FatGuyThin

Strength is Relative. (Or, “What Does it Mean if My Friend Can Lift More Weight Than Me?”)

A kid at the gym was leg pressing the entire weight stack for reps the other day. 

He had no muscle to speak of but he did have an ungodly amount of pimples and greasy hair. After he finished his set, I gave the backrest a good scrub with my towel and dropped the weight down to half of what he was using. 

He stood grinning as I did my set, and I heard him tell his friend that he was twice as strong as “that old guy” on the leg press. Was he right?

Despite being the favourite pastime of many gym-dwellers, strength comparisons between individuals are meaningless.

Many factors affect the how much you can lift, but the most obvious is your height.

The short guy who could out lift Arnold

 

Take Franco Colombo, for example. Franco, who was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s training partner, could handle more weight than the mighty Arnold in most exercises despite weighing 50 pounds less. 

Franco has a different build to Arnold (who doesn’t!). He’s a lot shorter and has shorter limbs. This means he moves the weight a shorter distance than Arnold on most exercises. Making it easier to use more weight. 

Heavier tool, same job

Now, I’m no Arnold and, believe me, the cocky kid was no Franco Colombo, but he was a lot shorter than me and his leg presses travelled about half the distance of mine. His reps were also a lot faster than mine, which makes them even easier. Of course, he failed tell his friend any of this. 

So, what does it really mean if your friend can lift more weight than you? It means your friend can lift more weight than you, nothing more. If he’s anything like the kid from my gym, he may get some smug satisfaction from being able to lift more weight but, relatively speaking, all he’s doing is using a heavier tool for the same job.

Warning: Aerobics Can Cripple!

Complex reconstructive surgery to ankles, knees, elbows, and shoulders is becoming common among early middle-aged patients who employ aerobic exercise. And doctors are performing more knee and hip replacements as a result of damage caused by years of abuse from aerobics.

Increased risk for overweight

Most at risk are overweight people because their extra weight increases the dangerous forces they endure during aerobics. Yet, most experts recommend aerobics for weight loss. And the more weight you have to lose, the more aerobics they recommend.

Running, the granddaddy of aerobic exercise, is disastrous for overweight people. Every time your foot hits the ground, you encounter a force equal to three times your bodyweight. That’s hard on your joints if you’re normal weight, never mind if you're carrying a few extra pounds.

Low-impact aerobics are dangerous too

And it’s not just high impact aerobics that can put you at risk of injury. Even if you manage to dodge a stress fracture by choosing an activity like cycling, the grinding repetition can wear out your joints over time. 

These injuries are not only painful and expensive; they can sabotage your fat loss efforts. When you can’t exercise because of injury, strength and fitness decline and your tendency to get fat increases. 

How fit, healthy, and lean do you think you will be if pain forces you to spend your days sitting in an armchair?

The experts are wrong

Doctors and fitness experts recognize the importance of exercise for fat loss and health, but recommend activities that expose you to injury. Injuries that can make the simplest activities like walking painful or impossible. 

A safer, more productive alternative

It makes more sense to choose an activity that helps protect your bones and joints, not expose them to injury. This is why I choose strength training. 

Strength training can strengthen bones, joints, and muscles without risk of injury. What’s more, it takes just 40 minutes a week. 

With all these benefits for so little gym time, why would anyone risk crippling themselves with aerobics?