# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/161 "2016-06-26T08:47:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Now you’re just trying to get me in trouble… I’d never provoke somebody who sired a baby _upon_ his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/162 "2016-06-26T09:11:20Z")
> [@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. Most women would be amenorreic, with that % of body fat. Extinction by gym. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/163 "2016-06-26T09:59:09Z")
> [@elliott](#): > > good lord the amount of projection in this post is insane. I thought this forum was filled with older people who didn’t post like they were on reddit. I don’t think you know what “projection” means. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/164 "2016-06-26T10:39:54Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Most women would be amenorreic, with that % of body fat. Extinction by gym. But then we’d get to be real men! ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/165 "2016-06-26T11:21:47Z")
> [@elliott](#): > > Please prove how a weight that an untrained individual can work up to within 2 months is a heavy weight? That’s like saying that something you’ve learned in kindergarten is intellectual or being able to draw a stick figure is artistic. Its the bare minimum that **anyone who is at all interested in the hobby** would consider “trained”. Its not me being a dick, its me just stating an objective fact. If you can’t lift a weight that requires the minimum of training to lift, you’re not weak. My emphasis. You’re not speaking to a hobbyist group, your speaking to the world, and the world considers this “heavy”. Your comparison is utterly stupid as well. A more apt comparison, of one were to accept your “facts”, would be that something you could pick up in an art class was artistic, and guess what, it would be. No one in this thread, including people who lift weights, are agreeing with your “objective fact”. That this doesn’t tell you something tells us something. ---
**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 26, 2016, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/166 "2016-06-26T11:43:06Z")
> [@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. The world would be a better place if muscleheads didn’t give exercise advice. Doubly so concerning running. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/167 "2016-06-26T12:52:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Yes, sired _upon_ her. Git yer mind out of the gutter and pick up some language skills, sonny. Coupla months in a continuing education facility should set you right up. Yes, the great majority of people who start up wordlifting should be able to add 20 lbs of archaic phrases, eclectic referents and/or shopworn cliches per week, up until they hit a nonlinear progression stage. I’d say 90% of novices oughta be able to handle an idiom of that size well within two months. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/168 "2016-06-26T13:05:14Z")
> [@naita](#): > > My emphasis. You’re not speaking to a hobbyist group, your speaking to the world, and the world considers this “heavy”. Your comparison is utterly stupid as well. A more apt comparison, of one were to accept your “facts”, would be that something you could pick up in an art class was artistic, and guess what, it would be. > > No one in this thread, including people who lift weights, are agreeing with your “objective fact”. That this doesn’t tell you something tells us something. What’s more, the OP makes the rookie mistake of thinking that all he has to do is explain himself one. more. time. and suddenly everyone will applaud his mad rant skillz, but instead ends up shocked, shocked that no one wants to play along. Dude, you came up with a crappy topic for a Pit thread. What were your expectations; that everyone would fall all over themselves to congratulate you for your originality and insight? Well, now you know that’s not how things work around here. Most people who have bothered to read this far apparently disagree with your premise. Let it go, and try again on another day, and with maybe a little less arrogance. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/169 "2016-06-26T13:38:04Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > (I can crack open a coconut with my husband’s cock, but that’s for another thread.) Now you’re just covert-bragging about how hairy your ass is to make the rest of us feel inferior. 😉 > [@Waymore](#): > > Sired _upon_ her? :rolleyes: Yes, “to sire [a child] upon [a partner]” is a venerable and well-known idiom for fertilizing the partner’s ovum with one’s sperm. The expression implies nothing about the relative positions of the couple at the time of fertilization, nor does it contradict in any way the basic mechanics of human reproductive anatomy. Making fun of **kaylasdad99** for using a standard expression in your native language that you don’t happen to be familiar with does not make you look smart. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/170 "2016-06-26T13:40:47Z")
OP didn’t post and bolt, but came back to expound and explain in an articulate fashion. While he didn’t convince me, I hope he sticks around. ---
**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 26, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/171 "2016-06-26T13:44:21Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > OP didn’t post and bolt, but came back to expound and explain in an articulate fashion. While he didn’t convince me, I hope he sticks around. I hope he realizes he’s going to have pull his own weight around here. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/172 "2016-06-26T13:46:16Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > OP didn’t post and bolt, but came back to expound and explain in an articulate fashion. While he didn’t convince me, I hope he sticks around. Yeah, he wouldn’t be the first poster to get soundly Dopeslapped for ignorance and sloppiness early in his posting career and later grow into a useful member of the boards. ETA: **running coach** :rolleyes: :rolleyes: 😃 ---
**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 26, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/173 "2016-06-26T13:55:30Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Yeah, he wouldn’t be the first poster to get soundly Dopeslapped for ignorance and sloppiness early in his posting career and later grow into a useful member of the boards. We have to wangle him somehow off the topic of lifting heavy shit, first. Hey, **elliott**! What’s your take on Dominico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas? You got a fave? