I thought this slide show of Olympic athletes was interesting.
Bodies of Work.
It got me wondering what the vital statistics of elite Kyokushin karateka are, and what vital stats are relevent to karate. I noticed that the 200 meter sprinter had a not too impressive resting heart rate-compared to the marathoner and cyclist- but his bench and squat numbers were more than respectable. The female weightlifter couldn't bench press as much as I thought she'd be capable of, but her squat numbers indicate she could probably heft our refrigerator with no problem.
I have no idea what my maximum bench or squat would be, nor do I have the means to calculate Vo2 max. My digital scale says I'm 69 kg at 15% bodyfat. My resting heart rate is 56 bpm and I'll be 45 this month. Elite and karateka would never be used in the same sentence to describe me, unless followed by "not!"
