What are the limits of biomechanical advancement?

I was working out the other day, and a thought came to me: How strong can I get?

Essentially, the question was: what is the limit of physical strength to which a human could be brought in exercise? Is there a point at which a human simply could not become stronger, and if so, what is it?

I realize that bone strength, time of exercise, and so much more play a part, so here is a thought experiment to masticate mentally:

Assuming that:
1.An individual exercises essentially from the point they can walk.
2.Their bones cannot break (it is a question of muscular limits, not skeletal)
3.They eat an incredibly healthy diet.
4.They  exercise as often as it is advisable to do so, every other day, and stick to a preconceived and precise format of increasing the weight by a small amount roughly every two weeks.
5. They do not physically degrade with age (feasible, assuming genetics gets much better and much cheaper.)
6.they live to be very old (call it 100 years.)

What do you think the limit might be, based on experience, knowledge of biology and mechanics, wild guesses, or (maybe) prophetic dreams?

Bear in mind that this is just a random thought-experiment, and precise accuracy isn't terribly necessary. Post whatever you think, and don't worry too much about whether you have the level of expertise required to answer. I'm not even sure I have the level of expertise required to ask the right question!

Have fun.

VoR, the formula you propose is a perfect example of how an otherwise normal individual will only grow to be about 4-5 feet in height. That type of intense muscular exercise will see the individual grow muscularly at the expense of their height.

A person  who follows your formula from birth will be beaten by a 6 ft 2 person who begins your formula at age 18, when the two are both 30.

Muscular, or just irregularly proportioned? Midgets (or people of small stature, if ya must know) have a genetic predisposition to weight gain..

Originally posted by TheARRGH Is there a point at which a human simply could not become stronger, and if so, what is it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Davis

Welcome to the horror.



@Dwayneberry: Makes a lot of sense.  However, now  I'm wondering that prompts that sudden leveling out? A structural difficulty, a chemical one, or a combination of several?

Interesting--and somewhat unsettling..


I wonder what the tensile strength of muscle fiber is. Most strength depends on, as you said, the size of the cells. But presumably there's some structural component, as there is with any mechanical system.

Good discussion going here guys. DwaneBarry - you said you recently learned about this sort of thing - are you at uni?

I won't say much at the moment, but I think a vital factor that needs to be taken into account is waste removal and transport of substances. The reason cells have remained minuscule is for ease of removal of wastes like Carbon Dioxide. Furthermore, the sheer bulk of oversized cells would produce excessive waste substances. This would consequently put a strain on the bloodstream, which has a limit to the amount of waste that can be dissolved or suspended in the plasma. So the physiological ramifications of having grossly enlarged muscle tissue may reduce the efficiency of the circulatory system.

- Knights -