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Physical Activity, Health and Exercise

Moderators of strength gains and hypertrophy in resistance training: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 2189-2198 | Accepted 28 Apr 2021, Published online: 12 May 2021
 

ABSTRACT

This meta-analysis investigated the role of resistance training (RT) moderators on strength and muscle mass gains in untrained young (YG) and older (OG) adults. Electronic databases were searched for randomised controlled trials simultaneously assessing muscle strength and mass. Effect sizes (ES) reflecting improvements in strength and muscle mass were found for all moderators in YG and OG (ES 0.25- to 1.72;p < 0.05), excepting muscle mass in YG after RT was performed with <3 sets/exercise. Strength gains (p < 0.001) were greater in non-periodised vs. periodised RT in YG (ES 1.72 vs. 1.05) and OG (1.40 vs. 0.74). ES in OG was greater (p < 0.04) when RT included non-failure vs. failure repetitions (1.35 vs. 0.96), 3 vs. >3 sets/exercise (1.30 vs. 0.90), ≥3 vs. <3 days/week (1.70 vs. 0.78), and ≥12 vs. <12 weeks (1.48 vs. 0.92). Amoderating effect of RT factors on muscle mass was not detected in YG, while greater ES was found in OG for RT with ≥3 vs. <3 days/week (0.50 vs. 0.25). Concluding, different combinations of RT factors improved strength and muscle mass in YG and OG. In OG, this was favoured by greater frequency and duration, although hampered by excessive volume.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary materials

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2021.1924978.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Brazilian Council for Research Development (CNPq) under grant number [304051/2019-5].

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