Women who had never lifted weights before got stronger in their arms and legs after doing 12 weeks of lifting light or heavy weights to exhaustion — and both ways made them just as strong.

When young women lift weights until they can't anymore, using lighter weights (30% of max) gives about the same strength gains as heavier weights (80% of max) over 6 weeks, with arms and legs getting stronger by similar amounts.

If you’ve never lifted weights before, you can get stronger by doing either light or heavy weights — as long as you push each set until you can’t do another rep.

If you're a young guy who already lifts weights, doing workouts until you can't do another rep for 12 weeks will make your legs and shoulders just as strong whether you use light or heavy weights—but for the bench press, heavy weights make you stronger than light ones.

Lifting heavy weights to the point of exhaustion three times a week for six weeks makes untrained young men much stronger than lifting lighter weights, even though both types of training build similar amounts of muscle size.

Lifting weights at different effort levels (from light to heavy) all made muscles bigger and stronger in men over 12 weeks, but the lightest effort wasn't as good as heavier ones.