Interesting

[Pasha]

I have an uncle who is about 23. I don't understand how he is so much stronger than me. He doesn't lift weights but he does do calisthenics. He's doesn't use weights at all, just does pushups, chinups, dips, and situps. He also has more size and deffinition than me. He is a beast when it comes to wrestling and such.

I'm thinking of incorporating a small calisthenics routing into my current routine. I do some calisthenics already but I just want to expand on it. Anyone try this?

[HahnB]

It's called genetics.

[Vapour Trails]

Yep.

But you didn't mention anything about yourself (age?). I assume if you UNCLE is 23, you must be pretty young.

[jack_of_all]

its not so much genetics as it is that he is moving alot of weight in those excercises (mostly just the dips and chins). also, are those pushups one handers or claps or anything? even if they arent the dips and chins are enough to make him strong.

[Jorge Sanchez]

It's called genetics.

I agree. I have a friend who comes to the gym about once a month, has no plan, eats however much or little he wants, never gains an ounce of fat and he still makes gains faster than me. Its not fair but some people can just get huge with a very minimal effort

[Meat_Head]

Weightlifting makes you big and strong, calisthenics don't to any significant amount(there are exceptions, gymnasts for one). Its definately genetics if he doesn't lift at all.

[Keith Wassung]

one other thing to keep in mind is that someone does not necessarily have to lift traditional "weights" in order to engage in resistance training. Many jobs and occupations require a certain amount of physical labor that will certainly build strength and development..at least to some degree. Whenever I hear of someone who has impressive strength but its claimed they never lift weights..I am willing to bet that they have lifted "something" along the way.

Nobody has great enough genetics to lay on the couch and just "get strong"

[jack_of_all]

also, if you can do chins and dips with high enough volume to consider them just calisthenics, then your damn strong. i think that its his lifestyle plus the dips and chins. also, is he related to you? because that would be some good evidence against him just having genetics, build and strength are controlled by A LOT of genes, theres no way you didnt get a few or that he got all the good ones in your family. of course, he could just be married to your aunt, in which case your cousins will probably be much stronger than you (jk on the part about your cousins)

[Meat_Head]

one other thing to keep in mind is that someone does not necessarily have to lift traditional "weights" in order to engage in resistance training. Many jobs and occupations require a certain amount of physical labor that will certainly build strength and development..at least to some degree. Whenever I hear of someone who has impressive strength but its claimed they never lift weights..I am willing to bet that they have lifted "something" along the way.

Nobody has great enough genetics to lay on the couch and just "get strong"

That's true, some jobs can build up good strength and decent size. But I've never seen anyone get huge just from say moving furniture or loading boxes. They'll get good at that and they'll definately be bigger and stronger than your average guy, but the resistance isn't progressive and you can't add more weight as you can with barbells and dumbells, therefore they can only develop so far...

[Keith Wassung]

I have seen some very big and strong furniture movers, longshoremen, farmers, etc. They may not be "bodybuilding big", mostly because they dont eat like that, but they have impressive size and strength.

[WBBIRL]

Its like my dad, he never lifted but his forearm strenght is incrediable. His brothers are the same way, I have an uncle who can do more 1 arm pushups with his weak arm then I can with both arms, even partial pushups. He can do 70 with his left arm, 100 with the right and then do 100 with both, its a freak show to say the least and his forearms are like 16". My dads not that insane but he has very good forearm strength. My dad and his brothers all have a fairly high lvl of strength and only two of them went to the gym for like 2 years. My little brother is even fairly strong for doing nothing.

[Pasha]

I wouldn't chalk his strength upto genetics, my uncle does a lot of calisthenics and he's very flexible, plus our specific race is not known for being big (Afghan/Turk), some exceptions. Just the other day he was playing with his son and was laying down on his side. His son climbs onto his leg and my uncle just lets his son hang off of his leg for like 10 min. straight ( the leg is raised laterally) while hes talking to me. To me thats incredible inner thigh strength and flexibility.



And I'm 18 by the way.

[Guido]

It's probably a combination of genetics AND age. He's got 5 years on you which means he's probably reached muscle maturity and you have not. Plus if he's been doing lots of chinups/dips he should have some decently strong arms, back, and shoulders, assuming he can do lots of reps with his bodyweight. Just keep lifting and you'll be stronger than him when you're 23.

[Zygote]

When I was younger I used to catch chickens. You had to grab 6 chickens in each hand, carry them to a truck and pass them up to friend who would put them in the boxes.

We got pretty fit from that and our backs and arms were fried after each day approx 12,000 chickens collectively. Some of the guys that had done it for several years were damn big. heh

Zygote

[KevinStarke]

Concerning his wrestling skill, im a lot stronger than buddy of mine but he's been wrestling all his life, fathers wrestled, his brothers wrestle, you get the picture. This kid is a beast at wrestling and he's no taller than myself and weighs 135 lbs. As for his size thats genetic if he doenst lift.

[RussianRocket]

interesting, right now i got a pretty heavy leabor job. I basically move boxes that way up to 60lb from one place to another at a rpetty fast rate. In about two hours i'll get about 180 boxes done. I find that my back has gotten stronger and also my squats. Went in the gym today and my weight just shot up 20lb on squats.

[mrelwooddowd]

one other thing to keep in mind is that someone does not necessarily have to lift traditional "weights" in order to engage in resistance training. Many jobs and occupations require a certain amount of physical labor that will certainly build strength and development..at least to some degree. Whenever I hear of someone who has impressive strength but its claimed they never lift weights..I am willing to bet that they have lifted "something" along the way.

Nobody has great enough genetics to lay on the couch and just "get strong"

WORD...

Anyone ever see the bigass arms on the Pepsi truck drivers? Or the beer truck drivers? 60lb+ cases all day=big arms, strong back, strong legs...

[Meat_Head]

True, they're bigger than normal for sure. A lumberjack might develop huge forearms from choppin in the woods, but he'll only continue to get bigger if he gets a bigger axe or chops more wood. That's my point

[Dedicated]

It's called genetics.

Yup I agree. I have a friend who goes out and drinks and parties every single night, get's 4 hours sleep, then goes to work, comes home, and does it again, and he is ripped and in great shape. He does general labor for his job, but I did general labor for years and I've never been ripped. Definitely genetics. Some people have to work harder than others.

[Dedicated]

one other thing to keep in mind is that someone does not necessarily have to lift traditional "weights" in order to engage in resistance training. Many jobs and occupations require a certain amount of physical labor that will certainly build strength and development..at least to some degree. Whenever I hear of someone who has impressive strength but its claimed they never lift weights..I am willing to bet that they have lifted "something" along the way.

Nobody has great enough genetics to lay on the couch and just "get strong"

General labor jobs do build strength and some muscle, but to a point. Most of the guys who do those jobs do them because they are strong already and they can do them. I did labor for several years and I was always weaker than my co-workers. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's mostly genetics. Those guys you see working on the roofs with sixpacks, that is 90% genetics imo. Lifting weights produces way better results than that kind of work.