The Study
High doses of anti‐inflammatory drugs compromise muscle strength and hypertrophic adaptations to resistance training in young adults
This study is like a fair test where people were randomly given different painkillers while doing leg exercises. It shows that taking a lot of ibuprofen might slow down muscle growth and strength gains, but we can't be totally sure because we don’t know if the people or researchers knew who got which pill.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Young adults took either a strong or mild painkiller while doing leg exercises for 8 weeks. One leg used a special spinning machine, the other used regular weights.
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 554 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes, the difference is meaningful—using high-dose ibuprofen may reduce muscle growth from training.
- 2The mild painkiller group gained 7.5% more muscle.
- 3The strong painkiller group only gained 3.7% more muscle.
- 4Strength improved less with the strong painkiller, especially on the spinning machine.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Acta Physiologica
Year
2018
Authors
Mats Lilja, Mirko Mandić, W. Apró, M. Melin, K. Olsson, S. Rosenborg, T. Gustafsson, T. Lundberg
Related Content
Claims (4)
Taking a low-dose aspirin every day doesn’t seem to slow down muscle growth or strength gains when young adults do weight training for 8 weeks — and they still gained about 7.5% more quad muscle size, so it might be a safer anti-inflammatory choice for lifters.
Taking a lot of ibuprofen while working out might slow down your muscle growth — people on high-dose ibuprofen gained less muscle over 8 weeks compared to those on a low-dose aspirin-like drug.
Taking a high dose of ibuprofen every day might slow down your strength gains when doing certain types of intense exercise, especially flywheel training, more than regular weightlifting — and the type of workout could change how much the painkiller affects your progress.
When you lift weights, your muscles get a little damaged and inflamed — and that’s actually a good thing. This inflammation helps your muscles heal and get stronger, and usually your body can handle the recovery just fine on its own.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.