An individual's ability to recover from and adapt positively to resistance training volume is influenced by their training status (such as being a novice or advanced trainee) and modifiable lifestyle factors, including sleep quality, nutritional intake, and psychological stress levels.

When someone does more resistance training sets, their muscle cells sense the extra effort and turn on a molecular switch called mTORC1, which helps build more ribosomes — the cell’s protein-making machines. More ribosomes mean the muscle can make more proteins to grow bigger and stronger, especially in beginners who haven’t trained before (10.1113/JP279490). How well this process works depends on how experienced the person is (novice vs. advanced) and whether they get enough sleep, eat enough protein, and manage stress, because those factors affect how well the mTORC1 pathway and ribosome production function, even though those lifestyle factors weren’t directly measured in the study.