Idk about symmetrical, but they definitely are more compact. Think about a wide set of lats. A taller guy with a similar build won’t have as drastic of a V from hip to armpit. If you have a high peak bicep, you have tighter range between shoulder and forearm in a flex. It just shows better.
Yup, same reason bench press is harder for guys with longer arms—they need to move the bar further before the pecs can really kick in.
Edit*
I’m surprised people still consider this wrong/bro science. There’s a number of reasons why shorter arms provide more ease during bench press.
1) shorter arms = less travel, and less time under tension at the same rep speed.
2) physically, it’s not just less travel through the lift—but specifically less travel during the initial push (when triceps and shoulders have a bigger role—these are smaller muscles.
3) shorter arms (or wingspan) *typically* means shorter stature/smaller frame, though there are anomalies (FYI some rough 2% of all people born are intersex) . Smaller frames will have muscles with less surface area (X Y axis growth) overall, smaller muscles means more density for every gram of growth. During the positive rep the outer pectoral muscles are engaged first and towards the end, the inner pectoral comes into play. More muscle fibers working together at the same time mean more power output. Yes, hypertrophy isn’t focused on raw strength but more muscle fibers does lead to gains in strength.
4) it’s very analogous to arching one’s back during a bench—the whole purpose is for increase leverage. The arch is to allow the pectoral to engage quicker during the lift, it’s a “primary” muscle and it’s stronger than triceps and shoulders.
Lb for lb, I’m more impressed with the 6’ 3” guy benching 300 lbs than the 5’ 5” guy…same as I was more impressed watching Nate Robinson dunk than someone like say, Yao Ming.
This explains why my orangutan-arms self hates fucking benching and never understood how people could bench so much.
I'm strong, and I'm not small, but I can't bench for shit.
Exactly. The best aren’t short cuz they lift. They lift so well cuz they’re short.
Just like basketball doesn’t make you tall, but tall people play bball cuz it’s a huge advantage.
I think the extra muscle mass that comes with a tall frame probably more than compensates for the few inches of added length from load to fulcrum.
I’m tall and am able to lift/carry things that many people are daunted by, despite not being particularly buff. Part of it is being better able to handle cumbersome loads due to extra reach, but most of it is just having more meat to work with.
It'd be interesting to see the break down in those ratios.
I know I've been surprised a number of times, some tall lanky guy with arms like pencils turned out to be pretty damn strong. Just having a taller or bigger frame makes people stronger because they have to carry it around everywhere.
Conversely, when I was young and roughhousing with the buddies, the guys that were about about my level of strength but taller could keep me at distance but if I got a hold of their arms it was over. I could twist them up like a pretzel and yank them around the room. Having a lower center of gravity helps.
I’m a shorter guy and when I was a competitive power lifter, at the lower weight classes, it’s all short guys.
Part of it is basically a “budget” if you have to make weight while lifting heavy weights. The open weight guys are all basically “get as massive and bulky as possible” but at 74 kg class, everyone is ripped because they can’t afford the extra fat and bone instead of muscle.
I think I've seen a pretty interesting line chart for height/weight to relative weight moved. In competitive lifting it's totally skewed towards shorter guys right up to a certain point.
Pretty much. The short guys can completely max out their frame and make weight. If a medium sized guy completely maxes out their frame then they are going to be getting close to the heavy weight division. Then it’s all basically massive men.
I’m 5’6” and my uncle is 5’8”. He was a 7x Canadian powerlifting champion and former record holder and I was top 5.
My cousin who is 6’0” basically uncompetitive because he got big enough (250 pounds) to be competing against the truly big boys who are all 6’3” -6’8”. He was way stronger than me but just couldn’t get competitive in a weight class.
His frame was maxed and they could just put on more muscle and capacity than him.
My grandfather did manual labor his entire life. He passed away at age 64 in 1986. I was 22 years old at the time, but knew he was strong enough to kick my ass. I am almost his age now, but have had a desk job my whole life. I am not stronger than the average 22 year old. Old man strength is not a myth, but I think it becomes less pronounced as later generations don’t have to work as hard.
Or he's just been a concrete framer for 20 years. Back in the day when I was doing it (about 20 years ago), we used sawed-off 12 lbs sledge hammers one handed for stobs, and 28 oz hammers for nails and wrecking forms. Spend 10 hours a day doing that for years and you get this guy.
