Correction: Lamphiere's first name is John, not Bill. I wrote that post in a hurry.
Here's an even better example of how you can't judge someone's strength by his size. One day at World Gym in Pasadena (now Gold's), a little Japanese guy named Hiro walked in. I knew who he was, because I had seen him before at another Pasadena gym, Brignole's (long since gone), owned by Doug Brignole. Hiro had the world record in the bench press for a while for his weight class, which was something like 105-120, not sure. Anyway, the guy was about five feet tall, certainly no more than that, and weighed about 110-120. He looked athletic, but nothing like a bodybuilder. He didn't have much mass at all. But strong? Shit, was he strong.
I saw him pull 405 off the floor on deads for a few reps that didn't seem too challenging for him, then he pulled 495 for a single. He rested at the juice bar and had a shake, then went back and did his squats. Again, it was the same thing. Deep reps with 405 (maybe 3-4), then he did a single with 495. He had a spotter with him, but the guy was not touching him. Ironically, I didn't get to see him bench, which was what he was really good at. Can't say what he could bench, but I am very sure that looking at this little man, there is no way in Hell you would ever dream he could move the weights he did.
