In reply to EsT:
> (In reply to Anonymous) Don't understand the maths, well I do understand the maths, but don't see why this makes sense.
It's because the strength of a muscle is proportional to it's cross sectional area (i.e. number of muscle fibre) and hence it's area, whilst weight is proportional to volume.
> The biology says that when you hit puberty, especially as a bloke, the proportion of your body that is muscle increases significantly, hence your strength to weight ratio increases.
Exactly, that's why I would question the assumption that small people are simply scaled up versions of big people.
> That's why sprinters are faster at 25 than 12, and why male gymnasts are better at 25 than 12.
I'd agree with you about the gymnast (although I don't know how much of gymnastic success is due to strength). The sprinter example isn't really valid because you're still comparing absolute times rather than scaled times.
I'm sure someone must have looked at power to weight in different age groups.
Mark