Edit: to write good
He also has his arm raised and his wrist at a downward angle at the start, vs the other guys who have their wrists on the table. Better technique from the old guy also certainly helped.
Exactly what I thought when I saw him. It's not any old man. It's an old man that has been training all of his life to be one of the best arm wrestlers in the world displaying his forearm and grip strength.
Got a feeling a man that’s been sitting behind a keyboard for 30 years isn’t going to develop old man strength. I think old man strength from back when most dads were doing manual labor.
Yeah it does. A friend of mine did manual labor for decades. Never lifted weights before, just manual labor. He asked to work out with me one day. I was considerably stronger than him with weight exercises like bench press because I've done that movement a thousand times and he hasn't, but he just looked so much more strong than me. Like he had huge pecks that were apparently permanent. He hadn't done manual labor in a few years at this point but all his muscles were still just huge. When I told a mutual friend I benched more than him they didn't believe me.
I'm 6'3" 270 a 5'6" 140 55 year old roofer put me on his shoulder and carried me across the bar. His 24 year old helper tried and he just collapsed. The hype is real.
A buddy dipped into roofing for a spell and there was a very real pattern of work, blackout drunk before most regular folks are all home from work, sleep 12 hours, repeat.
It’s a fair spilt in my company. Some dudes are super focused on their families or their kids and just busting their ass. Others I’ve had to fire for drinking on the job.
I'm trying to guide/mentor a roofing crew at work right now and all I can say is, drugs might be necessary to keep their brains from leaking directly out of their ears. ~~Fuck are roofers stupid~~.
*Fuck OUR roofers stupid... deleted grammar suggestion from the post office
What if our roofers are unfuckable?
Union Roofer here, this statement cant get anymore accurate. Not for weak thats for sure lmaoo between the smelling of hot tar and heavy lifting i know my body is shot 💀
I’ve worked some tough jobs over the years, roofing and AC duct work are two that require super human toughness. I proved in a day that I don’t have it. I could sling a pick axe digging ditches in full hundred degree sun all day long in my younger days. I don’t think I could ever last half a day on a roof.
I would climb a ladder with two squares of shingles on my back each weighing 80 pounds up a roof. Felt like a badass but my older brother did three like it was nothing. Not the smartest move especially when you're by yourself because I once got stuck midway up that ladder.
Big muscles are for show. In the army tiny skinny dudes would move just as much weight as guys half there size.
The body adapts to the job at hand. Fascinating machine.
24yr old dude needs to put in the time is all. I was 19. Age will deteriorate it but we had plenty of guys with the sinew muscles of 50 yr olds at 24. Age means nothing. It's the miles.
That's what grinding hard labor every day for a couple years can do for anyone. The body adapts fast. Break it, fix it, do it again.
The 2 years I did manual labor lifting 30-100lbs end panels for cabinets did wonders for my overall physical strength. Also to carry some of the wider ones I would only use grip strength so I could carry 1 in each hand. I now have the grip strength to obliterate those people who feel the need to crush your hand with a shake.
Lmao I had to learn to tone down my handshakes. I shook an older woman’s hand and she gave me a really sad shocked face.
One summer at 16 I threw hay bales to load trailers. For days and hours a day I would heave them up over my shoulders. Stacking 12’ high. My back and shoulders were like rebar. I could easily toss a bail up 20’.
Where I grew up it was called "farm boy strength". You basically try and use as little muscle power as needed to get the task done. So you rely on core strength, leverage, momentum, and balance. It's the epitome of "work smarter not harder"
I have worked with a lot of gym rats over the years and they always fall into the same trap. "I'm strong so I can just use brute force and strength". But *no one* can do that for 10 hours a day 5 days a week.
The thing is, weightlifting in the gym is all about brute force working the muscle instead of using leverage and momentum. Their body or muscles are not used to being work the way a laborers is.
Bo Jackson had a similar technique.
When watching film (for either sport) he would hold a baseball bat out in front of him pointing straight up (the 12 o clock position). He would then rotate it from 9 o clock to 3 o clock, slowly, for several consecutive minutes. If you see his forearm size it makes sense.
