• Question: how strong can the human muscle really be?

    Asked by cheesey cow to Elliot on 15 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Elliot Jokl

      Elliot Jokl answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      Interesting question!

      The easiest way to answer this question is to look at competitive strong men. They can use their muscles to pull trucks and lift some incredibly heavy weights, 100s of kilograms. It is all very impressive, but requires them to build up huge muscles to have the strength to do it. I guess if you watch World’s Strongest Man or some other similar competitions you will see how powerful muscles can get!

      However, there are obviously some limits. I think one of the scariest examples I have seen was a video of two people doing arm wrestling. One of the competitors was tensing so hard it actually caused his bones to break! Dealing with these kinds of forces and weights can be bad for other parts of the body.

Comments