A Note About Strength And Muscle

[Urahra 5359]

So, I've recently seen some guys claiming that they are super strong and all muscle. This annoys me.

Why?

Guys...legitimately strong people? HAVE FAT. Because fat powers muscle. Allow me to show you.

This is an Olympic weightlifter. He is a legitimately strong guy.

http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article859500.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Itte+Detenamo,+Nauru+record+gladiator+weightlifter

You will notice he is pudgy! He even has man boobs! This man does not have super cut, super defined muscles. He has fat because fat powers the amazing muscles he has working beneath his skin. He is pudgy because he is trying to power muscles with actual function. That is the sort of body of a guy who wrestles bears on a mountain. This man is about legit strength and not about looking cut. They have very thick waists because their core muscles are so strong, developed to really protect internal organs and the spinal column.

This is a Mr. Universe contestant. He is, essentially, trying to win a beauty contest.

http://static4.demotix.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/a_scale_large/1600-3/photos/1354173871-assamese-contestant-prepares-for-mr-universe-bodybuilding-final_1641343.jpg

You will notice he has that super defined, shrink-wrapped muscle look. His abs are very visible and so are the rest of his muscles.

Do you know what Mr. Universe contestants do to get that shrink wrapped look? They starve themselves and dehydrate. They get ALL the fat off their bodies. They are NOT at their strongest when they look like that. In fact, this is a very unhealthy look. These men are at their physically WEAKEST when they look like this. They also stress upper body muscle building rather than all around core strength. If your character has musculature like this, he is weak and starving, not super strong. The super defined, shrink wrapped look is for SHOW. Men like this look this way because they are MODELS, not actual paragons of strength.

So, if your character is REALLY strong? He's going to look like this:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3011/2643303832_06c6cc2d96_o.jpg

(Note: This is a guy from a Strongman competition)

NOT THIS:

http://forum.iranproud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=113431&stc=1&d=1256500384

(Note: This is a male model.)

[Pro_Whistler 37]

Oh god, thank you for this. <3

[Kaiser 1357]

This isn't a guide but...

Ya, although you may look like a buff mother f**ker, most of the Mr. Universe men have little to no endurance.

[Quavinir_Twiceborn 1042]

Thank goodness! someone else who understands why I make my thug character pudgy!

[Ford 1990]

Agreed. I'm sick of seeing men role-play as being 6'5, all muscle, 250 pounds.

[wealthypiano 394]

I recently came across a biography bearing "200-something pounds, full muscle." I believe this guide points out well that it would be power gamey to claim this as true strength. Thank you for this, Urara.

[LedZep98 198]

That second strong man picture is exactly I imagine my main character being built. I'm glad you brought this up.

[cruzazul 2808]

Seems like 90% of men have 8 packs on this server. Something that bugs me more than I would want it to. Thank you so much for making this!

[Cracker 4556]

Good article, I'm glad someone went out to actually help clarify on some level, how the body when it comes to having a healthy level of fat and how it's far better then claiming to be 1% body fat (which is nigh lethal) and 200 pounds of raw muscle. There's a couple misconceptions which can come up if you misinterpret the article and while the overall article is true I would like to clear some things up.

I just would like to mention however that the reason why powerlifter's acquire so much fat is it gives one more mass to leverage weight. This is great when you have to do one repetition of a 1000 pound squat. However, while that means more raw strength, that added fat tends to act as a drag on organs and arteries which the body tends to rely on for more then one repetition of an exercise. Bodybuilders go for multiple reps, which is why they try to keep their body fat low below 20%, while the high class powerlifters don't really care about how many reps they can do, just trying to do the most of one.

So when planning your char out, don't just add 50 pounds because you think it'll make you win fights. Fights involve a bit of endurance and a bit of strength along with instinct and luck.

And for some numbers

20% body fat (so 20% of your weight is fat) is going to give you a big ole' gut

13-18% is not going to be flat but won't be overbearingly fat (think Urara's third picture, though to be honest that guy isn't even that fat, he's just beastmode, could be at 10-12%)

8-12% is a flat stomach but most likely your abdominal muscles will only show a little unless they are incredibly strong

6-8% is where you get a well defined six pack

Anything below 5% is not healthy.

1% or claiming to be 100% pure muscle is essentially lethal; you'll die of cold weather, any blows and strikes won't be insulated by protective layers of fat to absorb shock, and you'll be plagued with sickness too.

The higher your body fat, the more likely your muscle is going to be explosive and give you raw strength while the lower body fat will have a tendency to give an ability to have prolonged exercise at peak condition. Fat has its pros and cons; so design your char based on how he lived, his diet, and how he fights (slow, killer punches mean high body fat %, artful dodges and weaving could ask for a lower one)

Here's a video of a fat guy versus a smaller guy with around the same amount of muscle but varying amounts of fat, just to show you how sometimes a guy with lesser body fat can destroy someone with more body fat through utilizing their ability to stay in peak condition longer and tire out his foe. While in the beginning the fat guy takes advantage of his explosive power to easily pin down the smaller guy, the fat guy utilizes a lot of energy trying to pin him down, and the smaller guy takes advantage of it by using his endurance to just wail on his foe. Note how the commenters think the fat guy has is going to win, but the MMA fighter utilizes his endurance to tire out his foe, and finds the stamina to attack his opponent into releasing him.

