Dadbod may be a bit a of punch line these days, but, just like your entire childhood, dads are getting the last laugh: A new study in the Journal of Hand Therapy indicates that men in the 1980s were significantly stronger than their counterparts today.
Researchers working with a sample of 20-to-34-year-olds at universities in North Carolina tracked their participants’ grip and pinch strength. They found that the average amount of grip force today’s men could apply was 98 pounds, compared to 117 pounds back in 1985.
Now, lest men rush to use this as another example of their dads making them feel inadequate, the Washington Post quickly points out that both studies cited only used a small sample of men in university settings. (Though, as a counterpoint, your dad would like to remind you that when he was your age, he was both raising a family and benching 250.)
Sounds like there’s only one way to settle this once and for all: arm wrestling at Thanksgiving, which will definitely end well and not lead to any latent dad issues being brought out into the open.
