Dad Strength

So, is dad strength a real thing or just kids idolizing their dads and dads pretending to be stronger than they are?

I used to think it's all bullshit, but recently me and my dad helped out a relative with building his cabin. We competed in lifting and carrying bags of cement, logs etc. He matched me in everything except grip strength - there he won by quite a margin.

I'm an intermediate lifter, desk job, do farming and some construction around my cabin:
>25yo, 90kg, 182cm.
>BW military press, 120kg bench, 160kg squat
>Eat decently, a bit chubby.
>Smoke, but still got 120% lung function due to genetics.
>No major injuries except slightly busted shoulders.

Dad never works out, has a desk job, only does a bit of manual labor around the house and property:
>55yo, 100kg, 180cm.
>Eats mostly processed meat and bread - I doubt he gets more than 70g of protein per day.
>Heavy smoker, has 70% normal lung function.
>Shattered his wrist, has 5 pieces of shrapnel in his back, broke half his ribs.

How the fuck is that possible? The last time he was regularly physically active was about 15 years ago. Before that he was very active and strong, but is it really possible to retain gains for that long? He even looks like a typical overweight, out-of-shape guy.

Other urls found in this thread:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10769428
scientificamerican.com/article/the-power-of-the-human-jaw/
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

you're just a big fucking pansy

I know what you mean, I'm a head taller and 24 years younger than my dad but he could definitely take my ass in a fight.

What I'm about to say has nothing backing it up but my grandfather onceentioned that a man's prime in strength is during their 40s. Not sure how true it is because he comes from a post commie country with a shite education but its worth a note

>tfw I lift because I wasn't strong enough as a kid to stop my dad from abusing me

his mind can just take on more weight
>muh telepathic lifting

perhaps it's some biological shit, producing low test babies during times of peace. My dad is strong as fuck too, didn't need no gym.

Bone density.

Men get thicker bones from early adulthood to middle age and then start losing the mass from 50 onwards.

More fat-free mass in the limbs = better leverage

>producing low test babies during times of peace.
I was born while my dad was in the military, my dad was born during hippie 60s - so I doubt that's it. That whole muh-xenoestrogens shit always sounds very suspect to me.

Humans lose bone density as they age you uneducated teenager turd. Stop pulling facts out of your ass.

God Bless man seek Jesus

I feel that

Men our father's age didn't spend their youth getting bombarded with test lowering chemicals.

When you are his age, you will be substantially weaker than he is.

Yeah, that'll help.

My dad has like 14" arms and is still stronger than me. He lifts fridges and crap all the time. Idk what it is, I think the fiber efficency or something is just better in your late 30s-early 50,s

It's total accumulated testosterone. Physical strength peaks much later in life than other attributes.

It's just general adult strength. Just because the legal system sees you as an adult at 18/21, that doesn't mean shit to your body. Most of our dads also lived different lives than we did. We're comparatively lazy and soft compared to them at our age.

>It's total accumulated testosterone.
That doesn't make any sense.

We're also much better fed, and most people who were physically active did manual labour and farming - which while requiring decent amounts of strength - is more cardio. Plus in terms of strenght, the human body peaks around 25, assuming you've been training since your early teens.

why do people on Veeky Forums tend to have abnormally high OHP compared to bench? Really makes you think that one would put his push press as military press when you personally press 10 kg less and bench 10 kg more


>wtf I can OHP 2 plate now

>big shoulders are impressive
>doing OHP is cooler than benching

I mostly train OHP only, bench has currently devolved to a pressing accessory. and yet, I strict press 10k less than OP and bench 10k more. weirdly enough, at the same time I could push press 90k I could bench 120, really activates those almonds

>1. They're lying and because OHP is a misunderstood lift shoot much higher than they should.
>2. They're fucking up range of motion hugely and/or lifting DBs top of head to kinda lock out and counting that as 1 rep.
>3. They're push pressing.

well it dont matter, I will from now on use my push press as OHP, so I can OHP 100 kg and bench 130 kg :^)

did your dad spend any amount of time working a hard physical labor job in his life before getting a cushy desk job?

