« Barack and the Hispanics | Main | The Transitivity of Timetables » Obama's Super-Strength26 Jul 2008 11:50 am Like Robert Farley I'm not sure whether to believe these tales of super-strength from the German press: He goes and picks up a pair of 16 kilo weights and starts curling them with his left and right arms, 30 repetitions on each side. Then, amazingly, he picks up the 32 kilo weights! Very slowly he lifts them, first 10 curls with his right, then 10 with his left. 32 kilos is about 70 pounds. Comments (47)
I hear he fought his way through of a full bag of pretzels without taking a fall! What a man! 
That is quite a bit. Maybe the reporter got metric and US standard measures confused...
German weights are presumably in metric units, so that probably isn't the source of the confusion. Maybe there was a translation error.
I used to weight lift pretty seriously but I never got much higher than 6 reps of 35 or 40 pounds.
The original German article doesn't say that he curled 32 kilo, just that he lifted it. And even so, Barack doesn't look to me like he's lifting 32 kilos in any fashion with just one arm. But the reporter's a gushing bimbo, and Germans generally know nothing about fitness, so who knows what really happened?
Even 16k is roughly the weight of a desktop computer, still in the box. And Obama did 30 reps? Unlikely. A feat like that would be way out of proportion with his body & mass.
"Germans generally know nothing about fitness" That's a pretty broad statement, but whoever wrote this acts like they know about gyms. Who knows, maybe Obama really is superman.
And then he did only 10 sit-ups and called it a day? For a fit guy that's nothing - even I do at least 40 at a time. Must have wanted to get away from that drooling bimbo reporter.
Hey, aren't Hans and Franz German, you girly-men?
I think there's some danger of Barack fatigue by November. Think of the Tom Cruise/Britney Spears/etc.. nasty backlashes. The American public ultimately does not treat its celebrities well.
I understand that Obama lifts 16 kg with one hand, each hand, and THEN he lifts 32 kg, I think, with both hands. Still, very good, I think Hillary would not do it.
Good lord Matt, you must have the weakest readers in the blogosphere. Look, there's no human way a man with Barack's build is curling seventies. To give you some perspective, even Ronnie Coleman (8 time Mr. Olympia) doesn't get much beyond the sixties. And that guy is 290+ pounds of inhuman, steroid-driven muscle. Curling seventy pounds in each arm is inhuman. Even if Barack is the second coming. I will now go and shoot myself for actually commenting on this story. Right after I get back from the gym.
A single set of ten reps? I'm 41, tall and lean like Obama but not overly fit (but getting fitter), and I can curl ten reps of 50 lb dumbbells in each hand. I don't think 32 kg is extraordinary. I expect to be able to do that in a few months.
Germans generally know nothing about fitness.
McCain wants 10 town hall meetings, but he'd better insist on lead shielding between their chairs or podiums.
Look, there's no human way a man with Barack's build is curling seventies. To give you some perspective, even Ronnie Coleman (8 time Mr. Olympia) doesn't get much beyond the sixties. And that guy is 290+ pounds of inhuman, steroid-driven muscle. Curling seventy pounds in each arm is inhuman. Even if Barack is the second coming. Curling 70lb. dumbbells is pretty badass. It's basically pro-bodybuilder, NFL lineman type strength. 35lbs. is normal, fit grown man strength. However, squats and deadlifts are a far better measure of how badass you are.
Although Germans use the metric system, it's quite possible that a random gym in Germany might have weights that are marked with US Standard numbers. Or perhaps both metric and US Standard...and the reporter misread it. I've spent a lot of time in the gym over the years and normal human beings - even very very strong normal human beings - do not curl 70 lbs for ten slow reps.
John is a liar. You are not curling 50 lbs. dumbells ten reps at a time as a lean 41 year old man. And if you are, you are incredibly fit, or you have terrible form. But really, are you bragging on a message board? Yikes.
I find it funny that the observer 'knew' Obama did 30 reps with the 16kg. Talk about staring!
I've seen people curl 70 pound dumbells fairly easily before. I've even seen them curl 90 pound dumbells. They're generally much, much bigger people than Obama though.
I've seen people curl 70 pound dumbells fairly easily before. Doing them right? I used to curl 50 lbs before I knew any better. There would be one good one and nine of me swinging the weight back and getting my back into it.
I agree with Ed Marshall. People don't exist on the planet who can curl 70 lbs. easily. Especially ten reps at a time. The world's biggest bodybuilders typically curl in the 60 lbs. range for sets like that. Not to sound like a lifting nerd, but some people on this board are very confused.
First debate, Obama presses McCain and it's all over...
More fuel for the fire: Obama's beach picture. http://www.citizenu.org/2007/01/11107-beach-babe-obama.html He has some biceps. Still don't believe this anecdote.
The original German article reads: Und schnappt sich die 32-Kilo-Hanteln. Ganz langsam hebt er sie an, erst 10-mal rechts, dann 10-mal links. Just says he grabbed the 32 kg dumbbells and lifted them slowly, first 10 times on the right, then 10 times on the left. It says nothing about curls. The translator also seems to have added the word "amazingly" and the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence.
There is no way someone with Obama's build did 30 reps of curls with a 16 kg (35 lbs) dumbbell. 10 I could buy, but there's no way it was 30. And these stories of curling 70 pounds are even sillier. Perhaps they were barbells, or he was benching or doing shoulder lifts or something?
