Factors affecting strength

MUSCLE COMPOSITION: 

-the greater the:

(a) % of fast twitch muscle fibres.

(b) cross sectional area of muscle.

(c) muscle size

the greater the potential force that can be generated or applied.

GENDER  

-There is little gender difference in strength between males and females, except that female strength is generally lower than males because :

- females generally have less muscle ***, cross-sectional area and muscle size.

- they have less testosterone than males.

AGE     

-female peak strength is reached between the age of 16-25: for males it's between 18 and 30 years.

-greatest gains are made between the age of 20 & 30 years for both genders, when testosterone levels peak.

- strength generally decreases with increasig age due to a decrease in testosterone leading to less muscle mass and a less efficient neuro-muscular system.

PHYSICAL INACTIVITY     

- Atrophy (decrease in muscle size) starts after approximately 48 hours of inactivity and induces the loss of muscle strength already gained from training (reversibility)

STRENGTH TRAINING      

- Appropriate/ specific strength training increases strength/hypertrophy while preventing atrophy

WEAKEST POINT IN RANGE OF MOTION 

- this is specific to the relative angle of a given joint.   

 - APPLY IT TO ALL: well trained distance runners may have 80% slow twitch fibres in their leg musles, whereas by contrast sprinters may have up to 75% fast twitch fibres. Middle distance runners and typical team game players often have a more equal distribution of fibre types.