Whoever came up with the ridiculous notion that bodybuilders don’t have strength is nutz. Granted, strength training is geared more toward strength and not aesthetics but the two are not mutually exclusive. You cannot have large muscles without strength. The carryover either way is probably 80% or so. The only difference is the relationship of absolute strength to pure muscle size. Either of those type of weight lifters will “outlabor” the average person anyday.
that FARMER CRAP IS JUST THAT CRAP…i grew up in a faimily of farmers my dad farms and has about 10 wanabe cowboy farmers on his staff… I live in a farming communnity most my freinds are farmers and i must say everyone of them is so fat, lazy, and weak its not funny…sure they have big forearms from years of farming work but every time they need something heavy lifted they cant do it…they brag constantly about there old-man strength and farming strength and i laugh at them and always pull them into some type of strongman competition they atart getting there ass kicked and always QUIT and make excuses like i have been up since the crack of dawn or been in the sun all day bull shit…in fact i hate most farmmer cowboy type’s there egos are through the roof…2 of them that worked for my dad always hated me for no reason they started shit with me i beat the fuck out of both of them so easy it was by far the easiest fight i have ever been in…sorry this touches a nerve with me but it is because of people you guys are talking about are part of the reason i dont have a great of a relationship wuth my dad…sorry…bm
“There is no carry - over for real life strength and application”
in this weeks interview mike quinn talks about how he man handled some kid that threatened his wife. the kid was also a steroid user. theres a good chance mike wouldn’tve been able to do that unless he was pretty big and strong.
"I’ve personally ended a 4-on-1 and a 5-on-1 brawl before they started 'cause I ran after the car(s) (and caught them) in a parking lot and smashed the passenger window with my hand on one occasion and broke the back window out of another on a different occasion.
Both instances occured while protecting my family from harm. “ya think I could’ve done that being “weak”? I also normally carry a firearm (legally) and hate the idea of using it when I can end the fight by picking the perp off his feet and slamming him on the pavement.”
not quite sure what this has to do with manual labor…
my point is i train with weights for looks and strength. i really dont care if it helps me chop an extra log or two with an ax.
I have to agree with BigMartin. I live near a city of so-called hardcore assembly line workers. While I will admit, they probably have bad attitudes and a lot of built up anger, there is no way they are stronger/tougher than your average BBer. They are all FAT and LAZY and eat like shit. They work in an environment where they try to do the least that is expected from them, and still get paid. I dont think thats tough. I think that whole “Old man” strength is a load.
I know plenty of white collar business men who run around all day, deal with obnoxious people, and then still hit the gym for a hard-core work out. THats tough to me.
P-dog. What I meant was that I see self-proclaimed BB’ers perform cable crossovers and triceps kickbacks 'till they scream. Yeah, thier cut and yeah, thier arms look O.K. But when I had one come out to my truck, I showed him how to clean and press a heavy sandbag. He, with all his moaning and groaning could not get it off the ground! No grip strength, no forearm strength, no speed strength, no ab/lumbar strength etc. etc. So if you just train for the pump like most BB’ers I see, you get the looks and nothing to back it up. I don’t mean you, certainly, but it’s much too prevalent to ignore, that’s all.
big martin rules.
i agree 100%. cable crossovers and lateral raises will do little if anyhting to improve atheltic or manual labor performance. however, squats, deads, benches etc will help. thankfully i dont train like a typical bb’er.
I have to agree with avoids. If you klift heavy you will get bigger,stronger, and be in better shape. Not sure how that does not carry over to real world manual labor…
Excuse my ignorance but how does someone protect their family by running after cars and smashing their windows?
On the subject of farmers, I come from a family of farmers who spent their twilight years arthritic, in pain and coughing from years of ingesting dust from animals feeds and pesticides. (Boy were they strong though)
That is why my training drives the purists in each discipline I train for so crazy.
My highland games buddies squawk every time I mention the words sprints, cardio, climbing or ANY sport involving running.
My soccer and some rugby buddies look at me funny when I mention the strength/lifting workouts I do 3-4 times a week.
Now that I have become more familiar with the strongman world I will probably encorporate some of that training into my yearly training.
I think it keeps me from overtraining in one area and a lot freer from training injuries.
I have to agree 100% with BM. All the farmers I know are fat and out of shape. The young farmers are skinny and weak. Ever notice all the stories about farmer strength happened a long ass time ago? “50 years ago old farmer Jones was a strong SOB. Lifted an aircraft carrier with one hand, he did.”
