Mariusz "Dominator" Pudzianowski - World Strongest Man champ.
Mariusz "Dominator" Pudzianowski - World Strongest Man champ.
I watch World's Strongest Man quite often and not only is the sport dominated by Northern Europeans, it is dominated by very specific types of Northern Europeans. There are no pure Hallstatts; they are too gracile and slender to build and retain the incredible muscle mass required. The most common type is BaltidOriginally Posted by Polak
Baltids have very broad shoulders and retain muscle mass well. They also have a lot of raw muscle to begin with, that can be developed. We aren't beanpoles
One other thing I have noticed is that Baltids tend to have proportionally shorter arms than some other subtypes. This can actually be an advantage in bicep curls, if one considers the torques involved on the arm. I think we also have dense bone structure, more than most European types, to support heavy musculature. Mariusz is predominantly Baltid, IMO. There is a Lithuanian fellow in World's Strongest Man who is an even better example of Baltic, I forget his name. Jani Virtanen, the Finn, is basically Baltid. His fellow Finn Jouko Ahola seems to have a lot of Lappish blood, though. The WSM guys from further west seem to be predominantly Borreby, sharing a lot of the advantages I listed above. Magnus Samuelsson seems predominantly Borreby to me. Falid is the one other type inclined to excel in powerlifting.
Yep, Baltid/Borreby. What else? I agree with Stribog here that the the Baltids and the Borrebys and to a lesser extent, the Falids, all have an amazing ability to gain muscle mass.
Even here in the States, if you watch American Football, the white offensive linemen are almost always Borreby or Baltid looking...
borreby`s and Baltids are both blond, right?
so blond men are stronger than brunette men? No thats not true
I think you might include Alpines and Dinarics too as very strong men
I think as rule they are. The world's strongest men come from blond northern Europe.Originally Posted by cbvnm
Originally Posted by cbvnm
I didn't say anyting of the sort....that being that blond men are stronger than brunette men. I merely put forth my opinion that Baltids and Borrebys seem to have an inate ability to gain muscle mass and become very strong physically. I can't comment on the coincidense that both types are accompanied by blondism other than I believe that they are 'allied' types so really none of this should come as any surprise.
You're correct that Alpines and Dinarics can also be very strong. Hell, any person of any sub-type can become very strong with the right kind of training...it's just that some seem to have more of an ability at a gentic level to develop great muscle mass.
As I've said before, there are many French descended Alpine types just north of me in Quebec, Canada. Many of these folk are employed as loggers in the forests of Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. I've seen plenty of them and while they are generally not as tall as a New England Yankee Nordicized Brunn type, they are very "burly" and strong. They often have stubby fingers and thick necks, coupled with brown hair and 'light-mixed' eyes....
I thought alpines had brown eyes
I'd say hazel, or even green are nowadays more typically Alpine eye-colors than pure brown.Originally Posted by cbvnm
all books ive read claim :
alpines = brown hair, brown eyes, brachycephalic, medium stature
and
nordic = blond hair, blue (or green) eyes, dolichocephalic, tall
are these books wrong?
Originally Posted by cbvnm
No, your understanding of those books is wrong. A quintessential Alpine would be brown haired and brown eyed, and there are few quintessential Alpines out there. Just as not all Nordics are blonde-haired and blue-eyed, not all Alpines are brown-haired and brown-eyed.
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