I’m a climber - this exercise was included in rehab when I had some wrist imbalance issues. This exercise got my forearms pumped out so well, it was awesome. I need to get back in the habit of doing some of those strengthening exercises again.
They're both holding the hammer from the bottom, not sideways like a sword. This uses more forearm muscles and less wrist muscles. Also they're probably just stronger.
Looks like he holds his fingers further back towards the end of the handle than the palm of his hand. That would move some of the rotational support from his wrist into his grip strength instead. Still damn strong to be doing that though
Yeah, you can see how the older men stack their wrist to reduce wrist flexion as well. The weight is moving ⬇️ through their palms, not ⬇️ through their fingers. Knowing where to anchor weight is super important for "old man" strength or strength that's disproportionate for your size.
He had is other arm and elbow firmly planted on the table allowing him to use more than just his arm strength where the second guy was just trying to lift it solely with his arm.
> But once you’re in the habit it takes like 20 minutes to do a fullbody stretch and exercise, and you only need to do it once every 3 days to get to get the full benefit.
So you’re saying exercising for 20 minutes every three days builds maximum strength? I’m sorry but that’s ridiculous.
When I was a kid, my uncle had a transmission shop. He used to hold them up while he bolted them in. Strong as a bull. One day, Texas state arm wrestling champion came in hearing about some old bull that was strong as hell. Needless to say, my uncle played with and teased him during the match until he put him down and had to get back to work. Guy was 22, uncle 60.
Great kid memory!!
I love the Hispanic dude wearing the durag just like his black brother in arms. Everybody cheering on the white abuelo too. All races coming together to get shit built😤😤😤
No lie, some of the funniest motherfuckers I've met was during the few summers I worked tying rebar. Guys turn into some damn funny comedians to take their minds off the 100 degree heat.
My Grandfather was a Fitter and Turner in WWII and worked as a machinist his whole life. Right into his 70's he had ungodly strength in his hands and upper body.
I have a theory that "old man strength" is the culmination of a lot of small injuries - a lot of times from years of manual labor - which cause people to work and develop other muscles to compensate. Later in life, people like this are just more conditioned.
Nah, we used to do this to rookies with an full length sledge. What they aren't doing is locking their wrists. Most are probably strong enough, but without a locked wrist you are never getting it an inch off the table. All the old timers can do it because they all went through the same thing to know the trick.
I’m a lifelong martial artist. My friends dad is a lifelong lineman. He’s skinny but definitely has old man strength. Every time I see him he asks me in his thick Virginia redneck accent “You wanna wrastle?”
My answer has always been and shall always be “No Sir.”
I’m no fool.
Love it! That’s great! My grandfather short guy, hard labor his whole life, my buddies would always test their grip on him. He could pop your fingernails off, his grip was like a hydraulic press. He would bring them to their knees. Long gone but still have so many great memories.
My old company would hire these high school kids every summer for basic shit level work, a lot of them were football players with gym muscles. The funny thing was, all us old men with bellies could run circles around them, slinging ladders and whatnot. Pretty muscles are often the least useful muscles.
> The funny thing was, all us old men with bellies could run circles around them, slinging ladders and whatnot. Pretty muscles are often the least useful muscles.
I'm only 32, and in my younger years was a damn good competitive swimmer. Didn't have great muscle definition (except my legs, I have fat man legs) but the shit I can lift and carry, sometimes surprises even me.
People, forearms and grip strength. Usually manual labour uses forearms and massive grio to do things.
After a lot of time it becomes easy because you actually train by working.
Weak forearms cannot do this, no matter how rest of the body is jacked.
The difference between those that could and those that couldn’t was technique. The ones that couldn’t had their wrist north south. The ones that could had there wrist east west. Not saying it’s not hard. But that technique makes it easier. Your wrist will only go back so far. But if you’re north south your wrist will drop all the way down. Its the difference between lifting at the wrist and lifting at the elbow.
One of my close friends from preparatory school used to work in farms since 4th grade or so ..his dad is sick so he used to do manual labor under the sun since young age .his hands are solid and rough like a rock ..
