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Is it true that one can get away with doing a lot of stuff that's sub-optimal for short term performance in an extremely competitive league like the NFL? There'

Is it true that one can get away with doing a lot of stuff that's sub-optimal for short term performance in an extremely competitive league like the NFL? There's someone almost as freakishly good waiting to replace you. On that note, is there any measure of how closely clustered top athletes are in different sports? Are there some in which the best are more separated from the rest than in others, so that the best in those sports can get away more sub-optimal stuff?

toasterlovin 8y ago
> Is it true that one can get away with doing a lot of stuff that's sub-optimal for short term performance in an extremely competitive league like the NFL? You should read up on the training regimen of Usain Bolt. Fastest guy who ever lived. His training regime is basically that he doesn’t train. I can’t imagine that his dietary adherence is any better. Short of malnutrition or massive sugar consumption, there’s probably not much he could do to screw himself up. Clearly his genes want to build a very specific phenotype.
- mlinksva 8y ago
  OK, I googled it and "basically that he doesn't train" is a gross exaggeration. Same regarding diet. One link briefly covering both: https://www.gq.com/story/runner-usain-bolt-training-secrets-and-diet https://www.gq.com/story/runner-usain-bolt-training-secrets-... Same link also says Bolt has a freakishly long stride. I wonder if sprinting is one sport in which the very best are further from the rest relative to other sports due to sprinting involving exactly one activity? I'm not much of a sports fan but I can't recall another accounting of a great in my lifetime that didn't involve intense training.
  - toasterlovin 8y ago
    That link refers to a 90 minute daily workout. For a point of comparison, 90 minutes per day would not be considered abnormal for a "fit" amateur (as in, the person in your office who is training for a marathon, iron man, crossfit games, etc.). It is not at all what most athletes would consider serious training.

toasterlovin 8y ago

> Is it true that one can get away with doing a lot of stuff that's sub-optimal for short term performance in an extremely competitive league like the NFL? You should read up on the training regimen of Usain Bolt. Fastest guy who ever lived. His training regime is basically that he doesn’t train. I can’t imagine that his dietary adherence is any better. Short of malnutrition or massive sugar consumption, there’s probably not much he could do to screw himself up. Clearly his genes want to build a very specific phenotype.

mlinksva 8y ago
OK, I googled it and "basically that he doesn't train" is a gross exaggeration. Same regarding diet. One link briefly covering both: https://www.gq.com/story/runner-usain-bolt-training-secrets-and-diet https://www.gq.com/story/runner-usain-bolt-training-secrets-... Same link also says Bolt has a freakishly long stride. I wonder if sprinting is one sport in which the very best are further from the rest relative to other sports due to sprinting involving exactly one activity? I'm not much of a sports fan but I can't recall another accounting of a great in my lifetime that didn't involve intense training.
- toasterlovin 8y ago
  That link refers to a 90 minute daily workout. For a point of comparison, 90 minutes per day would not be considered abnormal for a "fit" amateur (as in, the person in your office who is training for a marathon, iron man, crossfit games, etc.). It is not at all what most athletes would consider serious training.