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there's a huge difference between gym stength and functional strength. Some have both though, lol don't assume.
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Fit to survive
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Pointshoot777
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? ? Were you assuming that I was assuming something ?
Maybe your comment wasn't regarding my last post specifically ? I think you raise a very relevant issue in the whole matter of defining "functional strength". This gets to the heart of this thread's topic. Actually I think of this a little more broadly, in terms of "functional condition/fitness". For me personally, that means being able to do the physical things necessary to hunt elk in steep rugged back country miles from the nearest road. It includes carrying my gear on my back and a rifle or bow in hand, and (hopefully) also carrying out elk meat quarters on the way out over many miles in the mountains. It includes strength & long term endurance & good condition of feet, ankles, joints, & ligaments. The big bulls tend to be deep in country away from the roads, so that gives me the motivation to gain the kind of functional conditioning that works for me. Its also my opinion that this kind of conditioning should serve me well in most outdoor survival situations. But, of course, everyone's functional needs and motivations are different and individual - - - Regards, -
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I was pretty much agreeing whole heartedly with you. lol. I'm friends with a lot of bodybuilders and do some small moving jobs. Well, about 1/4 of them are strong enough to keep up. My friend who's just an outdoors kinda guy, not fat but not skinny is as functionally strong as any of them. I'm not saying you can't build funtional strength in the gym, it's just different then what most people do. Me personally, I'm more impressed with the 180lb guy who can bench/squat/deadlift a fair amount of weight but can do widegrip pullups with a 45lb plate strapped to him over the 240lb BBer who can't do 10 with his own body weight. I feel like to be considered "strong" you should be able to do 1.5x body weight bench press, 2x bodyweight squat, 2x deadlift, and be able to do at least 10 wide grip pullups. But at the same time be able to knock out a mile in less than 8 minutes. It's really hard to fine tune like that though.? ? Were you assuming that I was assuming something ?
I think you raise a very relevant issue in the whole matter of defining "functional strength". This gets to the heart of this thread's topic. Actually I think of this a little more broadly, in terms of "functional condition/fitness". For me personally, that means being able to do the physical things necessary to hunt elk in steep rugged back country miles from the nearest road. It includes carrying my gear on my back and a rifle or bow in hand, and (hopefully) also carrying out elk meat quarters on the way out over many miles in the mountains. It includes strength & long term endurance & good condition of feet, ankles, joints, & ligaments. The big bulls tend to be deep in country away from the roads, so that gives me the motivation to gain the kind of functional conditioning that works for me. Its also my opinion that this kind of conditioning should serve me well in most outdoor survival situations. But, of course, everyone's functional needs and motivations are different and individual - - - Regards, -
Pointshoot777
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That makes sense to me. - - - In terms of strength, I'm also impressed by those guys that do some of the "strong man" contests where they have to move odd shaped heavy items and it doesn't just involve isolated major muscles, but the secondary supporting ones too. That would be more akin to the kind of thing you have to do when doing a moving job. (BTW - I never mind helping out friends with moving the large, heavier stuff. Its just making all those trips with the small piddly things that is boring ! ) Regards, - -
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I think one of the key factors is how a person weight trains. Many (not all or necessarily even most) bodybuilders, whether recreational or competitve, use a number of isolation movements. This works for cosmetics, but has little crossover for functional strength, because virtually every functional task that requires strength utilizes the synergism (cooperation) of multiple muscle groups. That's why movements like squats, lunges, pull-ups, dips, etc. are so valuable for functional strength. Concentrating on them streamlines the strength training component of a workout, so that there is also time for cardio or actually getting out on the trail.
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Alot of bodybuilders are very huge but are weak compared to some smaller guys (although many are strong, depends how they train).
With the weaker ones, those huge inflated muscles are there due to drugs and the water retention in the muscle cells caused by them. You would be surprised how little weight some bodybuilders train with.
With the weaker ones, those huge inflated muscles are there due to drugs and the water retention in the muscle cells caused by them. You would be surprised how little weight some bodybuilders train with.
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personally I think a lot of "bodybuilders" neglect to recognize the hypertrophy benifits of good compound movements. No matter what your goal, stregnth or size, deadlifts, squats, bench, and wide grip pullups should be staples in your workout. (I'd add dips but damn those things destroy my elbows.)
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sometimes that is for a reason though. Bodybuilding is all about keeping the body guessing so they rotate in very high reps instead of high weight low reps. But, also if you're a very dedicated BBer and you're not doing the drugs or the quantity of drugs, all that weight takes a toll on your body.
edit: but yeah, lots of them aren't nearly as strong as they look.
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Amen to that! (Although for me barbell benches are tough on the shoulders, so DBs and dips are the way to go).
