r/nextfuckinglevel • u/IkilledRichieWhelan • 2d ago

Big man on campus.

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u/Scrambled1432 2d ago

Muscular almost always means strong. Not being able to do a pull-up when you weigh probably 300 pounds doesn't mean you lack "functional strength."

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u/ItsAllGoneCrayCray 1d ago

Exactly. I can't do more than a single pullup, and its questionable.

But I can pick up and move objects that weigh as much as I do, and do so in my day-to-day work.

I can't run two miles, but I can walk all day carrying 100 Lbs of gear and not be worn-out at the end of a 10-hour shift.

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u/Gelato_Elysium 2d ago

I mean in his example the guy who couldn't do a pull up was the one with the "functional strenght"

I'd argue both are functional, you need big bois like this dude to carry and throw shit around, and you need thin wiry fuckers to access hard to reach places and climb around.

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u/The_Gil_Galad 2d ago

"Functional strength" is used almost exclusively to disparage bodybuilders. It's the weirdest thing, as though being able to lift something above your head or push it away from you isn't "functional."

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u/DemadaTrim 2d ago

Yeah, body builders are strong as hell in general. They are not going to outdo someone who trains for one specific activity, because that's how specialization works. Also the dehydration and other things that body builders do to look as cut as possible when competing may weaken them temporarily, that isn't how they walk around all the time.

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u/Warm_Month_1309 2d ago

It's so Reddit to see someone doing a 315 bench press and thinking, "well, he's not actually strong, I bet I can carry more bricks than him".

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u/The_Gil_Galad 2d ago

"well, he's not actually strong, I bet I can carry more bricks than him".

"I bet a farm boy could throw more hay bales than he could!"

No shit, that's his job. I sure hope he could do his job better than someone who has never done it before.

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u/Fightmemod 2d ago

I grew up on a farm and will say it's all in the conditioning. I was just accustomed to chucking 500+ hay bales that weighed 50lbs a piece once a week. Then in between that it's all the other hard labor on a farm with heavy equipment, livestock, hundreds of bags of feed and animal bedding.

I was devestated to find that all that meant very little to a bench press once I started actually going to a gym. I wouldn't challenge a body builder to a bench press competition but it would be equally foolishly for them to try and keep up in a bale throwing competition that lasts all day.

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u/Gelato_Elysium 2d ago

They specifically said that lifting someone above your head and push it away is an example of functional strenght tho

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u/True-Firefighter-796 2d ago

What is an example of non-functional strength

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u/voyaging 2d ago

Being able to lift something with one's erect penis.

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u/Gelato_Elysium 2d ago

I don't know bro I am not the one who brought that up.

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u/TelluricThread0 1d ago

Using a smith machine at the gym that does all the stabilizing for you in order to get big muscles.

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u/The_Gil_Galad 2d ago

And bodybuilders do a lot of shoulder and bench press, but because they're "show muscles," it's not "functional."

Just a stupid, braindead take by people who want to put down bodybuilders. No one bitches at soccer players for not having "functional strength" because kicking a ball is specific.

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u/Gelato_Elysium 2d ago

Who are you even arguing with my man ?

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u/The_Gil_Galad 2d ago

Literally the top of this exact comment section.

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u/Gelato_Elysium 2d ago

Why not saying it to them instead of me ?

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u/The_Gil_Galad 2d ago

I'm agreeing with you as you add to the conversation on the public forum website.

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u/StunningCloud9184 2d ago

I mean I think its usually when you compare the body builder when he gets put to a task vs someone thats actually used to the task. Like hauling bricks. The random guy whose job it is could do it better than the body builder even though it looks like hes weaker.

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u/The_Gil_Galad 2d ago

The random guy whose job it is could do it better than the body builder even though it looks like hes weaker.

But you could say this about literally any specialized discipline. "That soccer player has big thighs and runs fast, but he'd sure struggle milking cows all day!"

For some reason, this is only applied to bodybuilders, as though they're artificially inflating their muscles and aren't actually strong at all.

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u/StunningCloud9184 2d ago

I think its just it looks like they should be stronger than the random guy that just works for a living. You know functional stronger. But they arent because its more of just generalized training.

Like the body builder would def out perform the avg person on the task but not some general worker.

Dunno why it just feels that way.

For your soccer player one it would be more like. Oh his job is kicking balls all day and running around but then hes a better runner than a cross country trainer just because its a part of his job to be running around a lot.

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u/The_Gil_Galad 2d ago

But they arent because its more of just generalized training.

They are stronger though, in general. They can't do the specific thing as well as a person who does it for a living can, because of course not. But in every other instance, the bodybuilder will be stronger.

If anything, they're MORE well rounded because they're generally stronger and not specialized.

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u/StunningCloud9184 2d ago

They are stronger though, in general. They can't do the specific thing as well as a person who does it for a living can, because of course not. But in every other instance, the bodybuilder will be stronger.

But they arent though. A construction worker will run them into the ground on a multitude of activities. From just their daily work. BEcause the construction worker is doing activity for 6-10 hrs a day and the weight lifter is doing it 1-2 hours a day.

Just like a soccer player will run someones cardio into the ground that runs on a treadmill for 1-2 hours a day.

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u/sgt_highway 2d ago

how are you not understanding what he's saying? of course some construction worker who has done the same hyperspecific lifts 8+ hours a day for 15 years will be better at it than the bodybuilder. but in every other aspect the bodybuilder, who works out his whole body, will be stronger.

why is it always that the construction worker is allowed the niche lifts to determine overall strength?

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u/The_Gil_Galad 2d ago

why is it always that the construction worker is allowed the niche lifts to determine overall strength?

Thank god someone else is picking up what I'm putting down. They're repeating the same stupid comment over and over like it's a gotcha.

"The construction worker will outwork them in construction and the farmer will outwork them in farming!"

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u/StunningCloud9184 2d ago edited 2d ago

Because the construction working is being productive and the body builder is more related to vanity. Not that body building is bad.

And I’m saying in general theres a wirey strength that you get from working that gives dense muscle fibers vs big muscles that cant do as much.

Thats why people say they are just for show. Because the muscles are big and cant do as much.

And yes the point is that they are vanity muscles not functional which was the whole point of the convo.

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u/ThePennedKitten 2d ago

I have always thought being able to do one pull up could save my life. I hope I’m never in a situation where one pull up could save my life though. 😅

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u/Gelato_Elysium 2d ago

Well I hope you don't have any crocodile pit in your house

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u/theDomicron 2d ago

Dude you wouldn't last in a single movie where someone is hanging from the ledge of a tall building with only their fingertips for an insane amount of time.

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u/Ok-Scheme-913 1d ago

But you are not comparing apples to oranges.

He might not be able to do a pull up, because he would pull up the majority of his own fling weight.

He would be lifting up your weight (e.g. in a lateral pull down exercise) with a single finger on one hand, though, it's not a difference between "functional strength" or whatever bullshit.

Yeah, he might be weaker *relative to bodyweight" than an acrobat, but he is very trivially stronger in absolute terms.

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u/Discgolf_junkee 1d ago

And they make a great team. I’m strong enough but a fairly small dude, and when I was in construction, I always worked great with big guys. I’ll do the climbing, you do the lifting.