I need a link for this please..

[Braddock]

Sorry about the vagueness of the thread title, But Ive got an ongoing disagreement with a friend that I need settled. I cant find one dang thing on the web concerning it, Except a brief mention in a university study. It was both vague and ambiguous.

Do people of African descent, Blacks, Have an extra tendon in their leg? My friend seems to think so. I emphatically say NO!! Ive read about some people having more developed muscles or parts of their body than others, But for one race to have an altogether extra muscle is silly, to me. IF you know of any links that address this matter, Could you please post them so I can end this pointless debate with my friend? Thanx

[ed84c]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial_s&q=Africans+%22Extra+Tendon%22&btnG=Search&meta=

[coquina]

The title is what you need to google to come up with more information.

 

I'd think the number of tendons must be the same. The insertion point of the tendon may vary however, the closer the insertion point is to the end of the bone, the better leverage one would have.

 

I read an article in Discover Magazine a few years ago that stated that blacks generally had a higher percentage of "fast twitch" muscles, which enables them to sprint faster and jump higher. Unfortunately, I don't have the magazine anymore, so I can't give you the month and year it was published.

 

Here is a link about "fast-twitch" vs "slow twitch" muscles. It doesn't discuss the difference in races, just the difference in the muscle types.

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/generalinfo6/a/muscle.htm

 

 

But, I think the biggest difference is that in general, blacks have proportionately longer extremities than whites.

 

The following quote was pulled from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The article is titled "Measures of body composition in blacks and whites: a comparative review".

 

 

There are racial differences in body proportions. Blacks have a greater tendency toward mesomorphy and, on average, have shorter trunks and longer extremities than whites (44, 45, 53). The cadaver analyses of Merz et al (19) and Seale (20) verified that the bones of the extremities are relatively longer in blacks than in whites. Ortiz et al (11) reported significantly longer bone lengths (by 2 cm) in the upper (P < 0.05) and lower (P < 0.01) extremities in black females than in white females. Trotter and Hixon (21) showed that differences in extremity lengths exist even in fetal skeletons. Hampton et al (32) noted that black youths have smaller biiliac and bitrochanteric widths relative to stature than do white youths.

 

I remember first noticing this in gym class in high school. There was an extremely tall black girl in our class. One day we were on our backs on the mat getting ready to do situps, and she was beside me. Her head was even with mine, her hips were even with mine, her thighs were several inches longer than mine, and her lower legs were longer too.

 

Since then, when I have watched the runners on sporting events, I have noticed that this is typical, but perhaps not in such an extreme.

 

In any event, longer legs give one a longer stride, and fast twitch muscles enable them to move the leg faster. Therefore, it follows someone who has both, can run faster and jump higher. (Remember the movie "White Men Can't Jump"?)

 

However, according to the articles this is only true for the short distance runners. People with slow twitch muscles are better for endurance sports like marathons.