Let's talk the sometimes dramatic disparate "After" results for a minute

Lizarking

(shout out to ETP FB people)

I've noticed, over the years, that people with similar stats have remarkably different physiques.
Through here, fb fitness groups, fito, etc.

For the sake of the argument, we're talking male lifters.

Throwing out the examples of people that are obviously on 600mg....


For example,
Lifter A has a 1200 lb total, is fairly lean.
LIfter B has an 1100 lb total, and is fairly lean as well.
Lifter C has a 1400lbs total and is a little overweight

Lifter A has, more or less, a dad bod - an almost complete lack of hypertrophy.
Lifter B doesn't look like the rock or nothin', but you can easily tell he lifts.
Lifter C just looks like a straight up fat guy.

Actual bodyfat, as well as height and skeletal structure can contribute greatly of course- as well as program focus-
but let's assume they lift /somewhat similarly/


> How can someone that deadlifts 500 look like the heaviest thing they've ever lifted is a mouse pad?
> Is it partially illusion, the body fat being a few percent lower make lifter B look larger, but he's really a lot smaller.
> How much is genetics vs training? Are there people that just won't increase muscle cross section much, they just simply recruit more existing fibers?
> How do we avoid being Lifter A? The root cause of this post is I'm on a direct path to Lifter A's physique.

Gallowmere1984

First: A 500 lbs. deadlift really isn't that much. I've only been lifting a grand combined total of a year, five months of that was almost four years ago, and I am able to pull an easy 425 at a bodyweight of 170, height of 5'10".

Second: illusion from bodyfat is a huge part of it.

Third: genetics control a lot, but anyone who has a "dad bod" just has too much fat. The genetics of their muscular structure has nothing to do with it at that point.

Fourth: lose more fat.

not_a_runner

Agree with the above, especially that a little more body fat can make someone appear drastically... less muscular I guess you could say. Illusion is definitely a word that comes to my mind.
Looking at an individual who is a little over-fat, losing body fat generally makes your muscles appear larger even though you are then "smaller".
Like you mentioned, training and genetics do play a role. Are we assuming all of these lifters have a similar training age?
As far as strength - Some people are just built better for certain lifts, mastering your technique can go a long way as well, etc. There's a lot of variables that go into lift poundage.
Looking like you "actually lift" largely comes down to having a solid muscle base and optimal body fat % though. (On the flipside You can have a very low body fat % and still look skinny fat/whatever if you don't have a lot of muscle underneath.) So yes, to avoid looking like Lifter A, I would agree with losing body fat and probably building more muscle as well.
Cliche cheesey advice - At the end of the day it doesn't matter what anyone else does/did, focus on where you want to be and what you need to do to get there.

richln

Physique ≠ strength, although there is a lot of overlap. I don't lift heavy in the big 3 anymore because of injuries, so my total is crap. Still making decent physique progress though.