When you think about the strongest person on the planet, you likely imagine an athlete with a massive physique, someone with a powerful set of muscles capable of producing the type of “super strength” that's out of the ordinary. This is more or less popular opinion, but what do scientists have to say about it? A group of researchers studied one of these “supermen” to find out if there was a secret behind his muscles. The answer is yes.
The strongest man. Eddie “The Beast” Hall was the strongest man in the world in 2017—at least, that’s what the official world title said. Hall already had five titles of being the strongest man in Great Britain, along with a second-place trophy in a weightlifting competition in Europe. He was a two-time world deadlift champion and held the world record in the discipline (he lifted 1,102 pounds). As such, when scientists planned the strength study, their eyes naturally turned towards him.
Before the researchers sought out Hall for their research, he had performed continuous and regular upper and lower body resistance training for 15 years. Twelve months before the study, his training consisted of lower-body squats, deadlifts, leg presses, knee extensions, upper-body bench presses, shoulder presses, barbell rowing, and side pulleys.
Getting Hall ready. The research team asked Hall to refrain from strenuous activity for 24 hours before the test. They wanted to discover what made him exceptionally strong and whether the results could help athletes and non-athletes. “Scientific understanding of muscular strength is important because of its role in athletic performance, injury prevention, and healthy aging,” the experts said.
The study. When Hall arrived in the labs at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, the team of scientists subjected him to 3T MRI scans. They assessed the size of 22 individual lower extremity muscles, five functional muscle groups, and the cross-sectional area of the patellar tendon.
This type of scan generates a magnetic field twice as strong as a standard MRI (1.5 T) and produces clearer images, especially when it comes bones, joints, and muscles. In addition, the man performed squats to a self-selected depth and then jumped as high as possible. He also made the so-called isometric mid-thigh pull-ups (IMTP), similar to a deadlift, except that the bar doesn’t move.
Squats are a reliable measure of lower-body strength, while deadlifts assess total-body strength and power production.
Differences from other men. To put Hall’s results in context, the researchers compared the shape, form, and structure of his muscles and tendons to those of other trained and untrained athletes. What did they find? Surprisingly, the total muscle volume of Hall’s 22 lower extremity muscles was almost double (+96%) that of the untrained, 63% greater than the population of sub-elite athletes and 32% bigger than elite 100-meter sprinters.
The researchers explained that the most significant difference in Hall’s muscle volume is in the “tight cords,” the sartorius, gracilis, and semitendinosus muscles that stabilize the pelvis and thigh bone (femur). Hall’s values were up to three times higher than in the untrained group: +140% for the gracilis, +157% for the semitendinosus, and +202% for the sartorius muscles.
More differences. The researchers note that there were also considerable differences in the group of soleus muscles responsible for toe extension and hamstring stabilization under force: +120% compared to the untrained population, +100% versus the sub-elite sprinters, and +70% in comparison to the elite sprinters.
The most minor difference was found in the hip flexor muscles, which are responsible for bending the hips, lifting the legs, and maintaining stability and posture. In this case, the difference was +65% compared to the untrained population, +30% in comparison to sub-elite sprinters, and +5% compared to elite sprinters.
Deadlift. Hall’s raw maximum strength in the deadlift was 54% bigger than that of the highest comparable group, sub-elite weightlifters. His IMTP net maximum strength was 100% greater than the highest comparable group: college football athletes.
Finally, his squat maximum strength was more than 2.5 times (164%) that of the untrained group and 51% greater than the highest comparable group: professional basketball players.
The bottom line. As Jonathan Folland, lead author of the study, points out, the results come as a surprise. First, they found that the core wasn’t as crucial to developing extreme strength in Hall's body.
“We expected the big muscles involved in extending the knee and hip would show the greatest development. Whilst these muscles were certainly well developed, we were surprised that the greatest muscular development was of the long, thin ‘guy ropes’ muscles that stabilize the pelvis and thigh. This indicates that these stabilizing muscles may be more important for heavy lifting and carrying than we previously thought," Folland said.
In a study that provides a better understanding of muscle function, “the results suggest how adaptable the muscular system is, with the greatest muscular development of the muscles that Eddie trains and uses the most. This suggests that we can all change and develop our muscular system to improve the function and performance of our muscles,” the scientists conclude.
Image | Loughborough University
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