I tried to explain.

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I did lift, bench, 600 pounds at one time.  Some guys think it's impossible, and mocked.  Others wondered if I was huge.  Well, no.  While it was two and a half times my body then weight, exactly, it wasn't as impressive as it might sound.  First, I weight 240 then.  Second, world class is closer to three times the body weight.  So I was a long way away.

I found an example.  And, further, these were body builders.  I was not a body builder.  I was a strength trainer.  So, I didn't work on increasing the size of my chest, or arms.  I did a very different group of workouts.  So, I really didn't build much muscle.  It didn't really show, which was embarassing at the time.  In one sense.  Talking about it, without looking like it, anyway.  Once in the gym, all was good.

The reason many people think strength would induce big muscles is because of what body builders do, both by exercise and by steroids.  Even the old body builders were bigger than strength lifters.  Just by the sorts of workouts they did.  I looked like a solid swimmer.  I had a 31 inch waist, weighed 240.  I had big enough arms, but they didn't look like body builder arms, or chest.

Here is a vid, about what even bodybuilders looked like before steroids.  People just don't understand.

I refused to juice.  Or take painkillers.  So, yeah.  I just didn't look as big as it might sound.  Try to tell them, but they just don't quite get it.  Later.