A New Study Finds That Men Are Weaker Today Than They Were 30 Years Ago

The point of the Vesuvius meme, which might appear misplaced on this thread:

We are at a point on the arc of history right before “Crash And Burn.”

The emasculation, feminization and homosexualization of Western Man is a well-understood point on the arc.

After the crash, who knows what comes next.

Grip strength is a valid indicator of overall strength. You can't lift anything if you can't hold it. If you are doing the big three, (squats,press and deadlift) your grip will be commensurate with your PRs. Doing curls ain't gonna cut it.

Go to any weightlifting board and check out the articles regarding grip strength. Grip straps may help, but regardless, grip strength is a limiting factor for heavy lifting and thereby a valid measurement.

These modern gyms are not designed for strength training. The isolation machines are praying used for hypertrophic exercise to build muscle mass. While those Hollywood muscles may look good, they aren't going to help you when it comes to building strength.

Back in the 20s and 30s buildings were often built ahead of schedule and under budget. That was true of the Hoover Dam and also the Empire State Building.

I just read a book about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge (by David McCullough). Well recommended. Anyway, upwards of 20 men died building that bridge. Maybe as many as 50 as some workers literally went home to die (after getting injured or getting the bends while building the underwater caissons). The designer of the bridge (John Roebling) died as a result of getting injured on the job and his son (Washington) suffered from the bends and was confined to his home for most of the project. Still, he was able, with the help of his wife, to manage the project from home as Chief Engineer.

One thing that struck me was that immediately after an accident, the construction resumed. Usually within hours. This was dangerous work and death and injury was expected. Sure, they put what safety measures in place they could to prevent it. But they plowed full speed ahead despite the mounting casualties.

These days, construction projects are put on hold indefinitely when there is a death or serious injury on the job. When we had a Space Shuttle crash, it was a year or two before the next one went up. Now we don't bother putting people in space at all anymore. Too dangerous I reckon.

My father grew up on a farm during Depression Era. He had a hard live growing up. Had to be up at 4AM to take care of the cows before walking barefoot to school. Then had work in the fields after school. This was normal. He was very strong and athletic, even though he never had time for proper sports. I remember him effortlessly driving golf balls 250+ yards at a driving range despite almost never actually playing the game. He just had that kind of strength from growing up on the farm.

My father used to say (only half jokingly) that my brother and I were brought up more as girls than as boys compared to how he had it. And he had a point. My brother and I would consider even simple manual chores like mowing the grass or shoveling snow "hard work" and we'd grumble about it. Such was life growing up in the leafy suburbs in the 1970s. When my own children were growing up, we usually hired landscapers so they did even less.

Have you done football, manufacturing, fighting (boxing/full contact), rugby, Army combat specialty training (for a few years at least), weight training,...?

I saw quite a few fat slobs in manufacturing for heavier products. They moved their hands much, while the remainder of their bodies atrophied and bloated. They generally moved like sloths. It’s highly likely that none of them are alive today. They mostly stood in one place except for hand movements. Their were a few of us who often did more lifting from the floor instead of easy-to-reach bins. Manufacturing for lighter products is worse (e.g., electronics).

Manufacturing employees need fitness programs outside of work, including employees who do heavy lifting, typically with few muscle groups. That first came to me from a surgeon’s advice during the ‘70s.

On your rhetoric and joke image about pretty muscles, there’s more than one kind of weight training. During the ‘60s, fighters carried rubber balls everywhere they went, squeezing them every day. Later, there were quite a few other tools for the grip strength that afforded harder punches. Those who want to be able to keep their hands up will do overhead reverse curls with a curl bar from the back, fast, with many repetitions (and several other exercises including long runs with weighted hands high).

If you want more grip strength, fill a canvas duffle bag with sawdust. It will feel like it’s filled with sand. Then beat the crap out of it for a few years. And maybe toss a few tens of thousands of square hay bails and cut of few hundred cords of firewood.

And by the way, many of those working men who came before us geezers had even more grip strength than we did (excluding those who didn’t do real work).

I really didn’t mean to attack you. My joke wasn’t directed at you—hell, I don’t know you from Adam. I was simply talking about focusing on some muscle groups rather than overall conditioning. And throwing a couple parts around a bench won’t cut it either.

I already talked about growing up moving furniture. I split and stacked wood for $10 a cord for years. I also owned a farm, and operated heavy equipment (dug ditches) and repaired armor. I’ve also ridden a desk and I’ve lifted at gyms. I even have a nice one in my garage.

These days, not so much—arthritis has pretty much killed my weightlifting. I still work out, but my grip strength is a limiting factor. Not being able to open my hands and hours of pain make it rather hard.

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