Bear Strength

[Panther]

Today I'm gonna reveal the truth about the strength of tigers and bears. The truth, that opposes the common beliefs of both educated and uneducated people online.

What is strength?
Strength is broken down to two different types.

1- Bone strength
2- Muscle strength (or muscular strength).

Bone strength is nothing but bone density or bone mineral density.
The denser bone is simply the stronger bone. I hope many of you know that.

In this aspect, we don't know who had the denser bones than the others. But you'll find the answers throughout this thread.

Muscular strength refers to the amount of force a muscle can produce and is usually measured by the maximum amount of force a muscle can produce in a single effort (maximal effort).

Muscular strength differs from muscular endurance.
Fat isn't strength!

Brown bears contain 40% of body fat.

"Bears have evolved mechanisms to
tolerate obesity, and do not develop adverse health consequences despite storing massive amounts of body fat"

"Grizzly bears given ad libitum access to lipids, carbohydrates, and
protein chose a fall diet in which lipids provided 73% ± 3% of
metabolizable energy (Erlenbach et al. 2014).Grizzly bears often
attain body fat levels of 30%–40% in autumn that are considered
“obese to morbidly obese” by human standards (AACE/ACE Obesity
Task Force 1998; Grundy 2004)."

"Together these results suggest
that bears have experienced extensive evolutionary selection to
accumulate large amounts of fat to survive hibernation while
remaining healthy and reproductively active (LeBlanc et al. 2001;
Robbins et al. 2012; Viscarra and Ortiz 2013; Lopez-Alfaro et al.
2013)."
Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=w...-X3nK4Hwbb

While that of tigers is roughly around 10% of their body weight.
Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tapatal...t=70&amp=1

Let's reduce the body fat and other materials like fur coat, paw pads and claws to get real mass of both species.

The other materials like fur coats and paw pads are indeed heavier in brown bears than that of tigers.Look at the picture below.
This is a tiger paw pad..

*This image is copyright of its original author

This is another image.

*This image is copyright of its original author

This is a Grizzly paw pad...

*This image is copyright of its original author

Claws of Grizzly..

*This image is copyright of its original author

Fur coat of Grizzly/Brown bears.

*This image is copyright of its original author

That of tigers.

*This image is copyright of its original author

You can see, bear got these heavier than tiger.
But let's say, both got these weigh about 10% of their body weight.

Reducing these along with body fat.
The average Kodiak bear is 835lbs.
835 - 40% -10% = 835 - 50% = 417.5 lbs of bone and muscle mass for Brown bear.

The average Bengal tiger is 495lbs.
495 -10% -10%= 495 - 20% = 396lbs of bone and muscle mass for Tiger.

The Brown bear got 21.5lbs of bone and muscle mass over tiger on average.

But that doesn't mean it's stronger than tigers. 

To confirm muscular strength, you have to take a look at muscle fibers.

Brown bears contain almost 70% of slow twitch muscle fibers

*This image is copyright of its original author

Source: Muscle mass and muscular force analysis in brown bears of varying
ages
Dr. Martin­Andrews of Michigan State University (Prof. of Zoology, M.Sc. in Zoology, 1989)

While tigers (just like other bigcats) contain more amount of fast twitch muscle fibers

"Recent investigations have shown that the vastus lateralis and longissimus lumborum muscles of feline predators (lion and caracal) exhibit a predominance of type IIX muscle fibres (>50%), with high glycolytic but relatively poor oxidative capacity (as revealed by their oxidative capacities – i.e. NADH stain, and CS and 3HAD activities) (Kohn et al., 2011b). Similar large quantities of type IIX fibres were found in tiger and cheetah muscle (Williams et al., 1997; Hyatt et al., 2010)."
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597281/

"The largest felid species, the tiger, contained a mixture of fiber types, but a  high percentage of IIx fibers were still present in the limb muscles (Hyatt et al., 2010). The 
requirement of some fibers for endurance may be as a result of the larger felids’ hunting strategies.  Whereas the caracal and cheetah rely on speed of attack, lion (and possible tigers) often require a
combination of power and endurance to hold on to larger prey. This form of attack may continue for prolonged periods, hence the requirement also for some type IIa fibers."
Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=w...UBryPRQ7Qg

The type I(slow twitch) muscle fibers aren't strength related fibers. They are known for endurance.

While type II(fast twitch) muscle fibers are very famous for strength.

Here's some explaination about it...

"Many people desire a specific outcome from their workouts but unknowingly perform a workout that is contrary to their goals. For example, the marathon runner who wants to go the distance but packs on too much muscle to be light on his feet. If you've got goals but you aren't sure how to get there, understanding the difference between muscular strength and muscular endurance will help you devise the proper resistance-training plan.


Definitions
Muscular endurance refers to the ability to perform a specific muscular action for a prolonged period of time. For example, your ability to run a marathon or to pump out 50 body weight squats is a product of good muscular endurance. You also use muscular endurance in your daily life when you rake leaves or walk up long flights of stairs.

Muscular strength is a muscle’s capacity to exert brute force against resistance. Your ability to bench press a barbell weighing 200 lbs. for one repetition is a measure of your muscular strength. In daily life, you need muscular strength to pick up a heavy box.

Muscle Composition
Muscles are made up of different types of fibers called slow twitch -- or type 1 -- and fast twitch -- or type 2. Slow twitch fibers are responsible for endurance -- the ability to go long on a treadmill or cycle. Fast twitch fibers come in two types -- A and B. Type A are involved in both power and endurance -- for example, the ability to endure a long sprint or carry a heavy object across the room -- while type B are recruited for short, explosive moves, such as jumping or heaving a very heavy weight.

Training Applications
The proportion of muscle fiber types you have is largely determined by genetics. If you have a predomination of slow twitch fibers, you are better adapted to muscular endurance, able to perform long cardio sessions. A person with more fast-twitch fibers is more adept at muscular strength -- lifting heavy weights for a few repetitions or performing short bouts of high-intensity exercise.

Even though your genetics are predetermined, you can train to increase muscular strength or endurance. Endurance is trained by lifting lighter weights for a higher number of reps or running longer and longer distances. You can build strength by lifting heavier weights for fewer reps and doing short, powerful sprints. The range for building muscular endurance is typically 12 to 25 reps, and the range for building strength is one to eight."

https://www.livestrong.com/article/154326-the-difference-between-muscular-strength-muscular-endurance/

Of course fast twitch fibers are also used for sprinters. But tigers aren't sprinters, that is cheetahs. Who are built for sprint with more type IIx fibers.

So the conclusion is, 60-70% of Brown bear muscles are not built for strength but for stamina. While more than 50%(basically 60%) of tiger muscles are built for brute strength.

So based on all these facts, I say tigers are stronger than Brown on both averages and at parity.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I've made this thread after taking a brief look at these animals, after reading multiple studies and articles, PDFs,etc.. 
So please respect my data and my point. And don't make excuses like "I disagree" or "I have no desire to agree with", without showing the reason for disagreement or without showing the backup for claims. Thank you,... Reply