# 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:** 3
**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, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/41 "2016-06-25T03:36:15Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > As a pick-up owner and someone capable of moving heavy things, I used to get volunteered by friends to help them move . . . This is one of the classic disadvantages of owning a pick-up… > [@](#): > > 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. A full-sized refrigerator can weigh 250 pounds, and it definitely takes two strong guys to lift one. Usually, they only have to lift it a few inches to get it onto a rolling cart of some sort. But there comes the lovely effort of getting the fridge up a flight of stairs. Two guys can do it – I know from painful experience – but it’s about as much fun as a visit to the dentist. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/42 "2016-06-25T03:59:39Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Next time, he holds it and you screw. Dude, that’s gross. They’re brothers! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/43 "2016-06-25T04:47:43Z")
A little cultural sensitivity on your part, maybe? They could be from Canada, you know. ---
**Author:** ![elliott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@elliott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elliott)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/44 "2016-06-25T05:12:31Z")
I don’t know if you guys are pulling my leg but 200lbs is something you should be able to deadlift after a month in the gym tops. Just picking up one end of a heavy couch or a fridge or some shit involves supporting 100~200 lbs and that’s perfectly reasonable for a normal guy I’m not asking you to be able to carry it or something, but at least let me do the actual lifting and just hold the other end or something. I lift regularly, my deadlift is over 400lbs, I don’t mind being the muscle. But you should put some effort in ---
**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, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/45 "2016-06-25T05:20:06Z")
1. You didn’t specify deadlift. 2. 90% of the population will no way in hell lift that much. Maybe 90% of young males. 3. I haven’t got a third point. 4. Ditto for a fourth point. ---
**Author:** ![elliott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@elliott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elliott)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/46 "2016-06-25T05:22:22Z")
I can’t really imagine a lift other than deads that would apply to holding furniture? Even benching 200 lbs isn’t exactly hard, most guys can do that. Most girls I know can at least deadlift 135~150 and if you were doing that I’d imagine you could “rack pull” a couch for ~200lbs ---
**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, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/47 "2016-06-25T05:27:19Z")
I’m no weakling, but a 100 pound bag of dogfood pretty much exceeds my limits. I can lift it…but carrying it from the car to the house is too much. I can throw a forty pound box of paper onto my shoulder and, at needs, walk a furlong carrying it. 200? I don’t know if I could get it off the floor. ---
**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 25, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/48 "2016-06-25T05:52:02Z")
> [@elliott](#): > > Even benching 200 lbs isn’t exactly hard, most guys can do that. Median weight of men in their 20’s United States = ~168 lbs, for 30’s = ~179 lbs. _The American College of Sports Medicine classifies 1RM bench press based on the amount lifted in comparison to body weight, sex and age. An average bench press for an adult male in his 20s is 106 percent of body weight – whereas, an adult female in her 20s is 65 percent of body weight._ So a dead average male of average weight in his peak years can lift 166 lbs x 1.06 = 175 lbs. And that’s at peak age - in your 30’s that multiplier drops to 0.93. 179 x 0.93 = 166 lbs. It only gets worse from there. So no - _most_ guys, that is to say over 50%, cannot bench press 200 lbs. Many can. Maybe most of your friends can if you hang with a lot of gym rats. I wouldn’t doubt that at all. But not a random sampling of adult guys. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/49 "2016-06-25T06:01:37Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Welcome to the Dope. Sorry your friends are human. You can fix that. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Okay, I’ll bite: How? Stop being their friends? He may already be doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/50 "2016-06-25T06:09:04Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > So a dead average male of average weight in his peak years can lift 166 lbs x 1.06 = 175 lbs. And that’s at peak age - in your 30’s that multiplier drops to 0.93. 179 x 0.93 = 166 lbs. It only gets worse from there. Dead average male == average dead male? They can do that? ---