guys who spend like a decade doing masonry, plumbing and other shit develop death grip hands and forearms that take a long time to disappear

My OHP is not the point of this topic, but if you want a low-down:

I was a poorfag and only trained with dbs initially. Later on I didn't have enough weight to overload my pecs (until I remembered to just do flyes) but enough for overhead presses and lateral raise. I could have done dips or weighted pushups, I also could have not flunked out of college or asked my HS sweetheart to marry me or bought bitcoins in 2010. Was not about to slow down to let my pecs and (to a lesser degree) lats catch up to my shoulders, but maybe I should - I suspect that's the reason for my shoulder pain: Can't do lateral raises without pain anymore.

And yes, I know the difference between a military press and a push press.

Was it sexual of physical abuse user?

*or physical abuse

>I think I should stop posting for the night

Where the fuck do you live for it to be night right now? Turkmenistan?

>tfw remember the days when dad used to curl, pushup, ohp using my sister and i as weights
>never lifted in the gym
>just played ballgames with his office team on his day offs when i was still a child
>got mugged in an alley by 5 guys after he allegedly had an affair with one of the guy's wife
>got hit by a pipe giving him a concussion and his eyeball popped out
>didnt come home for weeks and i was frantically asking my mom where he was or what was going on
>mom just cried
>dad wasn't the same after that although he's trying his best to make up for it now but mom still hates him
>used to hate my dad for years because he went bipolar and emotionally unstable out of depression.
>Would belt me and beat the dog for a minor thing, get mad at random times,
womanizing and drinking became worse
>tfw i wished he could've raised me and my sister more if it weren't for that
>tfw still have problem opening up to dad even if i don't hate him anymore
>tfw dad's one of the reason why i started lifting and boxing

And how exactly does bone density improve leverage?

Top kek.

>tfw blue-collar dad

This op.

Stop being a pussy. You don't know how to work, only to go into a gym and sweat a little bit. Odds are is that you didn't even play sports as a child and have read an article about video games in the last month.

I have a blue collar dad that worked his fucking ass off and built a company so he is white collar now. Pretty much a superhuman. Not worked manual labor and barely worked out at all for 15 years and still benches over 100 kg and runs 10 km in 50 minutes at 53 years of age.

There's definitely a correlation between physical activity (any kind, even just running) during teenage years and physical strength later in adulthood.
My father has spent a shitload of time outside in his teens playing football and messing around with the bar (pull ups, dips, muscle ups etc., really common amongst kids from former USSR countries). Last time he did any kind of physical activity was probably 25 years ago, and despite eating like shit and growing some flab, he still manages to match me in grip strength, which isn't exactly weak, and is still capable of doing 10 full pull ups with outstanding form.
Doubt I could match him in his prime, desu.

Real shit.

My dad competed in some Martial arts competitions and still does BJJ to this day. He's 60, still works managing properties and lifting/fixing everything himself. His first couple jobs were construction as well.

He's a stupid strong old manlet I don't think I'll ever be able to take him in a fight. He does some weight lifting also just to maintain muscle mass. Fucker kind of looks like an Italian pop eye

>You don't know how to work,
Worked as a logger on and off from age 16-23.

>Odds are is that you didn't even play sports as a child.
Soccer from 8am-8pm in the summer, hiked almost every weekend, climbed my share of burnt out skyscrappers. Not an athlete, but I was active.

> have read an article about video games in the last month.
Fuck you, I really wanted to know if some more Deus Ex DLC is coming before I uninstall it.

>What I'm about to say has nothing backing it up but my grandfather onceentioned that a man's prime in strength is during their 40s.

This is true. In studies that took men's grip strength and correlated it to their age, grip strength peaked in the early 40's.

Boomer generation in Western civilization have double the testosterone of Millenials and Gen-Xers.

>It's total accumulated testosterone
nice broscience

I can't explain it. I'm a 43 year old dad... and I can out-lift all these 20 somethings in my gym. Granted... I'm a big fucker @ 6'3" 220lbs... but they look super swole... and I come along and destroy them looking all dyel.

