Two athletes on a force plate. Athlete A is a 110 kg powerlifter with a 250 kg back squat. He produces 3,200 N of peak force on a vertical jump. He gets 50 cm of air. Athlete B is an 80 kg volleyball player with a 150 kg squat. Her peak force is 2,100 N. She gets 75 cm.
Athlete A produced 50% more peak force and jumped 33% less high. Athlete B produced less force, but produced it faster — her time to peak was 180 ms, his was 320 ms. Strong is not the same as fast. Both are real adaptations. Neither one substitutes for the other.
Inside this one
- Not medical advice.
- Personas in the volume are composite illustrations, not specific individuals.
- For pregnancy, chronic conditions, or clinical questions, see a qualified clinician.
The standard it is held to
Every factual claim in this volume names its source, and every claim carries a confidence grade — settled, strong, emerging or contested. Where the evidence is thin, the text says so. How it’s made, in full → · What we’ve got wrong →