What Muscles are Really the Strongest?

So I have been thinking about this for awhile,I strive to have strong hands as a strong hand denotes strength and shows confidence in say a handshake and comes in handy when working or lifting objects and allows me to impress my friends by ripping a phone books in half outa the blue.

So my question is if you were to compare the size of all the muscles that are involved in gripping a bar compared to the size of the the targeted muscles like back as in a pulling movement I would have to say the hand and forearm muscles are stronger relatively,there much smaller but are able to grasp the bar as long as your lifting.I think most people dont think about the importance of hand and wrist strength as being a factor in thier life or in the gym.

Grip muscles are the weakest. It’s just that they have the best leverages. Attach your pinky to all the power your glutes and hamstrings can muster, and it could lift a ton.

But you’re right about grip being very, very important.

Yeah I hear people say grip muscles are weak but its your hands that hold the bar as you deadlift hundreds of pounds right,And my fingers arent bulging when i point my pointer finger towards my thumb.

[quote]horsepuss wrote:
Yeah I hear people say grip muscles are weak but its your hands that hold the bar as you deadlift hundreds of pounds right,And my fingers arent bulging when i point my pointer finger towards my thumb.[/quote]

You can hold onto hundreds of lbs because its a thin bar, and it has nurling and chalk.

Try lifting deadlifting with a 3" bar without chalk or nurling and you will see how strong your grip is.

hands can be surprisingly strong, at the gripboard I’ve seen some people do some amazing things with their hands that I thought were impossible.

they are not the strongest overall by any means, but your right for their size I think they are surprisingly strong. Your skin on your hands can become like leather, and the tendons and muscles ridiculously strong.

ive always heard that size to power comparison the tongue dropkicks all other muscles.

[quote]blunt wrote:
ive always heard that size to power comparison the tongue dropkicks all other muscles.[/quote]

Isn’t it the jaw?

[quote]undeadlift wrote:
blunt wrote:
ive always heard that size to power comparison the tongue dropkicks all other muscles.

Isn’t it the jaw?[/quote]

I thought it was the taint or gouch.

Yahoo Answers:

The tongue is often described in biology texts as the strongest muscle in the body. Wikipedia describes it as �??the strongest muscle in the human body proportional to size.�?? It is agreed in science circles that the tongue is the strongest muscle.

Medicinenet.com:

The strongest muscle in the body is debatable. Some physiologists believe it�??s the masseter (used for chewing), while others claim it�??s the gluteus maximus (buttocks), or the rectus femoris (part of the quadriceps in the thigh).

guees it can be any of the above ?

jaw then calves then traps

I think it depends on how you define “strong.” Is it highest intramuscular tension? If so, I think it’s the gluteus maximus or possibly one of the quadriceps muscles. If it’s the most force generated against an external object, I believe it’s the masseter, as it has awesome leverage.

Highly dependent on the size, shape, points of attachment to the skeleton, and properties of the joint the muscle operates.

Detach all muscles and hook up to a strain guage then I’d go with the gluteals

Your skin on your hands can become like leather, and the tendons and muscles ridiculously strong.

I want that so bad

[quote]Mega Newb wrote:
horsepuss wrote:
Yeah I hear people say grip muscles are weak but its your hands that hold the bar as you deadlift hundreds of pounds right,And my fingers arent bulging when i point my pointer finger towards my thumb.

You can hold onto hundreds of lbs because its a thin bar, and it has nurling and chalk.

Try lifting deadlifting with a 3" bar without chalk or nurling and you will see how strong your grip is.[/quote]

Ok Then what grip excerise would be equal in hand strength difficulty to a deadlift or a squat

this is kinda dumb and general, IMO.

think more about what movements are strongest…range of motion, etc.

[quote]undeadlift wrote:
blunt wrote:
ive always heard that size to power comparison the tongue dropkicks all other muscles.

Isn’t it the jaw?[/quote]

The suboccipital muscles are either stronger or almost as strong as the jaw muscles.

[quote]rmccart1 wrote:
I think it depends on how you define “strong.” Is it highest intramuscular tension? If so, I think it’s the gluteus maximus or possibly one of the quadriceps muscles. If it’s the most force generated against an external object, I believe it’s the masseter, as it has awesome leverage.[/quote]

It’s not even close. you would want to measure motor units per area, and the suboccipitals are app. 3-4X that of the hip, and hamstring muscles.

[quote]IainK wrote:
Highly dependent on the size, shape, points of attachment to the skeleton, and properties of the joint the muscle operates.

Detach all muscles and hook up to a strain guage then I’d go with the gluteals[/quote]

Again, it’s either the jaw or suboccipitals. Glutes don’t even come close. Think about it, the superior and inferior oblquies, rectus capitas major and minor must support, the head. All day, all the time. They’re very tough muscles, and doing ART on them is enough to blow your fingers off.

My grip strength isn’t super, but I can close a number 2 and don’t need straps with any deadlift I can pull. I’m close to 600 as a point of reference.

Dude, there is no way a NECK muscle is going to be the strongest. Why does it need to be that strong? It doesn’t.

[quote]tom63 wrote:

Again, it’s either the jaw or suboccipitals. Glutes don’t even come close. Think about it, the superior and inferior oblquies, rectus capitas major and minor must support, the head. All day, all the time. They’re very tough muscles, and doing ART on them is enough to blow your fingers off.

My grip strength isn’t super, but I can close a number 2 and don’t need straps with any deadlift I can pull. I’m close to 600 as a point of reference.

[/quote]

Why would posturial muscle be ‘stonger’ than locamotive muscle groups? Tough to touch does not equate to force production!

I have no real answers to the question asked, but the above are not reasons as to why an particular mucsle is stronger. In isolation the biggest muscle will be the strongest.