About 4-5 years ago I was training close-grip low pin presses overhead against the rack with Arnold Classic winner Mike Francois. The bar was loaded to 315 which I proceeded to do one. Mike struggled to do one then proceeded to blast out about 8 more reps and I swear-every rep he did seemed to get easier and his muscles blew up like a balloon right in front of my eyes. I then loaded the bar to 350 and did one rep and mike tried and failed to do one. Why? My muscles were trained to lift maximal effort lifts and his muscles were trained to grow maximal size. Body builders train for the pump, power lifters train for maximum lifts. Most of my training is singles or speed work neither of which builds much muscle size but both build a great deal of strength".
To quote " Mike Witmer"
"I was in world's gym on Saturday and I had just finished 3 board presses, and was on to some close grip benches. There were some pro bodybuilders in there and he was a guest poser at the gym. He was going to guest pose for a bodybuilding show in FT. Myers. He had just received his pro card, wasn't a big name yet. But he was FREAKIN HUGE! He kept watching me and looking at me. He was training chest and tris. He walked up to me and said, "hey big man, can I do some close grips with ya?" I said sure! We went 225 for 8. Then I hit 315 for 5, he did it for 8. We then did 365, I did 5, he did 8. We then went 405, I hit 3, and he did 5. We then went 455. I did 3 easy reps and he barley did 1 and couldn't get rep number 2 off of his chest! It's the way they train! Bodybuilders don't have the same strength that powerlifters have".
You see, power lifters have to train differently than bodybuilders and all their training is geared towards a 1 rep max. Therefore, according to Lou Simmons, the Soviets, Russians, etc, etc, the main focus of the power lifter is to train the central nervous system, as bodybuilders put their priority on muscle hypertrophy, therefore the bodybuilder won't have the MAXIMUM EFFORT strength for a single that the top power lifter would have. Power lifters also use different techniques in the bench press and they have a purpose to get stronger throughout the range of motion. Power lifters who train the bench are using bands, boards, speed days, maximum effort days, etc. etc and these techniques allow the power lifter to get stronger for a 1 max rep. The power lifter also has more tendon strength (reps 1-3) than the bodybuilder since the bodybuilder is soo focused on hypertrophy and aesthetic appearance. As the bodybuilder might develop amazing slow twitch fibers, hypertrophy and the sarcoplasmic muscle fiber, they really need to train like the top RAW benching power lifters to be one of them, have their explosive power, tendon strength or even compete among them, which would take years for the top bodybuilders to do.
Yes Ronnie Coleman, etc, etc, trains through Diesel, but still he nor Jackson, etc, train to be the strongest of the strong...If they were to, you would discover that their appearance would go down dramatically! It's give to gain, bro, we have to make sacrifices to achieve different goals.... So if you want to see bodybuilders SUCCEED, as far as functional strength is concerned... The question shouldn't be "Who is the strongest for 1 rep", but who is the strongest for 10 reps... And then we would see a lot more bodybuilders doing strength shows. Else, they would be entering the IPF world bench championship, the WORLDS STRONGEST MAN, etc and they would be getting killed in this day.
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