Bigger Weights May Not Beget Bigger Muscles.

[Darryl Shaw]

Bigger weights may not beget bigger muscles: evidence from acute muscle protein synthetic responses after resistance exercise.

ABSTRACT

It is often recommended that heavier training intensities (70%–80% of maximal strength) be lifted to maximize muscle growth. However, we have reported that intensities as low as 30% of maximum strength, when lifted to volitional fatigue, are equally effective at stimulating muscle protein synthesis rates during resistance exercise recovery. This paper discusses the idea that high-intensity contractions are not the exclusive driver of resistance exercise-induced changes in muscle protein synthesis rates.

http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/...1139/h2012-022

[Martin Wintz]

"we focus on gains in muscle protein mass [(hypertrophy)] in this review. Strength gains are, however, a product of neuromuscular and muscular adaptations as reviewed elsewhere (Sale 1988)."

"However, if the goal is to achieve maximal strength development, since neural factors are a significant contributor to this outcome (Sale 1988), then high-intensity training regimes are superior in this regard. Training with high-intensity contractions allows the trainee to get “practice” in activating muscle mass during a single maximal lift."

Is this supposed to be news? Because my understanding is this has defined the difference between how strength athletes and bodybuilders have trained for a long while...