How do you explain to someone...

[peanuts-nuts]

...why skinnier, smaller, whatever you wanna call it, people can be much stronger than someone twice their size. I usually end up having this conversation with someone and although I make my point, I find it hard to back it up and give sound reasoning as to why bodybuilders' size doesn't mean anything in terms of strength, and guys half their size can pull big numbers in the main lifts which is what counts.

[Carlos Daniel]

Neural efficiency and maybe non-functional hypertrophy.

[Carnivroar]

much stronger than someone twice their size, really? that's exaggerating.

unless you mean relative strength

[peanuts-nuts]

Ok that was somewhat of an exaggeration.. but compare bodybuilding type individuals to smaller framed powerlifters or Oly lifters in terms of their ability to squat or deadlift.

[Kyle Schuant]

I put it this way: muscles are like penises, just because it's big doesn't mean you know how to use it to best effect.

There's having muscles, and then there's knowing how to use those muscles. Think of a cricketer or baseball pitcher. I have bigger shoulders than many of those guys, yet they can throw a ball faster and further than me. How? They know how to apply their strength to best effect when throwing a ball. Likewise, the small strong person has learned how to apply their strength to best effect when it comes to lifting weights.

On army recruit courses, I saw people come in on day 1 and do only 3 pushups. Two weeks later it was 20 pushups. Had they grown 6 times as much muscles? No - they'd simply learned to use the muscles they already had.

Strength is first about learning to use the muscles you have. If you then grow more muscles, you'll have even more strength. But first you have to learn to use the muscles you already have.

If you look at lifting records, you'll sometimes see that a larger person lifted less than a smaller one. For example, looking at the women's raw powerlifting records, we see that the 198lb division's best wrapless squat is 68lbs lighter than the 181lb div. Obviously the 181lb div woman was better able to use the muscles she had than the 198lb div woman.

In Olympic lifting, the 94kg men's snatch is only 1kg more than the 85kg men's snatch - an extra 9kg bodyweight only added 1kg to the lift, WTF? It's strange, but there it is.

In general, bigger people will be able to lift more than smaller people. But learning to do the lift counts for a lot, and not every larger person is stronger than every smaller person. Your bros can argue it if they want, but that's the way it is.

[peanuts-nuts]

Thanks Kyle, good answer.