Latest news with #biomechanics
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man Encodes the Blueprint of Human Evolution, Says London Dentist
New research reveals a hidden geometric ratio in Leonardo's drawing that may define the endpoint of human evolution toward upright posturePhoto Courtesy of Rory Mac Sweeney LONDON, July 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A London-based dental surgeon and researcher, Dr. Rory Mac Sweeney of Precision Endodontics, has ignited international interest with a provocative reinterpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. His newly published research suggests the Renaissance masterpiece encodes a precise geometric ratio that reflects the biomechanical endpoint of human evolution. Dr. Mac Sweeney's theory, published in the Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, identifies a hidden equilateral triangle embedded in Vitruvian Man. He connects this geometry to Bonwill's Triangle—a fundamental dental structure first described in the 19th century, which governs optimal jaw alignment and function. According to Mac Sweeney, this triangular structure appears throughout the body and is mathematically anchored by the ratio √8/3, or approximately 1.633. 'Leonardo's drawing isn't just a study in proportion—it's a map of tension,' said Dr. Mac Sweeney. 'The 1.633 ratio appears in the jaw, the spine, and the skull. It reflects a state known as vector equilibrium, where structural tension and compression are perfectly balanced. I believe this marks the final step in the human journey toward full upright posture.' This ratio, derived from the geometry of the cuboctahedron, is widely recognized in biomechanics and architecture as a hallmark of tensegrity—the balance of forces within a stable form. Dr. Mac Sweeney contends that this geometry defines the Vitruvian Morphotype: a form that nature has converged on through evolutionary pressures—not because it is aesthetically pleasing, but because it is structurally optimal. 'Human evolution has been a long progression toward uprightness,' he explained. 'The 1.633 ratio may represent our evolutionary omega point—a structural threshold beyond which no further anatomical adaptation is needed to stand, move, and balance efficiently in gravity.' Mac Sweeney suggests that fossil evidence should reveal a slow convergence toward this geometric configuration, particularly in the jaw. He highlights the emergence of Class I occlusion in the fossil record—also known as the overbite/overjet 'step'—around 8,000 years ago as a key moment. While small variations remain, he argues that modern Homo sapiens are the first species to fully express this morphotype. 'It's like the hydrodynamic form of a dolphin,' he said. 'Nature solves gravity the way it solves water. Vitruvian Man is the first full sketch of what that solution looks like.' Dr. Mac Sweeney's theory is now attracting attention from experts in evolutionary biology, bioengineering, and anatomical design. He is currently conducting interviews, public talks, and media appearances to discuss what he calls the Vitruvian Ratio—and its broader implications for anthropology, architecture, and even consciousness. 'Leonardo, somehow, saw it coming,' Mac Sweeney added. 'Vitruvian Man may be the only anatomical diagram ever created that captures not just what a human is—but what a human is becoming.' About Dr. Rory Mac Sweeney: Dr. Mac Sweeney is a London-based endodontist and researcher known for his interdisciplinary work in dental anatomy, geometry, and human evolution. His work explores the convergence of structural biology and classical design, and he is the author of the book The Paradox of Lucid Dreaming. @luciddreamyoga Contact Information: Contact person: Dr. Rory Mac SweeneyCompany name: Precision EndodonticsWebsite: [ Contact: rorymacsweeney@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNN
08-07-2025
- Science
- CNN
The secrets behind the world's fastest tennis serves
If you've ever picked up a tennis racket and attempted to serve against an opponent, you'll know just how hard a skill it is. It's one thing to get the ball over the net and yet a whole other thing to even start thinking about speed and accuracy. It's a technique that quickly separates the professionals from the amateurs and a skill which has become increasingly important in the modern game. Nowadays, both men and women are serving faster than ever before, with players regularly reaching service speeds that were once thought to be nearly impossible. At this year's Wimbledon, for example, fans witnessed the fastest serve in the tournament's 148-year history, when Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard unleashed a 153 mph rocket in his first-round match against Taylor Fritz. Perricard is part of a new breed of players who weaponize their powerful asset to significant effect. The 21-year-old is the current world No. 36 but clearly has the power to one day challenge the very best. 