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>> Muscle power is [apparently] proportional to cross-section area, not
>> volume.
>
> I guess that makes sense if you assume each cell in the muscle fibre can
> only exert a certain force, a chain of them can still only exert that
> same force no matter how long it is. It's having more fibres in
> parallel that help to increase the force.
Precisely.
Also of note is that [apparently] if all the fibers were to contract
simultaneously, the muscle would be ripped from the bone (assuming
there's any load on it). Apparently the fibers are actually programmed
to twitch a few at a time, so that they have time to recover between
contractions, while the muscle as a whole maintains constant force.
You know how when you try to lift something too heavy and you start
shaking? That's apparently because there aren't enough fibers fiting at
once...
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