Resistance Training & Hypertrophy

Effectiveness of Whole-Body Vibration Therapy on Handgrip Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Researchers pooled 34 randomized trials (1,272 people) to see whether standing on a vibrating platform improves handgrip strength. One-off vibration sessions had no effect, and long-term vibration training showed only a small benefit that disappeared when poor-quality studies were excluded; protocols where the hands were in direct contact with the vibrating surface looked more promising, but that finding was exploratory and based on very low-certainty evidence.

A scoping review of muscle excitation in resistance training across key training parameters.

Hormonal Contraception and Its Effects on Sports Performance and Injury Risk in Female Athletes: A Clinical Review

Exercise and Fat: A Primer

Fisioterapia na prevenção da sarcopenia em mulheres a partir dos 40 anos: revisão narrativa crítica sobre avaliação físico-funcional e exercício terapêutico

Effects of integrating self-efficacy strategies into multi-joint resistance exercise for overweight and obese older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Synergistic effects of synbiotic, protein supplementation, and resistance training on inflammation, oxidative stress, and muscle strength in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a RCT triple-blinded study.

Comparative Adaptations to Different Leg Extension Set-termination Strategies in Trained Men and Women: A Unilateral Within-Participant Study

The post-activation performance enhancement of sub-maximal load back squat with varied range of motion and intra-set fatigue on jump height in trained males

The Effects of Oral Contraceptives on Muscle Hypertrophy.

This narrative review gathered existing research on whether oral contraceptives (which contain synthetic estrogen and progestin) affect muscle growth from resistance training. The authors report that overall, oral contraceptive use does not consistently change muscle hypertrophy, though a few studies found negative effects possibly linked to more androgenic progestins, and differences in pill formulations, training programs, and small study sizes make comparisons difficult.

Force-time metric responses to training in an Olympic 400m sprinter across a two-week microcycle: a case study

The metabokine β-aminoisobutyric acid mediates exercise performance and skeletal muscle adaptation through a PGC1α-BAIBA-PPARδ axis

Analytical approaches to account for muscle size when evaluating strength

Inspiratory Strength Training in Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Effects of blood flow restriction training combined with plyometric training on lower limb muscle strength and motor unit recruitment in basketball players: An experimental study.

The Role of Aquatic Training in Improving Risk of Falls in Older Adults: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression.

Researchers pooled 31 clinical trials (1,702 older adults) to see whether water-based exercise reduces fall risk factors like balance, strength, and walking ability, compared with doing nothing or with land-based training. Aquatic training produced large improvements in balance and muscle strength versus control groups, and overall worked about as well as land-based training; more weekly sessions and progressive intensity were linked to bigger balance gains.

Acute effects of the 1-minute sit-to-stand test (STST) on immune-metabolic stress indices

Researchers had 28 healthy adults do a 1-minute sit-to-stand test and took fingertip blood samples before, right after, and for 45 minutes afterward to track lactate, glucose, and immune cell counts. The single minute of effort pushed lactate above the anaerobic threshold (>4 mmol/L) and significantly raised white blood cell, lymphocyte, and granulocyte counts, with leukocytes returning to baseline within 30 minutes while granulocytes stayed elevated; lactate changes tracked with the immune cell changes.

Effects of plyometric and core training on swimming performance in prepubescent swimmers

Researchers had 30 prepubescent swimmers do eight weeks of land-based training on top of their normal pool work: one group did plyometrics, one did plyometrics plus core work, and one just swam as usual. Both training groups improved sprint times at 15 m, 25 m, and 50 m in all four strokes, plus core strength and vertical jump, while anaerobic power rose only in the plyometrics-only group and the control group showed no changes.

Sedentary behavior and type 2 diabetes in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults: indirect cross-sectional correlation of sarcopenic obesity

Evaluación de carbohidratos sobre la hipertrofia muscular inducida por el entrenamiento de fuerza: una revisión narrativa de la evidencia científica

This narrative review pooled 15 studies to ask whether eating carbohydrates directly drives muscle growth from lifting weights. It concluded that when protein and total calories are adequate, extra carbs don't independently boost muscle protein synthesis or mass, since that process depends mainly on essential amino acids like leucine; instead, carbs help indirectly by refilling glycogen, sustaining energy and reducing fatigue so you can train harder and longer. The authors note strength athletes are typically advised 3-7 g of carbohydrate per kg of bodyweight daily depending on training volume.

