Like, if I pick up something fairly heavy using my legs to pick it up but need it to be at a higher elevation it’s so hard for me to bend my arms up further but I could carry that weight around for a long while even if I’d started with my arms at that higher elevation.
I hope that made sense.
Edit: I have gotten two good answers that make me feel stupid.
In: 1
Holding weight is done almost by grip strength alone, and your ligaments and skeletal structure bear most of the weight. Actually lifting the weight up in the first place requires not only ligaments and bones, but requires you to engage muscles and tendons to actively change the orientation of the skeletal structure so you can eventually transfer the weight more efficiently to your ligaments and bones.
Think of a deadlift. When you start, your bones are positioned in a way that make them terribly inefficient at holding weight. It takes a lot of effort in your muscles to get the weight up. Once it’s up, your muscles can relax a little because now your spine is straight, shoulders are back, legs are locked back, arms are fully extended, etc. You’ve positioned yourself so that the weight is held on your ligaments and bones and the only tendons and muscles you’re using are for gripping and balance, which is much easier.
Latest Answers