Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger? | David Epstein

I was born with a muscle-wasting disease called spinal muscular atrophy. Basically: every muscle in my body gets weaker as I get older. I’m 26, and until very recently, many with my disease typically passed away in their 30s and 40s. Last year, the first-ever treatment for my disease was discovered and approved by the FDA, a profound event that permanently changed the trajectory of my future. I can’t properly describe the flood of joyous relief I felt when I received the news. I’ve been on the drug for about a year now, which means I’m no longer getting weaker, and even, dare I say it, slowly gaining back some of the strength and ability I’ve lost over the years. A month or two ago, I sat up unassisted for the first time since childhood, and you better believe that felt just as exhilarating as breaking the record for fastest mile or lifting ten billion pounds on the bench press. Idk I just wanted to share with you after watching this! TL;DR Man in wheelchair is basically an athlete.

My goodness .. this dude didn't even stutter and I don't even know if he took a breath. Spectacular speaking athlete.

Brilliant. Direct, concise delivery of essential information, perfect visuals and a hint of humor. Well done!

Everyone talking about how good a speaker he is, but I'm just amazed at that powerpoint.

THIS DUDE IS PERFECT!!! WHAT A PRESENTATION! He was genuinely so funny!! Every second of this was informative! Thank you so so much!

That is, by far, the best TED talk I've ever seen. A lot of well interpreted statistics, great animations beetween the slides and the world class speaker delivering it. And at the top of it all, it was really interesting.

This is what education truly is. Authentic learning. His presentation is so superb that the viewer becomes interested in his presentation. Authentic learning is when we humans want to learn. Learning in school for me isnt authentic learning because I dont want to learn, I know I have to. He got me engrossed in his presentation thus learning something new. Thats something not anyone can do but exceptional individuals like him.

This guy is incredibly confident. Great speech.

I love TED talks. So many varied topics and always very informative.

4:02 - "Sir Roger Bannister... who trained for 45 minutes at a time while he skipped gynecology lectures in med school." Wow. I'm speechless.

As a human race, we don’t improve how good of a job we do, we just make the job easier

As close to perfect of a informative presentation as you'll get Everything was on point & gave a much better understanding on why things are where there at today

This guy is a master presenter. One of the best

That was actually a good talk, very intresting and informative!

It would have been interesting to hear about how nutrition has gotten far better in the modern era, making us grow larger etc.

This guy has really done his home work, and as already mentioned is a machine gun speaker... almost no pauses, just fire, fire, fire... if there was an olymipics for speakers he might be in it.

One of the most engaging presentations I've seen. My appreciation, David Epstein.

This video was hands down the best, most informative, most engaging Ted talk I have ever watched, this man is an amazing speaker and that PowerPoint was just wow.

One thing he doesn't mention is that Jessie Owens time was hand-timed whereas today it's handled by computers. Hand-times can vary wildly especially in a sport where the difference between first and second can be .01 of a second.

Amazing talk! So much information packed in and delivered flawlessly! Thanks!

I think it just goes to show how stellar and concise this guys presentation is to get me to watch a 15 minute speech about a topic I otherwise wouldn't care about. Job well done, this was a very enjoyable video!

This guy trained most of his life and finally broke all previous records and took Gold in 2014 for presentation. No performance enhancement drugs taken. Outstanding!

I love the imagination aspect,, by literally believing we can, we physically do. So cool to think how much our mindset makes a difference and this example is the perfect juxtaposition of the mind-body control duality.

What an amazing Lecture. This talk can be broken into so many subsections to discuss: Advances in brain activity, the decrease in the aging process, the effects athletics has had on the female physique.

My personal record for running the mile is 300 meters.

To be honest this is the best lecture on sport I have ever heard. I always thought like this, but I was never able to give as many examples. All of them are the simple laws of physics, but there's too much buzz about the athletes as THE REAL FIGHTERS AND THE REAL WINNERS therefore I was shy to speak. There's definitely a great significance of this lecture more for those people who are no winners at all but they know the value of sport and practice it all the time. They are always under some pressure of those "tough guys"="champions"="winners" I always looks at as jokes)))) I practice sport for all my life and I'm 49 now and this lecture lets me laugh at them even more. G-d gave you the body so run, but don't tell me that since you run faster you exert yourself more, you are kind more of the human. You have the better physics))))))))))))))

One of the best posts Ive ever seen !! Some of these insights have occurred to me, but nothing close to what this man has revealed . Social factors, economic factors, probablities of physical traits within populations...amazing !!! So glad I watched this. And Ive shared it to those I know who are interested !

Interesting subject matter and captivating speaker. Mr Epstein sure cleared up some of the myth's and fables about athletes in competitive sports and history!

