Is the average man really this weak?

Consider the fact that plenty of people only do cardio as a means to stay fit. Then consider the people that don't do heavy lifting as a form of employment. Finally, consider those who genuinely don't do any form of excercise. You'll find that large swaths of people simply don't do enough lifting to develop strength. Plenty of jobs allow you to do significantly less than what was previously expected in the workforce.

I don't actually know anyone at my current job that weighlifts. Plenty of people do cardio workouts, but muscle based excercise is rarely something that people do around me. I've never really gotten into weightlifting myself. I actually tried once in highschool and hated it.

"that the average untrained (not a regular lifter) man can only deadlift 155lb"

I think they meant bench-press, every site i've seen talking about strength claim a similar number to that about bench pressing.

"Then I found a Google/Gymless survey (n = 1,403) from 2021 in which more than a third of Americans said they can’t do 5 consecutive pushups."

I could barely do 1-2 before I started lifting weights (then again I was in-between 290-310lb's before then) So I could believe that for Americans, considering almost everyone I meet is at least 30lb's overweight with no muscle definition.

Americans aren’t weak…

You know full well they can’t do push-ups because their arms can’t reach past their bellies.

As a black man trying to make it in this world, I bear the weight of oppression every day along with the rejection of my angry black daughter saddlegoose (formerly pretending to be a blond effeminite man named itduz, which confuses this old man), as such I carry the weight of the world, which explains why I shuffle around with a cane at this point! I'm well into old age and I can assure you that men carry more than you think, young lady

Push ups are pretty easy to get good at, too. Just doing 4 sets till failure everyday can get you to 40-50 push ups. Even if you are inexperienced.

Men nowadays are just extremely unfit in general, and lack testosterone compared to previous generations.

When they say average man theyre counting men in their 80s. Id say the average man below 40 can deadlift more than 155lbs for a single rep. I feel I have anecdotal experience in knowing this I use to basically deadlift for a living, my job was to pick up irreg packages (anything over 70lbs and under 165lbs was too big to go down slides) and put them in the end of a trailer where loaders would drag them in. And Ive observed thousands of people work there and the average man in his 20s could lift 100+ pounds constantly from the ground to chest height into a trailer for atleast 6 hours a day with only about 45 second to 3 minute breaks between lifts and inbetween picking up the irregs theyd be pulling carts of packages across the building until trains brought more irregs. We called it the sweeper position and after a few months your hamstring and glutes muscles would be jacked. Guys would only ask for help over 100lbs usually and the bigger guys rarely asked for help under 165. I dont think the average young man in America is weak that statistic isnt telling the whole story.