I was looking up why smaller animals are proportionally stronger than larger animals. The answer that comes back everytime is that muscle force depends on the number of muscle fibers, which is proportional to the cross-sectional area of the muscle. However, I don't understand why muscle force wouldn't depend on fiber length. I'm not a native english speaker, so I'll try my best to articulate my reasoning in the most concise way possible.
- Force is exerted by the myosin motors. Force is therefore proportional to the number of myosin motors.
- The number of myosin motors is proportional to the fiber length.
- The number of myosin filaments is proportional to the cross-sectional area.
- Then, muscle force is proportional to muscle volume, and therefore to muscle mass.
What am I missing ? Why is muscle fiber length not that important to muscle force ?
Thank you in advance for your help.