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July 18, 2003

Strange But True!

Q. Your longjumping buddies get tired of losing to you, so they decide on a handicap: You must jump while holding a 3-kilogram weight in each hand. "That oughtta do it," they say. Do what? How much edge for them now?

A. Incredibly, they may soon be demanding you hand over the weights to them! Ancient vase paintings showed Greek Olympic jumpers holding weights, presumably to increase distance. Modern sports scientists know that a slightly loaded muscle springs better than an unloaded one, so the extra weight might be more than made up by added jumping force and power, reports Steven Blau in "Physics Today" ("A Little Extra Weight Goes a Long Way").


 
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