History Analysis / MusclesAreMeaningless

In works of fiction the writer or artist are not constrained by any such rules, thus a character of diminutive size with no visible muscle may possess enormous strength greater than the biggest burliest men.

In [[RealLife real life]], the size of a muscle is the determining factor in how much force a muscle can produce, as human muscle generally produces a constant amount of force per unit cross sectional area. [[hottip:*: The mistaken idea that muscles can become larger without gaining functional mass via sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is commonly used as an explanation for why bodybuilders lack the functional strength of powerlifters. In reality, myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy never occur independently of one another, and in biopsy, human muscle cells are packed to capacity with myofibrils, regardless of their source. Aside from the fact that power-lifters are usually larger than bodybuilders, a key difference in functional strength lies in the neurological differences resulting from different types of training engaged in, not the quality of the muscle. In a very real sense, the bodybuilder builds muscle for show, while the powerlifter trains for performance.]] However, a person's strength takes into account significant factors such as neuromuscular response, which is essentially the percentage of muscle fascicles the person can 'recruit' or activate with a signal from the brain.

In works of fiction the writer or artist are not constrained by any such rules, thus a character of diminutive size with no visible muscle may possess enormous strength, greater than the biggest burliest men.

In works of fiction the writer or artist are not constrained by any such rules, thus a character of diminutive size with no visible muscle may possess enormous strength.

In [[RealLife real life]], the size of a muscle is the determining factor in how much force a muscle can produce, as human muscle generally produces a constant amount of force per unit cross sectional area. [[hottip:*: The mistaken idea that muscles can become larger without gaining functional mass via sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is commonly used as an explanation for why bodybuilders lack the functional strength of powerlifters. In reality, myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy never occur independently of one another, and in biopsy, human muscle cells are packed to capacity with myofibrils, regardless of their source. Aside from the fact that power-lifters are usually larger than bodybuilders, a key difference in functional strength lies in the neurological differences resulting from different types of training engaged in, not the quality of the muscle. In a very real sense, the bodybuilder builds muscle for show, while the powerlifter trains for performance.]] However, a person's degree of strength takes the significant account other factors such as neuromuscular response, which is essentially the percentage of muscle fascicles the person can 'recruit' or activate with a signal from the brain.

In [[RealLife real life]], you can usually expect that pure mass does bring a certain advantage in terms of potential power ([[SquareCubeLaw to an extent]]), but it's not a set rule; muscle tissue can swell with fluid without gaining additional ''functional'' mass, in a process known as "sarcoplasmic hypertrophy" [[hottip:*:While hypertrophy is an increase in cell size due to functional demand (or trophic signal), usually this comes about due to an increase strain on the muscle fibres which react by increasing their myofibril content. When steroids, formulas or special diets are used, they typically cause an increase in the water retention within the cell, because this occurs far more quickly than the production of proteins due to stimuli over time, and the faster you can get someone to gain muscle, the more of your product you'll sell. This is what is meant by sarcoplasmic hypertrophy in this context. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is a bit of a misnoma (the sarcoma is another subcellular component) and isn't used outside of weight training circles. Acquiring anything more than a transient amount of "sarcoplasmic hypertrophy" is '''very bad for your health''', and if you are taking anything that causes this, '''go see your local doctor and stop using aformentioned product''']]. Myofibrils, the functional proteins within muscles, are a fairly compact subcellular component thinner than the human eye can detect.