Question about muscle and weight, please help.?

Question

ok so i was watching frank yang's videos on you tube yesterday, and i was wondering, how is it that someone who is only about 10-20 pounds heavier than me, and has the same body fat percentage as me(5percent) is able to squat almost 165 pounds more than me! i have read that strength to weight gain ratio is about 3:1 (add 30 pounds to squat, most likely will have gained 10 pounds.) does this have to do with muscle fiber and untapped potential or what? cuz if i get to 160 pounds or so, i will most likely not be doing 405 pound squat? if i took someone also 145 pounds like me, and also 5 percent bodyfat, what would make them lift more than me?

Answer 1

Yes, fiber type does come into play, as does mechanical advantage (How tall is he? How long are his limbs?  Where is the center of gravity?)  What is his build?  Is he small framed with more muscle density vs bone density?  Also, have you analyzed speed and form?  And the most important factor is probably muscle fiber recruitment.  You've probably heard that the average person only uses 10% of their brain.  Same with muscle fibers- they aren't all called into use.  That's how a guy can lift a car off an old lady in an emergency.  And somehow, world class lifters are able to recruit more fibers at will