What if your Strength was your Size?
As in (using 5E terms) Tiny creatures default to having a Strength of 1, Small have 2, Medium have 3, etc.
Adjust granularity to suit the genre/subgenre, or tone.
Creatures that are unusual strong for their size might have a Strength that's their size +1.
while greater size does provide some correlation to resulting in greater strength the opposite is far from as pronounced a correlation, connecting the two separate mechanics it's not a connection that i'd like to see implemented
There is a clear correlation between Size and Carrying. At the same time, two individuals of the same Size can have Carrying that differs significantly.
In this thread, ones own body mass or Size is the base, while the Strength score can Carry beyond ones own base body mass.
In the past I have worked with models that made Strength and Constitution a prerequisite to be a certain Size, such as at least a Score 9 in both in order to be Medium, a Score 13 in both to have Powerful Build, and a Score of 17 in both in order to be Large. (Huge requires at least 21 in both. Small requires at least a 5 in both. The prereqs are odd numbers at multiples of 4.)
However, the model in this thread feels more accurate. Any Size can be any Strength. Some creatures are unusually Athletic even if they dont Weightlift an unusually high amount. Strength represents either possibility. A weak creature tends to be stronger than a smaller weak creature, when both are Weightlifting ones own lean bodymass, respectively. But both might be equally Athletic. It is possible for the smaller creature with Expertise in the Weightlifting skill to lift significantly more than the larger creature, while the larger creature is much more Athletic. A "lumbering" Huge creature can be remarkably nonathletic.
When choosing how to build a character, a player might have the following archetypes in mind. A player can also build and play against the archetype:
Elf Strength: Athletics Skill
Orc Strength: Athletics and Weightlifting Skills
Dwarf Strength: Weightlifting Skill