When people perform resistance exercises with many repetitions, they feel more discomfort and pain, and as a result, they incorrectly believe they are farther from muscle failure than they actually...

From: How Many Reps for Muscle Growth? (40+ Studies)

Strongly supported

Multiple high-quality studies back this claim.

66
Pro
0
Against
causal
1 study

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What this claim means

When people perform resistance exercises with many repetitions, they feel more discomfort and pain, and as a result, they incorrectly believe they are farther from muscle failure than they actually...

See the technical phrasing

High-repetition resistance training increases perceived discomfort and pain, which results in an underestimation of proximity to muscular failure.

Why this might work
Supported
based on 1 study

When muscles are worked with many repetitions, they build up waste products like lactic acid, which lowers the pH inside the muscle. This acidic environment activates pain-sensing nerves, making the muscle feel more sore and burning. The stronger the pain signal, the more the brain interprets the effort as extreme, causing the person to stop before actually reaching their true physical limit.

What the research says

Supports

1 study

66

Study: Similar muscle hypertrophy following eight weeks of resistance training to momentary muscular failure or with repetitions-in-reserve in resistance-trained individuals

This study provides evidence supporting the claim.

Contradicts

0 studies

0

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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