Muscles grow slower after weird training
Delayed myonuclear addition, myofiber hypertrophy, and increases in strength with high-frequency low-load blood flow restricted training to volitional failure.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Muscle size decreased during the first training block, then increased after the second block—despite using only 20% of 1RM.
Common belief: light weights don’t cause muscle loss. This shows even low-load training can trigger temporary atrophy before hypertrophy, which contradicts assumptions about 'easy' workouts.
Practical Takeaways
If you're injured or recovering, try low-load BFRRE (light weights + bands) for 5 days, rest 10, repeat—your muscles may grow more during rest than during training.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Muscle size decreased during the first training block, then increased after the second block—despite using only 20% of 1RM.
Common belief: light weights don’t cause muscle loss. This shows even low-load training can trigger temporary atrophy before hypertrophy, which contradicts assumptions about 'easy' workouts.
Practical Takeaways
If you're injured or recovering, try low-load BFRRE (light weights + bands) for 5 days, rest 10, repeat—your muscles may grow more during rest than during training.
Publication
Journal
Journal of applied physiology
Year
2019
Authors
T. Bjørnsen, M. Wernbom, A. Løvstad, G. Paulsen, R. D’Souza, D. Cameron-Smith, Alexander Flesche, J. Hisdal, S. Berntsen, T. Raastad
Related Content
Claims (6)
When resistance training is performed to volitional muscular failure, hypertrophic outcomes are equivalent across a wide range of loads (from low to high) and repetition ranges.
Doing light weightlifting while restricting blood flow to the muscles can cause a big jump in special muscle repair cells, and this effect gets even bigger if you do it twice in a row.
At first, your muscles might actually get a little smaller from this kind of training, but after doing it again later, they grow bigger than before — the growth just takes time to show up.
You might not feel stronger right after this training, but your strength keeps going up for weeks after you stop — the best gains happen when you’re resting.
This kind of training doesn’t just change your muscles right away — it triggers a slow, lingering chain of molecular signals that keep working for days after you stop exercising.