How do you define strong?

Taureau

Administrator
Say you meet someone for the first time and they tell you how much they lift. What does he have to lift in order for you to think he was strong??
 
NFL standard for linebackers used to be 8 reps with 90 incline press.
 
Strongman competitor on another forum could not support his weight on a set of rings....
 
1985. There’s 6 of us in a crew cab heading out to the bush. One of the guys was a old grizzled faller a drunk as wide as he was tall. His idea of having a mixed drink was a glass almost filled to the top with rum and maybe a couple ounces of coca cola. A 26er of that and a case of beer was his during the week nightly drink, the weekends was another story. A hard worker though couldn't take that away from him.

Anyway we're off to work, the box of the truck is overflowing with chainsaws, chokers, cables more than maxed out with weight. Of course we get a flat in the back tire. We all jump out and do what we can to speed things up. I grab the bumper jack, set in place and start jacking her up. The weight of the truck combined with all the weight in the box it was all I could do to lift, I was putting my entire body weight ( I weighed about 160 back then) into it.

That grizzled old bastard was impatient especially with newer guys which I was. He was hollering at me to get the damned tire off the ground, I finally lost it and hollered back to fuck off and to do it himself. He pushes me aside and still on his knees leaning over to see the tire he extends his arm reaches over and with his arm still extended he starts jacking the truck up.

Everyone of us just stood there with our jaws dropped.

I've seen plenty of guys in the gym lifting crazy amount of weight but for me whenever that question comes up I can't help but think of this old guy, truly impressive.
 
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NFL standard for linebackers used to be 8 reps with 90 incline press.
Holyfuck I hope you are joking, if not doesnt that seem pretty fucking weak to you? You mean one 90 lb DB in each hand right?
 
Holyfuck I hope you are joking, if not doesnt that seem pretty fucking weak to you? You mean one 90 lb DB in each hand right?
One in each hand of course.That was a min.Average linebacker was about 225 early 80s iirc.Now you have many that are bigger.The 225 bench for reps I believe is still used.
 
One in each hand of course.That was a min.Average linebacker was about 225 early 80s iirc.Now you have many that are bigger.The 225 bench for reps I believe is still used.

Well that 90 x 8 for inclines is stupidly low , I got all kinds of 140 pound kids that can put that up and double the reps
 
Video or you are lying, lol.

I noted the lol but what do you think really? Average LB (current day though) is about 6'2" 244 lbs, incline press of any sort is an extremely important skill to have when a large part of your job is to be leaned forward and trying to drive or control another heavy athletic man, other than the dynamic motion and changes of direction those battles very nearly approximate a standing incline press. Ridiculously low to call a standard imo.

The nfl combine standards a bit silly overall imo, especially the new 225 lb bench press. The average play lasts about 4 seconds, how does measuring a set of 20-40+ reps provide any truly relevant info.

PS - no videos available as I don't have the rights to do that but technically you are correct, you caught me lying because the program I give them has them add weight once they accomplish 14reps :) . There have been at least 20 of them though, all sportsmen at a fairly high level and all between 17 and 21 years old
 
Always an interesting topic to me. Coming from grappling world, I regularly see guys that are functionally strong as hell on the mats but are not strong in the gym and I see other guys that are strong in both disciplines. I also see guys that got big muscles, say they lift a ton but you can rag doll them on the mats.

Overall, some of the strongest people I have ever met are the wrestlers and judo guys that have been training since there early teens. The combination of muscle strength, tendon strength and the ability to generate force when everything is not perfectly aligned seems to “harden” the whole body and pound for pound create a ton of total power/strength.


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I noted the lol but what do you think really? Average LB (current day though) is about 6'2" 244 lbs, incline press of any sort is an extremely important skill to have when a large part of your job is to be leaned forward and trying to drive or control another heavy athletic man, other than the dynamic motion and changes of direction those battles very nearly approximate a standing incline press. Ridiculously low to call a standard imo.

The nfl combine standards a bit silly overall imo, especially the new 225 lb bench press. The average play lasts about 4 seconds, how does measuring a set of 20-40+ reps provide any truly relevant info.

