# What struggles do physically weak people have? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460 "2017-08-12T19:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/1 "2017-08-12T19:32:39Z")
Not handicap/disabled people, but just people who very weak/ completely nonathletic. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/2 "2017-08-12T19:39:48Z")
Opening jars. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/3 "2017-08-12T19:54:14Z")
opening jars … heck until I was 25 I had to have a device that helped me open 2 liter pop bottles …when I was a kid I couldn’t lift a car door handle mom had to get the push button and pull handle models of course I have a moderate form of cerebral palsy so … ---
**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:** [August 12, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/4 "2017-08-12T20:11:01Z")
How small is a small person? ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/5 "2017-08-12T20:21:49Z")
opening bags of potato chips ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/6 "2017-08-12T20:23:52Z")
Moved to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**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:** [August 12, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/7 "2017-08-12T20:27:34Z")
Carrying gallon jugs of milk, carrying cat litter. Filling a water softener tank with salt. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/8 "2017-08-12T21:06:23Z")
Getting back up, following a fall. I’ve been inactive since May, 2015, and my muscles have atrophied. Lately I fell on the ground behind my house, and it took me over an hour to crawl back inside. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/9 "2017-08-12T21:21:08Z")
Climbing stairs. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/10 "2017-08-12T21:25:59Z")
[Starting a lawnmower](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=766564). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/11 "2017-08-12T22:30:59Z")
Bullies kicking sand in our faces. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/12 "2017-08-12T22:50:51Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > Not handicap/disabled people, but just people who very weak/ completely nonathletic. I know you excluded the disabled but I wanted to comment on this. If you are disabled and use a wheelchair _and_ you are physically weak, doing everyday basic tasks like transferring in and out of the wheelchair can mean big struggles. So in a sense, as far as quality of life, it’s more important for the disabled to have adequate physical strength (for the areas of the body that can be exercised, of course) than able-bodied people. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/13 "2017-08-12T23:04:38Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I know you excluded the disabled but I wanted to comment on this. If you are disabled and use a wheelchair _and_ you are physically weak, doing everyday basic tasks like transferring in and out of the wheelchair can mean big struggles. So in a sense, as far as quality of life, it’s more important for the disabled to have adequate physical strength (for the areas of the body that can be exercised, of course) than able-bodied people. My mother started using a wheelchair a few years ago. At first, she was able to get in and out of the chair with some assistance, but now, due to her refusal to do any physical therapy, she is unable to offer any assistance, and her caretakers need to use a lift to get her in and out of the chair. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/14 "2017-08-12T23:07:36Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > My mother started using a wheelchair a few years ago. At first, she was able to get in and out of the chair with some assistance, but now, due to her refusal to do any physical therapy, she is unable to offer any assistance, and her caretakers need to use a lift to get her in and out of the chair. > ☹ Perfect example (sorry about your mother tho). ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/15 "2017-08-13T04:23:18Z")
Dating… My anecdotal experience of before fitness and after gaining fitness is my own personal reference. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/16 "2017-08-13T05:05:00Z")
I’m an aunt to two little girls and while I am fairly muscular and I do exercise regularly … I have found that carrying kids while walking or even just holding them and standing for a while is tiring if it is not something you do regularly. Even holding my cousin’s infant for a while was hard on my back and arms. I can stand around all day with no problem but add a random sack of potatoes to the equation suddenly makes it harder. So, I’m going to say that occasional child-holding is hard for a weak non-parent. If you’re the parent and have been lifting and carrying your kid(s) every day as they grow really targets the muscles that give you the ability to keep doing it day after day. Even if you’re particular weak otherwise. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/17 "2017-08-13T05:28:02Z")
Carrying around my “portable” 35-lb massage table. Wraunches out my back even if I just try to pick it up. Even giving a 50-minute (let alone 80-minute) professional-style massage is exhausting. (ETA: It’s been several years since I even tried this.) Pushing sailplanes onto or off the runway. (Someone else almost always does it, while I just walk the wing-tip. Today I helped push a few times, and I’m all stiff and sore now.) Even worse when I do this while wearing a 17-lb parachute. Operating the dive brakes while landing a glider. Seriously, I haven’t soloed after almost a year of this, and this is one significant reason why. On this particular glider, operating the dive brakes is a lot like alligator wrestling. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/18 "2017-08-13T09:41:42Z")
From my experiences with my wife, who isn’t disabled, but just is not in good shape, and particularly lacks upper-body strength: - Bringing in groceries from the car (_especially_ those damned packages of cat litter) - She tends to overpack her suitcases when she travels, and it always falls to me to actually pick up the suitcases and move them around (particularly up and down stairs) - Shoveling snow - She doesn’t like to drive my car (a Mustang with manual transmission) because she has a hard time pressing the (fairly tight) clutch pedal to the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/19 "2017-08-13T16:00:33Z")
In the past couple years, there are things that are getting harder and harder for me. It is not so much physical weakness as arthritis in my thumbs and wrists that make it painful to exert much force with my hands. Opening jars is one thing. A most surprising thing occurred a few days ago. I found it very hard to insert or remove one of those small memory cards from my camera and my computer. I just could not exert enough force for either action. Eventually, I did with the help of a pencil eraser. But general strength is also declining. Schlepping my wife’s 50 lb suitcase up and down stairs is getting harder. The four mile walk to my office which once took an hour and a quarter can now take up to 2 hours. Also, it is getting harder and harder to get out of a low chair. And I just cannot walk down any length of stairs without a railing. When I went to a ballgame in Seattle a month ago, I had to hold on to my son’s shoulder to get down to my seat. That ought to be against building code (the stadium is 18 years old). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460/20 "2017-08-13T19:07:28Z")
Lumberjacking. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-struggles-do-physically-weak-people-have/793460.md?page=2)