Hormonal
Obesity acts as a chronic overload stimulus on antigravity muscles (e.g., quadriceps, calf), resulting in higher absolute maximum muscle strength compared to non-obese individuals, regardless of age.
If you are obese, your muscles (especially legs and back) are likely stronger in absolute terms than those of a non-obese person of similar height/age. This is because carrying extra weight acts like constant resistance training. However, this strength is 'diluted' by your body weight, making functional tasks feel harder. Building more muscle may not be as effective for mobility as losing weight, because the mechanical load of fat continues to offset strength gains.
The consensus is that obese individuals, regardless of age, have a greater absolute maximum muscle strength compared to non-obese persons, suggesting that increased adiposity acts as a chronic overload stimulus on the antigravity muscles (e.g., quadriceps and calf), thus increasing muscle size and strength.
Why this rating
The paper is a review article citing multiple studies (Blimkie, Maffiuletti, Hulens, etc.) that consistently report higher absolute strength in obese cohorts.
Source
The impact of obesity on skeletal muscle strength and structure through adolescence to old age
David Tomlinson et al. · Biogerontology · 2015
DOI 10.1007/s10522-015-9626-4
More from this paper
- When muscle strength is normalized to body mass, obese individuals exhibit relative weakness compared to non-obese individuals, which contributes to functional limitations and disability risk.Good
- Obesity is associated with reduced muscle quality (strength normalized to muscle mass) in some studies, but this finding is inconsistent and likely confounded by methodological differences in measuring muscle size and neural activation.Moderate
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This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →