Pound for pound strength

[Rebecca D]

Just curious as to what the best way to measure pound for pound strength is. (Particularly female versus male).

(I did more pushups than my husband {36-42} while joking around with some friends this weekend and now he is pouting. He wants to settle this in the weight room by measuring our "pound for pound strength").

Rebecca D

 

[Rebecca D]

Anybody??

I say bodyweight exercises like pushups, situps, pullups, and dips.

My husband says take your 1 rep max on the bench and leg press and divide by bodyweight.

Just wondering if there were other methods, preferences or suggestions. Particularly measuring a woman versus a man. (It wouldn't hurt if there were suggestions that favored me).

Rebecca D

 

[Tatyana]

There must be corrections for weight, I think they even use them with Olympic weight lifting.


Between male and female, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, good question.

I like it.

 

[needtogetaas]

If I can lift more weight then you. Then I am stronger then you.


In my eyes this is the only two ways to do it. All other ways are ways made up by weak people.

 

[Rebecca D]

Nice "male" answer needtogetaas. I know whoever lifts the most is strongest, but I'm looking for a fair way to measure strength for a woman versus man. When I play tennis with my husband I use doubles rules and he uses singles rules. This evens the playing field a little.

Example: Benchpress--I lift 115 and he lifts 225.
Strength index me--115/125=.92
Strength index him--225/195=1.15
Pushups--me-42, him-36

Who is pound for pound stronger???? Which is the best measure of strength??? Are there better examples or formulas.

Just looking for some friendly maritial competition...and to bruise his ego a little.

rebecca d

 

[Rebecca D]

The formula I found used for bodyweight differences in olympic lifting is S*M -2/3 power. S=weight lifted in kilograms, M=bodyweight in kilograms and M to the -2/3 power would be M squared to the cubed root divided into one. This gives a strength index that measures "pound for pound strength in olympic lifts. The female equalizer used in some contest where one or two women compete with the men is 30%. When looking at olympic lifting records men have a strength index that is an average of 30% more than women at each weight class. This means you would take S*M to the -2/3 power and multiply it times 1.3 for a women.
Example: 125lb woman benches 130lbs. S=59 kg M=56.7kg. 56.7 to the -2/3 power =1/14.7589 so her strength index by body weight is 3.9975863. Then multiply that by 1.3 to equal 5.1968621 for a strength index adjusted for body weight and female.
A 200lb man benches 250lbs. S=113.4 and M=90.7. 90.7 to the -2/3 power = 1/20.187 so his strength index adjusted for body weight is 5.6174731.

Therefore a 200lb man who benches 250lbs is stronger than a 125lb woman who benches 130lbs, but not by much. I know I have too much time on my hands, but I was amazed that people have actually calculated this and that there is a formula.

rebecca d

 

[chazk]

depends on if the lifts are max effort for 1 rep , or like you mentioned
Or like you mentioned the push ups.
I can only do say 20 push ups then my chest gets so pumped with blood I have to stop becuase it just starts to hurt .
( real push ups the chest to the floor no body motion only chest and triceps pressing , 1second rest at the top then down and up again usually takes 1 minutes to do 20 pushups. 1 second down, 1 second at the bottom,1 second up)
I can bust off 50-60 half assed what i call " body presses " just going as fast as you can with no muscle contraction , pretty much just bouncing
So you have me beat if you are doing push ups and not fast body presses.

 

[chazk]

you know what ,
a lady that is big around 200 -220 lbs 6ft and thick as shit works out in my gym I see her in the morning sometimes.
She can squat 4 plates on each side ( 405 lbs) with just a belt on the squat rack NOT the smith machine ! for full reps seen her do 6 reps
I know for a fact I can't do 6 reps as clean and far down as she did with out reinjuring a disc in my L4- L5 vertabra, hell dont know of I could do more then 3-4 even when my back was in perfect shape ( full reps that is )
she has me beat . Sucks becuase i would love to train legs with her , but would feel like a pussy telling her I have a fucked up back ,
and only squat 315 for 10 reps to keep the legs from shrinking up
yes def lb for lb girls are stronger then some guys , or vice versa

 

[drsketch]

sound slike your husband needs to man up. no offense.. also why would he be pouting if you do more pushups he should congratulate u

 

[Bikini Mod]

sound slike your husband needs to man up. no offense.. also why would he be pouting if you do more pushups he should congratulate u

^^ What he said LOL

Women also have more endurance generally so Needto I ask, "If you can carry 200 pounds for 50 feet but then collapse from exhaustion and it takes me two trips (I carry 100 pounds per trip the same 50 feet). You weigh 200 pounds and I only weigh 125 then would you still say that you are stronger?"