'I'm not doing some special technique to have a big serve or a fast serve. I'm just serving like I'm supposed to do. We don't train a lot to be honest, this part of my game. But I mean, it came naturally,' he said. But while Perricard is nonchalant about his superior delivery, there is a science behind what makes his technique so successful. Former tennis player and sports scientist Mark Kovacs has dedicated years to researching the biomechanics behind a tennis serve. Speaking to CNN Sports, he breaks down the technique into eight components: The opening stance, the ball toss, the loading, the coiling, the acceleration, the contact, the deceleration and finally, the finish, which is where the player lands. 'You need synchronized motion. You need all of these stages to hit optimally because you get this summation of forces. It's really called the kinetic chain. You're trying to optimize your kinetic chain, which means how we use the ground up through the body and out into the ball,' Kovacs said. Kovacs' work is all about using research and data to give players that small edge to improve their performance. He has worked with some of the sport's biggest servers, including former US player John Isner, who set the ATP-recognized record for the fastest serve in 2016, when he blasted a ball 157.2 mph at his opponent. While all eight components of the motion are important to maxing out your serving potential, Kovacs says research does point to particular elements which are required to produce a fast serve. First, there is stage three (the loading), which looks at the player's body position before making contact. Kovacs says the key here is the player's back hip, and how quickly it comes through the motion of serving. Then there is stage five into seven (acceleration, contact and deceleration), which addresses how fast the serving arm moves through the action. 'You hear people talk about a player having a live arm. In the scientific sense, you can actually put a number on that,' he says. 'A lot of coaches will say, 'That guy's just got a live arm. That's why he's able to serve hard but maybe doesn't have the best technique.' 'But actually he does have pretty good technique at that position. He may not have great technique everywhere else, but his ability to get his arm in the right position and move through is the second most important correlation for serve speed.' Albano Olivetti is another current player who uses his huge serve to his advantage. The 33-year-old now focuses mainly on doubles and made it to the second round at this year's Wimbledon. While he never made a huge impact in the singles game during his professional career, one particular moment remains etched into the sport's folklore. At a Challenger Tour event in 2012, Olivetti unleashed the second fastest serve of all-time, sending a 160 mph rocket at his opponent. The mark is not officially recognized by the ATP – men's tennis' governing body – because it wasn't performed at an official ATP event, but it remains something Olivetti is proud of – only former Australian player Sam Groth has served quicker, hitting one at 163.7 mph also in 2012. At this year's Wimbledon, Olivetti's fastest serve was 140 mph, which remains among the highest in the men's game. When asked what makes his technique so powerful, the 6-foot-8 Frenchman initially points to his height as a major factor. Kovacs agrees that there is a distinct correlation between height and a big serve, noting that the best players across the men's and women's games are now getting taller on average – a trend also seen across several other professional sports, such as basketball. 'So, force equals mass times acceleration,' Kovacs tells CNN Sports, explaining why height can make a difference. 'The force is what we're talking about when we're talking about serve speed. Mass is the person's body weight, so being taller typically means you have more body weight. 'And then acceleration is your levers. If your arms and legs are longer, you actually get greater acceleration because you've got it over a slightly longer period of time. 'It's also important to note that being over about 6-foot-6 allows you to hit down on the serve at contact. When you're shorter than that, even though most people don't realize it, you're actually hitting up slightly on the ball when you're serving, they're actually not hitting down and that slight difference makes a big, big difference to speed.' But both Kovacs and Olivetti say that height isn't as big a benefit as some may think – it only gives you a higher ceiling to reach. As someone who has always been taller than most of his opponents, Olivetti says technique always outweighs pure physical attributes and that's why he has worked on his serving skills from an early age. He also says that using the right equipment is important when it comes to finding a big serve, but explains that the search for a fast one sometimes comes at a cost. For example, the racket he previously used, with his preferred string tension, helped create power on his serve but made returning from the baseline more difficult. It's sometimes tricky, he says, to find the balance. 'I was winning on my serve and not winning for the return part,' he tells CNN Sports. 