There is a thread open on using a bench shirt for bench pressing. The OP gave a link that is an article on the topic, noting that lifters are now approaching 1,000 pounds (454 kg.) in competition.
But, yikes:
Isn’t there some inherent limit on the ability of bones and connective tissue to support the enormous forces able to be created by overdeveloped muscles? How long will it be before one of these guys benches so much weight his bones snap or shoulders dislocate?
I’m curious too, good question. I’d guess that someone has already done just that (broken or dislocated bones) but I don’t know enough about the sport to say for sure.
Reminds me of that old SaturdayNightLive skit with the guy going for the world record dead lift and rips his arms right off.
There is definitely a limit. I watched some film from one of the “World’s Strongest Man” contests back in the 1980s, event was the Refrigerator Carry (Put fridge on back. Race to finish line). One of the competitors (very famous body-builder, name escapes me right now) made the “ill-advised decision to run” - he jogged a couple of steps and then you see his lower leg snap, it bends about 90 degrees as he puts his foot down and the guy immediately crumples. Reminded me of Joe Theisman getting his leg broken.
Well, it wasn’t during a bench press but your legs are pretty damn strong bones and this guy certainly found the limit, we can call the basic unit 1 Kenmore perhaps.
Nobody runs in that event any more, they shuffle forward, and the fridge is mounted on a great big “roll cage” so that if you fall it only goes a couple of inches and can’t crash down on you.
Please tell me there is a video of this.
I googled around and couldn’t find anything. I found a couple of different descriptions of the injury though, one said that he dislocated his knee rather than actually breaking his leg. My recollection is that you see his leg bend sharply below the knee (calf break) but I could be wrong.
That scene evidently was not edited out when the show was broadcast (CBS)…they definitely don’t mind trotting it out these days though, that’s for sure.
I actually remember watching that show. He pulled or strained something quite badly that took him out of competition. IIRC it was not a break.
I remember reading in my phyisology book that weightlighting causes the bone to slightly flex, and the bone will become thicker as it adds more layers to itself. dunno if there is an upper limit though. I guess in theory it could go on forever. I mean as long as your muscle are adapting your bones should right? Unless maybe you are on steroids and growing muscle faster than the bones can keep up, and then the bones snap.
No. There are concrete physiological limits to what the body can do. Constraints and trade-offs are an important part of physiology. That isn’t my area of interest, though (I’m a plant guy, no muscles involved), so I haven’t any idea as to what the limits actually are.
IIRC, you can snap bones by having very strong muscular spasms. Your muscles can break your bones without any outside help. I’m sure it’s not doing your muscles any good either, your thigh muscles are pretty strong all by themselves.
I remember watching the Franco Columbo incident and I think it was his knee, not the bone. It was quite dramatic, :eek: however.
Weight bearing exercise does increase bone density, so walking, running, etc help to build stronger bones. I imagine weight training would do the same.
Franco was STRONG. In the movie Pumping Iron you see him picking up a car. I have a book that shows him deadlifting 700+ pounds. He was probably much stronger than Arnold. Of course, he did not have near the size or aesthetics.
Neanderthal skeletons actually show significant stress (at least in the forearms) that seems to be muscle-induced. So it’s possible, at least in a closely-related species, for bone problems to arise.
One thing to keep in mind with respect to steroids is that they promote bone density as well as muscle growth; thus, “muscle growth outracing bone growth” should not be a problem. BTW, the fact that men have much more testostorone than women is why osteoporosis is much less common in men.