Does body weight determines muscle size?

Hello GB community,

My question is what s the most determinant factor for muscle size in a male gymnast? I know very probably there is not only one factor, but my question come since we don t use any aditional weight like in weight lifting, so each one is moving his own body. Each body can vary a lot in bodyweight and I have realized different GB coaches has different sizes. While Alessandro looks pretty huge and Everett is not too far in size, Wesley Tan is tinier. Let s clarify I m not talking about strenght, just muscle mass depending on body weight. So is body weight the main factor or also body type plays a role? Other factors I might not know?

Genetics (body type), diet, and the specifics of their training. A person who has a bias toward elements that tend to produce more muscle mass will tend to be larger. For example ring training will build more mass than hand balancing.

1 hour ago, Frank Santasiero said:

Genetics (body type), diet, and the specifics of their training. A person who has a bias toward elements that tend to produce more muscle mass will tend to be larger. For example ring training will build more mass than hand balancing.

So body weight doesn t play any role then?

What's up Antonio! Solid question. Frank covered the gist pretty nicely, as there's a lot going on when it comes to hypertrophy. Genetics is the big one, though, which includes everything from how easily you build muscle to proportions.

For example, an athlete like Alex only has to imagine himself performing a chin hang to get his biceps to grow whereas another athlete might bust ass and rarely gain a pound, no matter how hard he is training. That doesn't mean the second guy is not getting fitter or stronger with with his GST progressions; he just might not grow as big, which isn't such a big deal if you view this all from a strength to weight standpoint. I'm ranting here, but this is a super individualized thing. You can see this with GST athletes, competitive gymnasts, powerlifters, etc. In fact, competitive powerlifter Cailer Woolam recently deadlifted 900lbs (408kg) at a bodyweight of 206lbs (93.5kg). There's a cool example of ridiculous pound-for-pound strength outside of GST and competitive gymnastics.

Another big one is lifestyle. I'd definitely be way bigger and likely far stronger with GST if I didn't hike, swim, and run so much. In fact, I'm constantly making my GST life harder because I have big fat legs, running makes me tight, and extended hiking wastes my muscle. GST makes the rest of my life and those activities more enjoyable, though, so it works for my goals. I think it's clear to see now how complicated this one is.

Antonio,

As you become more advanced you can perform harder movements and hence produce tremendous stress without having a large amount of bodyweight. A 320 pond offensive lineman can get a great workout performing some basic chin ups. A world class gymnast can produce comparable muscular stress doing advanced movements like iron crosses and such so he doesn't need to weigh 320 pounds. If those same two people were to perform a similar body weight workout, the gymnast would not produce enough stress to build muscle. He just does more advanced movements. With all due respect to offensive linemen they are tremendous athletes just not the ideal body type for gymnastics movements.

Thanks for your replies @Everett Carroll and @Frank Santasiero. I m good Everett, training hard and close to master a couple of pe's :-).

So I got both your points. So actually having a ratio of great strenght with not so much muscle in comparison is what is probably ideal for gymnast, like chinese for example. But anyway I m a begginer in the very begginning... I have already satisfied my intelectual curiosity, haha. Thanks.

As it has been stated by others... Body type (Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph) is a large factor in potential muscle size.

Another factor is your connective tissue, especially the tendons, development.

As connective tissue slowly continues to develop your body will eventually need more "Myocytes" (aka: muscle fibers), which gradually increases your muscle density.