We are losing physical strength:
Men today are weaker than they were 30 years ago, research in the Journal of Hand Therapy found.
In the study, men aged 20-34 have lower grip and pinch strength – which measures how strong your hand and upper extremities are – than the same aged guys did three decades ago.
In fact, the average grip strength for men ages 25-29 is nearly 12 kilograms lower today than it was before.
Your grip may not seem super important unless you’re a competitive arm wrestler, but it actually serves as a good proxy of your overall strength.
They attribute it to less manual labor, but you also have to wonder about the effects of epigenetics. Generation after generation, sitting at desks all day, never exercising, and therefore burning off fewer muscle-building genes for myosin, actin, and all the growth factors and growth inhibitors. That would affect epigenetic markers, and alter transcription rates, as the body adapts epigenetically to be more sedentary.
I was watching a show on Greek art, and one thing which struck me about the marble statues was how all of the men were so muscular and ripped. Today, it would take a serious program specifically targeting each muscle group to create that level of uniform physical musculature, and yet I almost got the impression after seeing statue after statue, that such development and definition was normal for the time.
In another show they specifically spoke of how Rome’s sculptures morphed through the Empire, beginning as rough and muscular bearded men, and gradually changing into thin, effete, boy-men as the Empire approached collapse. The sculptures they showed were astounding. Even the body language went from bold and proud alpha warrior stance, to effete, uneasy, tentative, and most of all, untrustworthy and sneaky.
This is a play that has been running for millennia. The cast is new, the setting novel, but the script will be exactly the same.
Its called The Apocalypse.
[…] Men Are Weaker Today Than 30 Years Ago […]
Actually, modern machine training has twisted our idea of normal muscles. I’m no greek statue, but as I do more Rippetoe full body lifting exercises, I’m ending up with a balanced look like the classical statues.
And we know that this is how they actually trained at the time. The famous story of Milo of Croton was well known — he built his strength by carrying a calf for a mile every day. As the calf got bigger, he got stronger.
The question is what can we do about it? knightsofthewest.com
Maintain our own personal fitness, select mates carefully, and inculcate our kids with a love of fitness.
What were the shows called? I would like to see them, particularly the second, Roman one
They were on PBS. I don’t remember the names, because I was flipping around when I stumbled on them. The Roman show spoke of the change in imagery as if it was well known in the art world.
Let me look around.
I’m not sure if Greek statuary is a good indicator of the fitness of the average Greek male, especially those who might have had statues made of them.
I read that Egyptian portraits showed Pharaohs as leaner and fitter than one would judge from their corresponding mummified remains. I suspect that sculptors are just as capable as painters of exaggerating positives and minimizing negatives in their subjects who are, after all, paying the bill.
One of the things that led me to accept the fact we live in a feminized society is the depiction of nudity and the body in our society. In ancient greek society Milo Yiannopoulos would have been right at home, with depictions of muscular men and male beauty on all kinds of pottery and art. Contrast that today with movies and commercials where female beauty and the female body is exalted above all else.
Reading the wikipedia page of somebody like Teddy Roosevelt, and the part about he grew up to prize masculinity and strength based on all the books and art he read, also makes me think we’ve come a long way in this direction in the past century.
Maybe OT, maybe not.
When my boys went to high school (2015 grads), they never showered in the gym after sports practice. When I asked them why not, they said nobody did. Back in the day, it was mandatory to shower after practice. Is this some kind of odd body-shyness?
I’ve also noticed that guys don’t go shirts-and-skins to play pickup basketball any more. Everybody wears shirts, even if the various colors make passing problematic.
Maybe it’s some kind of unconscious response to the gayification of society, and young guys want to signal “no homo”.
I dunno.
“the Journal of Hand Therapy”???
For or about men???
I can not stop laughing, AC.