#DISCUSSION: strength increase without growth?

[zarina]

It occurred to me that we've had a recent discussion about preferred modes of female muscle growth, but haven't had much of a discussion about those who prefer strength increases with minimal physical transformations (so more along the lines of super strength). 

Add some comments if strength without significant muscle growth is your thing!  Might include:

How big?  (should the woman show any muscle tone or development, or does she look totally normal)
How strong?  (how much would she be able to lift...strong woman?  Strong man?  Strongest man?  Super man / hulk?  More??)
Favorite feats of strength?  (bending iron bars?  outlifting that guy in the gym?  Throwing her ex's car into the river?)

[zarina]

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[sgaww]

My favorite is moderate growth to say fitness girl size with superhuman,  but not unlimited strength.  Gigantic growth is nuts because beyond about 23 inch arms life is miserable.  You simply cannot reach and grab stuff like a normal person and I can only imagine what it would be like with huge boobs too!  Unlimited strength is incredibly dull to me too, but this genre is very personal. These are simply my biases.  But the basic comic book superheroine is my ideal.  Though big buff giirls in semi realistic stories are ok too. Again it is all personal 

[Lupus753]

I prefer at least some muscle growth, but I don't hate the idea of strength growth without FMG.

[tmbosch]

Strength without growth is totally fine. I personally like some growth, but it's not a make or break if it isn't there.

Oversizing or hyper muscle sizing (or whatever its called) is what kills it for me.

[mermoz]

I like reasonable muscle (as a cross fit girl for exemple) with superhuman strength, but not illimited. Something like 10 men strenght: able to lift and destroy cars by kicking it, escaping prison by bending bars, punch through concrete walls, etc. But all that with some féminine attitude....

[Jaguar]

Here are my current thoughts on this. 

Increased strength with very limited physical growth is my favorite.  Of course if 90% of stories were "increased strength with limited physical growth" I'd start finding that premise (sub-genre?) stale -- variety is the spice of life.

Superwoman, Supergirl, Wonderwoman, or Modesty Blaise.  They increase strength, definition, intelligence, and beauty, but size remains well within the normal range.  Being near normal size allows the widest range of plot possibilities.  Massive growth does generally limit how far a story can be taken.

Also, if you look at actual Olympic athletes in gymnastics, swimming, powerlifting, etc., they are all firm, some are big, but they are not immensely huge.  The top female powerlifters aren't as big as Heavy Weight FBBs for example.


However I'm not against massive growth:  A writer should write what he or she feels compelled to write.  If the writer wants to write only stories about massive growth or giantism, they should feel welcome.  But by the same token, so should an author who wants to write about superior female strength, intelligence, whatever.


Anyways, I'll just thank the authors for the work they do and the contributions they make here.  I don't think we readers can thank you enough for the magic you work.

[blah8884]

I'm a fan of growth more than strength, especially that of the extreme variety (e.g. 10,000 times stronger than an average man)

[tek555]

My favorite is moderate growth to say fitness girl size with superhuman,  but not unlimited strength.  Gigantic growth is nuts because beyond about 23 inch arms life is miserable.  You simply cannot reach and grab stuff like a normal person and I can only imagine what it would be like with huge boobs too!  Unlimited strength is incredibly dull to me too, but this genre is very personal. These are simply my biases.  But the basic comic book superheroine is my ideal.  Though big buff giirls in semi realistic stories are ok too. Again it is all personal 

Gotta say that this is spot on for me.  Prefer the superhuman strength over superhuman or giantess growth.  No unlimited strength (aka cracking earth by stomping foot) for me as well.  A nice 5'8 fitness model type that can juggle dump trucks suits me fine!

[Sicod]

I love a petite, strong woman. A 90 lbs "weakling" bringing it seems more intense than a hulking muscle mass crushing a dude, to me.

[TheMoleUK]

Good topic! Thanks for bringing it up.

I don't have anything against muscle growth but my real interest is in superstrength - whether that's lifting cars or carriers. :-)

How big?  Normal is perfectly fine. So is what would be pretty extreme muscle development in the real world. It's only when we get to biceps rising feet above the arm that I start to get put off...

How strong? The ability to lift a car & bend a decent iron bar at the very least. Beyond that pretty much anything goes until you get to moving planets. Just how does that work exactly?

Favorite feats of strength?  Bending iron bars is always good. Outlifting all the guys *together* is nice - going for the weight rack rather than the weights. And yes, car lifting, throwing & crushing are always favourites.

But where & why these things happen are as important as what. It doesn't have to be about rampaging destruction. Shy girls keeping their strength form the general public bit slowly revealing it to a new boyfriend is nice. A woman who uses her strength in legitimate demolition or car crushing as a job, or lifting things on a construction site. But yes, an angry ex-girlfriend can also be fun!

Elsie Guen, Jeremy Lightning, Paul Smith, Randomizer, Rip Harden, Sean Porter & StMercy2020 (to name a few...) have all provided some good examples of what I like.

[booksmart77]

I've always found this topic interesting, as well as the fact that the opposite can be explored. A small or dramatic decrease in strength with a little or no change to the person's appearance. Its most common in the scenario of the super strong hero that has their power either neutralized or drained to normal/below normal strength. There is usually no visible change to their appearance, just their actions and capabilities.

That idea can be taken with a fit, muscular woman who's slightly (reduced to the average woman) or dramatically (difficulty with normal tasks) weakened while her physique retails its size and shape. The transition could be sudden and dramatic, or small but gradual over time. In the latter scenario the victim would eventually come to the realization that something is wrong, but still try to go about her life the best she can without people realizing while she tries to figure out what happened. Other than the reduction in function, the only other tell would be through physical contact as muscles that were once rock hard to the touch have softened to the degree she has weakened.