How Sports Sculpt the Body

Monday, 25 April 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Not all athletic bodies are created equal. That’s the premise of an interesting photo essay in today’s Denver Post. Staff photographer Helen H. Richardson spent months chronicling the ways that different sports manifest in an athlete’s physique. From the tree trunk thighs of a cyclist to the grapefruit calves of a ballerina, experts say athletes have a special genetic makeup that allows them to train harder than the average person. For one, they have extremely “powerful mitochondria,” which help form muscle.

The essay will run for the next seven weeks in the Post’s weekly Fitness section.