In this Letter, Hope Gangata points out the typographical omission of the inter-slice thickness from the formula of volume in the study by Esformes et al. (2002)—not the use of an incorrect formula as might be inferred by the title of the Letter. In fact, Gangata acknowledges that the volumes were calculated correctly and the results are valid.
We thank Hope Gangata for identifying this typographical omission.
Constantinos N. Maganaris
(on behalf of all authors)
PS. The physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) of muscle correlates with maximum muscle force (force/PCSA = specific tension, e.g., Fukunaga et al. 1996; Maganaris et al. 2001)—not with muscle power as the author states in the last sentence in the Letter. Power is correlated with muscle volume (e.g., O’Brien et al. 2009; Thom et al. 2005).
References
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Fukunaga T, Roy RR, Shellock FG, Hodgson JA, Edgerton VR (1996) Specific tension of human plantar flexors and dorsiflexors. J Appl Physiol 80:158–165
Maganaris CN, Baltzopoulos V, Ball D, Sargeant AJ (2001) In vivo specific tension of human skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol 90:865–872
O'Brien TD, Reeves ND, Jones DA, Baltzopoulos V, Maganaris CN (2009) Strong relationships exist between muscle volume, joint power and whole-body external mechanical power in adults and children. Exp Physiol (Epub ahead of print)
Thom JM, Morse CI, Birch KM, Narici MV (2005) Triceps surae muscle power, volume, and quality in older versus younger healthy men. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 60(9):1111–1117
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Maganaris, C.N., Joseph, E.I. & Narici, M.N. Reply to the letter to the editor. Eur J Appl Physiol 106, 481 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-009-1069-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-009-1069-7