Rebecca, dear lady, How many licks does it take to get to the delicious tootsie roll center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop?

THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW!

 

[needtogetaas]

Nice "male" answer needtogetaas. I know whoever lifts the most is strongest, but I'm looking for a fair way to measure strength for a woman versus man. When I play tennis with my husband I use doubles rules and he uses singles rules. This evens the playing field a little.

Example: Benchpress--I lift 115 and he lifts 225.
Strength index me--115/125=.92
Strength index him--225/195=1.15
Pushups--me-42, him-36

Who is pound for pound stronger???? Which is the best measure of strength??? Are there better examples or formulas.

Just looking for some friendly maritial competition...and to bruise his ego a little.

rebecca d

There is no way. Men are for the most part stronger. Point blank.

Now there are some women out there that can lift more then me. There are also some that would judo chop the crap out of me to.


Now BM if you train a man for endurance and train a women for the same. 9 out of 10 times the man will be able to out last the women. Our bodies are made to be stronger then womens physically
in every way. Its just the cold hard facts is all it is.

if you train a women and a man for a physical event the man will always win. They are mad to be faster,stronger,more endurance
and so on.

Prob the only thing we do not have is how should I word it. Nimbleness,balance, and stuff like that.


Every world record in running,swimming,jumping weight lifting,distance, are all held by men. Yes women hold some in
(womens events) but put them against the records held in mens
events and the men hold the true world records.

Is this true? or not?

 

[Bikini Mod]

There is no way. Men are for the most part stronger. Point blank.

Now there are some women out there that can lift more then me. There are also some that would judo chop the crap out of me to.


Now BM if you train a man for endurance and train a women for the same. 9 out of 10 times the man will be able to out last the women. Our bodies are made to be stronger then womens physically
in every way. Its just the cold hard facts is all it is.

if you train a women and a man for a physical event the man will always win. They are mad to be faster,stronger,more endurance
and so on.

Prob the only thing we do not have is how should I word it. Nimbleness,balance, and stuff like that.


Every world record in running,swimming,jumping weight lifting,distance, are all held by men. Yes women hold some in
(womens events) but put them against the records held in mens
events and the men hold the true world records.

Is this true? or not?

Three words = Billy Jean King

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

sound slike your husband needs to man up. no offense.. also why would he be pouting if you do more pushups he should congratulate u

no offense but many men feel threatened by strong women. Its actually a turn-off for some guys if their gal is stronger based on weight (ie a 120 lb woman squattting 200lbs vs. a 200lb man squatting 200lbs).

anyway- you would be surprised how many guys feel the same as the poster's hubby.. they are intimadated & get very competitive when it comes to weights.

If your marriage is solid- Id say go for it Rebecca!

 

[musclemom]

no offense but many men feel threatened by strong women. Its actually a turn-off for some guys if their gal is stronger based on weight (ie a 120 lb woman squattting 200lbs vs. a 200lb man squatting 200lbs).

anyway- you would be surprised how many guys feel the same as the poster's hubby.. they are intimadated & get very competitive when it comes to weights.

If your marriage is solid- Id say go for it Rebecca!

^^^ What she said. This is a very sore spot for some guys. Takes one hell of a secure guy to be comfortable with a genuinely strong woman.

 

[drsketch]

no offense but many men feel threatened by strong women. Its actually a turn-off for some guys if their gal is stronger based on weight (ie a 120 lb woman squattting 200lbs vs. a 200lb man squatting 200lbs).

anyway- you would be surprised how many guys feel the same as the poster's hubby.. they are intimadated & get very competitive when it comes to weights.

