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Female Bodybuilders Strength

Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

A question that has been in my mind for a very long time is that: Are Female Bodybuilders actually 'STRONG'? or They Simply Look Strong because of exceptionally developed musculature?

[deleted]
Apr 17, 2021 - edited Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

They are definitely strong. Look at the weights they lift. However, someone who trains for strength rather than for aesthetics will be stronger than a bodybuilder. Such as weightlifter, powerlifter.

Whether bikini/fitness competitors are actually strong, I am not sure. For same reason as above. They, too, train for aesthetics rather than strength, and are not as heavy.

Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

They are definitely strong. Look at the weights they lift. However, someone who trains for strength rather than for aesthetics will be stronger than a bodybuilder. Such as weightlifter, powerlifter

But, if all three (bodybuilder, powerlifter, weightlifter) lift the same amount of weights won't the level of strength be the same? Kind of confused on that

[deleted]
Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

Then yes they would be the same but my point was that a powerlifter is likely to reach much higher weights than a bodybuilder, whose goal it is to achieve a certain physique rather than to lift a certain weight

[deleted]
Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

You asked if bodybuilders are strong or if they look strong. But it's a false binary in a way. It depends on what you mean by strong and who you compare them with. Compared to the average human, yes they are strong. But compared to some other athletes whose goal it is to lift heavy weights rather than to achieve a certain physique, the answer may then be no

Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

Thanks for clearing the confusion for me.

[deleted]
Apr 17, 2021 - permalink
Deleted by [deleted]
Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

Unfortunately most of them aren't strong. Any guy of average size should be able to outlift them.

Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

look its pretty simple, if a woman has as 16" biceps she will be stronger then the average guy. my gf is a bodybuilder, she does 180 - 200 lbs on the lay pulldown ... the usual mal gym visitor maxes out around 120 - 140 lbs ... so yes, the look strong and they are strong. accept it, a female bodybuilder will always be strong then the average joe ... that's a fact

Apr 17, 2021 - permalink
[deleted]
Apr 17, 2021 - permalink
Deleted by [deleted]
Apr 17, 2021 - permalink

Bodybuilders, in my experience, are often very strong in straight line strength. This is most likely due to most of the lifts they do being done in a straight plane. When I have wrestled bodybuilders in sessions and at bjj training, I find that they can place a lot of pressure in one movement in one direction, but as soon as you force them to move, the strength doesn't always translate to being able to adapt to this change...so it may not be a functional strength. My opinion for what it is worth.

Apr 18, 2021 - permalink

I'd be a lot more impressed by "bodybuilders" if they actually did something with their muscles. They would have trouble passing the drug tests in regulated competitive sports that test for PEDs (not limited to sports included in the Olympics), which is probably why you don't see them competing in weightlifting, which they ought to be good at. Crossfit came out of a fitness program for firefighters, where functionality is a life-or-death matter for both the firefighters and for people they are responsible for rescuing from burning buildings, and it seems to be very widely used in military units, especially in the combat arms, where being able to get a wounded comrade out of kill zone fast or carry a load of ammo through a field of fire is also likewise an issue of life or death. The fire isn't going to stop spreading and the Taliban isn't going to give a you break because of how strong you LOOK. Some members of this site are impressed by the physiques of women Crossfit competitors, and I'm one of them. I have to wonder how many of the "massive" bodybuilders that some other members drool over could do what Brooke Welles or Katrin Davidsdottir do (and I'm deliberately leaving out Tia-Claire Toomey-Orr). They might win a single-lift event, but I think they'd be at the back of the pack in the frequent power events that involve repeated lifts done in the shortest possible time--they'd be out of gas in a hurry. Dana Lynn Bailey is a (former) "physique" competitor who said she didn't want to just LOOK strong, she wanted to actually BE strong, and she might have been successful at Crossfit. She dabbled with it a little once, but never got into it.

Apr 18, 2021 - permalink

They are all strong compared to normal people but its more complicated than just bigger = stronger.

Apr 18, 2021 - permalink

look its pretty simple, if a woman has as 16" biceps she will be stronger then the average guy. my gf is a bodybuilder, she does 180 - 200 lbs on the lay pulldown ... the usual mal gym visitor maxes out around 120 - 140 lbs ... so yes, the look strong and they are strong. accept it, a female bodybuilder will always be strong then the average joe ... that's a fact

Facts typically aren't formed based off a sample size of 1. How many FBBs are benching 225??? They're not strong.

Apr 18, 2021 - permalink

The simplest answer is that they're strong, but not as strong as they look (to a layperson). Take gender out of it. Do the guys who win strong man competitions look like bodybuilders? Bodybuilders are weakest when they're in competition.

Another dimension is introduced when discussing "mechanical" or "functional" strength. I recall Rachael Chaskey commenting that she "always" loses arm-wrestling competitions. Even though these women are very strong, how hard do you think they can throw an object? Hurling projectiles was probably critical to human evolution (in combat and hunting). Females are far more inclined to push off on the wrong foot and "throw like girls."

In terms of weight-lifting, height/limb-length must also be taken into account. A man who is 5'6" benching 225lbs is not stronger than a man who is 6'7" benching 220lbs. The taller person needs to complete a much greater range of motion. Bodybuilding, gymnastics, and Crossfit are said to favor shorter competitors, whereas height/size is a necessity for strong man competitions.

fp909
Apr 18, 2021 - permalink
Deleted by fp909
Apr 18, 2021 - permalink

LMAO no absolutely not.

Aleesha Young can bench 315 lbs for one rep, while it's weak compared to any male bodybuilder, she still outlifts most men who don't train, and even most men who lift

Aleesha Young is not the average FBB! You guys are taking one person, or a minority, and generalizing that across an entire demo. Yes there are FBBs who will embarrass 99% of men, that doesn't mean that they all can! Those FBBs are anomalies which is what makes them so special. The najority of FBBs are not outlifting your average male.