As far as no strength carry over…what a bunch of shit. Yes, most pussy bodybuilders doing iso movements are weak. But Powerlifters and O-Lifters certinaly have carry-over strength. A great deal of WSM competitors have PL backgrounds…those who do either competed in O-lifting or do the movements. Funny that evenyone calls me when its time to move their furniture.
In sum, either your dad is a blowhard pussy, or you lift like a big wet snatch.
About Bodybuilders:
In all of my years of training, I’ve only seen a couple of jacked-up Bodybuilders doing “pussy” routines consisting of mostly pump movements. For the most part, their training revolved around big compound movements. Of course, they would follow these with isolation work.
It is only the wanna-be’s for the most part that do the “pussy” routines…
Just thought I’d share that…
EoN
Is there a clear definition here of “real world” application of strength?
In 18 years of helping my in-laws with their antiques business, I can tell you that I can handle heavy furniture by myself that I never could have dealt with when I started.
Jester9 is 5’4" and 127 pounds soaking wet. She’s a dean of students at a high school in New England, and yesterday she confiscated a 25" TV from a student’s room and carried it 4 flights by herself. Last year she grabbed a student across a cafeteria table and yanked him across the table with one arm. This may not seem like much to some, but she couldn’t have done this just 2 years ago (pre-TMag).
We’re not becoming superheroes through lifting, but we get by.
Weightlifting is for pussies. Real men knit.
I’m a steelworker on a crew that builds grain elevators. I can tell you that other than the foreman and the engineers, all of us hit the weights, and pretty damn hard too. In my experience anyway, gym strength translates to real functional strength.
My girlfriend thinks that lifting weights, eatin’ healthy etc. is a waste of time. She always says “why do you go through the trouble of doing all that, you’re just gonna die anyways?” And I say,“yeah I know, but I’d rather die of old age at 100 than heart attack at 35,I’d rather not spend my last ten-fifteen years in pain, in the hospital, or sucking down overpriced prescription medication just to keep me alive a few more years.”
My bro in law isn’t much on lifting. We’re the same age and went skiing together earlier this year. I tore it right up and wasn’t sore the next day. It wasn’t so for him. He was skiing less powerfully and slower and had trouble walking the next day.
He saw me skiing a tree line popping off turns like they were no effort at all and then he asked me if I’d been working out or something. I said, “Sure, like I have been for years”.
I just came back from skiing 5 of 7 days in Colorado. The last day we did 17,600 vertical feet despite low visibility for the first half of the day slowing us down. Neither my daughter nor I were sore or overly wiped out, but we both lift weights.
This fall I packed one load of meat and the head of the elk I killed just over a mile to camp in the snow, only half of it on a trail. I weighed the pack at 105 lb. I ran back to get a rear quarter my partner had to put down (he’s since had back surgery) and got it too.
If it doesn’t translate to real world strength you should try compound movements instead of the machines that isolate each toe into an indivdual unit.
Anyone that squats, deadlifts, and does clean and presses is going to have more power and core strength that they can use than if they just did manual labor.
While I agree with what you say Thrasher… there is also the argument that if you do something for the sole purpose of existing longer, then while you are doing that you aren’t really alive.
Don’t get me wrong I love lifting weights, but it shouldn’t be a forced thing, I learned that trying to get various roomates to lift with me. you have to do what you love, thats why I don’t diet to a strict degree.
I love food cooked with fat, give me ukranian food any day and I am happy. I could monito my diet closely only letting in beneficial nutrients in the proper doses… but I could die tomorrow in a million different ways, so today will be as fillied with joy as I can make it.
So I lift, eat healthy, and then cheat like a bastard (knowing there is a bodily cost) when I feel like it.
First, the athletes on this board are to be commended. Most of us I would think, rank in the 1st % of strength in our various ages. Most also practice the compound lifts which do translate into ‘real-world’ strength. Two comments: the first is my own Dad thought that my lifting was always frivolous or superfluous because it wasn’t producing any work result. No repairing, cutting, trimming, moving, cleaning, etc. “Hey son, I’ve got some real lifting for ya- move those logs into the house so we can have 2 weeks of fires in the fireplace”…you know, that sort of comment. Of course, I moved the logs too - but usually after my workout. He was never into sports either so maybe that was another rationale. The second is, people who aren’t into lifting are lazy I think or maybe so far gone in terms of being weak and/or fat that they just won’t take the first step in strength themselves. So they’re sometimes judgmental. On the other hand, I get a fair amount a of compliments about my shape too, which is good to hear and then I usually encorage them to start up a program too. But, sadly, most don’t.