'So then you have to find the right balance again for your game – maybe you prefer to lose speed on your serve and then be comfortable from the baseline, for example. 'I think every player is different, and you really have to find what works for you. Equipment is important for that, I would say.' Moving forward, Olivetti says that serve speed will continue to increase as players look for new ways to refine this vital aspect of the game. Kovacs agrees and says the current crop of players are nowhere near reaching the limit of how fast a human being can serve a tennis ball. He says he can still see untapped potential in several top players – including world No. 1 Jannik Sinner – when it comes to their serving technique, with some leaving as much as 10 mph on the table. While the biomechanics of a serve can offer players some control over improving their technique, Kovacs says that a number of external circumstances can influence the speed on any given day. 'There obviously is a limit, but that is under the assumption that everything stays the same from a standpoint of technology, balls, strings, rackets, and also temperature and environment plays a role,' he says. 'The reason you've seen these faster serves at Wimbledon this year is because the temperature was much hotter and drier the first few days, so the ball comes through the air a little bit faster. So you were getting three, four, five miles an hour more than you would typically see just because of weather conditions.' With the serve becoming increasingly influential in the current game, the records being broken today will likely be surpassed again in the next decade. And, perhaps more importantly, it's still a source of pride and competition for all the big-hitters on tour. 'Yes,' Olivetti says smiling, when asked whether professional players even care about breaking new speed records. 'Always, since I started playing, I was always trying to serve as big as I can.'
CNN
08-07-2025
- Science
- CNN
The secrets behind the world's fastest tennis serves
If you've ever picked up a tennis racket and attempted to serve against an opponent, you'll know just how hard a skill it is. It's one thing to get the ball over the net and yet a whole other thing to even start thinking about speed and accuracy. It's a technique that quickly separates the professionals from the amateurs and a skill which has become increasingly important in the modern game. Nowadays, both men and women are serving faster than ever before, with players regularly reaching service speeds that were once thought to be nearly impossible. At this year's Wimbledon, for example, fans witnessed the fastest serve in the tournament's 148-year history, when Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard unleashed a 153 mph rocket in his first-round match against Taylor Fritz. Perricard is part of a new breed of players who weaponize their powerful asset to significant effect. The 21-year-old is the current world No. 36 but clearly has the power to one day challenge the very best. 'I'm not doing some special technique to have a big serve or a fast serve. I'm just serving like I'm supposed to do. We don't train a lot to be honest, this part of my game. But I mean, it came naturally,' he said. But while Perricard is nonchalant about his superior delivery, there is a science behind what makes his technique so successful. Former tennis player and sports scientist Mark Kovacs has dedicated years to researching the biomechanics behind a tennis serve. Speaking to CNN Sports, he breaks down the technique into eight components: The opening stance, the ball toss, the loading, the coiling, the acceleration, the contact, the deceleration and finally, the finish, which is where the player lands. 'You need synchronized motion. You need all of these stages to hit optimally because you get this summation of forces. It's really called the kinetic chain. You're trying to optimize your kinetic chain, which means how we use the ground up through the body and out into the ball,' Kovacs said. Kovacs' work is all about using research and data to give players that small edge to improve their performance. He has worked with some of the sport's biggest servers, including former US player John Isner, who set the ATP-recognized record for the fastest serve in 2016, when he blasted a ball 157.2 mph at his opponent. While all eight components of the motion are important to maxing out your serving potential, Kovacs says research does point to particular elements which are required to produce a fast serve. First, there is stage three (the loading), which looks at the player's body position before making contact. Kovacs says the key here is the player's back hip, and how quickly it comes through the motion of serving. Then there is stage five into seven (acceleration, contact and deceleration), which addresses how fast the serving arm moves through the action. 'You hear people talk about a player having a live arm. In the scientific sense, you can actually put a number on that,' he says. 'A lot of coaches will say, 'That guy's just got a live arm. That's why he's able to serve hard but maybe doesn't have the best technique.' 