A year after major weight loss, muscle had built up more protein-making machinery
Thigh muscle from 41 women was compared before and one year after major weight loss. Genes for muscle development and protein synthesis machinery went up, and pre-loss muscle metabolism tracked with weight-loss success.
Three years of dance protected cognition and gait — but not leg muscle
Across 102 older adults at six Japanese sites followed for up to three years, the dance group came out ahead on cognition and gait speed. Their leg lean mass fell faster than the controls'.
After a year of lifting, 70-year-olds' brains changed how they switch force off
Twelve months of resistance training raised post-movement beta rebound amplitude by about 107% on magnetoencephalography. Time to peak rebound fell from around 1.49 s to 1.27 s.
12 weeks of lifting once a week changed the artery under load, not at rest
Sixteen inactive middle-aged women trained once weekly for 12 weeks. Every resting measurement stayed flat; the carotid only differed once a handgrip load was applied.
Isometrics only won two things: knee torque at 75° and the first step
In a load-matched five-week comparison, isometric training beat conventional lifting on exactly two measures. Everything else came out level.
Only 11 of 19 lifters jumped higher after a heavy squat
Squats at 80% 1RM produced no group-level jump improvement at all. Looking at individuals, the best condition still only moved 58% of them.
Lifting restored vascular function only in the anxious group with irregular sleep
Twenty young adults with chronic anxiety completed 10 weeks of resistance training. Only those with high sleep-duration irregularity improved vascular function and baroreflex sensitivity; the rest showed no change.
Powerlifters reported no more pelvic floor symptoms than yoga practitioners
A survey of 103 physically active nulliparous women aged 18 to 30 found no significant difference in pelvic floor distress across exercise modalities. Powerlifting and CrossFit scored no worse than yoga or Pilates.
Aerobic training gave the most consistent drop in chronic inflammation markers
A Bayesian network meta-analysis of 54 randomised trials in 2,836 adults over 60. Aerobic exercise ranked first for lowering CRP, while the mind-body advantage on IL-6 collapsed once one influential study was removed.
Lifting helps the endothelium; aerobic work helps arterial stiffness
A network meta-analysis comparing seven exercise modalities in adults over 60. Resistance training and whole-body vibration ranked highest for endothelial function; aerobic training and walking for arterial stiffness.
Tendons do not keep up when testosterone raises strength
Prescription-record studies repeatedly link testosterone therapy to distal biceps, rotator cuff, quadriceps, patellar and Achilles tendon injuries. The risk concentrates in active people ramping load fast.
Muscle-to-fat ratio when bulking: 1.8 kg of fat per 1 kg of lean above 104 kg
The assumption that added bodyweight brings muscle with it has a ceiling. Above 104 kg of total mass, two thirds of the gain was fat.
Squat strength rose 25% in six weeks while the movement pattern barely changed
EMG from seven leg muscles before and after six weeks of squatting: strength up 24.9%, coordination structure unchanged. Waiting for form to fix itself is not a plan.
Your ACL adapts to load — and stays undersized if you never load it
The ACL is not a passive rope. Chronic underloading leaves it small; chaotic overload accumulates micro-damage. Progressive load is what it responds to.
BFR grew arms as well as heavy lifting did — but only heavy load grew thighs
Eight weeks, three sessions a week, BFR at 40% of 1RM against straight 70%. Arms matched. Thighs did not.
The same 12-week programme produces very different results — genetics explains 27.7%
187 adults ran an identical programme and the spread in lean mass gained was almost as large as the average gain itself. A genetic score accounted for about a quarter of it.
Strength, impact and high-intensity training raise bone density after menopause
A meta-analysis of eight randomised trials found significant gains at the femoral neck and lumbar spine. The same effect did not appear in premenopausal women.
Every exercise modality lowers blood pressure — circuit training led at 13.5 mmHg
A network meta-analysis of 159 randomised trials in adults over 45. The authors are emphatic that the rankings should not be read as definitive.
Adding BFR to normal training buys a little size and strength — not jumps or sprints
A meta-analysis of 12 studies in 859 team-sport athletes. The effects were real but small, and none of it transferred to explosive performance.
Moderate-intensity resistance training improves grip strength in sarcopenia
A network meta-analysis of 19 randomised trials in 1,267 participants. Grip strength gave a clear answer; gait speed gave none at all.
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