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Strong Support

Even though these guys got a lot stronger from lifting weights, their weight and body fat didn’t change much—they just got more muscle without losing fat.

37
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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

37

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37

Effects of a 20-Week High-Intensity Strength Training Program on Muscle Strength Gain and Cardiac Adaptation in Untrained Men: Preliminary Results of a Prospective Longitudinal Study

Cohort Study
Human
2023 Oct 24

The study gave young men a tough weightlifting program for 20 weeks — they got much stronger, but their weight and body fat didn’t change. So yes, you can get stronger without looking noticeably different in size or fatness.

Contradicting (0)

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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

Effects of a 20-Week High-Intensity Strength Training Program on Muscle Strength Gain and Cardiac Adaptation in Untrained Men: Preliminary Results of a Prospective Longitudinal Study

Score: 37
DOI: 10.2196/47876

Similar Assertions

Just because certain muscle traits make someone strong right now doesn’t mean those same traits will help them get stronger from training—what matters for improvement is different.

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When untrained young men lift heavy weights three times a week for five months, they get much stronger—some exercises more than double their original strength.

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When young men lift weights to get stronger and build bigger muscles, the claim says that getting stronger doesn't really mean you'll get bigger muscles, and vice versa—they're mostly separate things.

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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
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Lifting weights at different effort levels all help men get stronger and build bigger muscles after 12 weeks, but using the lightest effort isn't as good as pushing harder.

40
0
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