Why some people grow muscles faster than others
Resistance training load does not determine resistance training-induced hypertrophy across upper and lower limbs in healthy young males.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
People’s muscles grow differently when they lift weights, but it’s not because they use heavy or light weights—it’s because of their own body’s biology. Their muscles stop responding as much after 10 weeks, no matter how hard they train. Bigger muscles don’t always mean stronger arms or legs.
Surprising Findings
Myofibrillar protein synthesis dropped 60% from week 1 to week 10 despite progressive overload and training to failure.
Most people assume more training = more protein synthesis. But the body adapts quickly—even with consistent effort, the anabolic signal fades.
Practical Takeaways
If you can’t lift heavy, train light weights to complete failure—muscle growth can still happen.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
People’s muscles grow differently when they lift weights, but it’s not because they use heavy or light weights—it’s because of their own body’s biology. Their muscles stop responding as much after 10 weeks, no matter how hard they train. Bigger muscles don’t always mean stronger arms or legs.
Surprising Findings
Myofibrillar protein synthesis dropped 60% from week 1 to week 10 despite progressive overload and training to failure.
Most people assume more training = more protein synthesis. But the body adapts quickly—even with consistent effort, the anabolic signal fades.
Practical Takeaways
If you can’t lift heavy, train light weights to complete failure—muscle growth can still happen.
Publication
Journal
The Journal of physiology
Year
2025
Authors
Matthew J Lees, Jonathan C. Mcleod, Robert W Morton, Brad S. Currier, Matthew D Fliss, Sean R McKellar, Rajbir S Sidhu, B. Stansfield, Erin K Webb, C. McGlory, J. Burniston, S. Phillips
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Claims (10)
Individual hypertrophic responses to resistance training are highly variable across muscle groups and are not consistently correlated between upper and lower body musculature.
Individual hypertrophic responsiveness to resistance training exhibits moderate inter-muscle correlation, but a substantial proportion of variability is attributable to non-exercise-specific biological factors.
While the majority of individuals exhibit similar hypertrophic responsiveness across high- and low-load resistance training, a subset may demonstrate load-specific responsiveness, though such responses are inconsistent and not reliably predictable.
People grow muscle at very different rates — but each person tends to grow their arms and legs similarly, no matter what weight they use. This means your genes and biology matter more than how heavy your weights are.
Just because your muscles get bigger from lifting weights doesn't mean you'll get much stronger — the two don't really go hand in hand.