Gut microbiome and functional adaptations to paleo and rational diets in professional athletes: a pilot study

Ten professional male handball players were randomly assigned to eat either a Paleo diet or a conventional ("rational") diet of equal calories for 8 weeks, with stool samples analyzed at the start, 4 weeks and 8 weeks to track gut bacteria. Neither diet substantially changed the core gut microbiome, though the rational diet produced some specific bacterial and functional shifts; the Paleo diet was lower in carbs and higher in (mostly unsaturated) fats, and both diets fell short on vitamin D, with the Paleo group also low in calcium.

Auditory-cued terminal knee extension enhances vastus medialis motor unit function in the early phase following ACL reconstruction: a randomized controlled trial

Researchers tested whether adding a rhythmic auditory cue (like a beep to time each rep) to terminal knee extension exercises changed inner-quad (vastus medialis) nerve-muscle activity in people two weeks after ACL reconstruction. In the 20 participants analyzed, the cued group showed significantly bigger increases in motor unit action potential size and muscle activity, plus a rise in firing rate, while the uncued group did not — though this was only a single session with immediate measurements.

Exercise alone or combined with functional foods in aging and age-related diseases: targeting DNA damage, repair pathways, and genome integrity

Improving Functional Oral Intake in Head and Neck Cancer Survivors with Chronic Radiation-Associated Dysphagia - The Multicenter Randomized Controlled HIT-CRAD Trial.

Beyond Weight Loss: Skeletal Muscle Health During Incretin-Based Therapy in Patients with Diabesity

Research on the Construction and Campus Promotion of Prevention-Oriented Intervention Model for Physical Fitness Rehabilitation of College Students—Based on the Perspective of Improving Physical Health

Researchers built a preventive fitness program for university students and tested it on 800 students who had failed their school's physical fitness test, running a 16-week multi-part intervention. Afterwards, lung capacity scores rose 12.3%, sit-and-reach flexibility improved 18.7%, and the fitness test pass rate climbed from 61.5% to 84.2%.

Improvement of Sports Training Efficiency Driven by Artificial Intelligence Practice of Monitoring and Dynamic Adjustment of Training Load through Multimodal Physiological Data Fusion

This paper proposes an AI system that combines several types of physiological sensor data (rather than a single metric like heart rate) to estimate an athlete's training load in real time and automatically adjust the training plan. The authors report that their experiments showed more accurate load assessment, better performance, faster recovery, and fewer injuries, though the abstract gives no specific numbers, athlete details, or comparison conditions.

Sternocleidomastoid muscle morphology is independently associated with neck strength and endurance in athletes and para-athletes

Researchers used ultrasound to measure the size (cross-sectional area) of the sternocleidomastoid, a main neck muscle, in 195 men including athletes, para-athletes, and active controls, then compared it to neck strength, endurance, and range of motion. Bigger SCM muscles were linked to stronger and longer-lasting neck flexion even after accounting for age, BMI, grip strength, and sport type, while plain neck girth did not explain performance in the same way; SCM size was not independently tied to neck extensor strength and was slightly linked to less extension range of motion.

Influence of Aerobics Training on Physical Health: The Auxiliary Effect of Sportswear Design on Cardiopulmonary Function and Sports Performance

Researchers put 20 female aerobics athletes through 8 weeks of training, with one group wearing gradient compression sportswear and the other ordinary cotton kit. The compression group showed bigger gains in VO2max (13.4% more) and lactate threshold (14.4% higher), used 10.6% less energy, had 33.3% less muscle vibration, and reported less perceived exertion and better thermal comfort.

Potential effects of β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate and exercise on brain aging and age-related disorders: implications for immunometabolic regulation and muscle–brain–immune crosstalk

This review pooled 24 studies on the leucine metabolite HMB to see whether it affects brain aging, inflammation, and immune-metabolic health, especially alongside exercise. Most studies showed gains in strength, physical performance, and function (often without much added muscle mass), but direct brain-specific evidence was lacking, and exercise itself appeared to be the main driver of the benefits, with HMB playing only a supporting, context-dependent role.

Optimization of Textile Material Properties for Sports Protection Needs and Analysis of Design Compatibility for Athletic Protective Gear

This engineering paper looks at how to match textile material properties (impact absorption, stretch recovery, breathability, abrasion resistance) to the protective needs of different sports, using injury data and user feedback from six sport scenarios. It proposes a framework linking protection requirements to material optimization and gear design, but the abstract reports no tested performance results.

