Can you be skinny but really strong?

Answer 1

We are used to associating strength with size. If the person carries less fat than normal then more of their bulk will be muscle and so they will be stronger than others of the same size. So skinny people will often be surprisingly strong to people that just look at their clothed size.

However, strength is very well correlated tot he cross sectional diameter of the muscle. So it would be unusual for someone who has less muscle mass to be stronger than someone with more. Usually when this appears to be the case it is either that the true muscle masses are not being estimated well (fat mistaken for muscle) or that the skinny person is applying his strength better though skill rather than being truly stronger.