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From the Wall Street Journal:
Muscle Growth: Lifting lighter weights creates more muscle protein than lifting heavier weights when exercising toward exhaustion, according to a study in PLoS ONE.
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Erica Beckman/The Wall Street Journal
Low-load, high-volume lifting has been shown to be the most effective in stimulating muscle-protein creation.
.Researchers randomly assigned 15 men to perform two of three exercises, one per leg. One group did as many leg extensions as possible at 90% of their maximum lifting weight, the second group did three times as many repetitions at 30% of the maximum lifting weight and the third group of subjects did as many leg extensions as possible at 30% of maximum weight.
Researchers extracted tissue samples from each participant before, four hours after, and 24 hours after the exercises. Analysis of the samples found that the first and third strategies were the most effective for stimulating the creation of muscle proteins. But only the third strategy—low-load, high-volume lifting—increased the rate of muscle-protein synthesis 24 hours after exercising.
Caveat: It's unclear whether the findings also apply to women or upper-body exercises. Though previous studies have shown that increases in muscle-protein synthesis lead to long-term muscle growth, the present study only examined short-term effects.
■Low-Load High Volume Resistance Exercise Stimulates Muscle Protein Synthesis More Than High-Load Low Volume Resistance Exercise in Young Men
Muscle Growth: Lifting lighter weights creates more muscle protein than lifting heavier weights when exercising toward exhaustion, according to a study in PLoS ONE.
View Full Image
Erica Beckman/The Wall Street Journal
Low-load, high-volume lifting has been shown to be the most effective in stimulating muscle-protein creation.
.Researchers randomly assigned 15 men to perform two of three exercises, one per leg. One group did as many leg extensions as possible at 90% of their maximum lifting weight, the second group did three times as many repetitions at 30% of the maximum lifting weight and the third group of subjects did as many leg extensions as possible at 30% of maximum weight.
Researchers extracted tissue samples from each participant before, four hours after, and 24 hours after the exercises. Analysis of the samples found that the first and third strategies were the most effective for stimulating the creation of muscle proteins. But only the third strategy—low-load, high-volume lifting—increased the rate of muscle-protein synthesis 24 hours after exercising.
Caveat: It's unclear whether the findings also apply to women or upper-body exercises. Though previous studies have shown that increases in muscle-protein synthesis lead to long-term muscle growth, the present study only examined short-term effects.
■Low-Load High Volume Resistance Exercise Stimulates Muscle Protein Synthesis More Than High-Load Low Volume Resistance Exercise in Young Men