Low-frequency resistance training enhances 2D strain-derived carotid strain and strain rate: a novel longitudinal application of strain imaging in healthy middle-aged females

Sixteen inactive middle-aged women did resistance training just once a week for 12 weeks, and researchers used ultrasound to check the flexibility and function of their neck (carotid) and arm arteries, both at rest and during a handgrip stress test. Resting measures didn't change, but carotid artery strain and strain rate improved across the handgrip conditions after training, while traditional stiffness measures and brachial flow-mediated dilation showed no change.

Short-Term Training Improves the Sense of Force in a Hand Muscle

Researchers tested whether people can train their "sense of force" ormuch force their muscles are producing y having 13 adults practice force-matching tasks with an index-finger muscle nine times over three weeks, compared to a 3-week no-training control period. Training cut force-reproduction errors roughly in half at low force levels (5% of max) in the trained hand, with only a trend toward improvement at 20% of max and no benefit carrying over to the untrained hand.

Clinical motor coordination, postural control, and simple reaction speed following a 12-week Khon Kaen Qigong program in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a controlled pre–post study

Researchers had 62 older adults with mild cognitive impairment either do a supervised Qigong program (3x/week, 60 minutes, for 12 weeks) or continue their usual lifestyle, then compared simple clinical tests of coordination, gait/posture, and reaction speed (a ruler-drop test). After 12 weeks, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups on any of these measures, with small effect sizes whose confidence intervals all included zero.

Altered kinematics and muscle activities during half squats in people with ankle sprain history

Researchers compared 10 physically active people who had recovered well from an ankle sprain ("copers") with 10 people who had never sprained an ankle, measuring joint angles and muscle activity during half squats and walking. During half squats, the copers showed less thigh rotation, more foot angle, and lower activity in the hamstring, quadriceps, and shin muscles, while walking showed almost no differences between groups.

Research on the Teaching Effect of Integrating Functional Movement Training into PE Classes Under the Background of Sports-Medicine Collaboration

This study looked at what happens when functional movement training is built into school PE classes, with students screened using the Functional Movement Screen and then given personalized corrective or strength work based on their movement quality. Classes combined dynamic warm-ups, functional training, sport skills, and cool-downs, with load managed via perceived exertion and heart rate; the authors report improvements in movement quality, neuromuscular control, and injury-prevention support.

A Review of Rejuvenation Strategies Targeting Mesenchymal Stem Cell Senescence and Their Impact on Bone Health and Regeneration

DELTA: Strengthening human biological resilience with an N=1 digital health and dynamic biomarker protocol

An Analysis of Curved and Linear Sprint Performance Scores Based on Playing Positions in the U17 Football Team

The effects of bar positioning, stance width, repetition, and load on muscle activity during the barbell back squat

Effects of different resistance exercise programs on upper limb functional recovery in postoperative breast cancer patients.

The Cold Water Immersion and Cryotherapy in Post-Exercise Recovery: A Narrative

Effects of balance, coordination, and strength training in children with low vision: a randomized controlled study.

Understanding Anterior Cruciate Ligament Adaptation: Structural, Mechanical, and Healing Considerations.

This narrative review pulls together animal and human evidence showing the ACL isn't just a passive rope in the knee — it remodels in response to the loads you place on it, influenced by training type, sex, maturation stage, and blood supply. The authors report that endurance and resistance training can increase ligament stiffness, strength and cross-sectional area, that athletes who start heavy training in adolescence show ligament hypertrophy, and that both chronic underloading and chaotic overload raise injury risk.

Urolithins in clinical translation: from gut microbial metabolites to precision interventions

Sleep Loss and Post-Exercise Muscle Recovery Hormonal, Inflammatory, Metabolic and Circadian Mechanisms with Practical Implications for Athletes

The relationship between sarcopenia detected in newly diagnosed lung cancer patients and serum levels of IL6, IGF-1 and myostatin

Transcending aging: disease specificity, assessment challenges, and management strategies for rheumatoid arthritis-related sarcopenia

Surface Electrical Impedance Myography in Assessment of Morphofunctional Changes in Biological Tissues and Biofeedback Interfaces

Effects of Whey Protein Supplementation on Sarcopenia and Frailty in Older Adults – A Narrative Review

Effects of blood flow restriction–augmented baduanjin training on quadriceps strength and postural stability in sedentary young men: a randomized controlled trial

Effects of high-intensity interval cross training and classical training on physical and sprint performance in male junior sprinters

Are exercise benefits in older adults clinically meaningful?: An ancillary and follow-up analysis of a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Effect of Combined Aerobic and Resistance Training on Exercise Capacity, Muscle Strength, Quality of Life, and Mortality in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.

