# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/21 "2016-06-24T21:04:11Z")
I was told there would be NO MATH. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/22 "2016-06-24T21:06:53Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I assume that’s a straight progression - so one should be able to hold 400 pounds for 15 seconds, 800 pounds for 7.5 seconds and 1600 pounds for 3.75 seconds? That’s great. I actually have a room full of gorillas I need help with. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/23 "2016-06-24T21:07:55Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I think you mean 20 pounds. 200 pounds is a lot to hold for thirty seconds. > [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > What, you can’t hold 200lbs for a couple of minutes? Do you even have arms? > [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > I think you mean, “do you even have arms **bro**?” [“Do you even lift, bro?”](https://www.google.com/search?q=do+you+even+lift+bro&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia-vf5yMHNAhUO0mMKHXe3CysQ_AUICCgB&biw=1238&bih=950) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/24 "2016-06-24T21:08:02Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > You’re going to have to specify what lift you’re referring to. > > Otherwise, you’re an idiot. > > Also, I imagine there aren’t many infants, toddlers and the elderly who can lift 200 lbs. I doubt my 21-year-old-nice–4’11" and 90 pounds --can budge such a weight. But she’d pitch in for a friend who was moving by carrying many smaller weights., organizing, et ceter. I’m sure the OP means 20 pounds. He still seems fairly uncharitable. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/25 "2016-06-24T21:43:43Z")
But…but…I _want_ to help **elliott** move! I must help! It is all I live for! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/26 "2016-06-24T21:48:42Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > And don’t even get me started on people who ask me to help them hang sheetrock, and when I arrive the first order of business is to go to the store and buy fucking sheetrock. Tote it _and_ hang it? Man, that shit would be the end of the friendship. If there was a flight of stairs involved, it would be justifiable homicide. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/27 "2016-06-24T22:06:37Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’ve helped dozens of my friends move…and my friends have repaid me by helping me move. It’s a social ritual in the U.S., which is highly physically mobile. The average person moves a few times in their life. It’s a chance to help a friend…and to snoop through all their stuff! It’s a social ritual. And, no, you don’t get paid, though there’s usually pizza. > > You can say no without being a shit about it. Yeah, you can. First step - don’t ask your friends to move you, if you do, then you are automatically a shit. When you move, you do it yourself or pay someone. Second step - when they call, you’ve made plans - preferably with your mother, but anything other than a bullshit “have to wash my hair” excuse will do. If you can’t afford to move yourself, then the barn building method of moving works great - just don’t be the last in your friend set to grow out of it because then you’ll be sitting there with a U Haul, a case of beer and six pizzas, and all your friends are their homes with toddlers. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/28 "2016-06-24T22:20:02Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Another day older and deeper in debt? Saint Peter wasn’t gonna call you, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/29 "2016-06-24T22:27:23Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > If you can’t afford to move yourself, then the barn building method of moving works great - just don’t be the last in your friend set to grow out of it because then you’ll be sitting there with a U Haul, a case of beer and six pizzas, and all your friends are their homes with toddlers. You know, we’ve moved plenty of times - including two cross country moves - without help from friends. But once we acquired a toddler? Shit, we need all the help we can get now. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/30 "2016-06-24T22:27:40Z")
200lbs for 30 secs? That’s pretty difficult for strong males much less the average population. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/31 "2016-06-24T22:29:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Okay, I’ll bite: How? Make friends with a yak. Or many yaks. According to this guy, they can carry up to 210 pounds for more than 30 seconds. [http://www.livehonestly.com/jaspers-blog/yaks](http://www.livehonestly.com/jaspers-blog/yaks) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/32 "2016-06-24T22:49:07Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Actually, that’s not the way muscles work. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/33 "2016-06-24T23:21:40Z")
As it happens, my fridge weighs about 200 pounds, so I just tried to hold it off the ground for 30 seconds. Congratulations, OP, I will never ask you to help me move. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/34 "2016-06-25T00:36:04Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > 200lbs for 30 secs? That’s pretty difficult for strong males much less the average population. Its not that hard, the average couch is almost 200 pounds. Just pick it up under your arm and hold it for the length of an average TV commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/35 "2016-06-25T01:21:37Z")
Actually, I pay people to lift heavy things for me. America is a great country! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/36 "2016-06-25T02:02:36Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > . . . First step - don’t ask your friends to move you, if you do, then you are automatically a shit. . . . Bull. That’s one of the stupidest things anyone has ever posted in the history of the SDMB. You’re out of your fucking skull. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/37 "2016-06-25T02:12:49Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That’s one of the stupidest things anyone has ever posted in the history of the SDMB. _checks join date_ WTF? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/38 "2016-06-25T02:21:02Z")
As a pick-up owner and someone capable of moving heavy things, I used to get volunteered by friends to help them move, this always resulted in me doing an unfair portion of the work. When it came time for me to move myself I figured I was owed some help. Lazy ass’s I’d helped in the past made excuses, rather than deal with that crap I just paid people to help me. The peopled I’d helped in the past that didn’t reciprocate I won’t do anything for. I’ll lend a van or pick up to others but avoid being thier manual labor. Lifting 200 pounds is an unreasonable expectation. Most people can’t handle that. I would expect the average person to support more than a hundred pounds for any period. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/39 "2016-06-25T02:24:39Z")
I’m 48, and I just had to help my older brother unpack his new pinball machine. One of those weighs about 250 pounds, and while there wasn’t much actual lifting, I did have to hold the darn thing up for 30 seconds while he screwed the legs on. ---
**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 25, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/40 "2016-06-25T02:44:48Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I’m 48, and I just had to help my older brother unpack his new pinball machine. One of those weighs about 250 pounds, and while there wasn’t much actual lifting, I did have to hold the darn thing up for 30 seconds while he screwed the legs on. Next time, he holds it and you screw. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261.md?page=3)