# If you can't hold 200 lbs for 30 seconds... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 24, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261 "2016-06-24T20:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/241 "2016-06-28T20:10:19Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Even if my goal were drenched in violent\* machismo\*, I would still prefer a Bruce Lee form to a Arnold. Because its not the big beat the small, or the strong beat the weak, its the quick beat the slow. **And if plodding down the sidewalk for miles is so damned good for you, how come you ain’t smiling?** Serious answer. Running isn’t a ha-ha big smile activity. It’s the quiet satisfaction of a solid workout completed and the pleasant fatigue. It also helps if running come naturally to you. Some people just don’t like running or it’s not part of their “being”. I could ride a bike just as hard as running but it just didn’t fill that need. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/242 "2016-06-29T01:13:11Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Welcome to the board. You sound like a dick. “But I repeat myself…” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/243 "2016-06-29T02:30:41Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > But how many of them can lift 1400 pounds too? Last I checked, running and huge amounts of muscle mass don’t exactly go together. I’m can’t be 100% sure though, I’m still trying to run off this belly mass. I would quite confidently state zero. Both are quite elite levels for the activities and require muscles strongly naturally suited for the particular activity then highly specifically adapted for it with very intensive specifically focused training. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/244 "2016-06-29T04:06:56Z")
Yeah, I’d like to meet someone who could do both. Also, after a certain point, the health benefits of greater fitness taper off. I think a fair definition of elite physical condition (which is less than Olympic) might involve the Navy Seals. [Here are their standards](http://www.military.com/military-fitness/navy-special-operations/navy-seal-fitness-test). There are minimum standards and competitive standards: they recommend that applicants shoot to be competitive. Here’s the table: ```auto PST Event Minimum Standards Competitive Standards 500 Yard Swim 12:30 8 Minutes Pushups 50 80-100 Sit-ups 50 80-100 Pull-ups 10 15-20 1.5 Mile Timed Run 10:30 9-10 Minutes NOTE: To qualify for a contract, a prospective candidate must meet the minimum requirements. It is recommended that you strive for the optimum fitness standards and beyond to better chances at BUD/S. Check out the official Navy SEAL PST Calculator to compare your scores and rank you with other prospective candidates. For more information on academic, medical screening, and background requirements, see The Official Navy SEAL/SWCC Page at www.sealswcc.com ``` Interestingly, there is no weight training. The timed run is a little less than half of the distance of a 5K (which is 3.1 miles, similar to high school cross country). The top speed to be competitive (9 minutes) corresponds to a 6 minute mile, which is slower and a lot more reasonable than a 4.8 minute mile over twice the distance. If you do it in 10:30, that’s a 7 minute mile. Admittedly, the Seals make you run in boots. I suspect a lot of dedicated fitness buffs can reach Seal competitive levels. But most in their 20s would be unable without training. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/245 "2016-07-07T22:43:51Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > _checks join date_ > WTF? Check my join date, then. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/246 "2016-07-10T02:24:55Z")
> [@elliott](#): > > I’m a douche for expecting the average human being to meet what qualifies as a novice level of strength? Like I understand not everyone does, but it really is sad and a huge flaw with our society that people are so out of shape. > [@elliott](#): > > I don’t like that the lack of fitness in society causes people to ask me help them move and also causes them to hurt themselves. I’m not fit, by any “official” metric I’m barely an intermediate lifter, but I’m still far stronger than the average person which is just sad because you could be 70% as strong as me in 3 months and 90% in a year by working out for 3 hours a week. Yet people still see me as the strong guy and rather than take basic care of their body they expect me to make up for their inability to take care of themselves. Would you expect me to cook for a friend who has trouble feeding himself properly? Would I be a dick for thinking that a friend who is 300 lbs needs to lose weight? Would I be a double-idiot for not wanting to drive someone to the hospital because they have weekly appointments because of their weight? > > Where’s the line where I’m an asshole for expecting people to truly be independent and take care of their health? > > And as far as 200lbs being arbitrary: It is. I’m saying its 200 lbs because 300 lbs is quite heavy and I wouldn’t expect the average person to be able to support that. 100 lbs is relatively light and I’d expect most people to be able to carry 100 lbs easily. The point of 200lbs is its a weight where the average person would be able to hold it but not necessarily move or maneuver the weight. > [@elliott](#): > > You \*are \*weak if you can’t deadlift 200 lbs. That’s an objective fact. Like I’m willing to let the rest of you call me an idiot based on your own suppositions or whatever you need to feel good about yourself, but 200 lbs is what a highschool freshman should be deadlifting by Christmas. The most recommended and respected beginner barbell routine has you hitting 200 on your deadlift by week 9 at the absolute latest. The vast majority of lifters will hit it far sooner. > > Your anti-intellectualism (on a forum for a column dedicated to fighting that) is kind of appalling. Claiming that weightlifting isn’t a core part of fitness is downright wrong. The benefits of building muscle are scientifically proven. > [@elliott](#): > > More scientifically, weight lifting is a great form of exercise for a whole host of reasons. Trying to say that weightlifting and health aren’t related is asinine I don’t lift but I do other forms of exercise as an endurance athlete (I do ultras). I do double digit # of hours per week doing cardio type exercise - running, riding, climbing. I do races that most people outside of my sport (cow-orkers, neighbors, etc.) & even some _in_ my sport say, “Holy Shit, you’re doing _what_?!?!” & “You went how fast / far?!?!” Road cyclists & distance runners tend to be small, thinner people. Sure, some amount of lifting will help one compete better, but that’s more at the toning level than the bulk up level. Being at your level of lifting would be detrimental to my sports. 1. Are you saying that I’m not in shape because I can bend my arm far enough to scratch my nose because my bicep doesn’t get in the way? 2. Where do you propose that I find your 3 hours / week to lift given the amount of time I’m already devoting to workouts, along with other things like work, commute, family, eating, & sleeping? > [@elliott](#): > > You don’t _need_ to carry 200 lbs, but having the musculature to do so is beneficial in everyday life and makes you much less likely to hurt yourself when doing normal day-to-day activities. The world would be a better place if everyone was 12% BF, had a 1400 lb total, and **could do a 5k in 15 minutes**. > [@running\_coach](#): > > [Compare my race.](http://www.comparemyrace.com/) > You can see the distribution of times of runners, not just the general population. > [Athletic.net](http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Division/Event.aspx?DivID=70513&Event=79&page=9) 2016 season > Out of 4,481 reported times, 951 went under 15. 21% of trained college runners in the country. Not only would I win (overall) the majority of 5k’s that I know of, but I would virtually always win my age group & be state champion at that level. In fact, according to the link above, at 18 minutes one would be no worse than the 90[sup]th[/sup] percentile & that’s at the _fastest_ age group of 20-24; by 50 one’s at 100%. That’s for males; for females, you’d be 100% at _every_ age group for 18 minutes …& because no one else has, is this you in this [commerical](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7gzmoqmL7g)? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/247 "2016-07-10T02:31:34Z")
dupe ---
**Author:** ![Debillw3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Debillw3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debillw3)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/248 "2016-07-26T09:52:05Z")
I know this is a month old thread, but after reading it, I really couldn’t not throw in my 2c. > [@elliott](#): > > If you need help moving, but you can’t do half the work safely The problem as you described it isn’t that he couldn’t do half the work safely. You said the problem came about when you quit doing your half of the work. Of course, that’s ignoring that the work wasn’t being done 50/50 in the first place, but let’s ignore that further & say that you were each doing half the work. You then quit doing your half of the work, which, logically, means he was then doing all the work. So you meant to say: If you need help moving, but you can’t do all the work when I stop holding up my end (literally), don’t put other people at risk because you don’t want to pay a mover. PS He was the one who almost got crushed by the couch… Who are these “other people” who were at risk? And all the times you say “well he should’ve told me he couldn’t do it”… Really? With your “you’re not a real man if you can’t hold this weight” attitude, you’re surprised your friend didn’t want the humiliation of telling you that they didn’t know if they could do it? I wouldn’t be your friend in the first place, but if I was, I’d do my best to hold the couch rather than have to hear you bitch about how I’m not real man because I can’t. > [@elliott](#): > > The point was if everyone was an elite athlete the world would be a better place. See, I’d settle for less people who think less of people who can’t lift/hold X lbs for X seconds/minutes/years & assume that there’s some hard and fast connection between that and how healthy they are. Perhaps one of those MDs you work with can explain to you that different people are different & that there’s a reason doctors actually examine patients before dispensing advice, rather than sending out form letters to all their patients saying “this is what you need to do to be healthy” (which would save them both time and money). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261.md?page=12)