Sorry to hear that anons :^( We'll all make it

My father was active as fuck as he grew up under communism in eastern europe

>nothing to do but work or play outside
>dad lifted with my uncle and they'd also eat like bears
>lots of football(soccer) and other shit
>also did manual labor during communism since that's what basically 99% were doing
>fled to western europe and still worked something manual here and there
>has his own construction business and still had to bring that up so just more work

He's 60 now and even had his right quad slit up by a glass shard and has back/neck problems
He's still strong as fuck even after being out of sports for decades now and not doing much. I guess if you just had to work hard in periods of life your body just keeps that even in older age. I outlift him now and when he was a teen(he benched 110kg max and I now bench 125kg max) but he still is strong as fuck and his grip strength is unheard of sometimes

Probably because you've never worked a day in your fucking life, and have only lifted a pole.

life has a way of wearing you down

eventually you just become used to the pain and barrel through

My uncle has never lifted, drinks and smokes a ton everyday and he has better forearms than anyone I've ever seen. All he does is stone work. I'm always impressed when I see him. They're about as big as my calves

There's a reason the old bull typically fights off the younger bulls

Look up endocrine disruptors. Almost everything you touch on a daily basis either inhibits test or mimics estrogen

Not really, .

Could be it. Most people stop when they feel a twinge in their spine or a tearing pain in their quad. Older guys probably don't do that.

There are weaklings in every generation, a lot more people just have/know dads who played ball when they were younger and have 20+ years on you in experience with carrying shit around. Being a dad doesnt make you not scrawny or obese, both of which severely over estimate their strength.

Not him, but its 9:40 in Britain (ish) and the sun has set.

You are aware that all these posts are not real time? You are aware that there are dates and times in the headers of posts? You are aware that that post was made 6 hours ago?

You're a fucking retard.
It's common fucking knowledge that mens bones ossify and thicken with age. You've got this general idea about women and frail old men and think you know enough to correct people, fuck off.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10769428

>When the sex-related differences are investigated, three different factors are disclosed: Men have, at the age of 20-30 years, a higher peak bone mass and strength than women. Men show an age-related compensatory increase in bone size (cross-sectional area of the vertebral bodies) which can not be found in women

ITT: Broscience - the thread

Depends, what games did he buy for for? Children who grew up playing Nintendo ended up being weak jawed myopic beta males, while those who played xbox or ps2 were significantly more likely to be alpha. Mario and wii gay sex vs halo and god of war.
Now, it doesn't mean everyone who played ps2/xbox wasn't a beta-not by a long shot. But there is some definite correlation. I grew up playing gameboy and shit and ended up on this site. Friends who played ps/xbox grew thick facial hair, stronger jaws, sooner changed interests to sports cars, fucking women, and had 16+ inch arms 12% bodyfat going to the gym once a week.
I believe they were genetically inclined to play more violent, mature games, versus the submissive low prenatal-T betas who played pokemon, mario, or wii.

10/15/20 years of manual labor+shit diet = really strong yet ugly and fat upper body

Also shit at cardio due to smoking and drinking for decades

Still, bones being stronger doesn't really account for being stronger. You're less likely to break something - but I highly doubt that that is the limiting factor except in top level athletes.

yeah, plastic is turning us all into the gays. we get it.

Strength gains accumulate over time and aren't as ethereal and quick to vanish as aesthetic gains. He got strong from doing shit then didn't get not strong.

>describe it

>They're about as big as my calves
so non existent then?

peak muscle fiber is at age 35

Citation please. Even if it's true young people have better joints and connective tissue.

Out of all the souls that wander here, I genuinely hope that you in particular make it.

