Posted on 08/10/2016 6:24:50 PM PDT by SamAdams76
Think youd beat your dad in an arm wrestling competition when he was your age? Bad news: hed probably kick your ass.
Men today are weaker than they were 30 years ago, research in the Journal of Hand Therapy found.
In the study, men aged 20-34 have lower grip and pinch strength which measures how strong your hand and upper extremities are than the same aged guys did three decades ago.
In fact, the average grip strength for men ages 25-29 is nearly 12 kilograms lower today than it was before.
Your grip may not seem super important unless youre a competitive arm wrestler, but it actually serves as a good proxy of your overall strength.
In fact, a 2011 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that grip strength was predictive of strength in push-ups, leg extensions and leg press.
Whats more, research in previous generations has linked lower grip strength to a variety of serious health problems including arthritis, heart disease, stroke and neurological conditions, says Fain.
Its not clear whether grip strength actually makes people healthier, or if healthier people are just stronger.
So why are men today so much weaker?
They are less likely to be employed in manual labor jobs, such as in the manufacturing and agricultural fields, than they used to be, says study author Dr Elizabeth Fain, an assistant professor of occupational therapy at Winston-Salem State University in the US.
Working on an assembly line, for instance, requires repetitive tasks handling weighted objects, which can strengthen your hands, she says.
That day-in, day-out grind likely plays more of a role increasing grip strength than weight training which may only be a few times a week would do.
Its also more helpful than the repetitive hand motions were more likely to do today, like texting or typing, which tend to activate smaller muscle groups, she says.
Your move, then, is to work on your own grip.
If youre not working with your hands, you need to make training grip more of a priority.
Feminist-tainted junk-science.
I’m weaker than I was 30 years ago.
I’m opposite. My grip got stronger. 30 years ago, I was three years old. I’m much more strong today, and a heavy diesel equipment mechanic.
I don’t believe this, because people lift weights today more than they did then.
“Housecleaning and laundry were major manual labor in my grandparents generation.”
Yep,my mother washed with a wash board.
Shoveled coal into a coal furnace in the basement.
I am a spoiled rotten senior citizen.
.
.
I was in better shape at 47 then I was at 17, but I was in much better shape at 29 then I am at 59.
My Dad, who passed away at the age of 91 in 2010, could kick the ass of men in their 30’s when he was in his 50’s. His Hands were massive from growing up on a farm in Manitoba and Ontario in the 1930’s
Heh heh heh... let me tell the next 33 years will be completely different.
But that’s alright.
It doesn’t take long to lose your power.
I was a college athlete. I was never that great with weight lifting but I could throw the javelin, discus, and put the shot almost as well as our 300 lb. weight men.
I was a sprinter and hurdler and only weighed around 180. I could do 28 pull ups and that was the only time I tried it.
After being married a few years and working behind a desk or more often behind the wheel of a car, I had grown soft and did not even realize it.
We were walking in a park and I saw some playground equipment including bars. I jumped up and grabbed a bar thinking I would impress my wife. I was shocked that I could not do a single one. The extra 40 pounds I had put on didn’t help either.
Bahh. I can still hoist a fork with either hand.
I am about the same.
For whatever reason, I never had much in terms of muscle or tone among a long list of deficiencies . I had being tall though. Not that it did me a whole lot of good.
My dad is a very physically strong guy though.
As an old Quebecois guy I used to know would say, “faggot hands”.
Ditto that, when I started my first job (1960) was delivering furniture, refrigerators up stairs and whatever, I was 120 lbs soaking wet. real work.
Metrosexuals.
yup
You never knew anyone that milked cows. Lifting weights makes muscle mass, but those guys that milked were strong. They made great wrestlers.
Not many tubbies then, either.
I find myself using 1/2 inch drive where I used 3/8 thirty. Years ago.
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