Chimpanzees: Not as Strong as Thought?

[Cray]

While Quora's not a first-rate source of information, this article does include decent references. OA might need to update its claims of Superiors having chimp- and gorilla-like increases in strength.
Chimps vs Human Strength

[Drashner1]

I know we've made the comparison to chimp strength in conversation, but looking at the current article on Superior Genemods, it says:

Enhanced Musculature and size On average, Superiors are only slightly taller than nearbaselines, but some clades have gone further, increasing their average size to 2.4 meters. This increase in proportions allows for a proportionately larger brain, providing extra processing capacity for their cognitive functions. Their muscles are constructed differently from the nearbaseline norm, allowing their muscle fibers to work together more readily and with greater efficiency. As such, the average su is around 2-3 times as strong as a nearbaseline of equal size.

If there are specific comparisons to chimps or apes elsewhere in the EG then we should probably update those to reflect the Superior Genemods article.

Todd

[Worldtree]

Also, we've haven't yet seen a chimpanzee or gorilla who learned bodybuilding techniques so we haven't seen one at full strength..

Also, there can be many different culture's type of superior..
so some cultures will vary in which genemods they use.

[Bear]

Size matters more than you're giving it credit for.

Speaking as someone significantly larger than average human at 2.1m, who doesn't even particularly work out - I'm WAY stronger than most people. Seriously, I can pick up the rear ends of small cars, or drag entire trees to the refuse pile before cutting them up, or push pickup trucks out of ditches in the snow, etc. Back in high school, when I was actually in gym and had access to a weight machine, I managed to verify that I could push the whole stack of weights on pretty much everything that measured leg strength and came damn close to it everywhere. And, again, I am a lazy sumbitch most of the time who's out of shape.

What I get for not working out as such, is that if I keep up something that takes enormous strength for more than a minute or two, I am out of breath and puffing like a steam engine, or if the weather's too hot it takes me ages to get back to a normal/ non-distressed state. People my size who are physically fit, are also very very strong and don't have that problem. People my size who actively do strength training ...

Somebody 2.4 or 2.5 meters tall - if the difference is anything like between me and average-size people - would be several times stronger than a typical human, even before taking into account any disciplined training or enhanced muscles.

Keep in mind that strength is proportional to the cross-section of a muscle - so a linear size increase in the same proportion leads to a square strength increase. (and a cube mass increase, which is why oversize people don't take any running or jumping trophies....).

[Bear]

As it happens, today - and I almost didn't realize it might be relevant to this discussion - I picked up three church pews and carried them carefully out of the church building to load them onto a truck. These are oak benches about 3 to 4 meters long and mass probably 120 kilos apiece. The sanctuary they were in was tight and had a slanted floor and stairs and corners etc - with one thing and another there was no safe and quick way to get a dolly in and use it. And the pews were tightly packed, so they had to be lifted a full meter or so clear of the ground so you could even move or turn them without hitting the other pews.

The only solution that didn't involve logistics or going to get more help or find different equipment, etc - and pay for an extra two hours of truck rental - was just to pick them up, one at a time, lift them straight up to clear the other pews, and carry them out. So I did. I had to stop and pant for ten minutes or so after each one, but I did. My wife had bought three of the old pews, and we're going to refinish them to be weatherproof and use them outdoors as benches.

But ... this is ordinary. For a guy 2.1m tall, who's not made wispy-thin the way most tall people are, there's nothing really unusual about this except just doing it.