Resistance Training

Volume Recommendations

• Hypertrophy: 10-20 sets/muscle/week
• Strength: 5-10 sets/muscle/week
• Optimal rep range: 8-12 at 60-75% 1RM

Nutrition integration (acute MPS / recovery physiology)

Morton et al. 2015 (Front Physiol; PMID 26388782; morton-2015-resistance-exercise-protein-mps-hypertrophy-review-front-physiol) reviews how resistance exercise plus post-exercise protein feeding amplifies muscle protein synthesis and, over time, supports hypertrophy—with emphasis on protein dose, source, distribution/timing, and training variables. Treat as a mechanistic / prescriptive scaffold next to outcome RCTs on this page, not a pooled lean-mass effect size by itself.

Type 2 diabetes glycemic control (resistance-only RCT pool)

Wan et al. 2024 (SAGE Open Med; PMID 38623887; wan-2024-resistance-exercise-t2dm-glycemic-meta-sage-open-med) pooled 46 RCTs (n = 2,130): MD −0.50% HbA1c and −12.03 mg/dL fasting glucose vs control—pair with aerobic and diet hubs; not a substitute for individualized medication decisions.

Metabolic liver + prescription scaffolding

• Yu et al. 2023 (Ir J Med Sci; PMID 35366201; yu-2023-exercise-nafld-comparative-sr-meta) pools 21 NAFLD RCTs across aerobic / resistance / HIIT prescriptions—pooled weight/BMI and ALT/AST mean differences versus control when readers arrive via liver fat concerns.
• Garber et al. 2011 (Med Sci Sports Exerc; PMID 21694556; garber-2011-acsm-exercise-prescription-position-stand) states ACSM weekly resistance (2–3 d/week, major muscle groups) and broader aerobic/neuromotor targets that frame many trial designs—guideline background, not a hypertrophy effect size by itself.

Long-term mortality / NCD associations (cohort tier)

Momma et al. 2022 (Br J Sports Med; PMID 35228201; momma-2022-muscle-strengthening-mortality-nma-bjsm) pooled 16 prospective cohorts: muscle-strengthening activities tracked with roughly 10–17% lower pooled risks (abstract summary) for all-cause mortality, CVD, total cancer, diabetes, and lung cancer versus lower or no strengthening, with J-shaped dose–response narratives peaking near ~30–60 min/week for several outcomes. This is observational association evidence—pair with Schoenfeld/Morton RCT anchors below, not as proof that any single gym program causes those percentage drops.

Mood / cardiometabolic context (non-hypertrophy primary)

Krogh et al. 2017 (linked): systematic review of exercise in diagnosed depression—relevant when readers stack lifting with mindfulness trials that often use exercise as a specific active comparator. Stewart et al. 2014 (linked): RCT-level synthesis for blood-pressure lowering with aerobic and resistance prescriptions—adjacent to lifting-for-strength goals when clients also track SBP/DBP.

Depressive symptoms (resistance exercise training meta-analysis)

Gordon et al. 2018 (JAMA Psychiatry; PMID 29800984; gordon-2018-resistance-exercise-training-depression-meta-jama-psychiatry) pooled 33 RCTs (n = 1,877) comparing resistance exercise training to inactive controls: pooled Hedges g = 0.66 (95% CI 0.48–0.83) on validated depressive symptom scales with high heterogeneity—use as a mental-health outcome stream for lifters, not as proof versus psychotherapy or SSRIs (inactive-control contrasts).

• 2025 update (clinically diagnosed depression): Chang et al. 2025 (Front Psychol; PMID 41473524; chang-2025-resistance-training-depression-rct-meta-front-psychol) — 29 RCTs, N = 2,036; pooled SMD −0.94 (95% CI −1.16 to −0.72) vs non-exercise controls with I² ≈ 80%—tightens eligibility toward diagnosed depression cohorts versus Gordon et al. 2018; still inactive-control dominated.

Protein Timing

• 20-40 g per meal maximizes MPS
• Leucine threshold: 2.5-3 g per meal
• 4-5 evenly spaced feedings superior to skewed intake

Progressive Overload

2-3% load increase weekly maintains adaptations.

Related registry

Creatine monohydrate supplementation (creatine-monohydrate-supplementation) remains the canonical creatine hub; the same desai-2024-creatine-resistance-training-body-composition-meta and kreider-2017-issn-creatine-position-stand rows are also linked on this page so resistance-training–first readers see pooled creatine + RT body-composition estimates and ISSN safety / breadth next to volume–frequency RCTs—lifting prescription literature and creatine PK remain separate conceptual streams.

Caffeine (acute ergogenic dosing) (caffeine-ergogenic-supplementation) hosts the linked Grgic et al. 2020 umbrella review of caffeine vs placebo meta-analyses across endurance, strength, power, jump, and speed tasks—acute supplement science, not habitual coffee mortality cohorts.

Tertiary map

Wikipedia: Strength training (wikipedia-strength-training-overview) anchors sets/reps, hypertrophy vs strength goals, and periodization vocabulary—volume–response and MPS meta-analyses stay on linked PubMed rows here (e.g., Schoenfeld, Morton). Do not merge this evidence stream with HIIT & sleep (higher-intensity-interval-training) or Exercise & mitochondrial biogenesis (exercise-and-mitochondria); those are different protocol families.