Study of former world's strongest man shows 'guy rope' muscles important for lifting

A team of sport and exercise specialists in the U.K., Qatar and Ireland has found that a little-known group of long, thin muscles that run from the knee to the pelvis play a much bigger role in lifting heavy objects than previously thought.

In their study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, the group assessed the physique of a heavily muscled man named Eddie Hall, who was once hailed as the strongest man on Earth.

As seen in the recent Summer Olympics, weightlifters work for years to develop their muscles. In this new effort, the research team found that one often overlooked group of muscles, called the semitendinosus, sartorius, and gracilis, collectively known as the "guy rope," grows bigger during training than the more well-known muscles in the legs, such as the hamstrings, glutes and quadriceps do.

Prior research has shown that their main purpose is to stabilize the pelvis as it connects to the thigh bone.

The researchers wanted to know more about how the body responds to strength-training regimens such as those that are undertaken by bodybuilders and weightlifters. To that end, they enlisted the assistance of Hall, who was crowned the world's strongest man in 2017.

At the time of the examination, he acknowledged that he was not as strong or as in shape as when he won the title, but he was still far more developed than the average man.

To learn more about muscle development, the researchers measured all of Hall's muscles, using a variety of techniques, including tape measures and MRI scans.

They found that his "guy rope" was approximately three times the size of the average man's—a larger difference than any other muscle or muscle group in his body. The research team suggests that the "guy rope" must play a much bigger role in lifting heavy loads than previously thought.

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