning, individuals with large leg length to height ratios will have an advantage. You don't have to be tall. You just have to have long legs for your height. Duh!!!!!

Long legs RELATIVE TO BODY HEIGHT is where the advantage lies. Short stature is generally an advantage in itself due to higher efficiency (as height increases linearly, body mass increases exponentially). This should be pretty straightforward. I'm sure there've been studies on this, but it's such common sense there doesn't need to be any.

This is part of the reason why those of African descent are generally good runners while Northern Europeans are generally good power lifters. Surface area to body mass ratios in relation to climate is a very well understood part of ecology. In hot climates, a higher SA:V ratio is advantageous to dissipate heat. The opposite is true in a cold environment (due to the need to conserve heat). Africans generally have larger SA:V ratios than caucasians, and part of this is the result of longer limbs relative to body mass and height. Anyone who wants to debate this should go read a biological anthropology text or especially forensic anthropology. Shorter limbs are better for strength (think holding a weight in straight out in front of you), which is why you don't see a lot of black athletes in strength competitions (body building is not a strength competition).

Are you sure that's why you don't see a lot of black athletes in strength competitions? I don't usually see ANYONE in strength competitions because it's such a relatively small sport. Maybe they just don't know about the existence of the sport. Furthermore, the black athletes that I know have always been by far the strongest out of all the races. But both of us are using unsubstantiated statements so whatever.

Substantiation wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_records_in_Olympic_weightlifting

what's your point?

i see athletes from a variety of countries in red zones.

Paul Tergat was just under 6 ft. Robert Cheruiyot is the really tall one at 6'3". Asbel Kiprop is 6'2".

There was a study done about torso length and running/swimming that found that caucasians had longer torsos and shorter legs and the opposite for E.Africans. The longer torso made for better swimmers but the shorter torso made for better runners. So, short torso and long legs are what makes a runner.

where is this study?

and there's a difference between presence of a trait and a trait causing a benefit.

also, the torso isn't the only thing involved in swimming. What about legs and arms and lungs and whatever else?

read guppy's post above and noakes bible book.

short guys have an advantage when it is hot, as heat is more easily dissipated by short guys.

but the cool thing about distance running is you can be great regardless of height (to within limits of course). that is not true of almost any other sport, with soccer being somewhat of an exception (maradona and messi being the two best players ever and both are short).

Precious Roy wrote:

Paul Tergat was just under 6 ft. Robert Cheruiyot is the really tall one at 6'3".

I wouldn't call 6'3" "really tall". It is the average height for 20 year old Dutch or Scandinavian men.

BigFella wrote:

I wouldn't call 6'3" "really tall". It is the average height for 20 year old Dutch or Scandinavian men.

This is simply not true. Try again...