When rats do light weight exercises just twice a week for three months, their calf muscles get about 12% bigger—even though the workouts aren’t hard or frequent.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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11

Experimental chronic low‐frequency resistance training produces skeletal muscle hypertrophy in the absence of muscle damage and metabolic stress markers

Cohort Study

Animal

2010 Apr

The study gave rats light weight training twice a week for 3 months, and their calf muscles got 12% bigger — even though they weren’t pushed hard or sore. This proves you can grow muscle without heavy lifting or frequent workouts.

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Source Study

Experimental chronic low‐frequency resistance training produces skeletal muscle hypertrophy in the absence of muscle damage and metabolic stress markers

Score: 11

DOI: 10.1002/cbf.1665

Similar Assertions

When rats do light weight training twice a week for three months, their calf muscles get about 12% bigger—even though they’re not lifting heavy weights—so maybe you don’t need to lift heavy to build muscle.

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93%

For people over 60, adding one extra day of weight training each week might help them get a little stronger, but it won’t make their muscles noticeably bigger.

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If young guys lift weights for eight weeks—whether they go heavy or do more reps—they’ll likely build muscle in their upper body and back, and that can be seen with ultrasound scans.

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If you lift weights the same total amount each week, it probably doesn’t matter much whether you do it in 2 big sessions or 5 small ones—your muscles will grow about the same either way.

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75%

If you lift the same total amount of weight each week, it doesn’t matter whether you spread it out over one day or three+ days—you’ll still gain about the same amount of muscle, no matter if you’re experienced or if you’re training your arms or legs.

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75%