The Study
Volume-equated high- and low-repetition daily undulating programming strategies produce similar hypertrophy and strength adaptations.
This study says two different ways of lifting weights made people about equally stronger and bigger — but we don’t know if the groups were picked randomly, so we can’t say one way definitely causes better results. It’s like saying two different diets made two groups of kids gain the same weight — but we don’t know if they were chosen fairly.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Two groups lifted weights differently—one used lighter weights with more reps, the other heavier weights with fewer reps—but both lifted the same total amount of weight over 8 weeks.
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 545 / 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—how you structure reps (high vs low) doesn't matter as much as total volume when you're already trained.
- 2Both groups got 10-20% stronger and their chest and front-thigh muscles grew.
- 3Middle-thigh muscle didn't grow.
- 4Endurance didn't improve much, but the high-rep group had a moderate boost in squat endurance.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme
Year
2016
Authors
Alex O Klemp, C. Dolan, Justin M. Quiles, Rocky Blanco, R. Zoeller, B. Sue Graves, Michael C. Zourdos
Related Content
Claims (10)
When the total amount of work and effort are the same, exercises that use multiple muscle groups do not cause more muscle growth in the target muscles than exercises that focus on one muscle group.
Current scientific evidence does not show that some people consistently gain more muscle from lifting heavy weights with few repetitions versus lifting lighter weights with many repetitions.
After 8 weeks of different types of weight training with the same total workload, muscle thickness in the middle of the outer thigh does not change in young men who are already trained in resistance exercise.
In young men who regularly lift weights, two different training programs—one using high repetitions and one using low repetitions—produce the same amount of muscle growth in the chest and thighs when the total workload is kept equal.
In young adult males with prior weight training experience, eight weeks of either high-repetition or low-repetition resistance training programs, matched for total workload, produced identical gains in maximal strength and muscle thickness in the squat, bench press, chest, and quadriceps muscles.
After eight weeks of a specific weight training program, muscle thickness increased in some parts of the legs and chest but not in other parts of the legs in young men who had previously trained with weights.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.