When people do heavy weight training and their muscles get stronger, it’s not just because their muscles get bigger — their nerves also get better at telling muscles to work hard, and their muscle fibers change shape in ways that help them produce more force.

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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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1

Morphological and Neurological Contributions to Increased Strength

Narrative Review

2007

This study says that when people lift heavy weights, their muscles get stronger because their nerves get better at telling muscles to contract AND because their muscle fibers grow bigger (especially the fast-twitch ones), angle differently, and become denser—all of which matches what the claim says.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

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

Morphological and Neurological Contributions to Increased Strength

Score: 1

DOI: 10.2165/00007256-200737020-00004

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