PS - no videos available as I don't have the rights to do that but technically you are correct, you caught me lying because the program I give them has them add weight once they accomplish 14reps :) . There have been at least 20 of them though, all sportsmen at a fairly high level and all between 17 and 21 years old

So at 140 lbs can do 14 reps with proper range of motion with 90 lb dumbbells? I’m fucking weak then. I think my closest was 160lbs I could do 90 lb dumbells for 3-4 reps.
 
Don’t really have a barometer to be honest. I suppose a 500 plus pound squat...actually breaking parallel...which nowadays is beyond rare lol and a 400 plus bench is what I consider a stronger lifter. A six plate squat and 500 bench..that I will double take and acknowledge as Impressive.
 
And no disrespect to anyone posting above,,, especially Sorbate....but if we are talking a truly strong lifter..as I need impressively strong...90 pound dumbbells for 14 reps is not overly impressive if you are looking for a strong label. Nothing wrong with it and nothing to be embarrassed about , it’s a good lift, but hardly in the strong category....which is certainly a matter of opinion anyways :)
 
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NFL standard for linebackers used to be 8 reps with 90 incline press.
Give me a break...nfl linebackers? When..in 1950? thats absurd low ...absurd low
They have used the 225 rep test for as long as the combine has been around and your average nfl linebacker is 20 plus reps
 
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Give me a break...nfl linebackers? When..in 1950? thats absurd low ...absurd low
They have used the 225 rep test for as long as the combine has been around and your average nfl linebacker is 20 plus reps
Early 80s.That is a min standard.Just like a vertical jump a coach might evaluate to be bothered with working a receiver out.Lou Ferrigno did not make the cut trying out for whatever nfl team it was.225 is with a fixed bar.Lee Priest apparently handled a pair of 180s at times....short arms.
 
Early 80s.That is a min standard.Just like a vertical jump a coach might evaluate to be bothered with working a receiver out.Lou Ferrigno did not make the cut trying out for whatever nfl team it was.225 is with a fixed bar.Lee Priest apparently handled a pair of 180s at times....short arms.

So they would have simply cut an nfl linebacker based on failing a minimum incline dumbbells press??? I’m literally not to going to engage you in another senseless debate. Whatever you think dude. There was no minimum linebacker incline dumbbell press ...hell not every player on the early 80s even lifted weights... think about what’s you are even claiming with some logic dude. Lawrence Taylor was one of the best of all time, played in the 1980s, and is famous for not lifting weights...Charles Haley, a defensive lineman, also famous for this. Your just spouting things dude.
 
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strong is having a great spotter, and you trying a weight that's more than you've ever tried before, and someone is there to help you through your mental plateaus in a press. Strong is totally relative.


...although spotting a guy pressing over 7 plates and watching the bar bending is pretty friggin' incredible!!!
 
So at 140 lbs can do 14 reps with proper range of motion with 90 lb dumbbells? I’m fucking weak then. I think my closest was 160lbs I could do 90 lb dumbells for 3-4 reps.

Nah it doesn't mean you are weak, different people are gonna be strong at different things is all. Also most of "my kids" have been training with weights for way longer than people would think and I use the incline DB press as the primary pushing exercise right from the get go with a narrow/closegrip chinups or pulldowns variant for a primary pulling movement. That's why I jumped on Cog's post so hard, I am very familiar with it and how important it is for an athlete. If a football player, hockey player, rugby player etc or almost any kind of combat athlete is weak in those movements they are doing themselves a severe disservice, they are just asking to get tossed around no matter how strong of a base they may have.
 
Always an interesting topic to me. Coming from grappling world, I regularly see guys that are functionally strong as hell on the mats but are not strong in the gym and I see other guys that are strong in both disciplines. I also see guys that got big muscles, say they lift a ton but you can rag doll them on the mats.

Overall, some of the strongest people I have ever met are the wrestlers and judo guys that have been training since there early teens. The combination of muscle strength, tendon strength and the ability to generate force when everything is not perfectly aligned seems to “harden” the whole body and pound for pound create a ton of total power/strength.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dat der farmboy strength
 
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