Or, for a more blunt title than “Function Over Form”: “When is it okay to listen to fat people for fitness advice?”

The short answer is: Not very often. But there are a few instances of the more robustly-sized being capable of giving worthwhile advice, depending on what the context is that they’re speaking in.

I have noted that in other types of physical endeavors you will sometimes find people who appear to be out of shape giving advice on fitness. And while in an overwhelming majority of the time these people can be ignored, there are times where one has to put forth the age-old “function over form” argument. This article will try to posit a few instances when you can ignore your gut instinct and take Fatty’s advice.

…And finally, some sports do indeed require a bigger physique—namely, sports that require quick exertions of maximal strength such as Olympic weightlifting. To put it bluntly, the strongest men in the world (i.e.: the heavyweight class of strength sports) are not men that are going to be running marathons as well. Lifting heavy weights above your head will create a thick, heavily muscled midsection without doing any supplementary work. In addition to this, their workouts require an enormous caloric intake. There is also some theorizing that having an extra layer of fat on top of the muscles also provides a layer of cushion for the joints when lifting large amounts of weight.

You can read the full article here