Strong in weight room means nothing outside of it

I know a certain fellow who is a beast in the weight room, lifting incredible amounts of weight in every lift I've seen him do. Far more weight than I can do in any of these same lifts. Yet when I played a simple game of basketball against said fellow I was surprised to find that I could hold my own against him down in the post. Don't get me wrong he was strong and all but he couldn't budge me from my positioning anymore than I could budge him, we were basically even, except unfortunantly for him I was much more agile in the game and had an advantage there.

It made me wonder what good is all that weight room strength this fellow has if it did nothing for him in real world applications? Furthermore there are many individuals, even some women, who can lift more than me in many lifts yet in real world applications of strength they have nothing on me.

So what good is it to be so strong in the weight room if it doesn't translate over to anything else?

I hate to break it to you, but basketball isn't the real world.

SInce when does basketball = real world application? It is a sport for which being agile has its advantages. There are other sports where your friend's strength would be more beneficial.

Forgive a confused Englishman, but in what sense is basketball considered a strength sport?

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I get what the OP is saying though. There are a lot of guys out there (I don't think women are like this, could be wrong) who lift weights or work out really intensely, but never seem to DO anything with it. It's like the old joke, "We're working out just so we can get through our workouts."

Now you shouldn't judge anyone, any motivation to exercise is a good reason, yada yada. But I know for me I couldn't imagine doing all that work in the gym just to take good selfies. I like to get out and test myself. See if all that time in the gym has really paid off or not. Can I climb a rope? Can I make it up a mountain? That sort of thing.

I've always wanted whatever strength I had to be functional, and not just for looks.

Think you're confusing strength training with aesthetics.

Meh. If we're talking real world applications, how are his gas pumping skills? Is he pretty good with the desk jockeying? Can he drive his kids to school like nobody's business? How are his Walmart navigation skills? Can he eat a burger without getting meat juice all over his tie? Do women talk to him? Does his boss appreciate his job performance?

We're all a bunch of people interested in fitness in some varying degree or another, from 0 to obsessed. A few of the people here are competitive and develop skills for a specific sport, but the rest of us are just normal people trying to get healthier, and I'm sure it's the same with your "friend." Who cares how we get there?

I started lifting weights as I heard it helped reduce losing muscle as you lose weight. But, I have noticed a lot of "real world" benefits. I found I was much better a chopping wood for my stove - split logs easier, did not get tired and sore afterwards. I don't get sore any more from digging in my garden or bending over weeding etc. I also think the increased strength has helped my running, since I have taken 6 minutes off my 5k time since last autumn. But it is hard to tell whether that improvement is just because I have been running for longer or because of other work outs I have been doing.

More obviously related to the training, I have found I am much stronger for lifting objects outside of the gym. This is a major benefit for trips to the garden centre. I can now lift up heavy bags of compost for gardening and put them over my shoulder and carry for 30m+ It used to be a real trial dragging along them along since I have to go though the house to get to the garden.

Clearly weight training (alone) is not the optimal method to improve at basketball. I would have though basketball practice would be needed for that...

I know this guy who is absolutely mind-blowing in the lab, his knowledge of quantum physics is incredible, but he can't change a clutch in a Datsun. What use is all that science learning, if you can't change the clutch in a Datsun??

:laugh: :laugh:

So what good is it to be so strong in the weight room if it doesn't translate over to anything else?

I think the topic being strength training is where people are getting hung up. If we were talking about someone who spent all their time at the gym doing cardio but can't carry more than one bag of groceries, would it be trolling to question what the point is of spending all that time in the gym if the results aren't improving real-world functionality? I think that is all the OP is getting at.

The OP is ELITE on his basketball court!

For the record, I play basketball a lot more often than I move furniture.

So what percentage of people who lift can win 5 games of HORSE?

Forgive a confused Englishman, but in what sense is basketball considered a strength sport?

To be fair, strength gives a player a tremendous advantage on the basketball court. For me it meant I always dominated the boards because I'd always have position, I could take a tremendous amount of punishment in the paint and still control the ball to get my shot up, and I could defend much taller players by not letting them get position. Strength makes a huge difference in the half court game.

I know this guy who is absolutely mind-blowing in the lab, his knowledge of quantum physics is incredible, but he can't change a clutch in a Datsun. What use is all that science learning, if you can't change the clutch in a Datsun??

Why would you want to change a clutch in a Datsun

Forgive a confused Englishman, but in what sense is basketball considered a strength sport?

To be fair, strength gives a player a tremendous advantage on the basketball court. For me it meant I always dominated the boards because I'd always have position, I could take a tremendous amount of punishment in the paint and still control the ball to get my shot up, and I could defend much taller players by not letting them get position. Strength makes a huge difference in the half court game.

In a sense a stronger athlete is a better athlete in almost any arena. But there are limits beyond which training for extra strength does little to improve your performance and actually detracts from the sports-specific stuff you need to get done to get on ahead.

But I appreciate what you're saying. (apart from the fact that terms like "in the paint" mean virtually nothing to me...)

This guy may not have any clue about positioning when it comes to basketball. So that minimizes his strength. A lot of people know little about post defense. That part aside, basketball has nothing to do with other real work applications. You sound like you are jealous in the weight room and just needed a reason to feel better than this guy.

The OP is ELITE on his basketball court!

For the record, I play basketball a lot more often than I move furniture.

So what percentage of people who lift can win 5 games of HORSE?

All I know is that I NEVER win at horse. It's a rare day when I win at 21. I'm terrible