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> Strength levels seem to be decreasing in general. This is one thing I have noticed, men in my parents's generation in their 50s were much stronger than my pe
by jmclnx 4y ago
> Strength levels seem to be decreasing in general.
This is one thing I have noticed, men in my parents's generation in their 50s were much stronger than my peers (and me). And I have been noticing I am a bit stronger than men in there 20s (on average). Of course I tossed out people who work out.
I have been seeing articles like this for a while, I personally believe this has to do with the environment and how the food we eat is grown.
- prox 4y agoDon’t you think it has more to do with a sedentary lifestyle vs a hands on lifestyle (lots more physical work 50 years ago, both out of the house and inside)
- alexfromapex 4y agoNot only that but the soil used to have more minerals and electrolytes naturally which help with strength https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an...
- oifjsidjf 4y agoWhy is this downvoted? Even even you eat modern organic food it problem has much less minerals and vitamins than it did 100 years ago.
- JKCalhoun 4y agoI would simply assume it has more to do with physical activity. If my dad isn't wrenching on a project VW in the garage he's bringing feed out to the horses, installing a new garage door on the shop or something of that nature. I'm called upon to unscrew the difficult lids off jars, but other than that I expect I am underutilizing my muscles.
- mindslight 4y agoThis is most certainly the primary factor. Muscles don't get built for no reason. I myself don't really exercise regularly, but I'll go in and out of periods doing physical projects like carpentry, landscaping, etc). When I start a project I'm definitely lacking strength. As I continue doing physical labor I get stronger, which leads to qualitative changes in my ability to do specific tasks.
- exitb 4y agoI’m in my mid-30s and I’m much stronger than I was in my 20s, even though I haven’t really worked out at any point. I guess it just accumulates.
- hutzlibu 4y agoNormally no, a 30 year old is supoosed to be stronger than a 50 year old. A 50 year old just has better skills and experience how to use his strength to compensate ..
- gocartStatue 4y agoImagine a person that started serious strength conditioning at 40. He will be much stronger at 50 than average 18 yo football player if he „follows the program” ;) yes, it does accumulate a lot over time.
- oneoff786 4y agoAverage 50 year old is declined to about the same level as an average 18 year old so… this statement is probably accurate but uninteresting.
- 2-718-281-828 4y agoi think there is some truth to it. in my family men start out as quite slim during early adulthood and become more and more sturdy with age. arm width increasing significantly etc.
- comfypotato 4y agoBro-science dictates that muscles peak at 35, so that would agree with you being stronger than 20 year olds (but not weaker that 50s).
- jackmott 4y ago
- bluedino 4y agoGrip strength has been decreasing for a while https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/13/481590997/millennials-may-be-losing-their-grip https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/13/4815909...
- Frost1x 4y ago>Of course I tossed out people who work out. I wouldn't be so quick to do this either. Many gym goers focus on targeted muscle hypotrophy over strength training. The two aren't entirely decoupled (building muscle mass will increase your overall strength potential regardless of goals), but you can certainly look very strong (bulky and defined muscle mass) and not have much actual strength, especially for those who do few compound exercises. I recently helped move a couch with a friend meeting your your prototypical "meat head" standards and they were struggling to lift their side and frequently resting. They squat and bench almost twice what I can, arms and back are notably larger, heck I wish I looked that muscular but alas, all I can do is easily move couches.
- vitiral 4y agoThis is why I only squat and deadlift (each only once/week), then do pushups, pullups and situps. More of my time is spent running at the gym than any kind of lifting. I just want broad-range exercises that improve my health, I don't care about looking a specific way.