Apr 18, 2021 - permalink

in this way Katie Lee is probably a terror on the mats. a friend who has been training bjj for a few years now says that even by her eye the technique isn't good but she is strong as all get out and even learning to move and apply pressure in non linear ways will be killer. she still is at a disadvantage against more skilled people but against white belts (and i guess blues now) it will make up for a small small amount of the difference. plus i don't imagine she has to adjust her arms too much to apply a choke her biceps are enormous.

You raise some good points. A big issue for many bodybuilders that I see at bjj is that they think that they can straight up just muscle someone into submission...now that might be true against a beginner, but someone with even a few months training can do enough to avoid the initial onslaught and then the bodybuilder will likely tire. Katie Lee now has enough experience, plus cardio to be a terror, as strength when combined with skill and cardio is a big threat in bjj. To me, she looks like she lost some size when she from when she started bjj. When I started I was 200lbs (90kg) with 18 inch biceps, now 5 years later 185lbs with 17 inch biceps...bjj does strip weight.

fp909
Apr 18, 2021 - permalink

She cut the rounds out and def has lost some size but she’s still really big. I met her in person a few years ago and she was just massive so I can’t imagine what she’s like to roll with. Might also be why she’s undefeated in her armwrestling videos. I def think the wrestling is scripted but not the armwrestle game.

I think another good example is Shannon Courtney. She was one that liked to do other things along with bodybuilding but could still press 120s when at her strongest. Pretty sure she was still doing long runs in those days too and sprints. Definitely seems like the kind of person that can move weight in any direction.

Apr 18, 2021 - permalink

Facts typically aren't formed based off a sample size of 1. How many FBBs are benching 225??? They're not strong.

well I know several girls at my gym that bench 225 lbs ... not sure where this comes from that guys think women can not be as strong or stronger, I can tell you, if they have bigger muscles then you, they are likely strong then you

Apr 19, 2021 - edited Apr 19, 2021 - permalink

well I know several girls at my gym that bench 225 lbs ... not sure where this comes from that guys think women can not be as strong or stronger, I can tell you, if they have bigger muscles then you, they are likely strong then you

They're not even big. Very few of them are over 200lbs. So the vast majority aren't even carrying around more muscle mass. Sure, they're more shredded and ripped than the average guy, but that doesn't equate to strength, especially if they're in-season.

Let's look at some actual numbers instead of this hearsay you keep pushing. Grabbing profiles at random from amg-lite.

Amanda Swallow, max bench is 155. Brandi Mae curl 45lbs, leg press 500lbs. Christy Resendes benches 205. Nadia Nardi max bench 200lbs. Nicole Ball max bench 180lbs. Steph Park max bench 170lbs.

That's your average FBB. This isn't to knock what they've accomplished, first off they're not powerlifters anyway. Most of them will tell you they don't care about their max lifts, it's not what they train for. Still, their numbers for a woman are more than impressive, but the fact is they're simply not moving more weight than the average guy. Yeah you can come back and tell me how much Natalia Trukhina benches, or Collete Guimond, etc. But, again the average FBB does not look like them and does not have their strength. You can't say that FBBs are stronger than men based on the small percentage of high level FBBs who are, you have to look at the average.

Apr 19, 2021 - permalink

She cut the rounds out and def has lost some size but she’s still really big. I met her in person a few years ago and she was just massive so I can’t imagine what she’s like to roll with. Might also be why she’s undefeated in her armwrestling videos. I def think the wrestling is scripted but not the armwrestle game.

I think another good example is Shannon Courtney. She was one that liked to do other things along with bodybuilding but could still press 120s when at her strongest. Pretty sure she was still doing long runs in those days too and sprints. Definitely seems like the kind of person that can move weight in any direction.

Her armwrestling videos are scripted.

Apr 19, 2021 - permalink

They're not even big. Very few of them are over 200lbs. So the vast majority aren't even carrying around more muscle mass. Sure, they're more shredded and ripped than the average guy, but that doesn't equate to strength, especially if they're in-season.

Let's look at some actual numbers instead of this hearsay you keep pushing. Grabbing profiles at random from amg-lite.

Amanda Swallow, max bench is 155. Brandi Mae curl 45lbs, leg press 500lbs. Christy Resendes benches 205. Nadia Nardi max bench 200lbs. Nicole Ball max bench 180lbs. Steph Park max bench 170lbs.

That's your average FBB. This isn't to knock what they've accomplished, first off they're not powerlifters anyway. Most of them will tell you they don't care about their max lifts, it's not what they train for. Still, their numbers for a woman are more than impressive, but the fact is they're simply not moving more weight than the average guy. Yeah you can come back and tell me how much Natalia Trukhina benches, or Collete Guimond, etc. But, again the average FBB does not look like them and does not have their strength. You can't say that FBBs are stronger than men based on the small percentage of high level FBBs who are, you have to look at the average.

well have you worked out with an average FBB? I think if you ever do you will have a different opinion ... of course its hard to compare a 145 lbs FBB again a 220 lbs guy but you need to look at it pound by pound ... how many average guys can benchpress their own bodyweight or more? I go to the gym every day and I see a lot of average 200lbs guys breaking a sweat with not even one 45lbs plate each side. FBBs are obviously not working out for pure strength but it's still a product of the regime. at my gym there is a couple, he average joe 5'10" 185lbs and she is a physique-type BB 5'1" maybe 135lbs. The workout together on weekends and while she curls 30lbs he is doing max. 25lbs and less reps and so on ... that's pretty much on every exercise. She outlifts him on everything, they both worked in with me on lat pulldown, he was at 100lbs and she on 140lbs ...

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