Strength is good to have but it depends on your goal, the guy pumping curls wants to go to the beach, show off his guns and think he's impressing other guys so he's doing what's right for him.
Strength, size and appearance gives you confidence, it makes people think twice before picking a fight but when it comes down to it you need some skills.
There's nothing like knowing you can back yourself up in a situation, people can detect it, there's been a few times when guys tried to start something then backed off, it's saved me more times than I know. Controlling my ego also helped.
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