'But actually he does have pretty good technique at that position. He may not have great technique everywhere else, but his ability to get his arm in the right position and move through is the second most important correlation for serve speed.' Albano Olivetti is another current player who uses his huge serve to his advantage. The 33-year-old now focuses mainly on doubles and made it to the second round at this year's Wimbledon. While he never made a huge impact in the singles game during his professional career, one particular moment remains etched into the sport's folklore. At a Challenger Tour event in 2012, Olivetti unleashed the second fastest serve of all-time, sending a 160 mph rocket at his opponent. The mark is not officially recognized by the ATP – men's tennis' governing body – because it wasn't performed at an official ATP event, but it remains something Olivetti is proud of – only former Australian player Sam Groth has served quicker, hitting one at 163.7 mph also in 2012. At this year's Wimbledon, Olivetti's fastest serve was 140 mph, which remains among the highest in the men's game. When asked what makes his technique so powerful, the 6-foot-8 Frenchman initially points to his height as a major factor. Kovacs agrees that there is a distinct correlation between height and a big serve, noting that the best players across the men's and women's games are now getting taller on average – a trend also seen across several other professional sports, such as basketball. 'So, force equals mass times acceleration,' Kovacs tells CNN Sports, explaining why height can make a difference. 'The force is what we're talking about when we're talking about serve speed. Mass is the person's body weight, so being taller typically means you have more body weight. 'And then acceleration is your levers. If your arms and legs are longer, you actually get greater acceleration because you've got it over a slightly longer period of time. 'It's also important to note that being over about 6-foot-6 allows you to hit down on the serve at contact. When you're shorter than that, even though most people don't realize it, you're actually hitting up slightly on the ball when you're serving, they're actually not hitting down and that slight difference makes a big, big difference to speed.' But both Kovacs and Olivetti say that height isn't as big a benefit as some may think – it only gives you a higher ceiling to reach. As someone who has always been taller than most of his opponents, Olivetti says technique always outweighs pure physical attributes and that's why he has worked on his serving skills from an early age. He also says that using the right equipment is important when it comes to finding a big serve, but explains that the search for a fast one sometimes comes at a cost. For example, the racket he previously used, with his preferred string tension, helped create power on his serve but made returning from the baseline more difficult. It's sometimes tricky, he says, to find the balance. 'I was winning on my serve and not winning for the return part,' he tells CNN Sports. 'So then you have to find the right balance again for your game – maybe you prefer to lose speed on your serve and then be comfortable from the baseline, for example. 'I think every player is different, and you really have to find what works for you. Equipment is important for that, I would say.' Moving forward, Olivetti says that serve speed will continue to increase as players look for new ways to refine this vital aspect of the game. Kovacs agrees and says the current crop of players are nowhere near reaching the limit of how fast a human being can serve a tennis ball. He says he can still see untapped potential in several top players – including world No. 1 Jannik Sinner – when it comes to their serving technique, with some leaving as much as 10 mph on the table. While the biomechanics of a serve can offer players some control over improving their technique, Kovacs says that a number of external circumstances can influence the speed on any given day. 'There obviously is a limit, but that is under the assumption that everything stays the same from a standpoint of technology, balls, strings, rackets, and also temperature and environment plays a role,' he says. 'The reason you've seen these faster serves at Wimbledon this year is because the temperature was much hotter and drier the first few days, so the ball comes through the air a little bit faster. So you were getting three, four, five miles an hour more than you would typically see just because of weather conditions.' With the serve becoming increasingly influential in the current game, the records being broken today will likely be surpassed again in the next decade. And, perhaps more importantly, it's still a source of pride and competition for all the big-hitters on tour. 'Yes,' Olivetti says smiling, when asked whether professional players even care about breaking new speed records. 'Always, since I started playing, I was always trying to serve as big as I can.'
