> The basic physics of strength/weight is that strength is reliant on the cross sectional area of muscles (number of fibers) and therefore increases quadratically, whereas weight is a function of volume and increases cubically. So the amount of strength you can gain as your mass increases will always lag behind the amount of mass gained. This is why insects are so strong compared to their bodyweight, and why the creatures with the highest strength/weight ratio's are all small.
> If we analzye male pro climbers we'll see that the heaviest of them max out at around 170-180 lbs (and there are VERY few of those, the majority being between 130 and 150), and that's not a fluke. In order to be a great rock climber you need strong forearms, and strong lats, and that's about it. Muscle mass, or fat mass basically anywhere else is mostly just pulling you off the wall (a strong core helps too but it doesn't need to weigh a lot).
Even if you have a great BMI and muscular build, but if you are heavy, then at some point physics starts working against you.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bouldering/comments/595a2m/how_much...
> The basic physics of strength/weight is that strength is reliant on the cross sectional area of muscles (number of fibers) and therefore increases quadratically, whereas weight is a function of volume and increases cubically. So the amount of strength you can gain as your mass increases will always lag behind the amount of mass gained. This is why insects are so strong compared to their bodyweight, and why the creatures with the highest strength/weight ratio's are all small.
> If we analzye male pro climbers we'll see that the heaviest of them max out at around 170-180 lbs (and there are VERY few of those, the majority being between 130 and 150), and that's not a fluke. In order to be a great rock climber you need strong forearms, and strong lats, and that's about it. Muscle mass, or fat mass basically anywhere else is mostly just pulling you off the wall (a strong core helps too but it doesn't need to weigh a lot).
> (...)