Researchers say people who quit the gym can hang onto the strength they have built up

November 4, 2016

Scientists at the University of Mississippi, reviewing existing studies, suggest larger muscles do not reflect how much someone can lift
Proof comes in research which shows people who abandon the gym can hang onto the strength they have built up, even as their muscles shrink
The experts also say that lifting both lighter and heavier weights create the same size of muscles

Victoria Allen, Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published:
21:50 EDT, 3 November 2016

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Updated:
07:28 EDT, 4 November 2016

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It is a fact you might not want to mention at a bodybuilding competition.

But having bigger muscles does not necessarily make you any stronger, scientists say.

Many people try to bulk up at the gym with ‘hypertrophic’ exercises, deadlifting increasingly heavy weights to build up their arms.

However researchers at the University of Mississippi, reviewing existing evidence, suggest these larger muscles do not reflect how much someone can lift.

Having bigger muscles does not necessarily make you any stronger, scientists say

The proof comes in studies which show people who abandon the gym can hang onto the strength they have built up for months, even as their muscles shrink.

The researchers also point to evidence that lifting both lighter and heavier weights create the same size of muscles, even when lifting more makes you stronger.

Gyms across the country are filled with men, and some women, trying to get the biggest ‘guns’ they can.

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It means overloading their muscles, to build up biceps by lifting larger weights at a greater intensity.

Resistance training, also called strength or weight training, is based on the principle that muscles of the body will work to overcome a force when required to do so. When enough ‘reps’, or repeats of lifting are done, the muscles become larger.

The US paper states that this resistance training does indeed work on muscles. Whether done with a light weight or a heavy one, a similar muscle size is achieved.

However researchers also looked at the difference between a one-repetition-maximum session with a low and heavy load.

This technique, lifting the most weight manageable only once, built up more strength with the heavier load.

It has further been found that 20 to 35-year-olds who stop going to their gym maintain their strength for eight months, despite losing their muscle mass.

The findings challenge many of the assumptions upon which traditional exercise programmes have been based

The academics state: ‘The aforementioned evidence suggests that our understanding of muscle hypertrophy may be incomplete and perhaps misplaced regarding its influence on muscle strength.’

They add: ‘We do not dismiss the possibility that increases in muscle size with training may be important for increasing strength – however, the current data are insufficient to make such a claim.’

The findings challenge many of the assumptions upon which traditional exercise programmes have been based.

Researchers are now conducting a two-month study recruiting 40 people to work out on two machines and will analyse the results for more information.

Senior author Dr Jeremy Loenneke said: ‘As the story goes with exercise-induced changes in strength, neural adaptations are contributing first with muscle growth playing a more prominent role in the latter portion of a training program: however, there is little direct evidence that this is actually true in an adult partaking in a resistance training programme.

‘Our paper highlights many potential issues with how we think about changes in strength following exercise.’