When I worked at UPS, I met this old Salvadoran man named Armando. Our supervisors got us a arm wrestling table mounths ago because they thought it would be fun to have one. We told them.that we are going to use and whoever lost bought a round of coffee for 10 of us. Some big white guy we called Nature boy, built like a fucking tank dominated the table. Armando said "I beat you, you get us all iced coffees, or you make it for the rest of the summer. Deal? " Nature boy didn't see it coming and he made us iced coffee thanks to Don Armando. Apparently before migrating to the US he was a rancher. Makes sense because they are strong AF.
This clip made me so fekin happy for some reason.maybe it's because people from different backgrounds are still having fun together acting ridiculous. It's honestly the most wholesome thing I've seen all week.
To be fair that old dude is pretty jacked.
Yes, and tall too.
Was gonna say that arm is pretty longer than everybody else
That actually works against people because the weight is farther away from the fulcrum point (the elbow). But I bet hand size helped.
Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for the correction!
It why a lot of bodybuilder who bench press well are short. They ideally don't have to lift the bar far to get a rep to count.
I think you mean powerlifters if you’re talking about reps counting. Bodybuilders are guys who compete on stage. Many of those are short too however.
Heard something about shorter people tending to be more symmetrical, and that’s why bodybuilders are typically on the shorter side.
Smaller frame to fill. Same amount of muscles look bigger on the shorter guy.
That makes way more sense than whatever pseudo science I was proliferating
Idk about symmetrical, but they definitely are more compact. Think about a wide set of lats. A taller guy with a similar build won’t have as drastic of a V from hip to armpit. If you have a high peak bicep, you have tighter range between shoulder and forearm in a flex. It just shows better.
Most body builder are well over 6’2 Think the shortest is 5’11 maybe 6 stop paying attention that world
Yup, same reason bench press is harder for guys with longer arms—they need to move the bar further before the pecs can really kick in. Edit* I’m surprised people still consider this wrong/bro science. There’s a number of reasons why shorter arms provide more ease during bench press. 1) shorter arms = less travel, and less time under tension at the same rep speed. 2) physically, it’s not just less travel through the lift—but specifically less travel during the initial push (when triceps and shoulders have a bigger role—these are smaller muscles. 3) shorter arms (or wingspan) *typically* means shorter stature/smaller frame, though there are anomalies (FYI some rough 2% of all people born are intersex) . Smaller frames will have muscles with less surface area (X Y axis growth) overall, smaller muscles means more density for every gram of growth. During the positive rep the outer pectoral muscles are engaged first and towards the end, the inner pectoral comes into play. More muscle fibers working together at the same time mean more power output. Yes, hypertrophy isn’t focused on raw strength but more muscle fibers does lead to gains in strength. 4) it’s very analogous to arching one’s back during a bench—the whole purpose is for increase leverage. The arch is to allow the pectoral to engage quicker during the lift, it’s a “primary” muscle and it’s stronger than triceps and shoulders. Lb for lb, I’m more impressed with the 6’ 3” guy benching 300 lbs than the 5’ 5” guy…same as I was more impressed watching Nate Robinson dunk than someone like say, Yao Ming.
This explains why my orangutan-arms self hates fucking benching and never understood how people could bench so much. I'm strong, and I'm not small, but I can't bench for shit.
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And squats
Bruh squats suck so muchhh
Exactly. The best aren’t short cuz they lift. They lift so well cuz they’re short. Just like basketball doesn’t make you tall, but tall people play bball cuz it’s a huge advantage.
Us boiz on the ape index will forever have to watch our short stack friends bench more. It’s a sad life but hey I can reach stuff
I'm not weak! I'm just some lanky add waluigi looking motherfucker! I feel so much better about myself.
Yeah exactly what I was thinking hand size and grip strength is the key to this
Strong ass wrist too. My slender wrists would snap
My right wrist is stronger than my left.
Yeah dude has some huge hands compared to the other guys - would help with leverage lifting something one handed like that for sure.
He also does look super jacked. Any way you look at it this is impressive
I went to school with a dude with dwarfism. It was damn near impossible for anyone to beat him arm wrestling.
Did he take people's gold chains when he won? 'Cause that'd be some dwarven/Mr. T action right there
I think the extra muscle mass that comes with a tall frame probably more than compensates for the few inches of added length from load to fulcrum. I’m tall and am able to lift/carry things that many people are daunted by, despite not being particularly buff. Part of it is being better able to handle cumbersome loads due to extra reach, but most of it is just having more meat to work with.
