Power level and weights

[Polyphase Avatron]

IIRC, when Goku and Piccolo removed their weighted clothing against Raditz, his scouter measured their PLs going up just by this act. But power level is a measure of ki. How does taking off weights suddenly cause you to have more ki? Is it just that back then, Toriyama hadn't fully created the rules for how scouters and power levels worked, or is there a reasonable explanation for this? Because they were using just as much power and effort before they took off the weights as they did afterwards. If anything, Raditz should have commented that they were slower and weaker than their PLs suggested, until they took off the weights. The actual power level reading shouldn't have changed.

[Grand Marshal 1]

That is an interesting question. Haven't really had dome time to process that.

I guess that it has to do with the writing of the story. Now, we can get a bit creative in trying to explain such an incident with some DB logic.

Could it be that before removing the weighted clothes, that Goku and Piccolo had their PLs supressed, in order to train their bodies or keep them in a constant state of strain.

I mean, walking around in weighted clothes should theoretically make their bodies stronger. But, if PLs are an energy reading, then could we tie that with a body's condition? I mean, the more stressed your body the more power it unleashes.

So when they dropped their clothes, their bodies were free of that strain and unleashed their full power. Imagine punching a wall while holding weights in your hands. When your muscles start to adapt at the weights, removing them from your exercise will "boost" your striking power. I do that when I workout, so that is the only thing I can imagine that might be happening.

[theherodjl]

Its definitely a headscratcher why scouters are incapable of detecting the true power of a fighter despite not having any issues finding the current location of any number of subjects across a planet. They're incredibly sensitive enough to measure a sample of Ki from hundreds of miles away but cannot read the total amount of Ki a living thing in front of them has until said living thing swells up it's Ki. Energy is energy even if its not pulsating or currently in motion, its just in a potential state. A scouter can read a power level of 1,000 whether a fighter has an intense aura around them and then launches Ki blasts or are simply relaxed & standing still.
My guess is that Ki's spiritual nature interferes in technology's ability to properly measure it like simple forces of the universe.

[mute_proxy]

If we're to think weighted clothes are for physical training specifically, then a simple explanation could be they kept their ki down so their weight training would be more efficient and harder on the body? I dunno

[Hugo Boss]

They are wasting energy to sustain the weight. So, when the weight is taken out, the energy used to sustain it is added to the energy they are leaking out.

[emperior]

Power Levels also include physical strength and speed into the equation, and somebody carrying around weights of course won’t be able to move as fast and be as strong as he would be with no weights at all.

[Tsufuru]

becouse apparently Toriyama thinks a few kg of clothes makes goku 1/4 less powerfull.
thats sad tbh.
so by his logic one ton would crush goku but thats the same guy who made them push huge boulders as kids and casualy jump sky high.
my point is , stop trying to make sense of it becouse it shows he freshly made power levels and they already dont make sense but not only that even his own characters strength looks pathetic.

[dbgtFO]

Power Levels also include physical strength and speed into the equation, and somebody carrying around weights of course won’t be able to move as fast and be as strong as he would be with no weights at all.

I''d like to see a source for that. Of course his speed isn't the same with weights on and he can't punch as hard as a result, but I don't recall it being confirmed, that power levels actually take a person's speed into account instead of only measuring ki levels.

[PFM18]

It's just an inconsistency, that's all. There's no reason why wearing weights would change your actual ki output.

It isn't as though Dragon Ball and Toriyama are foreign to the concept.