More reps help some older people grow muscles
Higher resistance training volume offsets muscle hypertrophy non-responsiveness in older individuals.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Some older people don't grow muscles much with just one set of leg exercises. This study gave them four sets instead — and those who didn't respond before started growing muscles and getting stronger. People who already grew muscles with one set grew a little more with four sets, but their strength didn't get any better.
Surprising Findings
Nonresponders to single-set training showed significant strength gains with four sets—despite not responding to low volume.
It’s commonly assumed that strength gains are harder to manipulate than muscle growth, and that nonresponders are 'genetically stuck'—but this shows volume can unlock both muscle and strength in them.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re an older adult not seeing muscle growth after 10 weeks of one-set training, try increasing to four sets per exercise twice a week.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Some older people don't grow muscles much with just one set of leg exercises. This study gave them four sets instead — and those who didn't respond before started growing muscles and getting stronger. People who already grew muscles with one set grew a little more with four sets, but their strength didn't get any better.
Surprising Findings
Nonresponders to single-set training showed significant strength gains with four sets—despite not responding to low volume.
It’s commonly assumed that strength gains are harder to manipulate than muscle growth, and that nonresponders are 'genetically stuck'—but this shows volume can unlock both muscle and strength in them.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re an older adult not seeing muscle growth after 10 weeks of one-set training, try increasing to four sets per exercise twice a week.
Publication
Journal
Journal of applied physiology
Year
2024
Authors
M. Lixandrão, M. Bamman, Felipe C. Vechin, M. Conceição, Guilherme Telles, Igor Longobardi, Felipe Damas, K. Lavin, D. Drummer, J. McAdam, Cory M. Dungan, A. E. Leitão, Luiz A Riani Costa, A. Aihara, C. Libardi, B. Gualano, H. Roschel
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Claims (10)
Everyone’s body responds differently to workouts—what works wonders for one person might be too much or too little for another, because of differences in genes, energy use, and how fast they recover.
Doing more workout sets might help your muscles grow just a little bit more—even if the difference isn’t big enough to say for sure it’s not just random chance.
If you're an older adult who got stronger from light weight training, doing more sets might help you build even more muscle—but we're not as sure about this as we are for people who didn't respond to the light training at all.
If older people don’t get stronger with just one set of weight exercises, doing four sets instead might help them build more strength.
If older people who didn’t get stronger from doing just one set of leg exercises start doing four sets instead, they’ll likely see bigger thigh muscles after 10 weeks of training twice a week.