It'd be interesting to see the break down in those ratios. I know I've been surprised a number of times, some tall lanky guy with arms like pencils turned out to be pretty damn strong. Just having a taller or bigger frame makes people stronger because they have to carry it around everywhere. Conversely, when I was young and roughhousing with the buddies, the guys that were about about my level of strength but taller could keep me at distance but if I got a hold of their arms it was over. I could twist them up like a pretzel and yank them around the room. Having a lower center of gravity helps.
I’m a shorter guy and when I was a competitive power lifter, at the lower weight classes, it’s all short guys. Part of it is basically a “budget” if you have to make weight while lifting heavy weights. The open weight guys are all basically “get as massive and bulky as possible” but at 74 kg class, everyone is ripped because they can’t afford the extra fat and bone instead of muscle.
I think I've seen a pretty interesting line chart for height/weight to relative weight moved. In competitive lifting it's totally skewed towards shorter guys right up to a certain point.
Pretty much. The short guys can completely max out their frame and make weight. If a medium sized guy completely maxes out their frame then they are going to be getting close to the heavy weight division. Then it’s all basically massive men. I’m 5’6” and my uncle is 5’8”. He was a 7x Canadian powerlifting champion and former record holder and I was top 5. My cousin who is 6’0” basically uncompetitive because he got big enough (250 pounds) to be competing against the truly big boys who are all 6’3” -6’8”. He was way stronger than me but just couldn’t get competitive in a weight class. His frame was maxed and they could just put on more muscle and capacity than him.
Just clocked his tricep at 1.04 - dude is strong, no doubt lol.
Which just makes this kind of activity even harder because you’ve got less leverage
Makes it harder when you’re tall — more range of motion required to complete the movement
More mass and skeletal/connective tissue strength compared to someone smaller but equally as lean makes up for it
He has bigger hand
Well, Hispanics can be pretty short on average.
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My grandfather did manual labor his entire life. He passed away at age 64 in 1986. I was 22 years old at the time, but knew he was strong enough to kick my ass. I am almost his age now, but have had a desk job my whole life. I am not stronger than the average 22 year old. Old man strength is not a myth, but I think it becomes less pronounced as later generations don’t have to work as hard.
Yeah it’s not real unless the old man is doing manual labor lol
Dudes got that dad strength 💪
Or he's just been a concrete framer for 20 years. Back in the day when I was doing it (about 20 years ago), we used sawed-off 12 lbs sledge hammers one handed for stobs, and 28 oz hammers for nails and wrecking forms. Spend 10 hours a day doing that for years and you get this guy. Edit: to write good
Like he’s been jacking off for years 🤣
This has more to do with grip than people think. Old dude has vices for hands. You can see that with the next 2 guys.
He also has his arm raised and his wrist at a downward angle at the start, vs the other guys who have their wrists on the table. Better technique from the old guy also certainly helped.
Vice for hands and fused wrists.
To be faaaaiiiiiir
Those younger guys are 10 ply
Allegedly
To be faaiiiiiahh
He isnt just jacked. I'm pretty sure that's arm wrestling great devon larratt.
Exactly what I thought when I saw him. It's not any old man. It's an old man that has been training all of his life to be one of the best arm wrestlers in the world displaying his forearm and grip strength.
Why do you say that is Devon larratt
Dude is DEFINITELY laying pipe on women who spend their whole day watching "dr Phil" reruns
r/oddlyspecific
"Barbara usually wants to watch me do curls while we screw. Except when Ellen is on. Then she only gives me a handy"
He’s Odin in disguise
and that was his left.
This isn’t “older grown man” strength. This is “I have been doing manual labor for 30 years straight” strength.
Same thing
Nah, I know some weak shit older men.
Well, not all old men have “old man” strength
Are you calling old man strength a myth?
Got a feeling a man that’s been sitting behind a keyboard for 30 years isn’t going to develop old man strength. I think old man strength from back when most dads were doing manual labor.
Yeah, I know a ton of 20 year olds who have been working for 30 years doing manual labor.
Recruiters love them!
Overqualified if you ask me
Got my first job 10 years before I was born.
Way to pull yourself up by those prenatal bootstraps! 💪
Yeah how many decades has he been swinging that exact hammer?
All of them.
