title: Gender- and height-related limits of muscle strength in world weightlifting champions.
abstract: To assess factors that limit human muscle strength and growth, we examined the relationship between performance and body dimensions in the world weightlifting champions of 1993-1997. Weight lifted varied almost exactly with height squared (Ht(2.16)), suggesting that muscle mass scaled almost exactly with height cubed (Ht(3.16)) and that muscle cross-sectional area was closely correlated with body height, possibly because height and the numbers of muscle fibers in cross section are determined by a common factor during maturation. Further height limitations of muscle strength were shown by only one male champion >/=183 cm and no female champions >/=175 cm. The ratio of weight lifted to mean body cross-sectional area was approximately constant for body-weight classes </=83 kg for men and </=64 kg for women and decreased abruptly for higher weight classes. These findings suggest a nearly constant fraction of body mass devoted to muscle in lighter lifters and a lesser fraction in heavier lifters. Analysis also suggests that contractile tissue comprises approximately 30% less body mass in female champions.
authors.affiliation: Krannert Institute of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA. lieford@iupui.edu
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Detterline
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000502:physiology*