This man is incredible...such a good speaker and presenter, wow!

I used to be able to run a mile in a low six if not a high 5 pushing it, but this was back in Jr. High and high school almost naturally. (I was an active kid in many athletics.) I'm 27 and left regular exercise behind. It'll take some real dedication to get back there.

This is a whole lot more educational than I thought it was going to be

As I have always said, everyone can be an athlete, but not everyone can be a basketball player, a sprinter, a swimmer, or a marathon runner. It is all about understanding your genetics, hard work, and a small amount of luck.

I would like to see this concept discussed on elite level rock climbing. 30 years ago there were routes that took top level climbers dozens of tries and years of training to climb, nowadays the elite climbers can do them in one try.

This guy really spaced on one of the greatest technological to sports advancement improvements of all time. PROv1 and how it changed the game of golf forever. In 2001, it added 6 yards to the average drive.

So informative and wonderfully presented! Well done to you sir!

This is really well presented and has some super interesting facts and stats. He could have easily included climbing as a sport that has benefited enormously from technological innovation. Imagine Alex Honnold trying to solo El Cap without chalk or proper rubberized climbing shoes.. Or even the modern emergence of climbing gyms that make intense training (on specially designed walls and holds) available to so many people who dont have sufficient rock near by. This speaker's body type analysis was fascinating. Check out Adam Ondra's video where he analyzes the best body type for climbing, including his own. And its not what you think! A huge arm span/reach or "ape index" may seem advantageous for a climber but there is a significant loss of leverage and strength. Ondra's I believe is only 1cm..!

His presentation of the topic was exquisite

Greatest public speaker ever! Very informative and excellent presentation

Probably my favourite Ted Talk, along with the gentleman who responded to Spammers. Profoundly interesting and informative.

This fella would run rings around most other TED talks excellent stuff - interesting, funny, well researched and well presented.

Recent world records in the marathon 2:03:38 Patrick Makau Kenya September 25, 2011 2:03:23 Wilson Kipsang Kenya September 29, 2013 2:02:57 Dennis Kimetto Kenya September 28, 2014 2:01:39 Eliud Kipchoge Kenya September 16, 2018 ... from population the size of suburban Atlanta...

This guy knows what he's talking about, and it shows. I really loved seeing his presentation, albeit I'm late.

"if you know someone who is 7 feet tall, there is a 17% chance that they play in the NBA." thats pretty cool

Great presentation. Brings to light technology's contribution to the human element's ability to progress.

Great speaker, great message and very confident. Thumbs up

Una de las mejores charlas de TED que he visto.

there are so many brilliant ted talks out here.. just the best of humanity on display. Gets me every time

I’d be far more impressed if he spoke about performance enhancing drugs in sports and the impact they have had on athletic performance. He should also explain the parameters and methods of how testing is conducted in all sports.

You can see it in basketball easily. Pg's are usually always 6'1-6'4 and quick. Centers are usually 6'10-7'2 and lumbering. Different expectations of gameplay require different body types. Being tall hurts dribbling, being to short hurts rebounding. Specialized skills for socialized body types.

Beautiful! I honestly never would have imagined this would be a Tedtalks, what a wonderful peace on Athleticism.

Bang on. I've thought the same for years: that increase in performance compared to former years was due to equipment, technology, the fact that more now participate, psychology and professionalism. Jess Owen accomplished his feats, breaking 3-4 world records in half an hour and winning 4 golds in Berlin, while a full time law student with a job and only an hour a day to train. In a college at Cambridge University there's a square coutyard with a perimeter of about a quarter mile. For over 800 years people have tried to run this in the time it takes the clock overlooking it to strike 12. Only one man ever has, and it wasn't Harold Abrahams as shown in Chariots of Fire. (That scene, incidentally, was shot at Eton College near Windsor.) In the early 1980s, Steve Ovett and Seb Coe, at the height of their powers, we're invited to try it in front of press and cameras. Neither could. The man who did it was some student back in 1928. Ninety years ago! At a time when athletes ran for recreation for a few years before they had to settle down to their jobs and raise families. I believe that if you brought those guys into the modern world and gave them all the benefits and advantages of modern training under modern coaches that they'd leave your Bolts and Phelps trailing in their wake.

This guys speech to breath ratio is top of his athletic class, he's off the charts, for every full sentence his intake of air is at 2% efficiency ratio.

Amazing presentation! Even though the technology is getting better, we train harder, have much more to win, etc. we got much bigger. We are much much taller than we used to be. This brings us to better results in a lot of things. Look at the size of LeBron James and the way he moves...

Bloody amazing! Such a great speaker, great use of voice, humour, tonality and cool calm and collective! Such a great use of visual aids but didn't distract from the main topic!

