Unusual physical strength in aspergers

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sluice
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25 Feb 2011, 10:15 pm

Are you able to do things that other people of similar size aren't able to do? Are you stronger than you look? Or maybe you're weaker? Is there any known relationship between Aspergers and physical abilities? I don't know.

I haven't been able to work out the way I want because of some respiratory illness has kept me from breathing normally. Finally, I went and lifted weights because I was feeling lazy. I don't lift that much anymore. Some of the hardcore body builders were surprised by how strong I was relative to them. Looking back, I have always had more natural strength than I probably should have. None of my family members that I know of are anywhere near as strong as I am. I am wondering if I am exaggerating this in my mind or maybe there is a physiological reason behind it. Anyone else notice this effect?



CockneyRebel
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25 Feb 2011, 10:27 pm

I also have unusual strength. I'm also a big girl. I'm stronger than most of the men that I know. I can lift more than they can and I rarely tire out at work.


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25 Feb 2011, 11:13 pm

I am pathetically weak. Most people, girls included, appear to have thicker arms than myself. I have never won an arm wrestle, even with my friend who claims he himself is weak.



techn0teen
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25 Feb 2011, 11:35 pm

I don't look muscular or skinny. I look just like any other average young adult (I have the build of a fourteen year old guy). I cannot lift concentrated weights (like 60+ lbs in a small spot). I weigh about 177lb and I can lift 150+ lbs if the weight it is spread out over a wide area like a couch, table, chair, or box.



ocdgirl123
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26 Feb 2011, 12:06 am

Someone told me that I was the strongest 14 year old they ever met a couple years ago.


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auntblabby
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26 Feb 2011, 1:57 am

i have always been relatively frail physically, compared with others my age.



mechanicalgirl39
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26 Feb 2011, 8:00 am

I was always naturally stronger than most other girls. I remember a girl deciding she was going to break my arm, then freaking out at how strong I was and losing interest pretty fast. LOL.

I have long tendons that attach quite a bit away from my joints, could be that.


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26 Feb 2011, 10:38 am

I possess an exceptional amount of strength, especially in my shoulders and arms, compared to other people and to the fact that I never excersise.
I presume this is the result of a thick and dense bone structure and even more so a condition that I'm suffering from called Scheuermann's kyphosis, which a lot of people have. It's highly likely that there could be increased presense of this condition in people with Asperger's Syndrome, which could explain any frequent reports of unusual strength.



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26 Feb 2011, 12:28 pm

I never thought about it as connected to Asperger's, but YES... I'm much stronger, and always was, than others my size/age. I deadlifted 400 lbs at age 16, and just recently 500+ lbs (seen in my avatar pic). I'm 6' tall at 185 lbs, so I think it's a pretty unusual level of strength for someone my size, and I'm not a competitive lifter or anything. I do lift, and I'm a bodybuilder by hobby. But still.......


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27 Feb 2011, 12:57 am

I have always been much stronger than I look. At the peak of my fitness, I weighed 112 pounds (this was junior year of high school) but could bench 160 pounds. Now, that's gone down to 145 pounds since I haven't lifted weights in years (and I now weigh 125 pounds).

Here's a picture of me wrestling my sophomore year of high school:

Image


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sluice
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27 Feb 2011, 7:05 pm

Interesting Fragile. I don't believe I have excess curvature in my spine. I do have a large frame skeleton by that test where you wrap your thumb-finger around your other wrist and see if they touch or not. I know ASD's have differences in the central nervous system and in the immune system, but I wonder if there could be differences in skeletal muscle architecture. Of course we have all different types here. Could be that we are just tougher and stronger, cause we had to be. :)

kx250, rather impressive I must say.



auntblabby
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27 Feb 2011, 8:29 pm

only some of us are tougher and stronger, the lucky ones i guess. as for the wrist circumference test, i don't know what it means but i can wrap all my fingers 'round my wrist simultaneously.



sluice
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27 Feb 2011, 8:54 pm

That is what I meant with all types. There is plenty of diversity here. I don't know how accurate of an assessment it is, but supposedly if your fingers overlap you are small framed, if they touch you're medium framed, and if they don't touch you are large framed. I am a little under 6 foot but weigh around 225, without being overweight, though I could stand to drop 5-10 pounds.



auntblabby
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27 Feb 2011, 9:32 pm

with me, it is an unusual case, in that my upper half is ectomorphic, while my lower half is mesomorphic. i am curvy, and i suppose if i were shorter and prettier, that i could be a female impersonator similar to that telegenic black guy whose name escapes me now. my arms are very slim and feminine, but my legs and caboose are somewhat bulky and muscular. i have feminine hands and fingers, slender and long, and it is a wonder that somebody with my build can still do pushups and chin-ups. i am 6'3" and my weight fluctuates 'tween 190# and 210#. god made us all specific, for a specific purpose.



sluice
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27 Feb 2011, 9:54 pm

I can remember you saying you were a biker and a runner. Maybe you are more of a distance, aerobic athlete or a Fred Astaire dancer. I am more about explosive bursts than distance. I was very quick and agile, but clumsly all in the same motion. When I run distance, it is usually at a plodding pace. It is one of the reasons, I don't enter road races. I can run forever, but my mile time isn't going to threaten any records.



auntblabby
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27 Feb 2011, 10:02 pm

biker and swimmer, but the swimming went by the wayside about 5 years ago when my parents passed away and i had to move out to the sticks where the closest public swimming facility is over an hour's drive away, in the next county. so it is just biking and treadmilling now. i never could run worth beans [no more than a loping jog] due to unequal-length legs not sufficiently correctable by orthotics. this one physical feature got me out of marching when i was in the army, only because the drills didn't care for how my loping lopsided gait ruined the look of their marching formations. yeah, i was made out of irregular cast-off parts.