Sad story time

>be me
>father had ultimate dad strength
>was drywaller for a building material distribution company
>held a job for 21 years hauling drywall, wood, and other odd items (most times by hand) to houses
>used to wrestle with him, always lost
>friends used to call him "the troll" because he is short but has forearms like a gorilla
>about 4 years ago
>dad goes up north hunting and gets bitten by a deer tick
>contracts lymes disease
>doctors misdiagnose the tick bite with a spider bite for about a month
>dad is in serious pain, has fever-like symptoms all the time
>still never missed a day of work because, ya know, dad strength
>doctors finally diagnose the bite as a deer tick
>it's too late though
>damage is already done
>the arthritis he had in his joints had now doubled tenfold
>now has rheumatoid arthritis in almost all of his joints
>spine is fucked
>benign tumors and cysts in his arms
>can barely walk without pain
>had to quit his job because he would come back home from work crying in pain
>is now jobless, fighting the government to get disability
>sometimes have to drive him places because his wrists hurt too much to turn a steering wheel
>the image of my dad strength father is crumbling before my very eyes

He is the reason why I lift, because right now my body is without pain and I know he would kill to be in my shoes.

I just want him to stop hurting Veeky Forums.

damn user, that's horrible

I'm so sorry. I was moping around but your story smacked me over the face. Thank you. I wish I could give advice, but I don't know enough. Just keep lifting, make your dad proud user.

People like you are getting gains and trying to make it, and my bitch ass is sitting here complaining about
>tfw no GF

You are going to make it user.

Thanks, there's not much advice to give though. My sister and I are doing what we can. I go on walks with him whenever I'm home from uni and my sister has him doing a limited mobility yoga routine to help him regain his flexibility. It's not much, but he's surviving. He's a tough bastard.

It sucks because I always imagined there'd be a moment in my life where we could both recognize ourselves as equals in terms of strength, but he just...withered away without that happening. All I can do is lift until I make it and take what he lost.

>tfw lifting mmafag and my dad is a desk jockey

i have never once doubted i could take him in a fight. poor guy hurts his back and knees a lot, wish i could have gotten him to lift with me

Anyone remember seeing their dad's dick as a kid and thinking "holy fuck that thing is huge" and like for the rest of your teenage years you just think your dad is packing so much heat you will never be able to compare? Well then you start thinking that it is more likely that it just seemed monstrous because you were young with a little boy dick.

I went on vacation with my dad and we got a massage. I saw his dick again, this time as a full grow adult and let me tell you, his cock is still the biggest i have ever seen and I will never be able to compare ;_;

>tfw my dad was a schoolboy champion power lifter and will probably be able to outlift me well into his late 60s

feels good man, he gives me a lot of shit for being weaker than him but i got some great coaching on my form when i first started out.

Stronger bones correlate with more muscle strength, as the bones will be at far less risk of being damaged by the pressure your muscles exert onto your body while you're lifting.
For example: your jaw muscles are capable of exerting 275lbs worth of pressure, but your jaw and teeth are too fragile to withstand such pressure

scientificamerican.com/article/the-power-of-the-human-jaw/

this made me tear up a bit

My dad told me the other day that I could take him in a fight. Kinda bummed me out.

>when your dad is 58yo and squats 400lbs 10 reps

>says he's happy when i beat him in lifting

He's ex-strongman / world champion level amateur bodybuilder tho

I understand that. But I highly doubt that when a 50yo guy with no major structural problems tries to deadlift - that the limiting factor is likely to be his bone density. Seems to me that at that age lack of sheer muscle mass from poor diet, lack of activity, lowered test etc. would be the limiting factor. And if there's a bottleneck there - the bone density shouldn't come into play much.

So the question is: how do these blue collar dads maintain so much muscle a decade or two after becoming mostly sedentary? Especially considering their mostly shit diets, smoking, poor sleep, low test etc.

I finally caught up with my dad in terms of strength, but he's killed quite a few people in trench warfare and was special forces and a drill instructor before that. Still would be kinda nervous about fighting him for real.

Trench warfare when and where

Sarajevo.

>So, is dad strength a real thing or just kids idolizing their dads and dads pretending to be stronger than they are?
It's more like lifting is massively overrated for "work strength", including wrestling and fighting. You're a weak guy with big muscles in this area.

