Shouldnt large people be jacked just from simply moving around with the extra weight? Im talking about muscle mass here and not fat content. Thanks
In: Biology
I was near 400lbs at my heaviest in my early 20s, and well over 300lbs most of my life until the last year or so. My legs are jacked from carrying my fat around all those years, for sure.
So yes, it can be the case. My upper body, though? Weaker than a bowl of mush.
Their legs tend to be much stronger, but the joints in the legs are usually in pretty bad shape.
You’re assuming that they move around as much as the average person.
There are at least two reasons why that probably isn’t true.
It’s harder for obese people to move around and people tend to do less of things that are difficult.
People who like to move around a lot are less likely to be obese.
I have two brothers, one is 5’5 and skinny/average build, one is 6’0 and close to 400 lbs, we often go through spurts of self improvement in the gym.
Me and my larger bro can put on muscle just thinking about lifting weight while the skinnier bro has to try a little harder and eat a little more to match the same kind of growth.
On the other hand when it comes time to cut weight and lose the fat thats covering our muscle we are totally fucked, and will struggle to let go of mass.
And even if we do cut down and drop weight our muscle goes too. However the skinnier bro has no issue and keeps most of his muscle.
Also mine and the heavier bros legs are chiseled by the gods themselves due to being fat but constantly riding 20+ miles on a bike with hills.
I see a lot of former fat people with huge calves and quads from having to lift our fat asses and walk around.
Edit: just want to emphasize a little just how massive my larger bros calves are. I was behind him going up a hill on a ride together the other day and glanced down, his calves under load and pumped are larger than most pro body builders biceps. Ngl im jealous.
Fat guy calves are the truth! Best way to build stellar calves is to be fat and lose weight. Source: Use to weigh 300 lbs
Logically, only if obese people move and are as active as slim people. Generally, that is not the case. Whether chicken or the egg, overweight people tend not to move very much, or fast, or in ways that induce strain or would increase muscle mass. It doesn’t take as much muscle to move a large body a few incremental distances in a day as it does to keep a smaller body moving and active more often during the day.
I’m a 5’8″ woman, medium build. In 2017, I topped the scales at 275lbs…and I was hella strong. Despite my size, I did a lot of Crossfit, and rocked the strength wods. At my best, I had a 250lb back squat and an 800lb (yes, 800) leg press. My legs were tree trunks because every time I stood up, I was basically doing a weighted squat. I had the benefit of a massive body weight to use to my advantage…its amazing how much iron you can move with a little understanding of physics.
A year later, I’d lost 100lbs. My max weights were a fraction of what they had been, but my cardio was way better. At my 100lb anniversary, I back squatted 100lbs. It was a huge struggle but when I put the bar back on the rack, I kept thinking about how I walked around with all that weight on me for years.
A physician explained it to me once: obese people tend to have very restricted, toy soldier like movements. This makes their muscles atrophy outside of the very narrow range of movement they use to get around.
3 things to point out
– Generally larger people do not move often, thus their muscle mass is weaker compared to their weight,.
– The heart can only move so much blood around to all the body, including muscle
– Lungs are not able to supply all body with enough air due to the size.
Often they do to some degree but as in the gym you have to up the weight to progress at some point. There are also other factors to consider. Being overweight for example negatively effects testosteron. And being overweight and not moving a lot are kinda linked obviously so an overweight person will on average move less.
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