If young men lift weights for 15 weeks, their biceps get significantly stronger—by about 20%—no matter if their body releases extra muscle-building hormones during the workout or not.

0

Pro

45

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (1)

45

Community contributions welcome

45

Elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones with resistance exercise enhance neither training-induced muscle hypertrophy nor strength of the elbow flexors.

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2010 Jan

The study found that lifting weights made young men’s arms stronger, no matter if their body released extra hormones or not — which matches part of the claim. But it didn’t measure exactly how much stronger they got, so we can’t confirm the 19–25% number.

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

Elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones with resistance exercise enhance neither training-induced muscle hypertrophy nor strength of the elbow flexors.

Score: 45

DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01147.2009

Similar Assertions

If young men lift weights for 15 weeks, their arm muscles get bigger—about 10–12% for the whole muscle and 9–24% for the individual muscle fibers—no matter if their body’s hormone levels spike during workouts or stay normal.

45

0

90%

If healthy guys train one arm with heavy weights three times a week for three months—whether they push to total muscle exhaustion or not—they’ll get stronger, their muscles will grow, and their brains will activate those muscles better.

51

0

86%

If untrained adult men lift weights twice a week for 8 weeks, doing 4-6 sets of 8-12 reps until they can't do any more, their upper arm muscles will get bigger - this is measurable with ultrasound or other imaging.

37

0

86%

If young men who haven't exercised before do either multi-joint exercises (like pull-ups) or single-joint exercises (like bicep curls) for 10 weeks, their arm strength increases by about the same amount - neither type of exercise is clearly better than the other.

47

0

80%

For young men who are already fit and lift weights until they can't anymore, doing lots of lighter reps builds muscle just as well as doing fewer heavy reps over 8 weeks.

46

0

80%