If you lift weights until you can’t do another rep—whether you’re using light or heavy weights—you’ll build about the same amount of muscle, as long as you’re pushing yourself hard and doing enough total work.

61

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

61

Community contributions welcome

61

Neither load nor systemic hormones determine resistance training-mediated hypertrophy or strength gains in resistance-trained young men

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2016 Jul 1

The study found that lifting light weights with lots of reps and lifting heavy weights with fewer reps both built the same amount of muscle in trained guys — as long as they pushed to total exhaustion. So it’s not how heavy the weight is, but how hard you work that matters.

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

Neither load nor systemic hormones determine resistance training-mediated hypertrophy or strength gains in resistance-trained young men

Score: 61

DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00154.2016

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Whether you lift lighter weights or heavier weights until you can't do any more reps, both ways give you the same muscle growth and strength gains if you're already used to training.

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If you lift weights until you can’t do another rep, it doesn’t matter if you’re using light, medium, or heavy weights—you’ll still grow your muscles about the same, as long as you push yourself hard and do enough total work.

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