How come people can lift weights but not their wn body weight?

How come you get strong lads/men lifting big weights but they cant lift there own body weight ie cant do pull ups? Im female and can do pull ups so can lift my own body weight yet I don't think I could lift heavy weights/barbells.

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Reply 1

bertstare

Probably cause they weigh a lot as well. But more importantly, certain movements require other things apart from muscle size - balance, co-ordination, efficient neuromuscular activation etc. Which is why you may have a strong deadlift, and a strong military press, but try and do a snatch without any training and you'll probably fail miserably even with **** all weight

Reply 2

The Angry Stoic

Using different muscle groups.

Reply 3

The Troll Toll

They are lying about being strong.

Reply 4

silent ninja

It's the same type of 'lifter' that can't run either. I call that dysfunctional.

I've seen massive guys do pullups. Look at Kali muscle. I'm sure it ain't easy if you weigh a lot but it's not impossible either.

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Reply 5

Darth Stewie

It comes down to strength to body weight ratio, Boxers for instance tend to excel at pull ups as they have a very high strength to body weight ratio (as they need speed, reflexes, endurance and functional strength) where as weight lifters have a very low strength to body weight ratio due to the focus being on size and non-functional strength.

Reply 6

nopenopenope

Original post by Darth Stewie

I think you mean powerlifters. I'm sure any decent weightlifter is able to do a pull up.

Reply 7

The Troll Toll

Original post by nopenopenope

I think you mean powerlifters. I'm sure any decent weightlifter is able to do a pull up.

So can any decent powerlifter.. and any decent bodybuilder. Op's friends just aren't decent at anything :frown:

Reply 8

It's****ingWOODY

All it comes down to is, they can't because they don't. If they tried every day, the same muscle fibres would be worked and soon enough they'll be able to do at least one.

Reply 9

Dark Horse

I can, although I have an unfair advantage being a left-leg amputee.

Reply 10

rlw31

Original post by Darth Stewie

What's non functional strength? And why would weightlifters focus on size?

Reply 11

Sylosis

Original post by Darth Stewie

2.5x bodyweight for 15 reps squat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvHWw96bV10

3.5x bodyweight deadlift for 2 reps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bsO__5_Nx0

very low strength to body weight ratio? really?

edit: to answer OP, people who have good strength compared to bodyweight can do bodyweight exercises easily.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 12

Darth Stewie

Original post by nopenopenope

I think you mean powerlifters. I'm sure any decent weightlifter is able to do a pull up.

Sorry i should have been clearer, power lifters probably struggle more than weightlifters when doing pull ups due to the nature of their training however weightlifters who train to compete at a competitive level such as Olympians are still going to struggle to do pull ups when compared to other athletes as their training focuses on explosive strength and in particular they carry a lot of weight in their legs which in regards to pull ups is a huge hindrance.

Original post by rlw31

What's non functional strength? And why would weightlifters focus on size?

Functional fitness is generally considered to be a combination of strength, flexibility, endurance(muscular & cardio), balance, agility and speed(reaction time/reflexes), weightlifters although have very high levels of explosive strength don't work on any of the other 5 aspects as at the competitive level that's what they need to win, by non functional strength i meant strength without any of the other aspects of fitness being worked on. In regards to size it is very similar, having a low strength to body weight ratio isn't an issue for say someone looking to compete in the worlds strongest man competition as they aren't required to do activities like boxing or gymnastics. Their field is a much more specialized form of athleticism.

Original post by Sylosis

Strength to body weight ratio (also known as strength-to-mass ratio) is worked out by determining the maximum amount of weight you can lift at one time (squats for lower body, bench press for upper body), you then divide this by your body weight which gives you your upper and lower ratio. The videos you posted are not useful as i don't know how much you weigh.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 13

The Troll Toll

Original post by Darth Stewie

You can infer how much the guy weighs from the ratio he posted! It's like, rearranging the equation! THE STUDENT ROOM!!!!! HOLLA!

Edit - also the 2nd video says how much the guy weighs

Edit 2 - ratios are stupid anyway and so is your post

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 14

User995789

They are weak and not real men. Oh you have biceps, but bitch please you can't even do a pull up.
Might as well have fake body parts.

Best to balance it out as stated above :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 15

Darth Stewie

Original post by The Troll Toll

The ratios he posted are wrong for a start, 3.5 x 242 does not equal 815. The second video was posted over a month after the first, his weight has probably changed in that time.

But If we work off the second videos weight and assume he was the same when he did the squats that would put his lower body index at 2.1, which in fairness isn't bad and only 0.4 off 2.5:1 ratio which is considered to be good however this is without factoring in his upper body.

Whether or not you think strength to weight ratios are stupid is irrelevant, for weightlifters then yes they are stupid and you shouldn't pay attention to them however in response to the original question of why weight lifters struggle to do pull ups the strength to body weight ratio helps to highlight the cause,

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 16

rlw31

Original post by Darth Stewie

You don't think weightlifters work on flexibility, muscular endurance, agility or speed :confused:

You think strength athletes have a low strength to body weight ratio :confused:

Reply 17

nopenopenope

Original post by Darth Stewie

Most of what you said is wrong...

Reply 18

Sylosis

Original post by Darth Stewie

It came out as 3.3, I just rounded to 3.5 for simplicity. Isn't bad? Did you not watch the video? Ratios become pretty much useless here. 500lbs x 15 reps at 230lbs (I think that's what he is in the vid) is far more impressive than a 300lb squat x 15 reps at 150lbs even though the ratios are near the same.
I'm sure olympic lifters have weight classes so being a certain strength at a certain bodyweight does matter. Actual strong weight lifters don't struggle to do pull ups in most cases.