Do you think that aspies are generally weaker?

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For example that their body is weaker, more prone to disease, cancer etc... Also weaker in terms of muscle or energy? I mean most aspies do look weak to me(I'm look weak myself) and if someone looks weak they probably are right?

A person who "looks weak" may actually be stronger than someone who "looks stronger"

In middle school I was 5'10" and weighed 120 pounds. I was very uncoordinated and terrible at team sports. To my surprise, though, I could defeat the athletic guys in arm wrestling, even though my muscles were small. I wondered how I could do this.

Later, in college, I studied exercise physiology and found out that some people have the natural ability to innervate more muscle fibers than others. So, a person with smaller muscles can actually be stronger than a person with larger muscles because they can innervate a larger percentage of their muscle fibers.

I've been on the autism spectrum with ADHD all my life. I wonder if there are other folks out their on the AS that are stronger than they look.

I

This is a secondary effect of dsypraxia which will discourage many of our kind from engaging in sports and thus becoming athletically toned. However there are some who become obsessed with fitness so weakness is not universal.

Dsypraxia will also result in decreased level of fighting ability as the ability to dodge/land blows will be compromised.

Last edited by Molecular_Biologist on 28 Nov 2010, 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That is ridiculous and absurd. I am not aggressive by nature, but I am by no means weak or fragile. I have often been bullied by people I could physically break in half, because they know I won't. On rare occasions they have been unpleasantly surprised.

That's interesting cos at school I wasn't the biggest but I was always the strongest in the arm wrestling. When I used to go to the gym I got "funny looks" from the body builders because I could lift so much.

I'm like you (5'10.5") but I only weighed 105 lbs. I wrestled also and was really good. I was good at arm wrestling, also. I thought it was because of long arms? That's not accurate about recruiting more muscle fibers. I've studied this and barring pathology almost evertybody can recruit all muscle fibers. It probably has to do more with % of FT versus ST fibers and tendon insertions given one leverage advantages. I have a lot of FT fibers, I think. Were you very strong for your size and better at sprinting versus long-distance? I was crap at team sports because I would get lost. I didn't know what to do and couldn't anticipate what others were doing. There was just too much happening, Again, multi-taking problems, I think?

There is no physiological or medical evidence supporting this.

ruveyn

People on the spectrum are more likely to have motor skill problems, low muscle tone or a sensory dysfunction issue with propioception (being able to sense the position of one's limbs) so they could end being physically weaker, or at least seeming weaker, if they have those particular issues.
People on the spectrum are also more likely to have weaker immune systems (which makes them more prone to developing allergies and asthma in childhood) so that could make spectrumites more likely to catch viruses and stuff. I only know one adult aspie who is 'sickly' though. The others are as healthy as anyone else.

I agree with you with on your point on FT versus ST fibers and tendon insertions. A person can actually increase their FT fibers if they work out with heavy weights to the point of fatigue. I was better at sprinting and unusually strong for my size.

I think there is another factor, kind of pathological, that is common to alot of folks on the autism spectrum:

I think the reason so many AS folks are so intense and sometimes accomplish incredible things is because we have to overcome adversity to survive.

I got alot of verbal abuse from kids in school, but it just gave me motivation to try harder at everything I did. Maybe that's where some of us get our perfectionist nature. I lived most of my life with a "do or die" level of intensity in the health, school, work, and social arena. I ended up as an Athletic Director at a Military Installation.

I've done some research on this and found that a person's level of arousal and state of mind can increase the level of adrenaline in their body, affecting the nervous systems "rate coding" ability to increase the contraction of muscles. I think this also contributes to our ability to laser focus. I always wondered why my mind would shut down when I wasn't at school or work, but have come to realize that It was just an adaptation to the amount of stress that I put myself under necessary for recovery and survival.

I think the biggest health issue concerned with AS is the damaging effects of stress hormones on the body systems. I believe the best way a person on the AS spectrum can have a healthy life is to make sure they rest their nervous system as much as possible; otherwise burnout and exhaustion are almost inevitable before you reach middle age.

