If you lift light weights super slowly and hold the tension, your thighs get stronger and bigger after 12 weeks—but if you lift the same light weights at a normal pace, you won’t see much change.

Doing slow, controlled weight lifts with light weights can make your muscles use up more oxygen during the workout than doing the same lifts fast or lifting heavy weights—even if the heavy lifting feels harder.

You might not feel stronger right after this training, but your strength keeps going up for weeks after you stop — the best gains happen when you’re resting.

Lifting weights slowly (eccentric) or quickly (concentric) both make your quads stronger in about 10 weeks — and you don’t need to be sore or damaged to get stronger.

If you lift heavy weights with either short or long breaks between sets—while doing the same total work—you’ll get about the same stronger in your leg muscles after 10 weeks.

Whether you use machines that change resistance as you lift or keep the same weight all the way through, after 20 weeks of training, healthy men gain about the same strength and muscle size either way.