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/174 "2016-06-26T13:57:53Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > 200lbs for 30 secs? That’s pretty difficult for strong males much less the average population. Bunch of girly-men! Here, have some protein powder. ---
**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 26, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/175 "2016-06-26T14:12:02Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Bunch of girly-men! Here, have some protein powder. Well, OK. Though chalk works better if you need a better grip. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/176 "2016-06-26T14:17:33Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > We have to wangle him somehow off the topic of lifting heavy shit, first. Hey, **elliott**! What’s your take on Dominico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas? You got a fave? I see what you did there, **Uke**. And you should be ashamed. (BEsides, most of those exercises are about conditioning. Sheesh, amico mio, si fa anche ascensore?) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/177 "2016-06-26T15:13:18Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > Yes, the great majority of people who start up wordlifting should be able to add 20 lbs of archaic phrases, eclectic referents and/or shopworn cliches per week, up until they hit a nonlinear progression stage. I’d say 90% of novices oughta be able to handle an idiom of that size well within two months. Do you even grammar, bro? ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/178 "2016-06-26T15:39:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > snip > > (I can crack open a coconut with my husband’s cock, but that’s for another thread.) dammit panache, quit making me laugh and spew coffee on my 'puter while in the pit:D ---
**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 26, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/179 "2016-06-26T17:43:23Z")
As a service to the op maybe some elucidation on why holding a couch in a static hold for 30 seconds or so is different than a 1RM deadlift is worthwhile? Powerlift gains are, especially in the newbie gains phase, to a large degree neuromuscular adaptation. The initial increase is not so much new muscle mass as it is the brain learning a specific pattern of firing the body’s various muscles’ motor units that accomplishes the specific task better. That specific task is a quick dynamic lift, not a static hold. A quick dynamic lift uses a large portion of the motor units all at the same time and fatigues them all fairly rapidly. A static hold cycles various motor units into rotation, delaying complete fatigue by allowing individual motor units some partial recovery time, a very different neuromuscular adaptation. Also, if you are indeed in reality a serious powerlifter then you appreciate that the limiting factor on a deadlift often is grip strength. And that is with a bar that is built for gripping. Do the following experiment: deadlift your 1RM, hell lift your 5RM the five times and then see how long you can hold it in a locked out position. I am fairly confident that you won’t make it to thirty seconds. Actually a ten second static hold is pretty dang good (and is advised by many experts as a method of increasing that sometimes lift limiting grip strength). And of course statically holding the couch from the lower position is not the same as a locked out position gripping a barbell. It is often an awkward grip, often with much more weight distributed more to one side than the other, often not able to be held in a fully locked out position, and where ideal foot placement is impossible. Understand now? ---
**Author:** ![elliott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@elliott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elliott)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261/180 "2016-06-26T18:56:16Z")
This is a response about muscle physiology which wasn’t really the point of the thread but: Obviously a static hold or deadlift aren’t the same as their real world counter-parts, but someone who has a 400lb deadlift is going to have a much stronger core and posterior chain than someone who doesn’t exercise. It should be pretty clear that even if he can’t leverage 400lbs of force onto the couch, he’ll be able to support a heavier couch for longer than an untrained individual. As far as grip strength, in a “oh shit” situation like my neighbor found himself in, it isn’t like you can’t brace yourself against the floor and couch to remove the grip from the equation. I think he did that for a few seconds and slipped trying to get the couch back into his hands and had to get out of the way, so I guess you could argue grip strength would’ve helped here. But yeah I don’t think I’ve said a deadlift is the same as lifting a couch, just that someone who deadlifts a lot can lift a couch pretty well > [@naita](#): > > My emphasis. You’re not speaking to a hobbyist group, your speaking to the world, and the world considers this “heavy”. Your comparison is utterly stupid as well. A more apt comparison, of one were to accept your “facts”, would be that something you could pick up in an art class was artistic, and guess what, it would be. > > No one in this thread, including people who lift weights, are agreeing with your “objective fact”. That this doesn’t tell you something tells us something. It may be a hobbyist group, but I’d expect the average person to have at least some experience in it. I also expect the average person to have a reasonable understanding of fashion, engine work, and politics. There’s plenty of things to learn in life, if you’re not taking the time to push yourself you’re only going to be weaker for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-cant-hold-200-lbs-for-30-seconds/758261.md?page=10)