More reps don’t break your muscles more than heavy lifts — but they do make you more stressed and tired right after.

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Comparison of the recovery response from high-intensity and high-volume resistance exercise in trained men

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2017 Jul

The study found that doing more reps (8 sets of 10) caused more muscle damage than doing fewer, heavier reps (8 sets of 3), even though both hurt—so the claim that they cause the same damage is wrong.

Source Study

Comparison of the recovery response from high-intensity and high-volume resistance exercise in trained men

Score: 46

DOI: 10.1007/s00421-017-3598-9

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