CNN
08-07-2025
- Science
- CNN
The secrets behind the world's fastest tennis serves
If you've ever picked up a tennis racket and attempted to serve against an opponent, you'll know just how hard a skill it is. It's one thing to get the ball over the net and yet a whole other thing to even start thinking about speed and accuracy. It's a technique that quickly separates the professionals from the amateurs and a skill which has become increasingly important in the modern game. Nowadays, both men and women are serving faster than ever before, with players regularly reaching service speeds that were once thought to be nearly impossible. At this year's Wimbledon, for example, fans witnessed the fastest serve in the tournament's 148-year history, when Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard unleashed a 153 mph rocket in his first-round match against Taylor Fritz. Perricard is part of a new breed of players who weaponize their powerful asset to significant effect. The 21-year-old is the current world No. 36 but clearly has the power to one day challenge the very best. 'I'm not doing some special technique to have a big serve or a fast serve. I'm just serving like I'm supposed to do. We don't train a lot to be honest, this part of my game. But I mean, it came naturally,' he said. But while Perricard is nonchalant about his superior delivery, there is a science behind what makes his technique so successful. Former tennis player and sports scientist Mark Kovacs has dedicated years to researching the biomechanics behind a tennis serve. Speaking to CNN Sports, he breaks down the technique into eight components: The opening stance, the ball toss, the loading, the coiling, the acceleration, the contact, the deceleration and finally, the finish, which is where the player lands. 'You need synchronized motion. You need all of these stages to hit optimally because you get this summation of forces. It's really called the kinetic chain. You're trying to optimize your kinetic chain, which means how we use the ground up through the body and out into the ball,' Kovacs said. Kovacs' work is all about using research and data to give players that small edge to improve their performance. He has worked with some of the sport's biggest servers, including former US player John Isner, who set the ATP-recognized record for the fastest serve in 2016, when he blasted a ball 157.2 mph at his opponent. While all eight components of the motion are important to maxing out your serving potential, Kovacs says research does point to particular elements which are required to produce a fast serve. First, there is stage three (the loading), which looks at the player's body position before making contact. Kovacs says the key here is the player's back hip, and how quickly it comes through the motion of serving. Then there is stage five into seven (acceleration, contact and deceleration), which addresses how fast the serving arm moves through the action. 'You hear people talk about a player having a live arm. In the scientific sense, you can actually put a number on that,' he says. 'A lot of coaches will say, 'That guy's just got a live arm. That's why he's able to serve hard but maybe doesn't have the best technique.' 'But actually he does have pretty good technique at that position. He may not have great technique everywhere else, but his ability to get his arm in the right position and move through is the second most important correlation for serve speed.' Albano Olivetti is another current player who uses his huge serve to his advantage. The 33-year-old now focuses mainly on doubles and made it to the second round at this year's Wimbledon. While he never made a huge impact in the singles game during his professional career, one particular moment remains etched into the sport's folklore. At a Challenger Tour event in 2012, Olivetti unleashed the second fastest serve of all-time, sending a 160 mph rocket at his opponent. The mark is not officially recognized by the ATP – men's tennis' governing body – because it wasn't performed at an official ATP event, but it remains something Olivetti is proud of – only former Australian player Sam Groth has served quicker, hitting one at 163.7 mph also in 2012. At this year's Wimbledon, Olivetti's fastest serve was 140 mph, which remains among the highest in the men's game. When asked what makes his technique so powerful, the 6-foot-8 Frenchman initially points to his height as a major factor. Kovacs agrees that there is a distinct correlation between height and a big serve, noting that the best players across the men's and women's games are now getting taller on average – a trend also seen across several other professional sports, such as basketball. 