curiosity

[theglue]

iv never really been able to find/figure out the answer to this question, so i figured i may as well see if anyone here has any knowledge on the subject. How come children/youth have a powerful strength:weight ratio which rapidly diminishes as you age?

[JL]

I think it is all related to the what I thought was called the law of proportions. This links explains in it very simple terms.

http://www.ftexploring.com/think/superbugs_p2.html

[griffdrc]

part of it is that pre-adolence children don't have the adult hormones circulating... children experience less hypertrophy than adults (some researchers suggests the kids can change body comp but can't undergo significant hypertrophy)... this means the majority of their gains are neuromusclar... this allows them to maximize their size to strength ratio...

[braindx]

part of it is that pre-adolence children don't have the adult hormones circulating... children experience less hypertrophy than adults (some researchers suggests the kids can change body comp but can't undergo significant hypertrophy)... this means the majority of their gains are neuromusclar... this allows them to maximize their size to strength ratio...

Yup... high neuromuscular efficiency is why.

Plus the fact that smaller animals tend to have stronger strength to bodyweight ratios and such... like animals can jump megafar and take insane drops without getting hurt (also due to limb biomechanics but there is a fairly high contribution from just being "small" with extremely strong/power muscles).