generalspeaking

The Human Machine

Everyone has their own idea of perfection in the ideal human face and body. Our ideals conform to our ethno-geographic groupings as human beings, but some elements of how we view perfection remain universal. Strength and agility in the human male, expressed by a powerful musculature, and voluptuous hints of fecundity in the human female body.

And that's quite aside from personality characteristics of humour, sensitivity to others, integrity and curiosity.

When one considers the ideal in the male physiognomy we look for kindness of expression, a balance of equal spacing between the eyes, a firm chin and wide mouth, narrow nose and spacious forehead. And then there's the ideal in human anatomy, latterly upset somewhat by the unequivocal triumph of an American-born male whose trunk is so elongated as to make his legs appear proportionally short; an obvious mismatch of nature's balance.

Michael Phelps, a whippet of 23, whose height is 6'4", but those arms and hands-length give him an additional stretch-advantage of 3". One visualizes lop-sidedness, another of nature's miscalculations in the attainment of balanced physical perfection. On the aesthetically plus-side is the contrast between his broad shoulders and narrow waist.

He has a decidedly slender-shaped head for such a massive trunk, and owns size-14 feet, flipper-sized and -natured. His hands have been described as paddle-shaped. In the lottery of physical attributes he hasn't been poorly equipped by his genetic endowment. But he's hardly the ultimate expression of physical perfection through the lens of aesthetic balance.

Yet there's far more, obviously, than meets the critical eye, since he's also been endowed with an extraordinarily efficient heart-lung combination, and an ability to process his oxygen intake in a manner that produces little blood lactate. He has become one of the modern marvels of the athletic world. Building upon his natural physical physiological endowments through endless practise, he has become the ultimate Olympiad warrior.

He was born physically and mechanically advantaged, and was granted the opportunity to hone his natural proclivities to the kind of exquisite perfection that quite has no peer. His energy-output, his incredible endurance levels, his mastery of the swimming form, his ability to muster from his deep sources of physical stores the additional stamina he needs at critical performance times has become legendary.

Where does all that energy derive from? Apart from the mental fitness, the fixation on surmounting any difficulties he may encounter, the absolute control he exhibits, the superior assurance he feels that he is capable of bettering the advances of his competitors. The lean and muscled man weighs 195 pounds. And eats the equivalent of 12,000 calories each day. Six times what a normal adult male consumes.

He consumes simple carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Fried egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Make that three, please. While you're at it, include a five-egg omelette. Throw in a bowl of grits, and three slices of French toast, and powder some sugar on top. Oh yes, three chocolate chip pancakes and two cups of coffee.

Lunch is a modest half kilogram of enriched pasta, two large ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread with mayonnaise, and a thousand-calories-worth of energy drinks. As for dinner, another half kilo of enriched pasta, along with a whole pizza, and ditto for lunch's energy drinks. Got that? Try that and you won't be able to move for a week. Other than to the thunder pot.

Work yourself up to consuming anything remotely similar for an extended period of time and you're preparing yourself for an early grave. One can only assume this is Michael Phelps's very particular Olympics energy-power diet, not truly representative of the kind of food choices he routinely makes throughout the course of his everyday life experiences.

Unless, that is, his swimming prowess and the constant need to practise has become his very particular lifetime neurosis, and he has no other life than attaining his current level of Olympic-grade and hitherto unparalleled expertise as the world's greatest swimming champion. But apart from that, what a boring diet. No fresh fruits and vegetables, utterly colourless, lacking in some basic nutrients and vitamins.

To envision any human being ingesting that very precise type of food on a continual basis, and the concomitant level of energy-output required to sustain his level of fitness and expert physical professionalism, is also to conceive of a future breakdown of that body.

Aside from the gargantuan food portions and the huge energy output in facilitating Mr. Phelps's level of physical perfection, there is the question of how long the human anatomy can sustain such abuse? There is no balance of moderation in any of this; everything is in excess of what we believe humans can conceivably attain to.

In the process of which, Michael Phelps's success in becoming the most celebrated, most gold-medalled athlete in the history of the Olympics has set the bar at a super-human elevation perhaps never to be repeated.

So, whatever else obtains from this 2008 Beijing Olympics and Michael Phelps part in it, good on him. But have a care.

Labels: Heroes and Villains, Nature, World News

posted by Pieface @ Saturday, August 16, 2008