Your dad won't be able to beat you in the weightroom, on the other hand. Just try it.

In the end, you have to accept that gym and real life are two different worlds. Many people take years to accept this, maybe you can get it into your head a bit ealier.

Could be. I worked manual labour for a while, too: The better I get at manual labour (even the kind that is mostly lifting stuff,) the worse my lifts get - and vice versa. Or maybe that's down to not eating enough.

It's almost like deadlifting and carting around a wheelbarrow full of cement bags isn't the same thing. But my intuition is still that it should be: same muscles are involved, cardio isn't the problem - I can run for significantly longer than my dad, technique isn't the problem - carrying shit isn't complicated. So what is it? Certainly not muscle fibers and insertion - that stuff should be very similar. Substrate utilization or pain tolerance - those are the only things that come to mind.

My grandfather was a brick mason and farmer his whole life.

He fell about twenty feet off of some scaffolding. Soon after he began drinking heavily after work. Grandma finally figured out he was in lots of pain, but wouldn't say anything. After some convincing he went to the hospital and the discovered he had a shattered vertebrae. He had been working with a broken back.

Even in his last days he could crush your hand with his vice grip handshake. I've been turning wrenches for over 20 years, and can grip like hell, but he would smash my grip no problem.

Grip strength is legit in old guys. I've shook hands with 60-year old guys that have grips like a fucking vice.

Damn dude, sorry to hear that.
I know it's shit watching your parents age and get progressively weaker, especially our dads. Watching your hero fail kills you inside. Dont let it get to you though. Keep lifting and make them proud. Parents don't care what happens to them as long as their children are worthy. You will know that feeling when you are a father.

>dad is was a thinner and taller than me as a teenager
>He was 6'4" and 130 at 17
>I was 6' and 140 at 17
>I decide to get ripped, work out a lot
>weigh 185, jacked
>dad weighs 210, mostly from being
skinny fat
>He can bench more than me

Blame your mom for passing on her manlet genes.

bump

>>Smoke, but still got 120% lung function due to genetics.

that's why you are so weak.

My dad has 70-80%, so that can't be it. Both of us were born with enlarged lungs and hearts (which probably isn't a good thing,) my lung capacity before I started smoking was 130% of what is normal for my height, weight and whatever else they use to calculate the baseline.

Dad strength is absolutely real. I know because I'm a dad.

Your fathers have 25-45 years of extra reps on you. Think of the shear volume of function strength movements he's done in his life compared to you who's been flinging a barbell around for a few years.

I depends on the dad. Those who got a labor kinda job will still be strong getting older. I also used to think it's because they don't complain, they go on. They know they'll feel like shit for a couple of days, back-pain, etc, when there is heavy shit to be done... but they do it anyway, they just take a pill to numb the pain.
I'm stronger than my dad but that's cause he's got a severe scoliosis which gave him a hunchback, and so his whole torso is fucked.
>started lifting partly to take care of the house expecting he'd not be able to do it

>started lifting partly to take care of the house expecting he'd not be able to do it
Growing up sucks, doesn't it.

my dad did pole vaulting and gymnastics in high school, was much stronger than I am now, but I'm getting there

One of the saddest moments in my life was when I realized I could throw a football farther than he could because of his back issues from construction. Had manly tears there. I'm coming for your 285 bench press dad, I'll get there someday

My mom abused me when I was a kid. She would hit me and tell me she wished I was dead. Probably a reason I got so fat when I was a kid. Stress eating.

It felt so good when I kicked her out of my house a few months back when she started being verbally abusive and tried escalating it to physical./

She's probably mentally ill, did she ever go to a doc and try taking medicine?

she wont go to a therapist or even a regular doctor for physical problems. she wouldn't let me help her and that was the last straw

This might sound cruel: but ever thought about having her forcefully committed? Pretty sure assaulting someone is grounds for bringing it up with the authorities.

Yes and no. On the bright side, a lot of things get less and less grip on you, and you get strong traps shrugging them off left and right.