The Study
Resistance training-induced appendicular lean tissue mass changes are largely unrelated to pre-training bone characteristics in a larger cohort of untrained adults
This study watched a group of people do strength training and measured their body changes. It can tell us what things are linked together, but not if one thing caused another.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study checks if people with bigger bones gain more muscle when starting weight training.
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 542 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The results suggest that almost anyone, no matter their bone size or starting muscle, can gain similar amounts of muscle in the first few months of training.
- 2People with wider shoulders or bigger bones already have more muscle.
- 3But during 10–12 weeks of training, those with bigger bones didn’t gain much more muscle than others.
- 4Training effort, food, age, or body size didn’t strongly predict gains either.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Physiology
Year
2025
Authors
D. Koźlenia, Recep Soslu, Michael D Roberts, Dakota R. Tiede, DL Plotkin, M. McIntosh, J. Michel, KW Huggins, Beck DT Goodlett, BJ Schoenfeld, Dakota R. Tiede, Daniel L. Plotkin, Mason C McIntosh, J. Michel, Kevin W. Huggins, Darren T. Beck, Michael D. Goodlett, Joshua C. Carr, Brad J. Schoenfeld, C. B. Mobley, Kaelin C. Young, P. Swinton, A. Frugé
Related Content
Claims (6)
If you're new to lifting weights, how muscular you already are doesn't really predict how much you'll grow from training — it's not a strong clue.
In people who don't work out much, the amount of muscle in their arms and legs is closely linked to the strength of their bones in those same limbs — more muscle usually means stronger bones.
If you're new to strength training, your bone size or density doesn't really predict how much muscle you'll gain in the first few months—people with all kinds of frames tend to gain muscle at similar rates.
If you're new to lifting weights, having more muscle at the start doesn't really mean you'll gain more muscle from training — it's not a strong predictor of results, especially once you account for whether someone is male or female.
If you're new to lifting weights, things like how much you eat, how much protein you get, how old you are, or your BMI don’t really help predict how much muscle you’ll gain in the first few months.
Wider shoulders usually mean more muscle in the arms — in people who don't train much, this link is pretty strong.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.