Also for this, look up Hermann Goerner, Jedd Johnson, Juha, etc. Some crazy feats of grip strength between these three alone.
I think thatās an utterly absurd baseline level for the term āstrongā. Those are numbers that will be accomplished by very, very few people in the world, and theyāre also all going to be done by men under 250 lbs, aside from the last. How many Worldās strongest Man finalists can do any of the first 3 things? The yoke would be it. Big Z and Brian Shaw, the 2 strongest pressers in the world, are not putting double bodyweight overhead. Nor are they farmers walking with 4x bodyweight.
IThis discussion is also about naturals, and none of the above is achievable naturally. God, I canāt fucking IMAGINE farmers walking with 4x bodyweight. Thatās 800 lbs!!! An 800 lbs yoke for a 200 lbs guy is world class. Doing that with FARMERS HANDLES? lol.
My favorite part is this would āalmost instantly qualify you as strongā. Dude. No. There is no almost there.
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I think most would agree that a triple body weight deadlift is damn good at any weight (less likely the bigger you are). How would the average person farmerās walk more weight than they can deadlift? Iām sure you could fashion some really tall handles but I pretty much still have to deadlift whatever I walk with.
And Dr. Rusinās recent article said a double body weight farmerās carry for 30 seconds is his standard for core and grip strength. If you canāt do that then you have no business doing direct ab work. I canāt exactly argue with him there.
thatās actually more common than you would think, I do know several people who do this. Farmers handles are generally higher to start, so theyāre more like rack pulls to get the weight up. So essentially, my friends who have shitty deadlifts but are good at moving events tend to be able to carry more with farmers handles than they can deadlift. That being said, itās not average, I donāt think.
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If weāre talking about āwhat is strongā in a very general way, and weāre all agreeing that weāre not talking about the absolute best of the best, but just the term āstrongā in a way that could be largely agreeable to TNation standards, I think itās useful to bring up what one can expect to see for prescribed weights at a strongman show. Iāll use the 200 class for this example, since itās close enough to the 180 weāve been talking about for most of this thread. Here are a few prescribed weights that, IMO, are pretty good standards of strength, that Iāve seen often.
Frame or farmers carries: 450-500 lbs for 60ish feet
Atlas stone: 260 to platform, 225 to shoulder for reps
Yoke: 600 lbs
Deadlift: 405 for max reps, with the expectation of 15+ winning, and 7+ being respectable. A 600 lbs deadlift for a single will also win most non-national level shows
I took a front squat event recently with an unwrapped 395
Log or axle press at 220ish for reps, with the expectation of 3+, or a max log/axle of 250+
Anybody who can handle at least a handful of these events at a bodyweight under 200 is going to be considered by the majority of the population, and I think most of you guys, to be strong.
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This should be pretty common. A farmers pick is higher, and from a better angle than a barbell deadlift. I have hit above deadlift farmers on several occasions.
I could imagine slightly higher but not 800 lbs carry vs 500-600 lbs deadlift (going with the 4 times body weight example).
Honestly though, once I read that part of the article, Rusin lost some credibility with me. Not that a 2xBW farmers walk for 30 seconds isnāt a great goal to establish a foundation of core strength. But in the context of the article it stood out as absurd bro-talk. Two of the other tests to pass were: 8 strict pull ups and 10 perfect push-ups. The parameters for exercises arenāt even in the same damn conversation as farmers walking with 2xBW! Most gyms wonāt even have the proper implements to do that. Farmers walking with BW (e.g. 90 lbs dumbbells in each hand for a 180 lbs lifter) seems much more equivalent to 8 strict pull ups.
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10 push-ups is like nothing. You should be able to do at least 50
It seems like a fairly regular ātestā mentioned in those types of articles. Iāve seen the double body weight carry before on T-Nation.
It always makes me question my manhood because I can barely pick up 450 lbs to begin with. The best implement I have to try such a thing is the trap bar so for me itās a max effort Deadlift followed by walkingā¦Itās kind of a beast to imagine. I think I did carries with 315 last year and the hardest part was the lift. I wished I had further to carry it before having to set it down and turn around.
I do admit that my perception is rather warped. That being said, I consider myself weak and Iāve done a 200kgs farmers at 71kgs (2.8x bodyweight) and 250kgs yoke at 74kgs (3.4x bodyweight)ā¦ That and I had the idea of smaller guys as mentioned in the initial question, obviously the same standards wouldnāt apply to a 300lb world strongest man conpetitor.
Oh and I meant hitting those numbers would count as undoubtedly strong in any circles. I do admit that I wasnāt exactly thinking of whatās possible for a drug free lifter cause I just never think about it.
So what would the standards of āstrongā be for a enhanced lifter?
1000lb cheat curl
8x BW lateral raise for reps
ballsack swings with 225lb kettlebell
Clean and press a mini Cooper (full fuel tank)
These are the standardsā¦ Didnāt you know?
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I have seen T Nation article tests of strength range from 1-2xBW farmers walks. For instance, Dan Johnās ā10 Things Every Lifter Should Be Able to Do,ā which features 1xBW farmer walks. Certainly 2x BW is a good goal to have and demonstrates a strong core; all Iām saying is that in the context of the Rusin article, 2xBW seems out of place and an arbitrary, even hyperbolic, choice.
Have you tried starting on blocks or something and doing like a rack pull then walking?
I had to check the article. I thought it was body weight in each hand. Maybe that was another guruās opinion.
No, but I donāt really have the means to do that. I go to a pretty good commercial gym but thereās no way to elevate the trap bar to load up on carries. Guess Iāll just have to deadlift more if I want to carry more. Not the worst problem to have.
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Well I guess itās just my opinion too, but when Rusin says āIf you can carry twice your bodyweight for 30 seconds [200 lbs in each hand for a 200 lbs lifter], only then should you introduce direct and isolated core training into your programming,ā I view that as hyperbole.
I would bring in rubber patio tiles, cut in half, when I was doing ROM progression in a commercial gym. Could fit them in a large duffel.
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I read a trainer on another forum recently say something along the lines of them aiming to get their clients to 50% of the world record for their weight class, he is not specifically a powerlifting coach just a strength and conditioning PT. 50% of the world record doesnāt sound like much but when you look at the 198lb class, that would give you something like a 402lb squat, a 282lb bench and a 440 deadlift. In most commercial gyms these would be pretty good numbers and when viewed by those who dont lift weights would seem pretty heavy. Achieving strength at this level would also have a fairly major impact on those people outside of the gym. Lifting a few rocks in the garden or the shopping from the car or lifting the kids above your head would certainly be easier at those levels of strength. Going much beyond this level is not really going to impact on a persons well-being in general, so if you are not chasing a powerlifting total and just want to be generally strong this seems like a good benchmark.
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I really like this idea.
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I can do range of motion progressions in a good power rack but no walking around. Guess Iāll just have to increase the time of my carries if I ran my deadlift max. One day I tried to carry 135 around the track. Took 3 carries to finish the 1/6 mile lap. Did half and then two quarters. It burned.