Something that ive been thinking about lately:

2 men both 100kg
1st man is 6'4. 76" reach
2nd man is 5'10. 72" reach

1rep max on bench is 130kg for both men

Man 1 has obviously done more work as he has lifted the weight a greater distance than man 2, but does this say that man 1 is stronger than man 2?

This logic can realy apply to all lifts

I think man 1 is stronger but then maybe work done does not matter as long as 1 repetition is complete. id be interested on what you all think.

Something that ive been thinking about lately:

2 men both 100kg
1st man is 6'4. 76" reach
2nd man is 5'10. 72" reach

1rep max on bench is 130kg for both men

Man 1 has obviously done more work as he has lifted the weight a greater distance than man 2, but does this say that man 1 is stronger than man 2?

He's not stronger, since they generate the same force. The taller guy expends more energy though.

Since neither one of them is likely to have a sticking point at the top of their extension, neither one is really likely to be limited by this energy.

Where this makes a bigger difference is in high rep sets, where the energy is more likely to be the limitation.

On the other hand, the taller lifter typically can store more energy in his bigger muscles, so that sort of offsets the energy advantage of the shorter lifter for endurance sets.

Interesting idea, but I can think of another complicating factor. I've read that different people can have different insertion points for their muscles. If I remember correctly, the farther from the elbow that your bicep attaches to your lower arm bone, the better leverage your bicep will have. And as you know, better leverage means you need to do less work - that's why levers are so handy in the workaday world.

So in terms of pure physics, two people could have identical heights, weights, body fat percentages, etc., and because their muscles connect in different ways, they'll be doing differing amounts of work.

Now strength is a measure of power, which has to do with how much force is generated over time. So if the person with less leverage manages to lift the same weight as the person with more leverage in the same amount of time, that person is stronger.

As far as I can tell this is correct, but my logic might be flawed. What do you think?