Nerd Column: The Physical Devolution of America

Mark Henry was strong because he was born before the internet.

Currently, there's a reddit thread on r/weightroom in response to an article on 70's Big that states every man can squat 405 lbs. Redditors are falling over themselves to argue against the central point of the article, stating that one has to be on the juice and have a cave-man forehead to be able to lift such monolithic weight. One person states that they've only ever seen someone squat 405 twice in their gym; another says they've been lifting for years and can squat 340 lbs pounds, which must mean 405 is impossible, because they're been trying real hard, supposedly. In 200 plus comments, there may be three or four arguing in favor of the article, which came as a shock to me. 405 is not a lot of weight for an adult man to squat. I squatted 405 lbs after three or four years of training, and I'm certainly not a (genetic) freak. How can all these people spend so much time obsessing over training minutiae and not be at least competent at lifting weights?

My generation was the first internet generation. My family upgraded to high-speed (for the time) internet when I was sixteen years old. Sure, I spent a lot of time playing Counter-Strike and chatting on Messenger, but I also went outside and hiked, lifted weights, and played a few sports. I did work on my family farm. I grew up with the internet, but I never let the internet make me weak. I don't think younger members of my generation had the same experience. Maybe they grew up with atrophied spinal erectors from sitting in a chair all day. Maybe they never developed any muscle on their legs from being inside 24/7. Maybe they never did any manual labor because almost nobody does manual labor in America anymore. Maybe for younger millennials, it really is an impressive feat to squat 405 lbs.

I watch my toddler run around every day like a monkey on speed. He climbs over the couch, hauls his toy car around, pushes the coffee table like a sled. He's strong enough to pick up a gallon of milk with one arm while he's sitting in the seat of a shopping cart. He is a physical, muscular creature, and most of us are born like him. Somehow we lose that simple joy of exercising our bodies. We start complaining about stairs and walking. Our supple frames become loaded with adipose tissue, from the American diet of fat and sloth. We have an excuse for everything. We're just big-boned; we don't metabolize food as efficiently as some people. There's no point in exercising because we just can't lose weight.

How did we get to this point, and are we going to do anything about it?

It's not hard to get in shape. Building a rocket to the moon was hard; losing weight is about eating less garbage and burning more calories. Getting strong is about eating more good food and lifting heavy weights. All the internet bullshit in the world is dancing around those simple points.