Does your bone size decide how much muscle you can gain?
Resistance training-induced appendicular lean tissue mass changes are largely unrelated to pre-training bone characteristics in a larger cohort of untrained adults
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
People with bigger bones don’t gain more muscle—even though they already have more muscle to begin with.
Common sense suggests a strong frame supports more muscle growth. But the study shows that while bone and muscle are tightly linked at baseline (r = 0.76–0.90), that structure doesn’t translate to faster gains.
Practical Takeaways
If you're new to lifting, focus on consistent training rather than perfecting your diet or worrying about your body type.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
People with bigger bones don’t gain more muscle—even though they already have more muscle to begin with.
Common sense suggests a strong frame supports more muscle growth. But the study shows that while bone and muscle are tightly linked at baseline (r = 0.76–0.90), that structure doesn’t translate to faster gains.
Practical Takeaways
If you're new to lifting, focus on consistent training rather than perfecting your diet or worrying about your body type.
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
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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.