Damn, Festivus must suck at the Obama house. - g
I have two sets of dumbbells - 20lbs and 35lbs. I'm a pretty strong guy for someone who only messes around with dumbbells and is otherwise generally not in great shape. I can do sets of 10 curls with the 35 pounders but not much more than 10. Most of my friends - even the ones who are a lot bigger than me, like 6-5 to my 5-10, laugh when the pick up the 35s and say "no way you work out with this." Anyway, 70 pounds? My opinion is, no freaking way Obama is doing curls with that much weight. Not with one arm. Preacher curls (with both arms), maybe. But that's not what the article was talking about. I gotta believe the reporter got something wrong. Though Obama seems like an incredibly fit guy for someone who isn't a jock or an actor. Since he works out every day. I wish I had that kind of dedication. It's impressive, no matter how much he can lift.
Maybe Obama bought a nice superstrength salve in the Temple of Hercules gift shop.
No way this story is true. http://www.youtube.com/watchv=GbpcqYF240w&feature=related The guy in this youtube is doing it---while using his back and with terrible form---and he is obviously something of an experienced lifter. What's Barack's barbell squat? Deadlift? Then i'll be impressed...
No way this story is true. http://www.youtube.com/watchv=GbpcqYF240w&feature=related The guy in this youtube is doing it---while using his back and with terrible form---and he is obviously something of an experienced lifter. What's Barack's barbell squat? Deadlift? Then i'll be impressed...
I'm sure the article is off, but one thing that actually happened is that AlGore got up MtRainier. That was before he discovered GlobalWarming and Twinkies, however. As for BHO, curling 70lbs is nothing compared to his next feat.
He is no Pat Roberts.
As someone who lifts all the time (but is not genetically gifted with the ability to put on weight), I can curl maybe, on a very, very good day, 60 pounds ONCE, and that is with a little of the typical lifting heave-ho. Now - if he was lifting the 70 pound weights for something like a shrug or chest press, then that is more plausible.
To sum up the comments: typical bullshit news reporting. Why anybody bothers to read a newspaper or listen to broadcast news these days is beyond me. If it isn't in a specialty journal where the reporters know what the subject matter is, it's pretty much going to be riddled with errors, be a rehash of a press release from the subject, or simply made up out of whole cloth. The whole point of the MSM today is to make sure everybody is as misinformed to the benefit of the corporations and statists as possible.
Mystery solved: Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press "Stemmen" should not be translated as "curling" in this case.
I weigh 210 pounds, and work out a lot, and am in very good shape, and could do at most two or three curls with that weight. (Ideally, I should weight 200--but hey, I'm 50). A kilo is 2.2 pounds, so 35 kilos is 77. No one curls that easily, and only a very, very strong man can do 10. Someone (I'm guessing) 6'3'' and 175 pounds certainly couldn't.
So Matthew's incredibly observant commentariat has uncovered the amazing fact there might be some inaccuracy in an article by the "Bild Zeitung", whose journalistic standards are only slightly above the "National Enquirer" and on par with "The Sun" - stop the presses!
"He goes and picks up a pair of 16 kilo weights and starts curling them with his left and right arms, 30 repetitions on each side. Then, amazingly, he picks up the 32 kilo weights!" No way!!! The dude has freaking superpowers. He should lift weights with Arnold just piss off McCain.
"Doing them right? I used to curl 50 lbs before I knew any better. There would be one good one and nine of me swinging the weight back and getting my back into it." Yes. Again, these are serious lifters though. They have a good 80 pounds on Obama, and are much younger.
Ughhh. Those Nazis tend toward exaggeration. I lift, and I can tell you that the guys that perform such feets (not me, mind you) look the part. Obama can certainly more than McCain, no joke about McCain's inability to lift intended, but I think running from president precludes him from the regimen employed by world's strongest man competitors. Those Germans are an awfully excitable bunch.
Typos abound. But Obama is in no way lifting such weight. Germans are crazy.
Trust me that's not super strength. And curls are easier for a tall guy with long arms like Obama.
10 curls at 70 lbs would be pretty beastly. But I'm thinking there is a mistranslation or an exaggeration in here. Let's not get too worked up.
"He goes and picks up a pair of 16 kilo weights and starts curling them with his left and right arms, 30 repetitions on each side. Then, amazingly, he picks up the 32 kilo weights! Very slowly he lifts them, first 10 curls with his right, then 10 with his left." LOL LOL LOL LOL ..... weeeeee ...... LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL lol lol lolllll....
Obama might have been curling 30 lbs, but not 70lbs. You have to be a pretty big guy to do that. I wouldn't discount what he lifts, as Tiger Woods is a Tall and skinny Black Guy too, and He is known to Bench close to 400 lbs. Of course what matters is that Obama lifts more than McCain. I like the fact that Obama spends his free time in the gym, while McCain spends his Free time talking with his Peer Group in nursing homes, and Veterans Groups. I know people like to say that McCain is some kind of Maverick. But I think Obama is the real Maverick in this case
Comments closed August 09, 2008. |
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Heads in the Sand
As a non-lifter, I'm not sure if that is a little or a lot.
Posted by Throgs Neckface | July 26, 2008 11:56 AM