How important is muscle size for strength?

[Deleted member 6380]

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[Deleted member 10330]

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[Deleted member 9344]

Very important, work out buddy boyo. You are built like a rail.

 

[Selinity]

Typically higher muscle mass means more muscle strength,
but this is somewhat correlation, not causation.

You see, when your body creates new muscle fibres and as a result more strength, it can do so in two distinctly different ways.

1. It can increase muscle mass (size)
2. It can increase muscle density (thickness)

these two methods of forming extra strength both produce equal results.
How your body forms new muscle is dependant on your muscle fibre type.

Generally there are two types:
-fast twitch
-slow twitch

Fast twitch muscles are explosive, fast and quickly activate.
Slow twitch muscles exponentially increase in force when you use them.

Fast twitch muscles are the most aesthetic and are the ones which quickly increase in mass.
Slow twitch muscles are less aesthetic and require more training to increase in mass.

Your ratio of fast to slow twitch muscles will determine the type of physique you will have.
People with a "swimmers physique," tend to have a higher ratio of slow twitch muscles.
People with an "athletic physique," tend to have a higher ratio of fast twitch muscles.

Athletes with Fast vs Slow Twitch Muscles

Testing which type of muscle fibres is simple, you can take the test bellow to easily find out which kind you have.

Spoiler: Twitch Muscle Fibre Test

Welcome to Selinity's "muscle fibre test." In this test we will determine whether you have fast or slow twitch muscle fibres.

Spoiler: Continue

For this test to be successful you must follow the instructions perfectly the first time.
Repeating this test will make the results inaccurate as they depend on the test-taker not knowing the results of his actions.

Spoiler: Continue

Now then,
get up, count down from 3 and JUMP!

Spoiler: Continue

What was your jump like?
Did you slowly ease into the jump, or did you quickly spring up?

If you did the latter, than you have fast twitch muscle fibres. If you slowly eased into the jump, then you have slow twitch muscle fibres.

 

[CupOfCoffee]

They're related but not exactly. Cuz strength is largely determined by muscle recruitment efficiency and sympathetic nervous drive. That's why tren makes u so damn strong, the aggression itself and the higher blood pressure makes you stronger.

 

[Stopping@Nothing19]

correlated big muscle=more strength

 

[efidescontinuado]

nofap makes me strong

 

[antiantifa]

All that fast vs slow etc is bullshit, sure slow fibers are weaker but they are also smaller which means you can have more of them in the same volume compared to fast twitch muscles.

In the end strength is mostly determined by leverage, leverage can be improved by hypertrophying muscle and tendons at certain places.

 

[R@m@]

they go hand in hand, the stronger you get the more muscle you get, but this doesnt mean the most muscular person is the strongest

 

[chadley]

Title

depends, there's 2 types of hypertrophy, myofribillar (hypertrophy of the muscle fibers, think powerlifters) and sarcoplasmic (more fluid, bigger muscles like bodybuilders but not necessarily stronger)

 

[chadley]

depends, there's 2 types of hypertrophy, myofribillar (hypertrophy of the muscle fibers, think powerlifters) and sarcoplasmic (more fluid, bigger muscles like bodybuilders but not necessarily stronger)

basically sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is a pump, imo higher reps at lower weight is better for it

 

[Rabbi]

Pretty much size and leverages

 

[Effortless]

All that fast vs slow etc is bullshit, sure slow fibers are weaker but they are also smaller which means you can have more of them in the same volume compared to fast twitch muscles.

In the end strength is mostly determined by leverage, leverage can be improved by hypertrophying muscle and tendons at certain places.

It's not bullshit at all, fast twitch muscle fibres are much easier to build and grow faster in response to strength training which in turns makes you stronger.

This is why powerlifters do low high explosive reps or explosive reps in generally.

But in response to OP, yes its collerated but other things such as bone density, muscle balance, body weight, limbs ratio (leverage), tendons and ligaments also have big impact on strength.

 

[antiantifa]

It's not bullshit at all, fast twitch muscle fibres are much easier to build and grow faster in response to strength training which in turns makes you stronger.

This is why powerlifters do low high explosive reps or explosive reps in generally.

But in response to OP, yes its collerated but other things such as bone density, muscle balance, body weight, limbs ratio (leverage), tendons and ligaments also have big impact on strength.

Bruh what about the argument that fast-twitch fibers are bulky and they take a lot of space, while slow-twitch fibers are denser? Sure on a fiber per fiber basis, fast twitch fibers are much stronger, but I think on a volume per volume basis they were only 10% stronger.

 

[ratiorichard]

very.

 

[Lawton88]

I wonder why mammal predators are so much stronger at the same size than reptile/crocodilian predators etc. Heck even our close non-predator primates like Gorillas make a mockery of reptile strength just like the big cats and them do. Crocs might have that crazy bite strength but are way weaker in the standard strength stuff compared to a big cat that weighs the same. I never heard the reason why this was the case.

A damn honey badger can stomp a python that weighs 3 to 4 times more than he does.