i’ve watched a ty video comparing Mariusz Pudzianowski and Kyriakos Grizzly, and it was said that even tho Grizzly had way more pure muscle mass, his powerlifting scores were lower. How is it possible that with more muscle mass he didn’t lift more?
In: Biology
Because there are different types of muscle with different fiber density. Some people have muscle that retains more fluid so they’re much bulkier for the same amount of strength. This is hugely advantageous in the sport of bodybuilding where muscle size is the only thing that matters and strength is just a byproduct. The guys who train hard and get very strong but just can’t gain much size are called “hard gainers” in bodybuilding. Pro bodybuilding selects for easy gainers who have rapid hypertrophy.
In many sports where strength to weight ratio is critical, being smaller for the same strength is hugely advantageous. For example, there are weight classes in many sports like powerlifting. You want to be the 114 lb dude who squats 600+ lbs to be competitive. In sprinting or jumping, you want to be absurdly strong while not weighing that much. Put an extra 40 lbs of bulky fluid-filled muscles in Usain Bolt and he’d still be a very fast man, but he wouldn’t even make the Olympic trials. These sports self-select for “hard gainers” who would suck in bodybuilding. That’s why they look relatively weak even next to an amateur beginner bodybuilder.
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