Vitamin D as a Modulator of Sarcopenia in Women: Interactions with Dietary Patterns and Physical Exercise.

Functional and muscle recovery after critical illness: current and future nutritional, physical and metabolic strategies

Entrenamiento de fuerza con volante de inercia y determinantes del rendimiento en corredores de larga distancia: revisión narrativa

Blood Biochemical Acute Daily Responses During an Intensive Training Microcycle: A Case Report of an Olympic Kayaker

Exercise, physical confidence, and quality of life in older adults

A Tripartite Framework of Conflict-Induced Stress, Acoustic Hypervigilance, and Ramadan Observance as Convergent Determinants of Circadian Decoherence in Athletes

CROSSFIT Tabata-Based Course Pack for Promoting Good Health and Well-Being Among Tertiary Students

A Mouse Ladder-Climb Protocol Induces Acute Anabolic Signaling and Muscle-Specific Adaptations to Resistance Training.

Researchers tested whether mice climbing a weighted ladder show the same muscle-building responses as humans doing resistance training, looking at both a single session and 6 weeks of training. A single session raised muscle-protein-building signals (mTOR activation, new protein synthesis, and muscle growth gene activity), while 6 weeks increased strength, fat-free mass, sarcomeric protein levels, muscle fiber diameter, and satellite cell numbers and fusion, with no change in general physical performance.

Genome-Wide Association Study of Lean Body Mass Response to Resistance Training in Young Asians.

Researchers had 187 sedentary young adults do a supervised 12-week resistance training program (squats and bench press, 5x10 at 70% of 1RM, twice weekly) and scanned their DNA to see which gene variants predicted lean body mass gains measured by DEXA. The group gained lean mass overall, and nine genetic variants were linked to differences in gains; a combined genetic score explained about 28% of the person-to-person variation in response.

Influence of Isokinetic Muscle Strength Training Combined With Early Functional Exercise on Joint Function After Knee Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Researchers looked back at 252 matched patients recovering from knee cruciate ligament (ACL/PCL) reconstruction, comparing those who did early functional rehab alone with those who added isokinetic strength training starting 4 weeks after surgery. The combined group scored higher on knee function questionnaires (IKDC and KOOS) at 8, 12 and 24 weeks, and by 24 weeks also had greater range of motion and stronger knee extensors and flexors.

Mobile health-based nudging intervention program to promote exercise behavior among pre-frail and frail older adults in the community: A mixed-methods pilot study

Validity and Sensitivity of Extended Field-of-View Wireless Palm-Sized Ultrasonography for Assessing Muscle Hypertrophy.

Inflammaging as a systems-level integrator of disease: Biological foundations of chronic low-grade inflammation

TruBlk™ Shilajit Resin Supplementation Improves Muscle Strength, Endurance, and Exercise Recovery in Males Undertaking Resistance Training: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Trial

The Effect of Circuit Training on Leg Muscle Power During the Crouch Start in the 60-Meter Dash in Extracurricular Track and Field

Body composition changes over a 4-year span in American college football players

Physiologic Adaptations to Modifying Resistive Load and Time Under Tension During Expiratory Muscle Strength Training.

Researchers had 20 healthy young adults perform expiratory muscle strength training (breathing out against resistance) under four conditions that varied resistance (50% vs 75% of maximum expiratory pressure) and how long each breath was held (0.2 s vs 1 s), measuring rib cage and abdominal movement, submental (under-chin) muscle activity, and perceived effort. The conditions produced significantly different acute responses, with rib cage excursion 5-24% of maximum, abdominal excursion 6-19%, submental muscle activation 40-57%, and varying ratings of perceived exertion.

Unstable trunk core strength training improves shooting performance and holding stability in elite 10 m air pistol athletes: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Visceral Obesity and Its Complications: The Role of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis in Longevity Medicine

Investigation of the impact of pressurization coupled with eccentric resistance training on the explosive strength of the lower limbs in male college students specializing in sprinting.

Fractionated proteomics identifies a protein network mitigating resistance exercise-induced damage in human skeletal muscle.

Researchers repeatedly sampled human muscle before and after bouts of resistance training to track how proteins around the muscle's contractile scaffolding change after damaging lifting. They found a coordinated protein network centered on BAG3 (including mechanical sensors, small heat-shock proteins, and a lipid-droplet protein) that shifts and becomes chemically tagged after hard training, helping detect strained muscle structures and clear them via a chaperone-assisted autophagy clean-up process.

