The Study
Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or repetition progression on muscular adaptations
This study compared two ways of making workouts harder—either lifting heavier weights or doing more reps—and found that both worked about the same for building muscle and strength in people who already lift regularly. But it doesn’t prove one is definitely better than the other because the results were close and a little uncertain.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Two groups of trained people lifted weights for 8 weeks—one made weights heavier, the other did more reps with the same weight. Both got stronger and bigger muscles in similar ways.
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 573 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes—doing more reps is just as good as lifting heavier weights for building muscle and endurance.
- 2The small differences found aren't meaningful for most people.
- 3Both groups gained similar muscle size (mostly <1 mm difference).
- 4The group doing more reps grew the front thigh muscle a bit more (2.8 mm), but it's uncertain.
- 5The heavier-weight group got slightly stronger in squat (2 kg more), but the difference was tiny.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
PeerJ
Year
2022
Authors
Daniel L Plotkin, Max Coleman, Derrick W Van Every, Jaime Maldonado, D. Oberlin, Michael A. Israetel, Jared Feather, Andrew Alto, A. Vigotsky, B. Schoenfeld
Related Content
Claims (6)
Over eight weeks, resistance-trained people who progressively lift heavier weights with the same number of reps gain slightly more maximum strength in their squat than those who do more reps with the same weight.
In people who regularly lift weights, increasing the number of repetitions over time leads to about the same amount of muscle growth in the front thigh muscle as increasing the weight, but the difference is small and not clearly defined.
Among people who regularly lift weights, increasing the weight lifted and increasing the number of repetitions produce the same improvement in explosive jumping ability after eight weeks of training.
Among people who regularly lift weights, increasing the number of repetitions with the same weight leads to the same amount of muscle growth in the quadriceps and calf muscles over eight weeks as increasing the weight with the same number of repetitions.
Among people trained in resistance exercise, changing the number of repetitions with the same weight does not lead to a meaningful improvement in muscular endurance compared to changing the weight while keeping the number of repetitions the same over eight weeks.
Working out with different numbers of repetitions per set results in the same amount of muscle growth as always using a moderate number of repetitions per set.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.