Unfortunately, every new digital device we have to have becomes addictive and keeps us on constant alert. Sitting still, charged with adrenaline, is not natural for any living thing. We are not able to burn the adrenaline off with no physical activity. It gives us the illusion of recreation, but may end up shortening our lives.

I know this post is getting too long, but I would like to include this excerpt from Wiki on Hans Selye's General adaptation syndrome. It does a good job of explaining where too much stress and adrenaline can take you.

General adaptation syndrome
Physiologists define stress as how the body reacts to a stressor, real or imagined, a stimulus that causes stress. Acute stressors affect an organism in the short term; chronic stressors over the longer term.

Selye researched the effects of stress:

Alarm is the first stage. When the threat or stressor is identified or realized, the body's stress response is a state of alarm. During this stage adrenaline will be produced in order to bring about the fight-or-flight response. There is also some activation of the HPA axis, producing cortisol.

Resistance is the second stage. If the stressor persists, it becomes necessary to attempt some means of coping with the stress. Although the body begins to try to adapt to the strains or demands of the environment, the body cannot keep this up indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted.

Exhaustion is the third and final stage in the GAS model. At this point, all of the body's resources are eventually depleted and the body is unable to maintain normal function. The initial autonomic nervous system symptoms may reappear (sweating, raised heart rate etc.). If stage three is extended, long term damage may result as the body, and the immune system is exhausted and function is impaired resulting in decompensation.

The result can manifest itself in obvious illnesses such as ulcers, depression, diabetes, trouble with the digestive system or even cardiovascular problems, along with other mental illnesses.

what's your source for this? i'd like to find out more

I have low blood sugar, a sensitive immune system and low muscle tone. Not to mention poor balance. I've got good mental strength however.

You're scaring me. It's as if you're reading my mind. I'm exactly like that. I try to avoid as much of modern technology as possible (with the exception of the Internet) for that same reason. I get overwhelmed by it. I used to strength train but I ended up over-training very easily. I found that I could train twice/week with zero aerobics and I responded much better. My resting heart rate is also quite high. I generally feel like my nervous system is way too active and I ended up abusing benzodiazepines + narcotics for ~ 8 years because it gave my system a rest. I couldn't study unless everything was really quiet. I couldn't filter out environmental stimuli. Smallest disturbances would make me go crazy. I read all of Selye's stuff many years ago. Very interesting stuff. I also agree that as you get stronger with training and as your muscles get more FT-like, you will likely respond better with less training. I wrote a piece on this stuff a long time ago.

I was weaker than average growing up, but I have done a lot of weightlifting/bodybuilding in my life. Now, I would say that I am stronger than the average person, but it took a huge amount of effort. It also helped alot with my coordination problems. All around, physical exercise is a positive thing for Aspies.

I sucked at lot of things as a kid and thought I just needed more practice. I thought everyone sucked at some point and they just got better because they kept trying and trying, I just couldn't understand why me so I figured I didn't practice hard enough or tried long enough and those other kids did. Only thing I remember being god at was jump roping. I got better at it by age eight because I kept doing it. I also learned to do some tricks on the bars and that also took practice. I also couldn't fend for myself and when I would, I was weak as I did it. All I did was spat and hit and threw things and did scratching but that wasn't enough for the bullies. I guess to them that was weak and lame. Plus I always got into trouble for it or yelled at so I bet that gave them more power to tease me. If they can see they can get their victims into trouble, they will continue doing what they are doing, even if it means getting kicked or hit or spat at. Their victim will just get in trouble for that.

I always felt weak like I couldn't defend myself and stick up for myself so when it finally happens and I succeed, it's something for me to keep talking about. Then I notice more people back off and leave me alone simply because they saw I am not as innocent as they thought and not as helpless even if I do come off that way. That's why I got targeted less online when I did something at age 18 online. Plus I think it had to do with me changing my ways online too so I appear less innocent and naive.

Nope, I'm very energetic and athletic.

Oh yeah it's stress, why didn't I think of that before.