The America’s Cup sure has legs
The value of the America’s Cup to most Kiwis is as much about cloak and dagger rule-bending innovation as it is about the wonderful spectacle of sailing.
Coming up with some secret new-fangled piece of kit or technique is arguably less about going faster than psyching out the opposition. Doubtless though, the cutting edge of sail boat racing is honed in preparation for this event, and the new knowledge and technologies created ultimately filter down to the less important sailing events and even the weekend limey at some point.
The latest innovation from Team New Zealand is replacing traditional arm grinders with cyclists – Olympians no less. The rationale being that leg cycling can create much more power than arms alone.
For an exercise physiologist like myself, there is nothing secret or surprising about this innovation. We’ve known for a long time that a pair of legs can produce more power and thus do more physical work than a person’s arms. The big muscles in the legs – and much bigger in the case of new found sailor Simon ‘‘Rhino’’ van Velthooven – will produce over twice the power or do more than twice the mechanical work than a set of arms trying to crank the same machine.
Using your legs can get your blood flowing more and have you breathing harder too. The new rule requiring crew size to drop from eleven to six, together with the old rule that sails must be hoisted and daggerboards moved with man-power alone, means this innovation is very sensible and timely.
Recruiting the big muscles of your legs to get your heart rate and breathing up is why exercise such as cycling and running are so good for you. The health benefits of using your legs often have long been known and consequently cycling or running are generally considered the best forms of exercises to lose weight or gain general fitness.
Additionally, not using those muscles in your legs makes burning body fat or lowering blood glucose difficult – so much so that leg amputees or paraplegics suffer much more readily from cardiovascular disease and diabetes than those with a well used pair of functioning legs. Research also shows that injury to or arthritis in the knee or hip, making leg exercise painful, is associated with an increased chance of dying earlier.
So perhaps the filter-down innovation in this current round of America’s Cup might be simply a reminder to the rest of us the value of a healthy and muscular set of legs.
So get on board and go for a ride.
Professor Steve Stannard is professor of exercise physiology at Massey University.