size and strength

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alot of people think size and strength go hand in hand but i see alot of exceptions to it i dont even understand how its possible
for example this guy at my gym looks like hes been training for 6 months im sure its been alot longer then that but hes not big not ultra ripped he looks very below avg like i make him look small and im not even big but you can tell he works out anyways hes super strong and not doing stupid form either he can keep his form good and benchs 3 plates a side rows the entire stack like he is very strong but i dont understand he has 0 size like his arms are prolly 15-16 inches and not ripped either just avg.... anyways im sure theres more examples then just this 1 but ud expect some1 who is strong to have a least a bit of size to him just from the muscle you need to lift the weight........... you guys ever see stuff like this?
 
Seen it too many times to mention. Its cliche, but its genetics. Tendon strength and muscle fiber type is an issue here. Where people fuck up is when they make comparisons of two different individuals regarding size & strength, ie, Bill is small and strong, Joe is big and weak, hence they duduce that getting stronger has nothing to do with muscle size. Wrong! Its just that the ratio of the smaller guys size to his strength is less than the bigger, weaker guy. Thats where tendon strength comes into play. Also, the amount of muscle fiber types comes into play. All genetic. I myself fall into the category of the weaker guy. I can be 275@6'0 and around 11-12% and my best raw & natty bench ever was like 435!lol Shit I've known guys that could rep that and they weighed 100lbs less than me. See Deacons thread http://www.anabolic-enhancement.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23193 ...same issue there. One still needs to try to get as strong as possible for reps if he wants to put on as much muscle size as possible. I'm sure when that little guy gets bigger, he's gonna be a shitload stronger also. They go hand in hand, even though sometimes they seem not to when comparing different individuals. ;)
 
yeah i think im sorta in the middle or slightly more on the weaker side. but id rather be on the weaker side then stronger side cuz only guys care about how much you can lift girls care about how jacked you look
 
Your body type has something to do with it.
I knew a guy in my gym who was 5'4" and I saw him bench 445, but he had a barrel chest and short arms.

I am 6'0" and when I was in my best shape I only benched 330 for one on my 12th set.
Probably could have done better being fresh, but injuries and other stuff eventually got in the way.
Anyway, I am wide (shoulder to shoulder) but very narrow (front to back).
I have a swimmer's body (well, used to).
Plus, my arms are long.

Long arms with broad shoulders and a flat chest?
Not exactly the ideal for power benching, but my broad shoulders and strong back allowed me to deadlift 390 for 1 on my 12th set when I weighed 162, and squat 465 for 7 on my 12th set when I weighed 212.
(Hmmm, never noticed the pattern between max lifts and my 12th set before. Guess it shows I like the Volume System?)

I would be considered a mesomorph.

Damn, DawgPound, I would be very happy to "only" bench 435!
 
Seen it too many times to mention. Its cliche, but its genetics. Tendon strength and muscle fiber type is an issue here. Where people fuck up is when they make comparisons of two different individuals regarding size & strength, ie, Bill is small and strong, Joe is big and weak, hence they duduce that getting stronger has nothing to do with muscle size. Wrong! Its just that the ratio of the smaller guys size to his strength is less than the bigger, weaker guy. Thats where tendon strength comes into play. Also, the amount of muscle fiber types comes into play. All genetic. I myself fall into the category of the weaker guy. I can be 275@6'0 and around 11-12% and my best raw & natty bench ever was like 435!lol Shit I've known guys that could rep that and they weighed 100lbs less than me. See Deacons thread http://www.anabolic-enhancement.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23193 ...same issue there. One still needs to try to get as strong as possible for reps if he wants to put on as much muscle size as possible. I'm sure when that little guy gets bigger, he's gonna be a shitload stronger also. They go hand in hand, even though sometimes they seem not to when comparing different individuals. ;)

Good answers. I'm not to big but I push some pretty decent weight in regard to my body weight. These days I try to remain leaner and meaner.:ke:
 
Damn, DawgPound, I would be very happy to "only" bench 435!

I was like 28, natty and weighed 240 when I did it. At 240 thats nothing brah. In Smallville or Weaksburg USA, sure it may seem strong.lol But I've always been one to compare myself to the best, not just to the local big|strong dude, and 435 at 240 ain't dick really brutha. :) Perhaps if I was ON back then in my prime and wore a shirt I coulda got a 550 or so who knows...woulda coulda blah. But even a 550 at 240 ain't dick.lol I will say though that I'm happy that I can can gain size easily compared to most...so if nothing else, I LOOK strong haha! :p
 
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i think im strong i hit 120 pound dumbells on incline press on a good day ...
4-6 reps ...
 
Very nice Persian, I only did 4 with 120's in flat dbell presses when I was 35. Most I ever got for inclines was 95's for 3x5.
Looking sharp ma-man!
 