**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 25, 2016, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/51 "2016-06-25T06:14:06Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Dead average male == average dead male? They can do that? With enough electrical current. ---
**Author:** ![elliott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@elliott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elliott)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/52 "2016-06-25T06:20:30Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Median weight of men in their 20’s United States = ~168 lbs, for 30’s = ~179 lbs. > > _The American College of Sports Medicine classifies 1RM bench press based on the amount lifted in comparison to body weight, sex and age. An average bench press for an adult male in his 20s is 106 percent of body weight – whereas, an adult female in her 20s is 65 percent of body weight._ > > So a dead average male of average weight in his peak years can lift 166 lbs x 1.06 = 175 lbs. And that’s at peak age - in your 30’s that multiplier drops to 0.93. 179 x 0.93 = 166 lbs. It only gets worse from there. > > So no - _most_ guys, that is to say over 50%, cannot bench press 200 lbs. Many can. Maybe most of your friends can if you hang with a lot of gym rats. I wouldn’t doubt that at all. But not a random sampling of adult guys. Not to be rude, but if you can’t bench even 200 lbs I wouldn’t call you a man. Jokes aside, the majority of mildly physical men, when you discount completely sedentary nerds or whoever, would easily be able to bench at least 200 lbs. I’d say the inability of the average man to do so is a failing on his part instead of mine. Regardless, this doesn’t really relate to the main point of: you should at least be able to hold half of a couch for me. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/53 "2016-06-25T06:32:03Z")
I think our sofa weighs maybe fifty pounds (I have to shift it every year when it comes time to put up the Christmas tree). That said, last month I enlisted the help of my daughter and her BFF in moving a 250-pound dining room table from my late father’s house to our apartment. THAT was pretty ungainly. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/54 "2016-06-25T06:48:20Z")
> [@elliott](#): > > I don’t know if you guys are pulling my leg but 200lbs is something you should be able to deadlift **after a month in the gym tops.** Just picking up one end of a heavy couch or a fridge or some shit involves supporting 100~200 lbs and that’s perfectly reasonable for a normal guy > > I’m not asking you to be able to carry it or something, but at least let me do the actual lifting and just hold the other end or something. I lift regularly, my deadlift is over 400lbs, I don’t mind being the muscle. But you should put some effort in After a who in a where, now? ---
**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 25, 2016, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/55 "2016-06-25T06:55:51Z")
And just by and by, as a guy in his late 40’s I gave up moving people’s heavy-ass furniture about 12 years ago after a three day ordeal helping a particular friend of mine move for the second time in two years. Up and down multiple flights of stairs at both places with couches and entertainment centers that felt like they were stuffed with lead. Need some money to hire a mover? I’m there for you. Need someone to help lug a bureau? Nope. That’s something you do in your twenties as far as I’m concerned. Especially since poor college student furniture is usually a lot lighter than the over-stuffed monstrosities we get as we become more affluent. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/56 "2016-06-25T08:02:33Z")
> [@elliott](#): > > Jokes aside, the majority of mildly physical men, when you discount completely sedentary nerds or whoever, would easily be able to bench at least 200 lbs. You _vastly_ over-estimate the strength of the average man. Laughably over-estimate. ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/57 "2016-06-25T08:12:59Z")
OP isn’t exactly tactful, but he’s right. If an average size adult male under 50, barring obvious disability, can’t hold up the end of a couch, there’s something wrong. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/58 "2016-06-25T08:40:47Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > You _vastly_ over-estimate the strength of the average man. Laughably over-estimate. in the moving business, he’s not funny at all. **OP** I sure as shit wouldn’t work with you. so you can lift 200 pounds, so what, can you carry it up a flight of stairs around a corner through a door and down a hallway with out beating the shit out of it against the walls, hand rails, door frames and without hurting yourself? To me, a professional mover, you sound like an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/59 "2016-06-25T10:41:26Z")
> [@elliott](#): > > Please don’t ask me to help \*\*you \*\*move. If \*\*you’re \*\*so out of shape at 20 that performing a lift that 90% of the population can do is a challenge, I don’t want to be the first person \*\*you \*\*call when you’re trying to move something. I doubly don’t want to do it for free. > [@](#): > > I don’t know if you guys are pulling my leg but 200lbs is something you should be able to deadlift after a month in the gym tops. Just picking up one end of a heavy couch or a fridge or some shit involves supporting 100~200 lbs and that’s perfectly reasonable for a normal **guy** > [@](#): > > Jokes aside, the majority of mildly physical **men** , when you discount completely sedentary nerds or whoever, would easily be able to bench at least 200 lbs. All this flipping back between ‘you’ (the reader) and ‘guy/man’ as if they’re the same thing is not by any means the most annoying part of the OP. But it’s pretty bloody annoying. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/60 "2016-06-25T11:44:57Z")
> [@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. I’ve put a few of these together Rest one end on a folding chair and put the legs on the other end. Then hold that end up and put the legs on. Still takes two people, but much easier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261.md?page=4)