ABSTRACT
Muscular strength is defined as the ability to generate force against a resistance and can be thought of in terms of force output by an individual skeletal muscle or a group of skeletal muscles exerting force in a coordinated pattern. Strength is influenced by both intrinsic (i.e., genetic) and extrinsic (i.e., environmental) factors. Skeletal muscle strength is a key determinant of overall functional capacity, and progressive resistance training can stimulate significant gains in muscular strength in both men and women at any stage of life. In exploring the muscle strength trait, defining a set of commonly used terms is useful. Skeletal muscle is a complex tissue that is composed of multiple layers that each contribute to muscle contraction and force production. At the molecular level, individual myosin heads interact with binding sites on actin filaments to form crossbridges, and these crossbridges perform the myosin power stroke using the energy of ATP hydrolysis.