Yeah but Pers has the killa Iranian connection to help him!lol :D :p
 
Very nice Persian, I only did 4 with 120's in flat dbell presses when I was 35. Most I ever got for inclines was 95's for 3x5.
Looking sharp ma-man!


thanks bro ...im actually feeling the strongest i have ever been ....
im weaker on flat though ....

Yeah but Pers has the killa Iranian connection to help him!lol :D :p

lol :J:
im hooked up ...like super hooked up ..like ud jerk off hooked up
 
Pers whats it like being a young rich brutha living in Dubai with all the hot chicas and gear anytime you want it? :D You livin' the Dream eh homie? :igok: :wdown: Send me a plane ticket nigga!lol :p
 
Guys, also strength curve declines heavy as certain barriers are passed. You could train 2 different guys one 6.2 265 the other 5.8 175 to both bench 350 pounds or more. This does not mean the larger guy is weaker because he is lifting smaller percentage of his body weight. It only means you do not have to be 6.2 265 to bench 350 or 400 pounds. Most of this omg look a small guy but he is sooo strong: misconception is sourced by the lack of knowledge that people have regarding the limits of the human body.
However although the exact numbers will depend on the individual himself, as you started to raise the bar, you will quickly realize the larger guy can take on heavier weights easier and the smaller guy will hit a limit unless he puts on more weight. Prime example of this is guys who roll. You will meet with dudes that weigh barely 175 pounds, ragdoll new coming 250 pound students on the ground and feet, however as time passes and the large frame guys get their connecting tissues and tendons strengthen ,they don't get thrown around anymore and start turn in to monsters.
 
im talking about guys who are small who can already outlift monsterous guys lol
 
Theres a bunch of different things that can go into it

Theres physical advantages, like short arms on the bench, genetics, maybe some people work on something to be like that, and some people just have retarded strength
 
sorry guys i had to jump in this one...--what is strong? when i first got into lifting (besides in highschool) it was because i was training for MMA. i did chest on monday and a circuit work out every day of the week after that. my bench went up to like 340 or 350lbs for 1 rep but i was working out every muscle for 10 reps and did the ciruit 10 times tues-friday. (which YES i know this violates all the "rules" of building muscle) Dudes who tried to do this workout with my would puke around the 5th circuit. (i was one of them at 1st). i went from 188lbs to 225lbs in what seemed like no time and i got pretty ripped at the same time. although thats a big weight change, i didnt necessarily appear to have grown a whole lot but man i could fight for 30 even 40 mins at a time. it was like i never got tired. one of my trainers had 40 lbs on me and was 2 inches taller and worked out all of his life for strength. He used to tell everyone they better know their shit if they were gonna spar/roll with me cause waiting for me to gas out wasnt gonna happen. (i promise, im not tryin to brag here but i know how this sounds). but guys i could literally give it all i had with little muscle fatigue for a rediculous amount of time.By aquiring this kind of strength, i may not have been able pick up cars and shit but everyone talked about how strong i was because i could pull/push/grab/cling to/etc. with a decent bit of force but for a long ass time.

...that being said: i got out of MMA for a while and started tryin to actually "get bigger". Talked to some guys who knew what they were doing and little by little started acquiring a basic knowledge of how to workout with intentions of "growing". (i thought)....actually i was under the impression that u had to move the most iron to get the most muscle--WRONG! i weighed 240lbs and after doing a set of 10,8,6,4,2 on bench (405lbs being my 2 set) i loaded up 425lbs and just dumped it up in the air twice like it was baby weight. Problem was, i still had no chest. so i figured i needed to get stronger...then later on in life i found this forum and actually asked Lifts to gimme a solution to my problem and between his answer and some information from a couple of articles i discovered that for me my optimum growth came by doing 8-12 reps with as heavy weight as i could stand for those reps and do about 5 lifts for 3 sets. sometimes only 4 lifts. when i saw my greatest results in growth when i was at my "fairest" in strength-wasnt weak but definitely wasn't strong either however i had a good strength. i had decent endurance (not like i did on the circuit workout) and i had decent strength but not like i did when i was working out for strength thinkin it was gonna make me bigger.

so i guess what im getting at (after 4 hrs of reading this shit) is:
what exactly is strong?
1: being able to pick up decent weight all day long?
2: being able to pick up alot of weight only a couple times?
3: or being able to pick up fairly heavy weight for a fair amount of times?
 
so i guess what im getting at (after 4 hrs of reading this shit) is:
what exactly is strong?
1: being able to pick up decent weight all day long?
2: being able to pick up alot of weight only a couple times?
3: or being able to pick up fairly heavy weight for a fair amount of times?

All of above - theres many types of strength and ways to display it bro.
 
very good posts above. at the end of the day as long as I see someone lifting with good form and is working the muscle, then i respect that.
 

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