If you're trying to build muscle with weight training, checking how your nerves talk to your muscles might help explain why some workouts work better than others.

Your brain's signals to your muscles might affect how much they grow when you lift weights — so how well your nervous system works could change how good your workout routine is at building muscle.

Your brain and how tired your body gets during weight training might affect how much your muscles grow — so it's not just about the muscles themselves.

Lifting weights helps people build bigger, stronger muscles, probably because it makes their muscles produce more protein and release helpful signaling molecules that help them grow and work better.

Even though your muscles get bigger and fire more during weight training, those changes don’t explain why you get stronger at dynamic movements but not static holds—something else, like how your brain coordinates the movement, is more important.

If you're an experienced lifter trying to get stronger, building more muscle—like by sometimes pushing your sets to the max—can help boost your strength over time.