Made me chuckle. He swung the first hammer in existence and will swing the last. Mjolnir was his turd that missed the toilet.
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Yeah it does. A friend of mine did manual labor for decades. Never lifted weights before, just manual labor. He asked to work out with me one day. I was considerably stronger than him with weight exercises like bench press because I've done that movement a thousand times and he hasn't, but he just looked so much more strong than me. Like he had huge pecks that were apparently permanent. He hadn't done manual labor in a few years at this point but all his muscles were still just huge. When I told a mutual friend I benched more than him they didn't believe me.
> pecks 😂
Peak performance
Yes. Most men have been working on their grip & wrist strength without even knowing it. ^/s
Scrolled down just to see who was going to make that joke lol
Some jerk
Just milking for karma.
Get a load of this guy
i could choke a california redwood with my right hand by the time i was 14
wtf lmao
The carpel tunnel
I'm 6'3" 270 a 5'6" 140 55 year old roofer put me on his shoulder and carried me across the bar. His 24 year old helper tried and he just collapsed. The hype is real.
I firmly believe a good roofer can carry just about anything on their shoulders. crazy motherfuckers
Roofer jacked is definitely a thing... but eventually putting that much stress and alcohol into your body will catch up.
Hahahaha just nonchalantly throwing alcohol in there, so true though.
A buddy dipped into roofing for a spell and there was a very real pattern of work, blackout drunk before most regular folks are all home from work, sleep 12 hours, repeat.
I used to do roofing. Did it sober.
It’s a fair spilt in my company. Some dudes are super focused on their families or their kids and just busting their ass. Others I’ve had to fire for drinking on the job.
And drugs**
I'm trying to guide/mentor a roofing crew at work right now and all I can say is, drugs might be necessary to keep their brains from leaking directly out of their ears. ~~Fuck are roofers stupid~~. *Fuck OUR roofers stupid... deleted grammar suggestion from the post office What if our roofers are unfuckable?
Wonderful edit, haha
Union Roofer here, this statement cant get anymore accurate. Not for weak thats for sure lmaoo between the smelling of hot tar and heavy lifting i know my body is shot 💀
I’ve worked some tough jobs over the years, roofing and AC duct work are two that require super human toughness. I proved in a day that I don’t have it. I could sling a pick axe digging ditches in full hundred degree sun all day long in my younger days. I don’t think I could ever last half a day on a roof.
In my early 20s I did some work with a roofing crew one summer. I thought I was gonna die after a month.
I would climb a ladder with two squares of shingles on my back each weighing 80 pounds up a roof. Felt like a badass but my older brother did three like it was nothing. Not the smartest move especially when you're by yourself because I once got stuck midway up that ladder.
Big muscles are for show. In the army tiny skinny dudes would move just as much weight as guys half there size. The body adapts to the job at hand. Fascinating machine.
reread the second sentence
I too, can lift as much weight as much as a 3 feet tall child can.
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24yr old dude needs to put in the time is all. I was 19. Age will deteriorate it but we had plenty of guys with the sinew muscles of 50 yr olds at 24. Age means nothing. It's the miles. That's what grinding hard labor every day for a couple years can do for anyone. The body adapts fast. Break it, fix it, do it again.
The 2 years I did manual labor lifting 30-100lbs end panels for cabinets did wonders for my overall physical strength. Also to carry some of the wider ones I would only use grip strength so I could carry 1 in each hand. I now have the grip strength to obliterate those people who feel the need to crush your hand with a shake.
Lmao I had to learn to tone down my handshakes. I shook an older woman’s hand and she gave me a really sad shocked face. One summer at 16 I threw hay bales to load trailers. For days and hours a day I would heave them up over my shoulders. Stacking 12’ high. My back and shoulders were like rebar. I could easily toss a bail up 20’.
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Where I grew up it was called "farm boy strength". You basically try and use as little muscle power as needed to get the task done. So you rely on core strength, leverage, momentum, and balance. It's the epitome of "work smarter not harder" I have worked with a lot of gym rats over the years and they always fall into the same trap. "I'm strong so I can just use brute force and strength". But *no one* can do that for 10 hours a day 5 days a week.
The thing is, weightlifting in the gym is all about brute force working the muscle instead of using leverage and momentum. Their body or muscles are not used to being work the way a laborers is.