'So, force equals mass times acceleration,' Kovacs tells CNN Sports, explaining why height can make a difference. 'The force is what we're talking about when we're talking about serve speed. Mass is the person's body weight, so being taller typically means you have more body weight. 'And then acceleration is your levers. If your arms and legs are longer, you actually get greater acceleration because you've got it over a slightly longer period of time. 'It's also important to note that being over about 6-foot-6 allows you to hit down on the serve at contact. When you're shorter than that, even though most people don't realize it, you're actually hitting up slightly on the ball when you're serving, they're actually not hitting down and that slight difference makes a big, big difference to speed.' But both Kovacs and Olivetti say that height isn't as big a benefit as some may think – it only gives you a higher ceiling to reach. As someone who has always been taller than most of his opponents, Olivetti says technique always outweighs pure physical attributes and that's why he has worked on his serving skills from an early age. He also says that using the right equipment is important when it comes to finding a big serve, but explains that the search for a fast one sometimes comes at a cost. For example, the racket he previously used, with his preferred string tension, helped create power on his serve but made returning from the baseline more difficult. It's sometimes tricky, he says, to find the balance. 'I was winning on my serve and not winning for the return part,' he tells CNN Sports. 'So then you have to find the right balance again for your game – maybe you prefer to lose speed on your serve and then be comfortable from the baseline, for example. 'I think every player is different, and you really have to find what works for you. Equipment is important for that, I would say.' Moving forward, Olivetti says that serve speed will continue to increase as players look for new ways to refine this vital aspect of the game. Kovacs agrees and says the current crop of players are nowhere near reaching the limit of how fast a human being can serve a tennis ball. He says he can still see untapped potential in several top players – including world No. 1 Jannik Sinner – when it comes to their serving technique, with some leaving as much as 10 mph on the table. While the biomechanics of a serve can offer players some control over improving their technique, Kovacs says that a number of external circumstances can influence the speed on any given day. 'There obviously is a limit, but that is under the assumption that everything stays the same from a standpoint of technology, balls, strings, rackets, and also temperature and environment plays a role,' he says. 'The reason you've seen these faster serves at Wimbledon this year is because the temperature was much hotter and drier the first few days, so the ball comes through the air a little bit faster. So you were getting three, four, five miles an hour more than you would typically see just because of weather conditions.' With the serve becoming increasingly influential in the current game, the records being broken today will likely be surpassed again in the next decade. And, perhaps more importantly, it's still a source of pride and competition for all the big-hitters on tour. 'Yes,' Olivetti says smiling, when asked whether professional players even care about breaking new speed records. 'Always, since I started playing, I was always trying to serve as big as I can.'
Times
23-06-2025
- Health
- Times
How to stay fit (and injury free): the midlife guide
By 50, one can feel as if injury is inevitable if one sneezes wrong, never mind stays active. And if we do tweak something by lunging or lifting, our impulse is to do less. We're afraid to let ourselves go. Ballistic and plyometric training — explosive, powerful movements — in particular are a no-no. Jumping, with my knees, back, hips — are you kidding? The short of it is that in midlife, most of us are brittle and lack bounce. And so it was for Henry Abbott, award-winning journalist and amateur sportsman. British-born but raised in the US, he enjoyed a successful career covering basketball, reporting on the springiest elite athletes of America's NBA. Meanwhile, physiotherapists and doctors couldn't fix his worsening hip and lumbar issues. Yet Abbott was aware that in recent decades, prevention of injury in professional sport has advanced in leaps and bounds, driven by the pioneering work of the Harvard-trained physician Dr Marcus Elliott, founder of P3, the Peak Performance Project, in Santa Barbara. He believed he could assess and