Why are heavyweight lifters fat

Even the strongest and most dedicated strength athletes have events which they struggle with. But strongman is about being the strongest all rounder. To succeed at Strongman an athlete has to be good at everything, and not amazing at 1 thing and suck at other events. And so each athlete must work with their own body and train in a way which makes them optimal in every event. Some strongmen athletes work better being fatter and heavier than others. Being heavily overweight or obese can lead to a ton of health problems and even an early death.

Not only this but we have a stigma about being fat which is a huge source of depression and anxiety for thousands of people across western civilisation. For more info about the differences between a bodybuilder and a strongman check out another article I wrote here. For many people gaining muscle and losing fat is their top priority. Eddie Hall at the later stages of this strongman career is a great example of this.

As is the nature of competitions, people will always push and take gambles to give themselves an edge over other competitors. This is true of any sport and competitive endeavour. With this, many strength athletes and strongmen will gain huge amounts of weight to increase power at the cost of health.

An example of marbeling, where fat gathers in between the muscle fibers. The most efficient geometry of muscle attachment to bone is where the muscle is pulling perpendicular to the length of the ball, i. Angles of less than ninety degrees are less efficient.

Forces there are lost in a trigonometric fashion. When the intramuscular spaces are increased with fat, the angle at which the muscles attach to the arms or legs becomes less acute, i. This is what is generally happening with the superheavy powerlifters squatting more than they deadlift. Gaining a lot of new muscular body weight helps the bench and the squat more because those involve muscles that can take advantage of this situation more.

Deadlifts do not engage the larger muscles in the same way. The erectors, the gripping muscles, and the muscles of the upper back take much of the load, but are not so amenable to the laying down of intramuscular fat. So is the answer to upping your lifts porking up a little bit? It might be in the short term, but in long term there is a better solution.

That solution is hypertrophy. And of course that hypertrophy must be of the myofibrillar variety needed by most athletes, not the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy preferred by the bodybuilder.

Get those muscles bigger not by filling in the intramuscular spaces with fat, but by getting the muscle fibers themselves larger. Photo 2 courtesy of Shutterstock. Check out these simple workouts and fun exercises that can be done at-home with makeshift or no equipment at all. Topic: Fitness. See more about: weightlifting , powerlifting , bodyfat , Squat , deadlift , super heavyweight , olympic weightlifting , Win.

Stay at home, stay fit! Next Article. Breaking Muscle Newsletter. It would be inaccurate to assume that the belly of a weightlifter is a gut. A lot of it is big, bulky, muscle. The core is essential to lifting, so a good weightlifter will gain muscle like a belly. This layer of fat plays several important roles. It actually protects the muscle from damage, making it safer to lift those insane weights. It also needs speed and technique.

A good base is imperative for a clean, well-handled, lift. Every part of the body is going towards holding that weight up. So every part of the body needs to be able to handle it. Extra weight goes towards building this support, as well as contributing to the raw strength. We see weightlifters often wearing belts because it keeps the abs and muscles in alignment. This forms a sturdy column for difficult lifts. However, they do need a lot of energy to keep their strength, and the bar, up.

Throughout a training session, an Olympic weightlifter will need to eat regularly to gain calories. The easiest way to do this is with high calorie food consumed consistently.

They also do little in the way of cardio. Also, not all Olympic weightlifters look the same. Weightlifting is broken down into different weight categories, so before a competition they may be required to lose or gain weight. The heaviest weight categories will be much larger than those in the smaller categories.