An increase in muscle size with exercise may not be directly related to muscle strength, according to new research which suggests that body builders are not necessarily strongest athletes.
Researchers from University of Mississippi in the US who examined available evidence have concluded that size and muscle strength may actually be separate phenomena, which challenges many assumptions upon which exercise programmes have been based.
They noted that there is a weak correlation between change in muscle size and change in muscle strength following training.
Also, there is a loss of muscle mass with detraining, yet often a maintenance of muscle strength.
Furthermore, similar muscle growth can occur with low load or high load resistance training, yet there are divergent results in strength, researchers said.
"As the story goes with exercise-induced changes in strength, neural adaptations are contributing first with muscle growth playing a more prominent role in the latter portion of a training program: however, there is little direct evidence that this is actually true in an adult partaking in a resistance training programme," said Jeremy Loenneke from University of Mississippi.
"Our paper highlights many potential issues with how we think about changes in strength following exercise," said Loenneke.
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