Ask Gregorsa 3: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

This is the third Ask Gregorsa episode! You can watch it here!
===Question:===
"If ants had opposable thumbs and ant-sized dumbbells, could ants hypothetically work out and become even stronger?" -robotrain
===Gregorsa's Answer:===
Before we get there, let's talk about why ants are so powerful in the first place. And they are really powerful. The neck muscles of the Allegheny mound ant can resist holding roughly 5000 times her body weight... however she will usually prefer to raise far less. Physics can account for some of this remarkable strength. Gravity weighs down on larger objects more heavily. As a result, lifting something close to its own weight requires far more work from a large animal. There's also the issue of anatomy to consider. The exoskeleton of an insect has a larger surface area than your skeleton, giving our muscles additional places of attachment. In addition, although the human torso is largely loaded with organs, the majority of an insect's important organs are placed in the *abdomen. As a result, an ant's torso can be almost completely muscle. Insects are also incredibly efficient builders. For example, we can move our legs without utilizing any of our leg muscles. Our legs naturally constrict, but the hydrostatic pressure of our blood pouring into them causes them to lengthen. Our muscles, however, are extremely similar to yours. Despite the fact that humans only have one type, striated muscle, it is the same type that you utilize to move your bones. And, yes, our muscles *can* be developed in the same manner that yours can. A tsetse fly, for example, strengthens its wing muscles through exercise.
"So...to answer your question. Hypothetically,"-Gregorsa proceeds to get cut off due to ants "I don't think they need to be any stronger." - Gregorsa
===Sources===
*Green Noob (https://physics.stackexchange.com/users/4711/green-noob). (2012, March 14). How can an an ant lift 50 times its own weight and pull 30 times its weight? Physics Stack Exchange. https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/22358/how-can-an-an-ant-lift-50-times-its-own-weight-and-pull-30-times-its-weight
*Vienny Nguyen, Blaine Lilly, Carlos Castro. (2014, 22 January). The exoskeletal structure and tensile loading behavior of an ant neck joint. Journal of Biomechanics, 47(2), 497-504.
*Tate Holbrook. (2009, September 22). Face to Face with Ants. ASU - Ask A Biologist. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/ant-anatomy
*Exoskeleton. ENT 425 - General Entomology. (n.d.). https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/bug-bytes/exoskeleton/
*University of Leicester. (2013, July 18). Movement without muscles study in insects could inspire robot and prosthetic limb developments. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130718130524.htm
*Anderson, M. & Finlayson, L.H., 1976. The effect of exercise on the growth of mitochondria and myofibrils in the flight muscles of the tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans. Journal of Morphology, 150(2), 321-326.
Category:Ask Gregorsa