RE: interesting tidbit about vertical

[Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
Hey, that woman sounds really attractive!  Can you get me her number?
--- end of quote --

She also looks so, too! :)

--- You wrote:
Seriously, I doubt weightlifting=vertical in any meaningful way.  Vitaly
lifts weights all day long, but his stout limbs were clearly not made to fly.
Meanwhile, the guys who are the great jumpers all have spindly legs.  (Michael refused
to do leg work, even as he tirelessly bulked up his upper body.)  It also seems to
me that guys with big butts tend to be good jumpers, like DJ and his brother.
--- end of quote --

Well, I don't want to bore everyone to tears with this stuff, so let me just say that Olympic-style weightlifting training is a wholly different beast from 'lifting weights', which is what I'm guessing Vitaly does. Of course, part of it may have to do with survivorship bias - i.e., people whose muscles can generate a lot of power tend to make it in pure power sports like weightlifting, sprinting, throwing (discus, shot put etc.), but still, no one starts being able to whip 400lbs over your head. As for spindly legs and big butts, it all has to do with the ratio of fast-twitch fibers in your leg muscles to your body mass.  The leapers with spindly legs also have low (relatively speaking) body mass; the 'big butt' leapers have proportionately more fast-twitch muscle (like Barkley). Because this ratio is typically unfavorable in women, the high leapers tend to be men. That's why I thought it was so amazing that a woman weighing nearly 300lb, with a lot of extra fat, can jump this high.  Vitaly would be an elite center in the NBA if he could jump 30" (can you hear Pitino go, "...Vitaly is a good vertical away from being one of the 3 top centers in this league!"). 
Kestas