I'm at the editing stage (well, and also 2 chapters to finalise) and I have a crucial scene where the hero is holding up a beam and part of the ceiling for about ten-twelve minutes so his friend isn't crushed. Question is, would it be possible to hold up about 500 pounds for that long without doing yourself an injury do you think? It's not like doing a quick snatch. (He's a gent but has spent a lot of time in his youth helping out in the warehouse so he's nice and hunky). My sport was running, I know next to nothing about weightlifting.
500 pounds is a LOT of weight. There are people who can lift that much over their heads, but to hold it there for ten minutes or more? I doubt even the strongest man in the world could do that.
No, I've just converted it to kg and you must be right! (I haven't used pounds since I was about 10 years old). I just remembered that a man in my father's regiment once lifted nearly 500 pounds. I guess if he's going to hold it, 200 is more reasonable.
Some of that is going to matter how you hold it. is it up above his head, a few minutes of holding 200 lbs above you head is not going to be fun, or is it down lower. Try this, grab a weight (we hand to do this with cloths one time) then hold them out strait or above your head. No problem right? Now hold that position for a few minutes.
Agreed, it depends on how he is holding it. Holding 200 lbs over your heads with your arms extended for 10 minutes isn’t going to be doable. However, if it is braced on his shoulders and spread out over enough area it should be doable, but most definitely not fun. Imagine holding your 200 lb buddy on your shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Or holding a 200 lb barbell on your shoulders. I regularly do squats with 200 lbs on my shoulders. Could I hold it there for 10 minutes? Under normal circumstances not likely. If my friend’s life depended on it and with my adrenaline pumping? I think so. It probably wouldn’t do permanent injury but I would be useless in any action sequences immediately following escape from that scenario.
Normally, in a casual state, you can't hold weight like that up for so long, but if in a situation where you or someone very close to you could die, you will suddenly be capable for a lot more. There will be a lot more motivation, also adrenaline will kick in. In a life-threatening situation your mind set and how your body works changes and that enables more then you usually can do. There have been situations in real life when people lift, hold up heavy things that they normally can't. It might be possible, especially if that someone has had a lot of physical training.
Yeah, it's a ceiling beam that's resting partly on his shoulders so he can shift it around a bit, and his hands are raised but he can bend his elbows. I also thought the adrenalin factor would make it possible to hold a much heavier weight than usual. I need it to be a pretty impressive amount of weight without it being ridiculous!
Well, do you have to say how much it weighs? Wouldn't simply describing how the weight was bearing down on him, causing his body to slowly collapse into muscle failure be enough?
If it's directly over his head, it's going to be easier than if it's over him and to one side/front/back etc. Muscle spasms would happen fairly quickly to someone who wasn't trained - even 200 pounds for a relatively muscular man would be a killer for the 10-12 minutes
Yeah, I think the problem is the time. Even supporting the weight on his shoulders, ten minutes is a LONG time. 500 pounds, I think, is right out, and even 200 pounds would be difficult even for very strong men. Standing isn't a problem, but standing for ten minutes with 200 or more pounds on your shoulders would cause most strong men to collapse. Two or three minutes? Sure. Ten or twelve minutes? Very, very difficult.
I agree with this. Why specify the weight? A good portion of your readership won't have the slightest idea about the weight-bearing capacity of your average hunky male - so for them any figure will be meaningless. And, of those who do know (or think they know), some are likely to take issue and many will take time out to reflect upon the feasibility of it all ...which is to say the spell of your tale will be - temporarily - broken.
Thank you very much for all your suggestions and insight. Nice to know there are some good strong guys out there to rely on still
well I heard a story about a lady who got in a car crash with her kid. Te car got totalled, but she heard a scream coming from under the car, and a rush of adrenaline hit her like a freight train, and she lifted the car enough to get the kid oout. Not sure if this is true or not, but hey, if it is, it shows what adrenaline can do. So maybe it is possible.
I've heard of this kind of thing, too. But it's momentary. Anybody can get virtually superhuman strength from adrenaline for a few seconds. But the issue involves holding a heavy weight for a long period of time - a very different thing. It's hard to maintain an adrenaline surge for ten minutes. I think it's the time, not so much the weight. But I'm not an expert.
Yea, I'd have to agree with you on the amount of time minstrel. Maybe if the he didn't say how much it weighed and just wrote about the weight bearing down on him. That might help...
Those almost supernatural adrenaline rushes are 100% possible, you can lift the car or whatever, but the problem is your body hasn't developed anymore, olny your will. You'll seriously damage your muscles, bones etc. by doing something like that
Is the character superhuman, equipped in power armour, or otherwise gifted with some sort of gifts that would enhance his physical strength far beyond natural levels?
