How are people strong without big muscles?

Holy crap there are some misinformed people posting on here... There are two ways for your muscles to become stronger, one way is to recruit more of your existing muscle fibers into an action, the other is to build more muscle fibers. People like Gymnasts and combat athletes that have weight classes to stay in want to recruit as much existing muscle fiber as possible for their strength goals in order to avoid putting on more weight. They train specifically to do that using very low reps of very high weights. If you don't have a weightclass to stay in or you don't mind gaining some weight and want to be as strong as possible then you go through cycles of lifting lower weights for higher reps in order to build more muscle fiber and lifting higher weights for lower reps in order to recruit the maximum amount. Also, when you are grappling with a trained person they not only are going to be stronger but they also know how to use their strength more efficiently. I'm 5'7", I weigh 143 lbs and I regularly grapple with people who are 50+lbs heavier than I am. I only benchpress about 150lbs, but I am able to move them around, sweep them, and submit them by having more experience and a better knowledge of how to use my existing strength. You can get a ton of info about muscle fibers and whatnot from here: http://porpax.bio.miami.edu/~cmallery/150/neuro/muscle.htm and here: http://www.coachr.org/

Martial arts build tenacity in muscles. Strength, flexibility and speed are the result. Martial art also teaches the use of the strength you possess in a focused and efficient way. Bruce Lee, for example was not huge, but hugely strong for his build. Training with more repetition does this for you, while training with more weight and fewer reps will build bulk. J

Lean muscles is strong and functional. Big or bulky muscle looks impressive but is only good for short busts of strength. This is the reason the farm boys that work all day are so strong but can't bench pres a lot of wait compared to the person that lifts all the time. The farm boy can lift less wait all day long and the person that lift waits is tiered within a couple of minuets. Then there is technique and leverage that when used right will make a person seam stronger then you really are.

Most wrestlers have to build up endurance in addition to strength. Endurance is the ability to use up energy over long periods of time in activities such as jogging...and wrestling, I suppose. It's usually associated with aerobic exercise. You don't need big muscles to have endurance. Strength is usually associated with anaerobic exercise that is done in short bursts, such as...in the Olympics when the big muscular guy picks up the 1000lb weight for less than a minute. Also, those wrestlers are professional. They know the tricks of the trade when it comes to overpowering their opponents. Its not just strength; its also savvy. Thats s-a-v-v-y. I know it looks like a "w," but it's not.

Power lifting doesn't result in cut defined muscles, when you are lifting for strength you will look nothing like mr Olympia, that is why some MMA fighters with smooth muscles are stronger

There is different kinds of muscular training; there's the kind that trains for toning; altering the shape of your body, there is the kind that makes you stronger without excessive muscle growth, and the kind that focuses on growing muscles. And of course there is the possibility of using steroids; muscle growth without the necessity of strength increase.

I´m amazed at some answers, and not in the good way. Usually great technique makes people look very strong, at least in BJJ. It´s a matter of timing and leverage.

muscles don't have to appear big to be strong... for example swimmers can be very strong but their muscles are long rather than bulging... but it depends on the kind of exersize a person gets... wieghtlifting makes the muscles appear bigger but other exercises can make you stronger without makeing them appear as big...

mental strength is stronger than physical