system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 : How can some people with less muscle mass have more power than those with more muscle mass?
gpt
At carnivals, there's the one game where you hit a seesaw with a hammer to launch a weight at a bell. It measures how much power you can transfer from the hammer.

Technique matters more than absolute muscle mass. People would fail to hit the bell if they swung the hammer downwards with only their arms since that only uses the triceps. If you swung the hammer with a full swing using legs, core, and arms, even someone with lower muscle mass can transfer much more power since they are using multiple muscle groups.

Secondly more muscle may prevent you from  using your full range of motion. Overweight or obese people have more muscle mass simply because the muscles need to be strong enough to hold up the extra weight. However, the fat will act as padding and dampen how much power can be transfered.  


On the other end, people with too much muscle may not be as flexible as someone with less muscle. If you were doing martial arts which requires swinging arms and legs, a heavily muscular person's arms and legs would hit their own muscles when swinging, reducing the power transferred.