I use the Chuck Norris Total Gym (lol its actually a great workout) for strength and flexibility, i also do push ups and pull ups, and a few sit ups. Lot's of biking and some jogging. I definatly feel that endurance is just as important if not more than strength.
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Fitness comes right after skills, which comes right after luck.
I've been on a diet of sorts, for the last few months and have dropped a lot of fat around the middle, dropping my weight from 234, to 207. My goal weight is right around 190 with muscle tone.
I've also been working on strength and stamina, which at my almost over the hill age, isn't all that easy, when having to work around bad back, achy and stiff joints, poor lungs, etc., but I'm still working on it. My lungs will never let me be young again, but I can hike farther and faster today, than I could just 6 months ago and with less fatigue.
I would recommend to anyone that really needs to lose weight, to do so. Just losing 27# has made a world of difference in how I feel overall and when I'm down to my goal weight, it can only get better.
Will be joining a communty health club that is fairly reasonable and they offer at no extra fee, a personal trainer 4 hours a week, diet guidelines and a variety of classes designed to get us to our individual goals, so I'm stoked.
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longbow50, fellow trad archer, you seem to be on a good quest. I am pretty strong in my gym but gave up cardio and eating right. You are on the right path.
TS
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There's a huge difference between work gained core strength and gym strength. I used to watch the Seal teams on ship do hours of excersize, all body weight stuff. None of them were huge giant guys. Many were quite small, same with Marines and Army SF types. Bulk is good for shock and awe, but if you have to go long range, you can't afford it.
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Many good answers already. I'll just add my two cents. This is basically what I tell my survival students.
1) For wilderness survival, the most important aspect of physical fitness is the VO2Max, or maximal oxygen uptake. Why ? Because above 50 to 60% of that max uptake you can ONLY fuel your efforts with glycogen or carbohydrates. Those are very limited, and cannot be stored in great quantities in the body. So your reserves are small and those are precious. You want to use your fat as fuel as much as possible. And if you're in good cardio shape, you can do many exhausting things using fat as a primary fuel source. This leaves you with a store "high octane" fuel for emergency use (shivering, sprinting, fighting, escaping, etc.).
2) physical fitness is manyfold. It includes : cardio power (VO2Max), endurance (energy production / neogluceogenesis), muscular strength/power, coordination/balance (gross motor skills), dexterity (fine motor skills), flexibility. Can also be included into the pack : temperature acclimation (hot or cold, but it's hard to have both at the same time), and a good, strong immune system (which you can train -- at your own risks -- through vaccination and poor prophylactics).
3) As was already stated, the chain is just as tough as it's weakest link. You can be as strong as hell or have the best VO2Max on earth, but if you have no fuel or if you get sick, or if you get hypothermic at 15°C, you have it up the rectal tract just as bad.
I, personally, is more grizzli than man. Without doing anything I am muscular and store fat easily. Well I do very little weight training and concentrate on cardio, as this is my genetical weak spot.
So for me the survival fitness motto is : It's more important not to have major issues/weaknesses that to really be good at anything.<
The other motto is that fitness will bring you only up to a point. Without skills and knowledge you'll die with you mouth open. So train, learn, and be careful.
Cheers,
David
1) For wilderness survival, the most important aspect of physical fitness is the VO2Max, or maximal oxygen uptake. Why ? Because above 50 to 60% of that max uptake you can ONLY fuel your efforts with glycogen or carbohydrates. Those are very limited, and cannot be stored in great quantities in the body. So your reserves are small and those are precious. You want to use your fat as fuel as much as possible. And if you're in good cardio shape, you can do many exhausting things using fat as a primary fuel source. This leaves you with a store "high octane" fuel for emergency use (shivering, sprinting, fighting, escaping, etc.).
2) physical fitness is manyfold. It includes : cardio power (VO2Max), endurance (energy production / neogluceogenesis), muscular strength/power, coordination/balance (gross motor skills), dexterity (fine motor skills), flexibility. Can also be included into the pack : temperature acclimation (hot or cold, but it's hard to have both at the same time), and a good, strong immune system (which you can train -- at your own risks -- through vaccination and poor prophylactics).
3) As was already stated, the chain is just as tough as it's weakest link. You can be as strong as hell or have the best VO2Max on earth, but if you have no fuel or if you get sick, or if you get hypothermic at 15°C, you have it up the rectal tract just as bad.
I, personally, is more grizzli than man. Without doing anything I am muscular and store fat easily. Well I do very little weight training and concentrate on cardio, as this is my genetical weak spot.
So for me the survival fitness motto is : It's more important not to have major issues/weaknesses that to really be good at anything.<
The other motto is that fitness will bring you only up to a point. Without skills and knowledge you'll die with you mouth open. So train, learn, and be careful.
Cheers,
David