What is strength – first page

I think most would agree that strength comes in at least two forms: The physical and the mental kind. You can be physically strong without being mentally strong, the other way around, or you can be strong both mentally and physically.

Let’s look at physical strength first, both the real and the false kind. As a powerlifter who has competed on an international level, I have known many strong individuals and I am physically strong myself. I’m not bragging when I’m saying that, it is just a simple fact. There are those that are stronger, but most men are weaker. That is, if I define strength as the ability to lift something heavy. Some people believe physical strength can be measured in endurance sports. I hear people talking about a cyclist as «strong», even though that individual could barely lift his own bodyweight in the bench press. Maybe both the cyclist and the powerlifter are strong, each in their own way. But what about those people using drugs that enhance their strength? Are they strong too? I find that as a general rule, fans of the strength sports are much more willing to accept doping than people who relate mostly to other sports. A strongman who is clearly on massive amounts of steroids and growth hormone will, without hesitation, be referred to as «strong» or «the strongest man alive», while nobody would give such praise to someone who’s cheating his way to the gold medal in the Olympics, so it’s clearly a cultural issue. But what about someone who is backed by a team of doctors and receive cutting edge genetical modifications? What about adding cybernetic tendons, joints and muscles? If you think that a person using doping is strong in the real sense of the word, be ready to accept a lot more artificial stuff and a lot less of the human factor, because that’s the way those «athletes» are going. (I guess I will get some angry messages from people for saying this, but I really don’t care and my spamfilter is working just fine.)

What is strength – Page 3