ST, Arnold and Commando

[Tinman]

So I was wondering what ST Arnold had when he was in his movie prime (or in the film Commando).
Here's a pic of him from Commando.
https://imagesyoulike.com/images/100...x24/285215.jpg

Thanks.

[Dalillama]

Probably 13-4 plus a high Lifting skill

[DanHoward]

Bodybuilders aim for a specific cosmetic appearance. Truly strong men don't look like Arnold did. ST 13-14 seems reasonable.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Probably 13-4 plus a high Lifting skill

Probably _not_ a high Lifting Skill.

The generic system-mechanical reason "why?' is that Lifting skills less than 16 (either HT or Will-based) have little or no reliable effect.

the specific to bodybuilders answer is that they don't lift heavy weights. They go for _lots_ of reps with moderate weights. This builds muscle mass but not bone density. Bodybuilders can actually be in danger in some strongman contest events.

Some bodybuilders do end up pretty strong anyway. I'd have rated Ferrigno higher than Shwarzenegger.

Another system note is that some bodybuilder "strength" might be Arm ST rather than Lifting ST or regular ST. Bodybuilders do end up with massively developed arms.

[Donny Brook]

It seems like he can tote around 100lbs of guns and ammo at Light Encumbrance, so effective lifting ST14 minimum.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

It seems like he can tote around 100lbs of guns and ammo at Light Encumbrance, so effective lifting ST14 minimum.

"Light Encumbrance" is between BL and 2xBL; to be at Light Encumbrance when carrying 100 lb of stuff you'd need BL of at least 50, calling for effective Lifting ST 16 (BL 51.2). Of course, Arnold wasn't actually toting around that much stuff, so could arguably get away with lower ST than that.

And yeah, it seems weird for the poster child of Strong to have such modest ST, but as others have noted, bodybuilders go more for a specific aesthetic than actual raw strength (although make no mistake, they are still rather strong people; note ST 14 puts a character right around twice as strong as the average person).

[Sam Baughn]

According to some random internet sites which I found on a quick search, Arnie could bench-press 500 lbs! That would have been a world record in the 50s, about 70% of the world record in the 80s, and still over 60% of the world record now. Other internet sites tell me that an average guy can bench about 180 lbs. which seems quite high to me (first time I tried bench pressing, I could barely handle 110 lbs.). That suggests Arnie's chest is about 2.8 times as strong as a typical man's.
In the 1968 German powerlifting championships, his maximum deadlift was 683 lbs. That's about two-thirds of the current world record again, so it seems like his strength was consistent and not just in his massive pecs.
This strongly suggests that his effective lifting ST was around 16-17 under standard GURPS rules. That is possible with a lower base ST; he obviously lifted a lot, so we can assume a very good Lifting skill, which would increase his lifts by 20-40% depending on how skilled he was. That implies (Lifting) ST of around 15. Based purely on body mass, he should have around ST and HP 13. My best guess at his stats would be ST 14, HP 13, Special Exercises (Lifting ST 1), Lifting ST 1, and Lifting-16.
Note that this implies the strongest men in the world are only about ST 16. The ST 17-20 range should be reserved for unrealistic fictional characters, such as most of the ones portrayed by Arnold!