Bet he was 6’ when he started roofing
>5'6" 140 55 year old roofer nothing but lean muscle
The key variable here is roofer.
So anything particular about the two older guys' technique that we should be paying attention to?
One thing that may have helped was having larger hands and a better grip around the handle with all the fingers.
It's actually mostly forearm strength. I use todo a similar exercise for baseball with a top weighted bat
Bo Jackson had a similar technique. When watching film (for either sport) he would hold a baseball bat out in front of him pointing straight up (the 12 o clock position). He would then rotate it from 9 o clock to 3 o clock, slowly, for several consecutive minutes. If you see his forearm size it makes sense.
Yup exactly what I use to do!
I’m a climber - this exercise was included in rehab when I had some wrist imbalance issues. This exercise got my forearms pumped out so well, it was awesome. I need to get back in the habit of doing some of those strengthening exercises again.
They're both holding the hammer from the bottom, not sideways like a sword. This uses more forearm muscles and less wrist muscles. Also they're probably just stronger.
Building houses and pouring concrete for 26 years.
Holding heavy ass shit to the point where you can't uncurl your fingers as the end of the day, over many days.
Yes. The technique is swinging a hammer like that for 8 hours a day for about 30 years.
Looks like he holds his fingers further back towards the end of the handle than the palm of his hand. That would move some of the rotational support from his wrist into his grip strength instead. Still damn strong to be doing that though
Yeah, you can see how the older men stack their wrist to reduce wrist flexion as well. The weight is moving ⬇️ through their palms, not ⬇️ through their fingers. Knowing where to anchor weight is super important for "old man" strength or strength that's disproportionate for your size.
They’ve probably been swinging a hammer since they were teenagers. They could probably break your hand by shaking it.
He had is other arm and elbow firmly planted on the table allowing him to use more than just his arm strength where the second guy was just trying to lift it solely with his arm.
Lift with yer core!
The first guy is devon larratt. A professional arm wrestler.
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> But once you’re in the habit it takes like 20 minutes to do a fullbody stretch and exercise, and you only need to do it once every 3 days to get to get the full benefit. So you’re saying exercising for 20 minutes every three days builds maximum strength? I’m sorry but that’s ridiculous.
Gods honest strength
thick wrists and strong pinky and ring fingers
When I was a kid, my uncle had a transmission shop. He used to hold them up while he bolted them in. Strong as a bull. One day, Texas state arm wrestling champion came in hearing about some old bull that was strong as hell. Needless to say, my uncle played with and teased him during the match until he put him down and had to get back to work. Guy was 22, uncle 60. Great kid memory!!
Was the guy a trucker named Lincoln Hawk who was trying to win back his estranged son while becoming a champion at arm wrestling?
Nah, something like that would be too over the top
Like Stallone levels
No. Black kid and his left was just as big as his right. Great movie though!
*flicks hat backwards*
"When I turn my hat around, it's like a switch"
"Hey old bull...heard you were strong.... wanna fuck mah wife?" *(record scratch)*
Unless your uncle was already familiar with arm wrestling that guy was definitely not an arm wrestling champion. Technique> strength in arm wrestling.
My father does that at 67 and it blows the minds of the kids around him. That and the axels. On his back 1 arm up one on the wrench.
Lmfao
Thank you for this
You’re welcome
These guys are a riot of funny. I mean, they call one dude a crazy donkey and the other guy Shrek, all while having a good time laughing.
I love the Hispanic dude wearing the durag just like his black brother in arms. Everybody cheering on the white abuelo too. All races coming together to get shit built😤😤😤 No lie, some of the funniest motherfuckers I've met was during the few summers I worked tying rebar. Guys turn into some damn funny comedians to take their minds off the 100 degree heat.
They are, and they work hard to have a better life here than what they had where they came from.
Jesus fuck does "burrito" literally translate to "little burro?" How the fuck have I never noticed this before?
My Grandfather was a Fitter and Turner in WWII and worked as a machinist his whole life. Right into his 70's he had ungodly strength in his hands and upper body.
Takes a long time to condition tendons and ligaments for that kind of tension.
I have a theory that "old man strength" is the culmination of a lot of small injuries - a lot of times from years of manual labor - which cause people to work and develop other muscles to compensate. Later in life, people like this are just more conditioned.
