How Painkillers Affect Muscle Growth When You Lift
High doses of anti‐inflammatory drugs compromise muscle strength and hypertrophic adaptations to resistance training in young adults
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Low-dose aspirin did not impair muscle growth, while high-dose ibuprofen did—despite both being anti-inflammatory drugs.
Most people assume all anti-inflammatory drugs work the same way, but this suggests dose and drug type matter significantly for muscle adaptation.
Practical Takeaways
Avoid daily high-dose ibuprofen (1200 mg) during resistance training if maximizing muscle growth is your goal.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Low-dose aspirin did not impair muscle growth, while high-dose ibuprofen did—despite both being anti-inflammatory drugs.
Most people assume all anti-inflammatory drugs work the same way, but this suggests dose and drug type matter significantly for muscle adaptation.
Practical Takeaways
Avoid daily high-dose ibuprofen (1200 mg) during resistance training if maximizing muscle growth is your goal.
Publication
Journal
Acta Physiologica
Year
2018
Authors
Mats Lilja, Mirko Mandić, W. Apró, M. Melin, K. Olsson, S. Rosenborg, T. Gustafsson, T. Lundberg
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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.