Originally Posted by
IronFist
All else being equal, a bigger muscle has more potential. Obviously there are other factors at play, most notably neurological efficiency both with regard to muscle recruitment and technique/skill.
But all else being equal, the bigger guy is stronger and wins.
Everyone knows a 150 pound guy who trains exclusively for powerlifting and can bench more than a 200 pound guy who has "inflated bodybuilder muscles". That's why i said all else being equal. The bodybuilder isn't training for powerlifting.
Muscles are like car engines. Bigger has more potential. Yes, you can turbocharge a 1.7L Honda engine and make it go pretty fast. You can get it to the point where it will even beat some stock "sports cars." This is equivalent to a smaller guy who is very skilled at powerlifting and can bench more than the "big guys."
But if you begin with a better engine and give it the same turbocharging treatment, it will end up being faster in the end.
Unfortunately, everyone has different genetics, so we're not all on a level playing field to begin with. Some of us eat 5,000 calories a day and don't gain weight. Some of us get stronger just from looking at weights. Some of us could deadlift 225 on our first day at the gym. Some of us took 3 years to be able to deadlift 225 for one rep.
But the strongest people in the world are big people. There are no 150 pound guys squatting 1,000+ pounds. Why? Because big muscle has more potential for strength.
Big muscle trained specifically for maximal strength output will be strongest.
Smaller people can be stronger proportionally to their weight. I don't see any 250 pound dudes doing one arm pullups, but I've seen 150 pound dudes doing them. (I mean real one arm pullups, full range, with the non-working arm behind the back. None of this grab-your-wrist stuff).
A lot of martial artists tend to get this stuff mixed up. They think there's an assumption that being big = being able to fight.
"we tap out bodybuilders"
Well no kidding. They were probably noobs.
Like Vash (I think) said, if they put as much effort into their BJJ as they did their bodybuilding, they would wipe the floor with everyone else of equal skill.