FitFact: The top3 animals that are real powerhouses

You thought cheetahs, ants and kangaroos were among the most athletic animals in the world? Then sharpen your antennae, focus your eagle eyes and slowly and quietly feel your way through the following top 3 without scaring yourself and your prey with aha moments. Because the coming three animals beat even the most athletic opponents into flight:

3) Hummingbird: wings with muscles like steel

Hummingbirds are the acrobats of the air: in just one second they beat their wings up to 100 times (per minute thus up to 6000 times!). In flight, they also manage to move backwards or sideways, hover on the spot or even fly upside down. How do they do it? The hummingbird beats a figure eight with its wings, so to speak, which is why the lift-off can be controlled in any direction as a result, similar to a helicopter. Thanks to this flight technique, hummingbirds travel at breakneck speed. In any case, we are already getting dizzy from reading. And we have the greatest respect for the muscles that are hidden in these wings!

2) Marlin: fins fast like torpedo

Marlins are the cheetahs of the sea: probably the fastest fish in the world, they reach their record speed of 110 kilometers per hour when hunting mackerel or sardines, for example. The speed hunter, which can grow up to three meters long, is equipped with a huge dorsal fin, a second, smaller dorsal fin, and long ventral fins. So well equipped, the racer among the fish is unstoppable – and his victims usually remain without a chance. We freeze in awe at this strength, speed and precision perfectly built into every muscle fiber of this fish.

1) Horn mite: claws like a bodybuilder

Horn mites are the shredders of the earth: stronger than elephant and rhinoceros together, even stronger than the ant, is only one – the horn mite, which is only 0.8 millimeters in size. With its strong digging claws, it can hold almost 1200 times its own weight! The horn mite fulfills an important role in the material cycle of our forests: The spherical arachnids, which are (or rather would be) mostly found in subterranean soil layers, shred leaves, bark as well as needles and enable bacteria and fungi to further decompose them. Without horn mites, the leaves in our forests would pile up. Real powerhouses that know how to use their muscles wisely: Tiny but OHO!

Well if those forces of nature aren’t inspiration for your Summer2023 beach bod, then we don’t know what is. In the next issue: Why the Easter Bunny is also really fit!