Excellent presentation, very informative!

Very interesting, informative and positive presentation!!

This is so interesting and brilliantly presented.

Out of 5 million views, 1 mn are mine 😅😍 I've seen and shown this video to many of sports students. There are very less good orators in sports. He's amazing ! 🙏

Best content and presentation on TED I've seen! Real science too!

This guys presentation skills are off the chart!!

This is my favourite, most watched TED talk

One of the best talks ever made for a TED. Congrates ! Very inspiring indeed !

We love being entertained and athletes, like their movie star and recording artist brethren, are part of the Entertainment Industry.

Will the idea of idiocracy ever have an effect on competitive sports in either final times/scores or in the amount of people continually able to achieve those goals?

Incredible presentation style, thanks a lot.

At the beginning of the presentation, he mentions the 1904 Olympic Marathon. The winning time was the slowest ever to win, and still is, but the 1904 St. Louis Olympic Marathon was completely different from anything ever seen. It's not like the human body was a lot less evolved than it is today. This is what happened. First off, the ideal temperature for running a marathon is about 55 degrees. However, it was run in an adjusted heat of 110 degrees, double that. Secondly, there was only one water break set up for the contestants. This was a well about halfway into the race. This well, however, was full of water from St. Louis, (duh) which most contestants were not accustomed to. This made a lot of the contestants throw up and have intestinal problems. Thirdly, these roads were dirt roads, and not only was it far from ideal for running on, but the dust kicked up caused a contestant to collapse and almost die because of hemorrhaging because the dust literally coated his throat. Furthermore, there were wild dogs around 20 miles in that were chasing the contestants off course. Oh yeah, and one of the contestants' running coaches was driving behind him and yelling at him and refused to give him water. He did, however, give him two bottles of brandy and some strychnine (rat poison). I'm just saying, maybe this marathon was a little different than the other ones, but what do I know. Edit: I realize he mentions the rat poison and brandy, pay attention to the other stuff.

When I came here I was certainly not expecting this level of information, very good presentation!

Amazing speech you were talking very clear and used very specific words. Nice job my man

Best TED talk I’ve ever seen. Makes you think about people writing off ‘50s and ‘60s NBA players in GOAT conversation

One of the best TED talks I've seen, if not the best.

That was a wonderful presentation! Thank you! : )

After several years of this video in my recommendations, you win BRvid algorithm

I remember some announcers talking about this. About how the balance beam evolved. The announcer said he remembered when a split was daring. Nobody did flips on the balance beam

Absolutely the best presentation on TED

14:54 of my evening well spent. Thoroughly enjoyable Speach to listen to. 👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I really enjoyed this, I love his enthusiasm!

Absolutely spectacular presentation.

That was an excellent speech, however he did forget one huge variable and that is the precision of time keep. In the 1920's time wasn't as precisely measured than it is today. I feel he needed to cover this matter, as well as steroids.

Like my pitching coach use to say, "the more knowledge you have a better performance you will give."

All these athletes are cool and all, but this guy is an amazing speaker, He didn't lose my attention for a second.

Excellent Presentation. As an athlete this was interesting

His book is really interesting too. A must read for sports/biology enthusiasts.

My high school cross country coach drilled it into us that when you think you're completely tapped out, you still have 10% left. He took teams to the state championship every year he coached there. Read Epstein's book. It goes far deeper into all of this.

Truly interesting. Does this guy have his own channel or something? I feel he makes great videos and would like to binge on them hahaha. Also, is there any other TedTalks that are sports related?

wow. what a great presenter. very talented. i enjoyed the content as well.

wow. this is one of the most fabulous ted talks out there.

This guy's speaker abilities are absolutely impressive.

extremely well explained !

Due to technology and proper nutrition ( yes) the athletes today are much getting faster, stronger and better!

This was amazingly well done

Imagine speaking an essay out to an audience in just under 15 minutes, better than I could write out an essay in a week.

That was the quickest 14 minutes in my life

This is one of my favorite ted talks ever

This guy is an amazing speaker!

Excellent speaker! Well done 👏 👏 👏

"Limits are like fears, often just a illusion" - Michael Jordan

This might be true for speed sports and the improvement may not have been significant. But in strength sports the records from 50 years ago are considered rookie numbers now in powerlifting/weight lifting and strongman it's just a different world now

I tapped into this and I'm 44 male who can swim really really fast, and I'm only 5'5" 125lbs the past two years ask anyone who knows me, my body changed drastically ✌🏼️

If this talk had been in 1936. Imagine sports science and technology today.

so much effort, and so much knowledge, presented in less than 15 mins. wow