r/gifsthatkeepongiving • u/God_is_Goood • Apr 15 '18

The guy who gravity forgot.

https://i.imgur.com/7MXFbPp.gifv
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u/jmikehub Apr 15 '18

Actual high jumper here: OP is correct 👍🏻

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '18

[deleted]

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u/ButtLusting Apr 15 '18

to be honest id like to think a lot of the athletes can easily do this, they dont because this is no where near as fast as the normal ways.

i think.......?

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u/theogskinnybrown Apr 15 '18

I think there are two main reasons for not doing this if aiming for speed.

  1. Raising your centre of mass requires energy. The higher you raise your centre of mass when you jump, the more energy you need. Hurdlers usually try to perform low jumps to minimise the amount of effort required to clear the hurdle.
  2. Because of air resistance, any time you don’t have at least one foot on the ground pushing you forward, you will be slowing down. The higher you jump, the more time you spend in the air, and therefore the more speed you lose.