Can lifting light weights with lots of reps build muscle like lifting heavy?

Among elite male weightlifters, performing exercises with lighter weights and more repetitions for 8 weeks leads to lower levels of certain blood markers associated with muscle damage than performing exercises with heavier weights and fewer repetitions.

In elite male weightlifters, 8 weeks of resistance training raises growth hormone levels regardless of how heavy the weights are, but does not change insulin or IGF-1 levels, suggesting that these hormonal changes are not the main reason muscles grow in response to training.

In highly trained male weightlifters, training with lighter weights and more repetitions produces the same gains in muscle size and strength as training with heavier weights and fewer repetitions over an 8-week period.

In elite male weightlifters, lifting lighter weights for more repetitions increases a specific molecular signal involved in muscle growth more than lifting heavy weights, even though the known major growth pathway remains unchanged, suggesting an alternative mechanism may drive muscle adaptation in trained athletes.

In elite male weightlifters, both light and heavy weight training decrease the activity of a protein that slows down muscle protein production, which may allow more protein to be made in muscle cells.