The True Measure Of Strength

In every era of Physical Culture, there has been some person or group of people who have felt the need to tell everybody what the mark of real strength is. Some have said the Overhead Press, the Deadlift, the Squat, Bench Press, Lifting Stones, Bending Spikes, Sprint up a hill a hundred times and so on and so forth. In today's society there are three big time groups that literally believe they are the true measures of strength; Bodybuilders, Crossfitters & Strongmen. Personally i'll take the Strongman any day of the week but this isn't about who's better and has the larger point of view on strength.

The truth is, there is no real test to fully know what the measure of strength is because it's not meant to be generalized to one specific category. There are different areas of strength that people possess more than another and it's not to say one group is weaker, it is what they built upon and taken to the degree of their craft in that area. Not every strongman lifted 500 lb stones but some have held back airplanes, bent spikes the greatest bench presser cannot even match, one guy can lifts hammers that are heavier than anyone can even get off the ground but can barely handle a heavy kettlebell. The greatest athletes don't possess the strength of a 1000 lb deadlifter but can throw a ball, have insane eye coordination to hurl a basketball from full court and you have guys that can go for hours wrestling and still have the will to pick up an opponent and drive them into the mat, that's crazy strength.

There is no such thing as one level of strength among all people. I personally believe in the type of strength where it carries over to the real world and has usefulness in many aspects. There are many strong guys that can pulldown 200+ lbs. on a machine yet those same guys cannot do a freaking pull-up, a 500 lb. Bench Presser is really strong but that same guy may not be able to do a 200 lbs stone or do 500 push-ups. Another thing I believe in is being able to master different forms of training and take bits and pieces that make up the natural order of those forms. You may not see me do a Tae Bo tape but I'll pick up rocks, sprint up a hill, do difficult animal moves, hold positions that come from gymnastics, carry heavy furniture and even lift up heavy boards that are under somebody.

The greatest mark or measurement of strength is what creates a real world form of what brings to the table instead of a glorious one time moment that happens to be a record. 100 years ago, many of the old-time strongmen didn't focus on specific lifts or isolate the muscles to look pretty; they had a hand in many styles such as wrestling, boxing, weightlifting, manual labor, dock work and blacksmithing. They found what they had to use in order to function in more than one aspect. Look at men like Otto Arco, George Hackenschmidt, John Grimek, John Davis and others; they possessed strength in areas more than 95% of the very best strongmen and crossfitters today. Yes the weight is heavier, the speed has greater velocity and the events have a greater spectacle but let me ask you this, how many strongmen today can go an hour or more on the mat? How many crossfitters have precise muscle control? How many gym rats can haul a couch? How many 700 lb. bench pressers can bend a 6-8 inch spike? I will guarantee you 1 out of every 10,000 can probably answer these and that latter number is actually short if you really do the research.

I beg of you guys, stop being such ego maniacs and walking around saying shit like "The mark of a man is measured by his bench" or "life ain't worth living if you can't do a heavy deadlift" or even one of my favorites "Strength is only measured by your squat." I'm thankful I still have strength in ways many my age don't have but that doesn't no where near make me better than them because they have strength that I can never fathom or fully understand but all in all, we are all extremely strong in some form or another and if someone is looking to get strong, show them different ways so they can find what works for them and cheer them on, putting them down doesn't show strength, it shows weakness more than anything. Be grateful that you are already strong but remember, there is always someone out there stronger than you'll ever be in ways that you can never truly measure up to. Be strong both in mind and body and master more than just one thing, it creates more excitement and adventure to find what else is out there to be strong at.