Moving Mindfulness - Meditation & Fitness

My new friend

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𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘃𝘆 𝘃𝘀. 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗪𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝘁

⬛ A fascinating study published in The Journal of Physiology by Lees et al. set out to settle a persistent debate in fitness and muscle physiology: does lifting heavy weights build more muscle than lifting lighter weights, and why do some people grow so much more muscle than others on the same program.
⬛ The researchers wanted to determine whether the massive interindividual variability (the differences from person to person) in muscle growth is driven by exogenous factors like how heavy the weight is or endogenous factors an individual's inherent biological response.

🧪 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻: 𝗔 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 "𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻-𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁" 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵

⬛ To isolate the variable of genetics, the researchers used a clever unilateral (one-sided) study design.
⬛ They recruited 20 healthy, untrained young males for a 10-week resistance exercise training program.
⬛ Participants trained three times per week, performing knee extensions for the legs and dumbbell preacher curls for the arms.
⬛ Here is how their limbs were assigned:

💪 Higher Load (HL)
⬛ One arm and one leg were assigned to lift heavier weights for 8–12 repetitions at ~70%–80% of their 1-repetition maximum.

🏋️ Lower Load (LL)
⬛ The opposite arm and opposite leg lifted lighter weights for 20–25 repetitions at ~30%–40% of their 1-repetition maximum.

⚠️ The Crucial Detail
⬛ For every single set, the participants lifted until they reached volitional fatigue—the point where they could not complete another rep with proper form.

📊 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱

⬛ The researchers used a highly comprehensive suite of testing methods to measure changes over the 10 weeks.

📏 Muscle Size
⬛ Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for lean mass, ultrasonography for muscle thickness and cross-sectional area, and muscle biopsies to measure individual muscle fibre size.

💪 Muscle Strength
⬛ Measured via 1-repetition maximum tests and maximum voluntary isometric contractions.

🧬 Protein Synthesis
⬛ Using deuterated water (heavy water) to trace and measure integrated myofibrillar protein synthesis rates at Week 1 and Week 10.

🔬 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀

1️⃣ 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲
⬛ Whether the limbs lifted heavy weights for 8-12 reps or light weights for 20-25 reps, the muscle hypertrophy was remarkably similar.
⬛ There were no significant differences between the higher load and lower load conditions for any outcome measuring muscle size including lean mass, whole-muscle thickness, or microscopic fibre size.

🧬 2️⃣ 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵
⬛ The study found that a person's muscle growth was highly "conserved" within their own body.
⬛ This means if a participant's right arm grew a lot from heavy lifting, their left arm also grew a lot from light lifting, and their legs likely saw high growth too.
⬛ The variability between different people was massive, but the variability within the same person's different limbs and loading protocols was very low.
⬛ The researchers concluded that endogenous biological factors are the primary drivers of muscle growth, accounting for a vast majority of the differences we see between individuals.

⚙️ 3️⃣ 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆, 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀
⬛ Myofibrillar protein synthesis the biological process of building new muscle tissue spiked significantly during the first week of training compared to baseline resting levels.
⬛ Interestingly, by week 10, this protein synthesis rate was significantly blunted despite the participants utilizing progressive overload.
⬛ Furthermore, just like the actual size gains, protein synthesis rates were comparable between the heavy and light load conditions.

🏋️ 4️⃣ 𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱
⬛ While both heavy and light loads increased 1-repetition maximum strength and isometric peak torque.
⬛ The researchers noted negligible shared variance between a participant's muscle size increases and their strength increases.
⬛ Simply put, the participants who gained the most muscle size were not necessarily the ones who gained the most strength.

✅ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆

⬛ When effort is matched by pushing sets to volitional fatigue, lifting heavy weights and lifting light weights will build the exact same amount of muscle.
⬛ You don't have to lift heavy to get bigger.
⬛ Ultimately, how much muscle you build is dictated to a far greater degree by your intrinsic biology rather than the specific loading scheme of your program. 💪

https://www.markhaywardpt.com/

Spring glowing green in the halflight park

Waiting inanimate for the surge stark

Ambition sleeps under blankets of dark

Waiting for eternity and the death call lark

MAH

The circle of sustenance rolls through the crack

From fantasy to oneness, bright light shines black

Over squares so ancient with life deep inside

Everything seeing but not an eye can be spied

MAH