With sports fans glued to the TV watching the cream of sporting talent, a Dundee event is challenging people to turn off the television and show their Olympian talents.
The event at Dundee Science Centre is inviting people to test their fitness levels and see how they match up to elite athletes.
Saturday’s programme will also look at the science behind some of the feats of strength and stamina which keep Olympians at the top of their game.
Those brave enough to take part will undertake a “power test” using a Wattbike – the official training cycle of the Olympic team.
Led by Ashley Richardson, lecturer in biomechanics at Abertay University’s division of sport and exercise, visitors will be asked to cycle to the max for short bursts, providing data on how hard they can go and how they compare to top athletes.
Dundee University sports science manager Dr Audrey Duncan and sport and exercise physiologist Helen Weavers will also have other tests of visitors’ strength and power.
Activities will include a vertical jump test – used by athletes to assess both strength and power – with children and adults competing against each other to see how powerful and strong their legs are.
Science centre staff will also be running ‘Science in a Sports Kit’ activities on the day, which will show how what we put in our bodies affects what we get out of them.
Calum McAndrew from the centre said: “As well as stirring up some enthusiasm and motivation for fitness, we’ll explore the crucial science needed to clinch an Olympic medal.
“We’ll test heart rate, how well your lungs work, grip strength and show how important warming up is.”
The event runs from 11am to 3pm on Saturday.
A contest of the ages
While I haven’t been near a gym in six years, I like to imagine I’m fairly fit, writes Gayle Ritchie.
I walk my dog twice a day, run or cross train three times a week and get out whenever possible.
However, against seven-year-old Brooke Miller, I started to doubt myself.
Starting off with ‘speed bouncies’, we had to leap up and over these small wedges 10 times before tackling a short hurdling course, doing a long jump and then repeating the whole lot.
Bearing in mind this was Brooke’s third attempt, I was fairly confident she might have exhausted her wee legs… but no.
My heart was pounding, my breath was laboured and I’d broken out in a sweat.
Brooke, meanwhile, was as cool as a cucumber.
I can only conclude that with age, fitness levels diminish – but that could just be a convenient excuse.