Intermuscular coordination adaptations to strength training: Insights from muscle synergy analysis during squats with different loads.

Researchers measured muscle activation (EMG) in seven leg muscles during squats at loads from 40-90% of 1RM, comparing untrained people before and after a 6-week squat program (3x/week, 5x10 at 75% 1RM) against experienced powerlifters and weightlifters. Six weeks of training raised strength by about 25%, but coordination patterns changed only slightly; the experienced lifters showed clearly different timing and muscle weightings, especially around the ankle, suggesting coordination shifts happen gradually over years.

The effects of 8-week wearable resistance training on neuromuscular adaptations in soccer players

The relationship between resistance exercise and cardiometabolic health: a cross-sectional analysis of the 1970 British cohort study

Protecting the brain from post-stroke cognitive impairment and dementia with multimodal exercise training: study protocol for a Bayesian adaptive trial (PROTECT).

Effects of Aerobic Exercise and Strength Training on Nociplastic Pain and Clinical Features in Temporomandibular Disorders With Myalgia: A Randomized-Controlled Trial.

The effect of squat training with different eccentric contraction tempos on lower limb muscle strength

Thirty sports-training students did squats twice a week for 8 weeks using one of three lowering speeds: a slow 4-second eccentric, a 2-second eccentric, or a self-selected tempo, and were tested on max squat strength, jump height, and 30 m sprint. All groups got stronger with no significant difference between them, but the 2-second eccentric group showed the biggest effect sizes for strength and the clearest gains in countermovement jump, squat jump, and sprint performance, while the 4-second group's jump effects were negative.

Posterior Ankle Impingement Syndrome in Dancers

Effects of cold water immersion versus active recovery on oxidative stress, redox gene expression and mitochondrial adaptations after strength training.

Researchers compared 10 minutes of cold water immersion versus active recovery after strength training, looking at oxidative stress markers, redox gene activity, and mitochondrial adaptations over single sessions and 3 months of twice-weekly training. Cold water lowered some oxidative stress markers acutely but did not change redox gene expression or mitochondrial enzyme adaptations compared with active recovery, though the cold group showed better muscle oxygen kinetics after training.

Comparison Between Bilateral and Unilateral Leg-Press Resistance Exercise Training for Their Effects on Muscle Strength and Jump Performance.

Researchers had 28 untrained young men do eccentric-focused leg-press training twice a week for 8 weeks, one group training both legs together and the other training one leg at a time, then compared strength and jumping gains. Single-leg (unilateral) training produced greater gains in single-leg 1RM strength, likely due to training specificity, but the two approaches produced similar changes in other strength and jump measures.

Muscle hypertrophy and strength improvements following blood flow restriction combined with resistance training in team-athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This review pooled 12 studies (859 team-sport athletes) comparing resistance training with blood flow restriction (BFR) against regular resistance training. Adding BFR produced small but significant extra gains in muscle size and strength, but did not meaningfully improve explosive performance like jumping or sprinting.

Soccer Players' Physical Performance After Loaded Plyometric-Jump Training: A Systematic Review.

Researchers pooled six randomized trials (214 soccer players) comparing plyometric jump training done with extra load (weighted vests, dumbbells, etc.) against regular unloaded plyometrics or no training. Loaded training showed favorable changes in some outcomes like horizontal jumping and strength/power, but unloaded plyometrics produced comparable gains in vertical jump, sprinting, change-of-direction and soccer-specific measures, and the overall certainty of evidence was low to very low.

The Resistance Training Dose Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gains

Systematic review with meta-regressions examining how weekly set volume and training frequency relate to muscle hypertrophy and strength adaptations.

Effects of Advanced Resistance Training Systems on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength in Recreationally Trained Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Systematic review and meta-analysis comparing advanced resistance-training techniques (e.g. drop sets, rest-pause, supersets) against traditional training for hypertrophy and strength.

The effects of velocity-based vs. percentage-based resistance training on sports performance in trained individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Systematic review and meta-analysis comparing velocity-based against percentage-based resistance training for strength, jump, sprint, and change-of-direction performance.

Power in the flow: how menstrual experiences shape women's strength training performance

Study exploring how women's lived menstrual experiences shape their strength-training performance and training behaviour.

Creatine supplementation and resistance training: a comparison between novice and experienced lifters — a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis

Dose-response meta-analysis comparing the strength and lean-mass effects of creatine plus resistance training in novice versus experienced lifters.