Check Out What I’ve Been Checking Out
What I’m Reading
“Exercise Dosing to Retain Resistance Training Adaptations in Young and Older Adults”
In a previous blog post, I highlighted findings from the study above by Bickel and Colleagues that suggested that it takes much less than most people believe to maintain muscle mass and strength gains. (I)
I recently re-read that paper and am still wowed by the findings. In particular, the authors found that young subjects (aged 20-35) were able to maintain much of their quadricep muscle mass gains from an original 16-week training period while completing 3 sets of quadricep exercises once per week for 8 months. Notably, this represents one-ninth of the volume (27 sets per week spread out across 3 days per week) they used to acquire their original gains in the first 16-week training period.
Furthermore, those young subjects were able to further increase their strength over those 8 months using the same one-ninth training volume. Even more impressive is that the older subjects in the study (aged 60-75) were able to maintain their strength gains using the same one-ninth training volume protocol.
And, most impressively, older subjects in the complete detraining group that conducted zero resistance training in the second portion of the study other than 1-repetition maximum testing once every four weeks maintained a strength similar to that of the younger subjects at the very beginning of the study.
I will write that once more to make sure you didn’t miss it: after 16 weeks of resistance training followed by 8 months of zero training other than strength testing once per month, subjects aged 60-75 were able to lift similar amounts of weight as untrained subjects aged 20-35.
“Despite apparent age differences in maintenance dose requirements for some variables of interest, it is important to emphasize that older adults achieved and generally maintained voluntary maximum strength levels similar to the untrained young…Our older group had a 36% increase in strength after 16 wk of RT, which significantly decreased after 32 wk of detraining, but was still 23% greater than baseline…Thus, most studies suggest that strength can be significantly increased with traditional RT programs and that these strength gains are realized for several months even after training ceases. The maintenance prescriptions that were used 1 d/wk in this study were sufficient to maintain strength in both age groups, and in fact, the young continued to increase strength above phase 1 levels.” (I)
What I’m Watching
“Does the PUMP Predict Muscle Growth? (Science Explained)”
“I Ranked Every CHEST Exercise (Best To Worst)”
“How Many Sets to GROW MUSCLE and BUILD STRENGTH?”
What I’m Listening To
“The Calories Expert: Health Experts Are Wrong About Calories & Diet Coke! Layne Norton”
“The Minimum Effective Resistance Training Dose with Dr. Pak P.h.D.”
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