Also, what you said about bodybuilder's working out only one part of their body is quite the contrary; powerlifter's, the fat guys, are the one's who only work out one or a few parts of their bodies and lack the core, full-body strength while body builders usually work out their entire bodies, or at the least one half of their bodies having more overall versatile core strength. It's intuitive, as bodybuilders need to impress the judges with their whole body, while powerlifters just need to do one exercise, which usually only hits a few muscles, with the most amount of weight, thus they'd focus on those muscle groups over the whole body.

It's also a bit offensive to say that bodybuilder's are just going for a beauty contest. Those guys put a lot more effort into their weight lifting then powerlifters, since powerlifter's don't have to give a hoot about their diet while bodybuilders have to hit the right macronutrient's in order to make gains in the right direction and bodybuilder's have to hit all muscle groups across the body while powerlifter's tend to only a few.

[PtahWithin 1318]

Now we really understand the true power of Skippy.

[｡◕‿‿◕｡ Hawk Whitestorm 715]

Actually, fat and strength have nothing to do with each other. Fat is related to endurance. The body uses fat when the body runs out of quick access fuel, which is usually carbohydrates. The Olympic lifter is fat because he needs it to balance himself out. He doesn't need fat because lifting doesn't require so much fuel that he runs out of carbs. If he was light, the weight of the weights would make him topple over.

I think what you're trying to say is that fat men can be strong, but it comes across as only fat men can be strong.

[Urahra 5359]

There are all types of bodies. I admit that.

But what I am talking about is legit, weightlifting, mountain lion wrestling, strong-enough-to-knock-a-tree-down-with-bare-hands STRENGTH.

Yes, you can have lean muscle and not bulk up a lot. That is a thing that can happen. But those bodies are still not built for wrestling mountain lions. Lean people are built for different things. Runners and swimmers, who are built for endurance, are obviously not pudgy.

But endurance =/= strength. That is endurance. It is not strength. A twig guy is not going to be lifting massive weights. There are some pretty trim weightlifters, but none of them are built like Michael Phelps. They are mostly bulky people.

Compare:

Phelps: http://www.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/photo_galleries/regular_galleries/1748-michael-phelps-hot-body-evolution/photos/1341937558_michael-nov-2002-zoom.jpg

A weightlifter: http://www.strengthessentials.net/images/6422691795_da45f799b1_n.jpg

Not the same bodies, not built for the same thing. Are both "strong", healthy people? Yes. But this is not that.

[｡◕‿‿◕｡ Hawk Whitestorm 715]

There are all types of bodies. I admit that.

But what I am talking about is legit, weightlifting, mountain lion wrestling, strong-enough-to-knock-a-tree-down-with-bare-hands STRENGTH.

Yes, you can have lean muscle and not bulk up a lot. That is a thing that can happen. But those bodies are still not built for wrestling mountain lions. Lean people are built for different things. Runners and swimmers, who are built for endurance, are obviously not pudgy.

But endurance =/= strength. That is endurance. It is not strength. A twig guy is not going to be lifting massive weights. There are some pretty trim weightlifters, but none of them are built like Michael Phelps. They are mostly bulky people.

Your OP doesn't really convey that. The OP seems to say that you must be fat to be strong.

[Agith 224]

<p>Love you for this, though we also have to realise not everyone can be fat enough to be that big! hard times make for skinny people, which makes for overall less strong people, making those who do have the available nutrients can be stronger.</p>

[SteelMarshall 190]

I agree 100% with this post. However, there are some things I would like to add to OP.

This is LotC, a medieval fantasy setting. Are there a such thing as weights, shich are exclusively used to bulk up?

no.

You got your muscle by working. Hard work.

A king is NOT going to be the strongest guy. He will not have the most endurance. Sure, he could be the best swordsman, with the best trainers money can buy. But he CANNOT best someone when things get out of hand, and in war, barely anything goes according to plan. It is a common misconception from movies and such that a king or noble is the most powerful, the only exceptions being chieftans and such who ruled with an iron fist and lead the charge. People had no concept of diet, and so lords, who pig out on meats and fat, will not have high endurance, nor will they have high strength as they do not do manual labor.

The one practice done, by the english to make their longbowmen strong enough to easily fire arrows for hours, was what is now called bodyweights. However, they did these excruciating exercises for HOURS on end.

If your character was a strong fighter with endurance he would look most like OP's picture 3. Keep in mind however that most good fighters were not musclebound or weighty, but lean, their muscle mass made very dense by repeated exercises, strong core with wiry but less impressive arm strength