If your marriage is solid- Id say go for it Rebecca!

forgive me for my french ladies but if they weak little dudes then they need to man up and stop hating on some hottie squatting 200lb.

 

[musclemom]

forgive me for my french ladies but if they weak little dudes then they need to man up and stop hating on some hottie squatting 200lb.

My ex husband was 6'5", 250 lbs. and one of those naturally strong fuckers and HE was EXTREMELY threatened by my lifting weights. To the point that he would come down to the basement and tell me when I was lifting too much weight, I shit you not.

My current husband is about the same height as me, hates exercise passionately and has offered to spot me.

Just because a guy is big and strong doesn't mean he's secure, sometimes those big fuckers are the most neurotic bastards out there, the ones who won't date girls over 5' tall and 105 lbs. They want tiny women to make them appear even bigger.

 

[drsketch]

Yeah I have a good friend that is extremely insecure with women, meh personally I am a live and let live guy have fun dont get hurt call me if u need me

 

[Bikini Mod]

My ex was insecure like that LOL My current husband used to LOVE to watch me clear out the weight room back when I could...

He's an old guy and his attitude is, "Yea and so? I am hot so it's all good."

 

[musclemom]

My ex was insecure like that LOL My current husband used to LOVE to watch me clear out the weight room back when I could...

He's an old guy and his attitude is, "Yea and so? I am hot so it's all good."

My husband likes to say "I want you strong ... that way if someone starts hassling me I can tell them to back off or I'll let her kill you."

 

[Bikini Mod]

My husband likes to say "I want you strong ... that way if someone starts hassling me I can tell them to back off or I'll let her kill you."

LOL In the group of friends that we ride with I am by far the smallest in the bunch. Everyone looks like a "scary biker" w/the exception of me (I am so fruity LOL). So they all joke, "You'd better watch out for her (they point to me) 'cause SHE's THE MEAN ONE!"

<--- me, little but nasty!

 

[cindylou]

LOL - I LIKE big men so i can look small. Makes sense.

 

[Rebecca D]

Wow, I haven't checked this post in over a month. Nice comments. Me and my husband have had some friendly competition and his ego has been restored. I still beat him in pushups--46 to 42 last time, but he won in pullups 15 to 6 and chinups 16 to 7. He ran a mile in 7:56 and mine was 8:19 and he ran 3.21 miles in 30 minutes and I ran 3.17 miles in 30 minutes. He benched 210 (claims a sore shoulder hinders bench and pushups) and I actually had my best lift ever at 125lbs. I did 550lbs on the leg press and he did 805lbs. I curled 60lbs for 4 reps and he curled 115lbs for 5 reps.

The end result was we had fun competing. I was probably as motivated as I've ever been and pushed myself hard. I maxed out on the bench, leg press, curls, pushups, and pullups. He really isn't that bothered about my strength and actually encourages me. (Though he is more encouraging when he wins--haha).

We have a wonderful marriage and this actually made working out together fun....If your man is comfortable with it and you think you can hang with your man I say go for it.

Rebecca D

 

[Bikini Mod]

Fabulous post! And good to see you back... please stay around and tell us more about how you pounded your hubby's butt into the ground in the gym!

 

[ironwings]

Wow, I haven't checked this post in over a month. Nice comments. Me and my husband have had some friendly competition and his ego has been restored. I still beat him in pushups--46 to 42 last time, but he won in pullups 15 to 6 and chinups 16 to 7. He ran a mile in 7:56 and mine was 8:19 and he ran 3.21 miles in 30 minutes and I ran 3.17 miles in 30 minutes. He benched 210 (claims a sore shoulder hinders bench and pushups) and I actually had my best lift ever at 125lbs. I did 550lbs on the leg press and he did 805lbs. I curled 60lbs for 4 reps and he curled 115lbs for 5 reps.

The end result was we had fun competing. I was probably as motivated as I've ever been and pushed myself hard. I maxed out on the bench, leg press, curls, pushups, and pullups. He really isn't that bothered about my strength and actually encourages me. (Though he is more encouraging when he wins--haha).

We have a wonderful marriage and this actually made working out together fun....If your man is comfortable with it and you think you can hang with your man I say go for it.

Rebecca D

Awesome strength! Good stuff...