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Building muscle doesn’t require lifting heavy weights: study

HAMILTON, ON. August 10, 2010 — Current gym dogma holds that to build muscle size you need to lift heavy weights. However, a new study conducted at McMaster University has shown that a similar degree of muscle building can be achieved by using lighter weights. The secret is to pump iron until you reach muscle fatigue.

The findings are published in PLoS ONE http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0012033

“Rather than grunting and straining to lift heavy weights, you can grab something much lighter but you have to lift it until you can’t lift it anymore,” says Stuart Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. “We’re convinced that growing muscle means stimulating your muscle to make new muscle proteins, a process in the body that over time accumulates into bigger muscles.”

Phillips praised lead author and senior Ph.D. student Nicholas Burd for masterminding the project that showed it’s really not the weight that you lift but the fact that you get muscular fatigue that’s the critical point in building muscle. The study used light weights that represented a percentage of what the subjects could lift. The heavier weights were set to 90% of a person’s best lift and the light weights at a mere 30% of what people could lift. “It’s a very light weight,” says Phillips noting that the 90-80% range is usually something people can lift from 5-10 times before fatigue sets in. At 30%, Burd reported that subjects could lift that weight at least 24 times before they felt fatigue.

“We’re excited to see where this new paradigm will lead,” says Phillips, adding that these new data have practical significance for gym enthusiasts but more importantly for people with compromised skeletal muscle mass, such as the elderly, patients with cancer, or those who are recovering from trauma, surgery or even stroke.




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7 thoughts on “Building muscle doesn’t require lifting heavy weights: study”

  1. Interesting study. I try to incorporate body weight exercises in my workout routine. I have done workouts where I lift lighter weights and do as many as I can until I burn out. I always thought it was only beneficial for fat loss not building muscle. I will have to try this. Thanks for the information.

  5. I also wanted to add that people can gain muscle in the gym without even using weights. You can merely use your body weight as resistance and do exercise movements like dips, push ups, and squats to gain muscle. Just make sure to get your protein in after your workout at the gym.

    Check out http://www.illuminategym.com.

  6. I completely agree with this blog. Many people have thought that getting in the gym and lifting heavy will make it easier to gain muscle. Building muscle properly is about doing your exercises the right way rather than lifting really heavy. Also nutrtion is the biggest part of building muscle. Muscle is not gained in the gym. It’s gained after you leave the gym which means you have to eat enough fat, protein and calories to sustain muscle growth.

  7. The information on the blog is awesome, They are more in demand today then ever before. Beginners to advance gym users are all experimenting with all types of supplements. Tearing the muscle forces our body to use amino acids and other nutrients to go threw the bloodstream and into the muscle. By having a higher protein consumption it allows our bodies to recover faster. For more information visit our site ..

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