Why gymnasts are the strongest athletes on the planet!
I know what you’re gonna say.
“What about the strongest men in the world competition? Or Mr.Olympia?”
Although they may be able to lift or push more weight, they also weigh more and have more muscle mass.
If we’re talking relative strength where your strength is based on you and your own body weight/muscle mass… It isn’t even close. And here’s why.
Most gymnasts start at a very young age. That being said, it allows them to strengthen their ligaments and tendons far longer than your average bodybuilder. Even if a bodybuilder does accessory work for years to strengthen their joints, they still won’t be able to catch up to the gymnast who started at 10 years old. Not only are gymnasts starting younger, but 95% of people who weightlift don’t do the same mobility work as gymnasts. They may do some band work or some sort of lightweight movements, but in comparison to what gymnasts do… Again it’s not even close.
The work gymnasts do is far more intensive and lengthy. They’ll work on specific movements to rehab their joints for hours every week. This not only allows them to be more agile, but to be more flexible and less prone to injury. They HAVE to do this due to the type of exercises they do. In order to move their body into certain positions and manipulate their own body weight against gravity, it puts loads of stress on those ligaments and tendons. Therefore it is necessary for them to spend as much time as they do strengthening these areas.
Not only are gymnasts ligaments and tendons stronger, but relative to their body weight they are stronger too. If I take a bodybuilder who weighs 200 lbs and he can deadlift 400 lbs and bench 225 lbs, but ask him to perform 20 pull-ups in a row or 75+ push-ups in a row, there’s a very good chance he wouldn’t be able to do it. However, if I take a gymnast who weighs 150 lbs and can bang out 20 pull-ups in a row and 75+ push-ups in a row no problem, there’s a very good chance he can still bench 225 lbs and deadlift 400 lbs without ever really training for it.
Mastering your own bodyweight will allow you to perform in the gym without ever lifting while mastering external weight movements will not really help you with moving your own bodyweight. The strength only transfers one way, not both.
At the end of the day if you take a gymnasts and ask him to perform in a gym, he’ll compete. If you take a bodybuilder and ask him to do gymnasts movements, there’s a good chance he’ll look like a fool.
Gymnasts are INSANELY strong ESPECIALLY for how much they weigh.
And it’s okay if you like weightlifting more. There’s nothing wrong with that as it does allow you to isolate muscles better. Just make sure you’re incorporating bodyweight movements as well so it levels you up that much more!
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