Understanding

Yeh the guy I do privates is almost ten years older than I am, and has serious grip strength. If I get an armbar on him, he is able to hold his arms back longer than I can keep yanking it. I quit before he does. If he gets a choke on me, and I block, he can hold on until I quit defending it because my arms burn out. It seems not only do they have the power, but the stamina to go with it.
 
I think this refers to a hybrid strength where people use type III muscle fibers by doing movements that recruit those fibers, which "gym" lifters don't hit as much.


 
LugWrenchBjj said:
I think this refers to a hybrid strength where people use type III muscle fibers by doing movements that recruit those fibers, which "gym" lifters don't hit as much.


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Russian beard training is great for building old man strength, it's true. Snow log running in yoga pants just takes it to the next level.
 
The movie Rocky IV provides a great example of the superiority of real world strength versus gym strength. In the movie, Rocky trains in the mountains focusing on building his real world strength while Ivan Drago trains in this futuristic high-tech gym using scientifically-designed treadmills and exercise equipment. We all know what happens after.
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Seriously? Using a shit film as a credible example? Lol :) :)
 
How exactly do the fibers "self-destruct"? That makes no sense. If the fibers destroyed themselves after use, old guys would be weak again the next class.
 
One of guys I drill wrestling with is an older ex wrestler/coach. He and all wrestling coaches I have rolled/drilled with have serious old man strength.
 
This thread made me do a double take.

I dunno what "old man strength" is but I know its real and I haz it.

At age (let's just say 40+) my gym strength is less than it was when I was in my 20's but my functional ass kicking strength is better than ever, and seems to keep increasing.

For instance - my grip strength in particular is better than ever. My ability to hold a choke at say 60 - 70% for a long time is better.

Just glad for it as it does help level the playing field a bit as some of the more obvious effects of aging take hold.
 
I know that I most def don't have the gym strength that I used to. Injuries and fatigue contribute a lot to that, however my grip and in particular my ability to control someone with my grip is way stronger. It's funny cause you would think my grip as a single man would have been outstanding.
 
"Old man strength" is a fallacy used to write off someone who doesn't look jacked but has a stronger grip and forearms than the younger weight lifting guys do.


I've seen the exact same phenomenon from guys who lay tile, do roofing, or have another manual labor occupation that involves gripping heavy things on the regular.

Even deep tissue massage therapists can have it.


Practice makes you better at stuff, practicing gripping things gives you more grip strength.
 
Perspective said:
I know that I most def don't have the gym strength that I used to. Injuries and fatigue contribute a lot to that, however my grip and in particular my ability to control someone with my grip is way stronger. It's funny cause you would think my grip as a single man would have been outstanding.
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heh! true.

It also makes me glad I didn't spend a lot of time developing a bunch of speed and flexibility based techniques that would no longer work now since I have decreasing amounts of both of those. But my strategy of crushing souls from the top works better than ever. :-D
 
Older guys are far more likely to be lugging kids around. I almost never get armbarred because hours of daily isometric exercises thanks to toddlers made of bricks give my arms a lot of static strength at 90 degrees. Older guys also do a lot of manual labor involved with owning a house, regardless of their job.
 
kuristus said:
Older guys also do a lot of manual labor involved with owning a house, regardless of their job.
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Aint that the highly unfortunate truth. I hate doing that stuff and every weekend I get at least a little of my free time I could be rolling sucked away working on stupid door jambs or leaky toilets or malfunctioning garbage disposal or some junk. Soon as all the kids are out of the house I'm going straight to the old folks home to get a break from all this maintenance, make it somebody else's problem!
 
shunyata said:
"Old man strength" is a fallacy used to write off someone who doesn't look jacked but has a stronger grip and forearms than the younger weight lifting guys do.


I've seen the exact same phenomenon from guys who lay tile, do roofing, or have another manual labor occupation that involves gripping heavy things on the regular.

Even deep tissue massage therapists can have it.


Practice makes you better at stuff, practicing gripping things gives you more grip strength.
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This pretty much sums it up.

Also, I'm not sure what "ISSA" is, but I doubt it can be very credible if it publishes the type of crap quoted in that article.
 
kuristus said:
Older guys are far more likely to be lugging kids around. I almost never get armbarred because hours of daily isometric exercises thanks to toddlers made of bricks give my arms a lot of static strength at 90 degrees. Older guys also do a lot of manual labor involved with owning a house, regardless of their job.
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This, plus judo and massage have left me with a pretty strong grip over the years and i thought i had good armbar defense because of it (people had extreme difficulty breaking the grip and finishing).

Then I switched to a gym where no one cares about ibjjf rules and its bicep slicer city if they cant break the grip in 4-5 seconds.
 
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