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Weekend


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November 14, 2003

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. Giving 110 percent in sporting competition sounds good, but when might giving only 95 percent serve athletes better?

    A. On a test of 400-meter track runners, the ones asked to hold back to 95 percent of capacity actually had better times, say Robert S. Weinberg and Daniel Gould in "Foundations of Sport & Exercise Physiology, 3rd Edition." The 110 percent-ers were using all their energies and muscular capacities, but running is done most effectively when some muscles are contracting while others are relaxing.


     
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