Monday, January 08, 2007

Big ain't strong - Strong is strong....

Someone mentioned recently that they liked my one liners so here is another one that is a favorite of mine. Due to bodybuilding and a movie culture of big action stars (especially in the eighties) people now associate size with strength. Well - Big ain't strong - Strong is strong.

Strength comes in a variety of sizes - yes there is "big strong" (Worlds Strongest Man) and yes there is "skinny strong" (rock climber, gymnast) and yes there is just plain strong which comes in many forms.

Where should you fall in the strength/size continuum? To paraphrase a friend of mine - "Where you deserve to."
If your goal is to be an offensive/defensive lineman - then yes you are going to head to the "big strong" end of things. If your goal is to be a rock climber - then you look towards the skinny strong end. But what if you ignored size - instead just focusing on strength and recovery. Letting your body find it's own place.

In powerlifting it is common to just move up weight classes when a sticking point is hit. "There isn't a sticking point that you cannot eat your way through." Can't remember who to attribute this to but it is a common mindset. I am trying to just eat well and focus on being strong and making progress towards my goals - if that ends me up at 198, then so be it. But I would prefer to be at 181.

Just to be big has never made sense to me. Why? Size without purpose has no purpose - but if that is your goal then at least be as strong as your size should allow you.

So where is your goal on the strength/size continuum?

1 comment:

Brett Jones said...

CI,
Thanks - I look at weight as the last variable to work with in relation to strength - unless a weight related sport (football etc...) Congrats on the pull-ups and weight loss!

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