predict an athlete's injury risk by how they moved. His intuitive, science-based approach irritated conservative coaches who reckoned that every time a player ended their career on a stretcher, 'there's nothing anyone could have done'. But Elliott continued his precision research into biomechanics. Early on, working with the New England Patriots (of the NFL) he reduced their incidence of hamstring injury from about 23 a season to 3. Abbott's new book, Ballistic — The New Science of Injury-Free Athletic Performance, tells the inspiring story of Elliott and P3, and is a trove of information for anyone who is keen to stay springy and robust. P3's 3D motion-capture of thousands of athletes jumping and moving has given its scientists an invaluable database of evidence as to what can cause injury — and how to prevent it. The DIY version? Film yourself in slow motion stepping off a high box and you'll acquire decent information about how you land, Abbott says. 'Maybe you'll see your knees cave in; maybe one foot lands before the other; maybe your heels slap down; maybe your pelvis is uneven.' He recommends taking the footage to a trusted personal trainer. Halfway through writing his book, in agony and desperate, Abbott, 50, acceded to a P3 assessment himself. The instruction enabled him to bounce back to peak fitness and function. He's speaking on Zoom from his home in New Jersey, and flaps three soft-worn sheets of exercises at me, beaming. His regime includes strength training, plyometrics and yoga. 'You're fighting your body's natural inclination to reduce your power and range of motion every year after 25,' he says. But if you know what to do, it's a battle you can win. Below are some scenarios that many of us have experienced (or are likely to experience) — and advice on how best to support your body in each case. My knees are stiff and ache when I run. What can I do to offset the pain? Beyond a common finding — 'You're a bit short of cartilage and, whoops, you're ageing' — P3's research shows that almost every serious knee issue comes from the hips or ankle, Abbott says. 'You're counting on your ankles, knees and hips to attenuate the force of landing. And if they are twisted or rotated, the knee just has to cope with whatever's coming from the ground or the hips. The knee is the unfortunate middle man.' P3 studied the knees of 380 NBA players over two years and 'found that people who end up with a catastrophic knee injury' — usually an anterior cruciate ligament tear, but also meniscus tears — 'all had a habit of landing on the outside of their foot and rolling to the inside'. This poor landing position is associated with weak soleus and tibialis posterior muscles (below the knee). Strengthen them by standing on one leg and lifting and lowering your foot, for example, or skipping. The second leading cause of knee injury is what Abbott calls 'dishrag': femoral rotation. 'As you squat, your upper leg bone rotates inwards, like twisting the turkey leg off the carcass. It's from weak hip muscles.' Side planking — with weights and using leg raises — targets the gluteus medius, which is key in stabilising the hips. I want to play f ive- a-side in midlife. How can I avoid injury? Abbott cheekily queried whether warm-ups were 'a real thing'. A warmed-up muscle is two to six times less likely to be injured, Elliott told him. But sprints won't prepare your body for football's range of movement. P3's recommended warm-up — for any workout — incorporates rotating, lunging and bouncing. Exercises include a heel walk; lunging and twisting; inching from a plank to a standing position and back again; single-leg Romanian deadlifts; quad stretches; knee hugs; leg swings (sideways and front to back); and 'a bit of lying on the ground, more rotating'. Why save it for sport? 'There have been many days when I wake up feeling 102 years old and then I just do these steps and I feel fine,' Abbott says. I've joined a netball team. How can I protect my back? Planning to leave the ground? Whether you jump, run, lunge or leap, land on the balls of your feet — do not land toes down. P3's research-based instruction started with its observation of elite runners. '[Elliott] noticed that everyone running in the Olympics has their feet dorsiflexed — a little bit toes-up,' Abbott says. 'If the force of landing goes into the ball of your foot, with your toes up, this communication happens all through soft tissue — to your Achilles, to your calf, to your quad, to your glutes. With that chain of communication you can take huge forces without injury.' Whereas if you land with your toes down, 'the next thing is your heel slams down', Abbott says. It exerts huge forces through your body (P3's measured record is nine times a person's body weight: 'Like catching a falling bison'), absorbed by your knees and possibly your lower back. Train so that landing well becomes a habit. 