Assessing true level of strength

ForecasterJason

This isn't really a question, but rather I wanted to open a discussion on assessing one's actual level of strength, or I should say strength that can be applied to every day activities.

I know that some people can be very strong with exercises like bench press, squat, and deadlift, but not necessarily strong when it comes to performing bodyweight exercises like pushups and pull-ups. Conversely, some people can get fairly strong by doing bodyweight exercises, but may not necessarily have high bench, squat, and deadlift numbers. I know people who have done very little training with actual weights but have developed significant strength from bodyweight exercises. In other words, they can lift things in real life that the ordinary person may struggle with, even though their strength as measured by traditional lifts may only be marginally higher (and lower than someone who as lifted with actual weights). This has led me to believe that a true level of muscular strength cannot be determined entirely by what you can lift on major barbell/dumbbell lifts. But at the same time, obviously one can get significantly stronger with traditional weight lifting, as I'm sure many here can attest to.

I’m curious as to other thoughts on this subject.

DopeItUp

You're comparing two things that on the surface are similar, but in reality are very different. You're comparing absolute strength via traditional lifts, versus relative strength from BW training. People who excel at BW training are generally going to be small and lightweight (why do you think elite gymnasts are all tiny?). People who excel at the traditional barbell movements are generally going to be larger people (all the 1000lb+ deadlifts have been performed by 300lb+ people).

Finally, you're trying to translate this to "real world" lifting which is almost a third topic on its own. If you want to get good at something, you have to train it as specifically as possible. A guy who works 40+hours a week carrying and moving heavy stuff is going to have a significant advantage both in "real world strength" but also in technique and skills developed specifically for moving heavy things around. Just as an elite deadlifter has spent years and years perfecting his technique to use his leverages and muscles to move as much weight as possible.

In other words, it's pretty hard to compare such disparate topics. Power and technique and experience relating to the specific strength-related tasks will vary tremendously depending on the person's area of expertise.

ForecasterJason

DopeItUp wrote: »

You're comparing two things that on the surface are similar, but in reality are very different. You're comparing absolute strength via traditional lifts, versus relative strength from BW training. People who excel at BW training are generally going to be small and lightweight (why do you think elite gymnasts are all tiny?). People who excel at the traditional barbell movements are generally going to be larger people (all the 1000lb+ deadlifts have been performed by 300lb+ people).

Finally, you're trying to translate this to "real world" lifting which is almost a third topic on its own. If you want to get good at something, you have to train it as specifically as possible. A guy who works 40+hours a week carrying and moving heavy stuff is going to have a significant advantage both in "real world strength" but also in technique and skills developed specifically for moving heavy things around. Just as an elite deadlifter has spent years and years perfecting his technique to use his leverages and muscles to move as much weight as possible.

In other words, it's pretty hard to compare such disparate topics. Power and technique and experience relating to the specific strength-related tasks will vary tremendously depending on the person's area of expertise.

Ok, that makes sense. I wondered before if this is an apples-to-oranges situation. I had previously assumed that there was more of a direct correlation between traditional lifts and actual real world strength, but it seems like to a certain extent that isn't entirely true.

AnvilHead

I'd postulate that weight training correlates to real-world strength much more than bodyweight exercises. Football players are tasked with pushing other enormous, strong men around, and the vast majority of their strength training is in the weight room. If a person can deadlift 350 pounds, he's going to be able to pick up/carry a refrigerator a lot more easily than somebody who can do 150 push-ups or 300 bodyweight squats.

It's also important to quantify how/what we're going to consider 'strength'. Take a lifter who benches very heavy vs. a bodyweight exerciser who does push-ups - what parameters are we going to use to compare them? Are we going to sit another human being on their back and shoot for 10 reps, or are we going to see which one can do the most bodyweight push-ups? If we're going to use pull-ups as the test, are we going to see which one can do single reps with the most weight hanging from a belt, or which one can bang out the most pull-ups? I'd classify the former as strength and the latter as endurance. And if subject #1 is a 250-pound powerlifter and subject #2 is a 180-pound bodyweight exerciser, we've got relative strength screwing with the equation already (it's going to take more strength to lift that 250 pound body than it is to lift a 180-pound body).

DavPul

Your phrase "true level of muscular strength" has no meaning whatsoever. It's a totally made up thing and trying to define it would be like catching smoke. Even "everyday activities" isn't a real thing. Everyday activities for whom? A single mom? A lawyer? A farmer? A football player?

As the posters about pointed out, with proper training you'll adapt for your specific activity but may seem unexpectedly weak in other areas. On a basketball court of football field, I was as immovable as they come. Put me on the other team's biggest strongest guy and let's go. But put me in a contest with a single mom where the object is to carry the most grocery bags up three flights of stairs with one hand while holding a baby in the other and I will lose Every Damn Time.