Even if your hormones spike a lot right after your first few workouts, that doesn’t mean you’ll grow more muscle or get stronger later on.

37

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

37

Community contributions welcome

37

The Effect of Resistive Exercise Rest Interval on Hormonal Response, Strength, and Hypertrophy With Training

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2009 Jan

In the first week of lifting weights, some guys had bigger hormone spikes than others, but that didn’t mean they gained more muscle or strength later on — the ones with smaller spikes actually grew more. So, early hormone levels don’t tell you how you’ll do in the long run.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

The Effect of Resistive Exercise Rest Interval on Hormonal Response, Strength, and Hypertrophy With Training

Score: 37

DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318185f14a

Similar Assertions

Even if you lift heavy or light weights for 12 weeks, your body’s short-term hormone spike after each workout doesn’t change—and that means those hormone surges probably aren’t why your muscles get bigger or stronger over time.

61

0

85%

When young men lift weights for 12 weeks, their short-term spikes in testosterone and IGF-1 after workouts don’t seem to predict whether they’ll gain more muscle or get stronger.

55

0

79%

Doing weight training either heavy or light until you can't do another rep for nine weeks doesn't change your hormone levels in your saliva, and that's okay—your muscles can still get stronger and bigger even if your hormones don't budge.

37

0

78%

When young men lift weights regularly for 15 weeks, their body’s immediate hormone spike after each workout stays about the same—no matter how many times they do it. It’s like their body keeps reacting the same way every time, without getting used to it.

0

45

78%

For people who already lift weights, it doesn’t matter much if you rest 30 seconds or 2.5 minutes between sets of light weights — you get the same muscle growth and strength gains either way.

38

0

77%