Human Body limits

[jonboy79]

The NFL has done right with PED testing and was ahead of the curve on this issue, particularly ahead of the MLB.

Maybe ten years ago, you'd have a point, but PED's (with the exception of HGH) is randomly tested throughout the season. We've seen a half dozen players already test hot for various PED's just this season.

With the exception of HGH, which is the most likely PED they would use, which is why we have seen people popped for Aderrall, as that wouldn't compete with HGH. That competes with cocaine on every college campus, actually competes is a bad way of putting it as Adderall basically replaced cocaine on college campuses.

[mmi16]

Then the OP is sorely mistaken.

There are several exercises you can do (in particular, resistance band exercises and yoga) to strengthen ligaments, tendons, and the muscles that surround them.

And so far this year the Ravens have had 2 players partially tear muscle away from bone - the connective tissues weren't up to the muscles strength.

[wickedsolo]

And so far this year the Ravens have had 2 players partially tear muscle away from bone - the connective tissues weren't up to the muscles strength.

It happens.

My sister-in-law blew out her knee pretty good running the Philly marathon a couple of years ago.

[HoustonRaven]

And so far this year the Ravens have had 2 players partially tear muscle away from bone - the connective tissues weren't up to the muscles strength.

Again, correlation doesn't equal causation.

Any number of things could have been the precipitating factor in those injuries.

And do not believe Ray's was a tear from the bone.

[ActualSpamBot]

And do not believe Ray's was a tear from the bone.

And even if it were I would imagine that at 37 he's simply going to be prone to those sorts of injuries when competing against athletes nearly half his age at the top of their game.

[Coastergenius]

Roger Bannister is further proof that the mind holds the body back... After he broke the 4 minute barrier, it was broken repeatedly and in short order.

No, it's just because athletes have been getting stronger and faster over time, and that happened to be when the best runners were dipping under 4 minutes.

[lobachevsky]

The real issue is of course head trauma--you can't surgically repair & rehab a brain (& wouldn't even try except in the most dire situations). And the problem there is that most of the damage is caused when the brain gets smacked hard against the skull (& any irregularities on its inner surface) which is caused by rapid deceleration (or acceleration from a blow from behind).

The thoracic spine & associated musculature cushion the shock from a hard hit anywhere else in the body, but when it's delivered directly to the head there's very little that can be done other than increasing the size of the helmet & installing a form-fitting airbag--& it's dubious whether you can make the thing large enough to be effective & fast enough recycling not to significantly slow the game down.

(What you'd really need is some sort of shielding that would rotate the force vector of a blow [or any force above a certain threshold] to propagate around the helmet surface & dissipate on the edges, but I know of no such material. My guess is that if any such is available you'd find it in military helmets & body armor.)

[jonboy79]

No, it's just because athletes have been getting stronger and faster over time, and that happened to be when the best runners were dipping under 4 minutes.

SO it doesn't seem odd to you that 24 seperate people broke the barrier in the 12 months following Bannister's run, which broke a nearly decade old record.

I agree with you in principal, but there is a bit more to the story.

[PerpetuallyBored74]

I remember reading that before Roger Bannister accomplished it, that many coaches and doctors believed that it was impossible for anyone to run a mile in under 4 minutes without suffering or at least risking a heart attack.

So, there seemed to be a psychological barrier involved, at least for some runners.

[darb72]

Remember when Fridge was the biggest player in the NFL? He'd be considered a mid-sized run-stuffer in today's league. Andre Johnson was an athletic freak ten years ago out of Miami and now receivers like that are littered throughout the league. Heck, we got one in the sixth round and stashed him on IR.

Humans are getting bigger. It's the way of things.

[ActualSpamBot]

Defensive lineman Gino "The Giant" Marchetti wasn't even as big as our biggest running back.

Although even back in the day there were guys big enough to play today. Marion Motley was a 6'4 235 pound running back. Nighttrain Lane was 6'2 210 at CB. But those dudes were freaks of nature, nowadays they're prototypical sized players. Not small, but nothing special.

Crazy how fast the change happened though.

[darb72]

I remember going to Alabama's football camp when I was a junior, and they took us on a tour of the weight room where there are pictures of all the All-Americans throughout Bama's history, along with their sizes and stats. You could actually see the players getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. I was almost the same size as John Hannah as a junior in high school.

I'm a big guy but my son is an absolute beast. Four years old, stands four feet tall and weighs 65 pounds. He's gonna be a lot bigger than I am.