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Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#31

Post by d-us-vb »

zemvpferreira wrote: post #12
weinzierl wrote: post #5

If I read this correctly the gist is that it does not matter if you use heavy weights with few reps (common body builder wisdom) or lighter weights with more reps. As long as you always exercise to complete muscle fatigue you'll get the maximum for your genetics (which itself varies a lot).

It’s worth noting that muscle is not all the same. If you’re just into bodybuilding then sure, proximity to failure is what matters. For athletics though, there still seems to be a big impact in the rep range you work in.

This. Muscles can be optimized for volume/endurance or power, or some balance between them. Taking legs as an example: Powerlifters obviously go for pure power, whereas runners need a bit of power but mostly endurance, whereas cyclists need more power than runners but more endurance than powerlifters.

All of these benefit from weight training, but depending on the sport, the programming will be very different.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#33

Post by cyberax »

Torkel wrote: post #10

I.e. No pain, no gain.

This is really terrible advice that just discourages people.

You absolutely can get significant improvements without (much) pain. DOMS during the initial stages is going to be the most uncomfortable part. Once you're past it, you don't need to push yourself to a breaking point, just to the point of mild exhaustion.

This will provide you enough resistance to gain muscle mass and improve the bone density to healthy levels.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#36

Post by vasco »

armcat wrote: post #4

I thought it was already well understood/researched that it's not the weights that matter, but effectively taking your sets to muscular failure. While one might think "I can do 50 reps with low weights" there is practical aspects to this - you don't wand to spend hours at the gym, and doing heavy weights at 5-7 reps is sufficient as long as you are close or at muscular failure.

> Loads for each set were adjusted to ensure that volitional fatigue was reached within 8–12 and 20–25 repetitions for the HL and LL limbs, respectively

I would argue both categories of the study are about low reps. I don't see how the body would tell the difference between 12 and 25 reps. If you said between 5 and 500, like it has to meaningfully take much longer, otherwise why would doing something so similar have any meaningful difference?

The way I think about it is that nature mostly reacts to order of magnitude changes. 12 to 25 is the same thing.

Like why not make a study to see if its more nutritious to eat dinner in 15 or 20 minutes?

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#38

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

mmmilanooo wrote: post #19

It does matter. It's the only objective way to measure progress. A study doesn't negate that.

I don't think so? If last week I could do 50 reps @ 5 lbs, and this week I can do 50 at 6 lbs (or 60 at 5lbs), then that's measurable objective progress

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#39

Post by rorytbyrne »

weinzierl wrote: post #5

If I read this correctly the gist is that it does not matter if you use heavy weights with few reps (common body builder wisdom) or lighter weights with more reps. As long as you always exercise to complete muscle fatigue you'll get the maximum for your genetics (which itself varies a lot).

> heavy weights with few reps (common body builder wisdom)

It is strength training (not body builder) wisdom to use heavy weights with few reps. Hypertrophy (i.e. body builder) programmes usually call for 8-12 reps, which implies relatively low weights.

Re: Resistance training load does not determine hypertrophy

#40

Post by MattRix »

weinzierl wrote: post #5

If I read this correctly the gist is that it does not matter if you use heavy weights with few reps (common body builder wisdom) or lighter weights with more reps. As long as you always exercise to complete muscle fatigue you'll get the maximum for your genetics (which itself varies a lot).

Unless I’m missing something, this has already been known, though the hypertrophic benefits start to reduce beyond 30 reps.
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