A method for the comparison of morphometrical data on skeletal muscles in young rats of different ages and body weight.

Training affects the properties of skeletal muscles as well as the body weight. Furthermore, the muscle weight and the cross-sectional area of the muscle fibers are related to the body weight. A method is therefore described which eliminates the influence of the body weight on the properties of skeletal muscles and thus allows the real training effects to be studied even if the animals to be compared are of different body weights. It is suggested that this method is useful also for morphometrical studies on organs other than muscle and on experimental situations other than training, e.g. for studies on growth.