The Study
A meta-regression of the effects of resistance training frequency on muscular strength and hypertrophy in adults over 60 years of age
This study looked at lots of older people who did weight training and found that doing it more days a week might be linked to getting a little stronger, but it didn’t prove that more training caused the strength gain. It also found that bigger muscles didn’t get bigger with more training.
Analysis score
Maximum 85 for a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Where the score came from
This study looked at whether doing resistance training more often helps older adults get stronger or build more muscle.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 539 / 100
Quality score
The highest quality evidence. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that pool randomized controlled trials, giving the most reliable summary of experimental evidence.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The strength gain is small — not enough to make a big difference in daily life for most people.
- 2Adding one extra workout day per week made strength go up a little (effect size +0.14), but didn't help muscle growth at all.
- 3More than two days a week didn't seem to help much more.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of Sports Sciences
Year
2020
Authors
Z. Kneffel, Z. Murlasits, J. Reed, J. Krieger
Related Content
Claims (7)
When the total amount of exercise is kept the same, increasing workouts from once to twice per week does not result in a meaningful difference in muscle growth.
Lifting weights more often each week helps you build bigger muscles and get stronger, but after a certain point, you don’t gain much extra strength—though your muscles can still grow. If you keep the same total amount of lifting, doing it in more frequent, lighter sessions helps strength more than muscle size.
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.
In older adults, doing more than two resistance training sessions per week does not increase muscle size and only slightly improves maximum strength.
If you're over 60 and lifting weights, doing it more than twice a week probably won't make you any stronger or give you bigger muscles than doing it just twice a week.
For adults over 60, adding one extra day of resistance training per week is linked to a small but measurable increase in maximal strength.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.