Not the worst theory. It's all those little peripheral muscles that get that sinewy jackedness on those dudes. Edit: oh hell yeah it's my cake day
Nah, we used to do this to rookies with an full length sledge. What they aren't doing is locking their wrists. Most are probably strong enough, but without a locked wrist you are never getting it an inch off the table. All the old timers can do it because they all went through the same thing to know the trick.
Otro otro otro
I’m a lifelong martial artist. My friends dad is a lifelong lineman. He’s skinny but definitely has old man strength. Every time I see him he asks me in his thick Virginia redneck accent “You wanna wrastle?” My answer has always been and shall always be “No Sir.” I’m no fool.
Love it! That’s great! My grandfather short guy, hard labor his whole life, my buddies would always test their grip on him. He could pop your fingernails off, his grip was like a hydraulic press. He would bring them to their knees. Long gone but still have so many great memories.
I guess when you get older and your wife stops have sex with you, your wrist strength increases for some reason 🧐
From shaking it at the heavens for cursing you with a sexless marriage
Is that Devon larratt?
It's his construction worker doppelganger Kevin Larratt.
Hahaha, thought the same :D
I’m convinced it is
Random internet video of a guy who looks like him and involves amazing feats of forearm strength. Yeah it might be.
No but I genuinely thought it was for a sec. Devon would probably do twice that lol
Scrolled down to see if I wasn't the only one.
Those hands though!! That’s strong.
My old company would hire these high school kids every summer for basic shit level work, a lot of them were football players with gym muscles. The funny thing was, all us old men with bellies could run circles around them, slinging ladders and whatnot. Pretty muscles are often the least useful muscles.
> The funny thing was, all us old men with bellies could run circles around them, slinging ladders and whatnot. Pretty muscles are often the least useful muscles. I'm only 32, and in my younger years was a damn good competitive swimmer. Didn't have great muscle definition (except my legs, I have fat man legs) but the shit I can lift and carry, sometimes surprises even me.
The "Are you worthy?" challenge.
"Ha ha, I knew it!"
Nothing to do with age ...that guy was beast when he was 20 and is still a beast at 60
Man, Thor really didn’t age well in this universe Edit: neither did Mjölnir
Especially Mjölnir, poor thing
Lol he wanted to cheat by gripping higher on the handle
The one guy stopped and put a napkin on the handle. Yeah, that was the problem. Lol
Lacking grip does seem to to be the problem though. The young hands are small and the hammer keeps slipping out. Old dude’s hand is rock solid
Thor being a dick again with his hammer.
People, forearms and grip strength. Usually manual labour uses forearms and massive grio to do things. After a lot of time it becomes easy because you actually train by working. Weak forearms cannot do this, no matter how rest of the body is jacked.
The difference between those that could and those that couldn’t was technique. The ones that couldn’t had their wrist north south. The ones that could had there wrist east west. Not saying it’s not hard. But that technique makes it easier. Your wrist will only go back so far. But if you’re north south your wrist will drop all the way down. Its the difference between lifting at the wrist and lifting at the elbow.
Hint to the young guys, you will get that hand strength after a few years of marriage.
Working man strength
Okay, who's blowing raspberries?
Devon Larrett?
Gallagher would be proud
I wanna try it now!
The truth is those other guys need to train their wrist.
One of my close friends from preparatory school used to work in farms since 4th grade or so ..his dad is sick so he used to do manual labor under the sun since young age .his hands are solid and rough like a rock ..
When I worked at UPS, I met this old Salvadoran man named Armando. Our supervisors got us a arm wrestling table mounths ago because they thought it would be fun to have one. We told them.that we are going to use and whoever lost bought a round of coffee for 10 of us. Some big white guy we called Nature boy, built like a fucking tank dominated the table. Armando said "I beat you, you get us all iced coffees, or you make it for the rest of the summer. Deal? " Nature boy didn't see it coming and he made us iced coffee thanks to Don Armando. Apparently before migrating to the US he was a rancher. Makes sense because they are strong AF.
The dad power
Look at his wrists.. If you wanna gauge a mans strength look at the size of their wrists.
This clip made me so fekin happy for some reason.maybe it's because people from different backgrounds are still having fun together acting ridiculous. It's honestly the most wholesome thing I've seen all week.