Football Players Vs. Bodybuilders: Who’s Stronger?

http://spotmebro.com/football-players-vs-bodybuilders-whos-stronger/2/

Over the years the bar has consistently been raised for what it takes to be successful in the NFL. The athleticism involved includes:

• Endurance: Perform a skill or action over an extended period of time.
• Strength: Produce force (force=mass x acceleration). Example: Defensive linemen.
• Power: Produce strength in shortest possible time. Example: Powerlifters.
• Speed: Move your body quickly. Example: sprinters, wide-receivers.
• Agility: Change direction suddenly. Example: Running backs.
• Durability: Withstand physical punishment over an extended period. Example: Boxers, running backs.

It also requires a number of other things such as hand-eye coordination and the ability to be highly analytical in the sense that you must make an often split second read of the opposing team’s offensive or defensive set-up and be able to adjust accordingly as the play develops.

The days of pure muscle and brawn are over with an ever increasing emphasis placed on overall performance which requires the skill-set of an athlete, and not merely a specialist in one or two of the above.

Success in bodybuilding is a different beast. It requires an altogether different skill-set. Certainly, the self-discipline and sacrifice required to be successful in any sport also applies to bodybuilding, but there is a different set of rules upon which bodybuilding is judged:

• Mass: Muscular size.
• Definition: Degree of muscularity brought about by the absence of subcutaneous body fat.
• Symmetry: Even balance of muscular development.
• Stage Presence: Posing performance, charisma, and poise.

Success in either pursuit requires intense training.

The question is: how do bodybuilders measure up by the standards of a football combine where things like the vertical jump, bench press, sprint and broad jump are measured? Can they even be considered “athletes” by this standard?

Many people make assumptions about the athleticism of bodybuilders. A common belief is that bodybuilders are “muscle bound” or as Milos Sarcev (a bodybuilder himself) called them, “athletic mannequins“.

An athletic mannequin.

The results of these tests might surprise you.

Here we see a lot of assumptions made by the guys running the tests prior to the performance. They didn’t expect much from Joel Thomas (IFBB pro bodybuilder) when placed against a football player.

Clearly, Joel Thomas didn’t come to play around and proceeded to blow the competition out of the water. Watch and see how bad it as.

An NPC competitor faces off against a football player in the sprint!

Joel Thomas is at it again at the broad jump. Again, he is smashing stereotypes to pieces!

Is Joel Thomas an “anomaly” like the directors of the test stated? He certainly had his background in football, powerlifting, and then bodybuilding working for him. Regardless, to assume that big guys can’t perform under the rigorous standard tests imposed by football is wrong after watching Joel’s performance. Even Brock Lesnar of professional wrestling fame did quite well with this combine numbers, which included:

• Running a 4.65 second 40.
• A vertical jump of 35 inches.
• Standing long jump of 10 feet
• Benching 225 lbs.for 30 reps.

And he did so weighing in at 283 lbs! I think it is safe to say that if they trained for performance, instead of in a manner that was specific to their sport (i.e bodybuilding), lifters could do just as well, if not better than the football players themselves.