'I do hip bridges with my toes up, just on my heels, or marching movements with a ball over my head and with my toes up,' Abbott says. My posture is dreadful. What can I do to straighten up? 'Computer back' or kyphosis — where your upper back is curved forward — is the most common problem Elliott sees. In athletes it makes injury more likely, limits lateral explosive power and 'contributes to lower back and hip issues, because as your head goes forward you'd fall over if you didn't compensate in your lower spine', Abbott says. To reverse it, P3 recommends a tricky move called the snap squat press. 'Put a broom across your shoulders and squat, so your hips are level with your knees. Stay in this squat and push the broom up. If you have kyphosis, the broom will hit the back of your head — at first,' Abbott says. (Avoid this by elevating your heels on a rolled-up towel.) 'You're rehearsing the movement that will fix the problem', and will ultimately progress from broom to bar. I jog in a low shuffle. If bouncing along is better, how do I train? 'So much of life comes down to glutes, it turns out,' Abbott says. 'The shuffle is the lie that you can land safely without using your glutes, so now the forces are going places they aren't supposed to go.' How to train yourself to be springy? If you skip with a rope, it cues the idea that 'I want the force of the ground to travel smoothly and efficiently into my glutes when I land from running or jumping'. After practising himself, Abbott noticed that rather than use his leg muscles to push off the ground, 'I would land with my toes up a little bit, and my legs slightly flexed and the force would go boing, boing, boing into my glute and it took almost no energy. That's the rehearsal for running. That's the springier, safer thing in action.' Understanding hip flexibility is key GETTY IMAGES I have hips like the Tin Man. Does it matter that I can't touch my toes? 'Every single pair of hips P3 has assessed needs help with either mobility or stability, and you should know which group you're in,' Abbott says. 'People with stable hips just love lifting weights and accept that they can't touch their toes, and people who are really good at the half-moon position just keep going to yoga.' Broadly, everyone who does yoga should lift weights and vice versa, he adds. Without both mobility and stability, you could suffer hip pain, hip-related lower back pain, or knee pain. Abbott suffered incapacitating back pain. His P3 assessment included stepping off a box on to a force plate, which revealed that 'when my right foot came off, my right hip would drop — it's supposed to stay level — and when I hit the ground, I'd have 30 per cent more force on my left side than on my right'. He wasn't absorbing enough force in his hips nor using his glutes, which explained his lumbar problems. Recommended exercises included the stork press: stand on one leg, the other leg pulled up high, knee bent, then hold a heavy weight in your hand on your elevated-leg side. 'You're balancing, trying to keep your hips level, and deploying the glute of the standing leg,' Abbott says. 'Most of what I learnt was in a cold sweat because it was like learning a new language.' My training is strictly gym-based. I'd love to surf but I'm scared I'll wrench something We train to prepare ourselves for life. 'Even if you just chase your dog when it gets off the leash, you're going to have to move aggressively,' Abbott says. 'It's weird that we don't jump more.' If you only stick to the elliptical, you do none of that 'complex navigating in space'. 'Humans have the DNA and the musculature and range of motion and the strength capabilities to be pretty darn free moving. That's the goal.' Aim for the joyfulness of 'puppies playing on the beach'. Abbott's grandmother set a great example: she bodyboarded in Devon. 'She had a wooden board, she'd wear a cap and a frilly, flowery World War Two swimming suit. It was a thrill: the sun and the breeze and cold and the dogs and the puffins.' I confess that my wildest move is a bear crawl. 'Bear crawl is 100 per cent something that Stone Age humans did all the time,' Abbott says. 'We cooked on the ground — there was so much scrambling around. I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of super cutting-edge training and therapy looks like Stone Age cooking. We evolved with the muscle set to move in that kind of way.' Whether it's netball, surfing or bear crawls, 'let your intuition be your guide and be playful'.
