ArticleSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2017
High- and Low-Load Resistance Training: Interpretation and Practical Application of Current Research Findings.
Article in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Acute and Chronic Effects of Accentuated Eccentric Loading vs. Constant-Load Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Are Trainees Lifting Heavy Enough? Self-Selected Loads in Resistance Exercise: A Scoping Review and Exploratory Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- The Minimum Effective Training Dose Required to Increase 1RM Strength in Resistance-Trained Men: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Pooled it
- Re-examination of 1- vs. 3-Sets of Resistance Exercise for Pre-spaceflight Muscle Conditioning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2019Pooled it
- Submaximal low-load resistance exercise with blood flow restriction produces similar results to low-load exercise to failure for muscle size and strength, but not endurance.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
- Differential training benefits and motor unit remodeling in wrist force precision tasks following high and low load blood flow restriction exercises under volume-matched conditions.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2024Trial
- Exercise mode influences post-exercise glucose sensitivity and insulin clearance in young, healthy males and females in a sex-dependent manner: A randomized control trial.Physiological reports · 2022Trial
- Acute effects of different resistance training loads on cardiac autonomic modulation in hypertensive postmenopausal women.Journal of translational medicine · 2018Trial
- Weight bearing exercise can elicit similar peak muscle activation as medium-high intensity resistance exercise in elderly women.European journal of applied physiology · 2018Trial
- The effects of supramaximal versus submaximal intensity eccentric training when performed until volitional fatigue.European journal of applied physiology · 2017Trial
- High intensity interval training does not impair strength gains in response to resistance training in premenopausal women.European journal of applied physiology · 2017Trial
- Comparison of Suprahyoid Muscle Activation During Inspiratory Muscle Training and the Shaker Exercise: An Exploratory Pilot Study.Dysphagia · 2026Article
- Repeatability of Knee Extension Muscle Endurance Between 20% and 40% of One Repetition Maximum.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exercise, Cellular Senescence, and Cancer: Novel Perspectives on Functional Aging Through Block Strength Training in Older Adults-A Narrative Review.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Article
- Assessing the Recovery of Muscle Fatigue Using Shear Wave Elastography.Sports medicine - open · 2026Article
- Effects of High-Intensity Resistance Training Volume on Muscle Performance and Blood-derived Markers in Recreationally Trained Subjects.International journal of exercise science · 2026Article
- The influence of high-load and combined high- and low-load resistance training on electromyographic behavior during an absolute muscular endurance task.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Exercise-Induced Reduction of IGF1R Sumoylation Attenuates Neuroinflammation in APP/PS1 Transgenic Mice.Journal of advanced research · 2025Article
- The effects of kettlebell training versus resistance training using the own body mass on physical fitness and physiological adaptations in obese adults: a randomized controlled trial.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Our current state of knowledge regarding the load (lighter or heavier) lifted in resistance training programmes that will result in 'optimal' strength and hypertrophic adaptations is unclear. Despite this, position stands and recommendations are made based on, we propose, limited evidence to lift heavier weights. Here we discuss the state of evidence on the impact of load and how it, as a single variable, stimulates adaptations to take place and whether evidence for recommending heavier loads is available, well-defined, currently correctly interpreted or has been overlooked. Areas of discussion include electromyography amplitude, in vivo and in vitro methods of measuring hypertrophy, and motor schema and skill acquisition. The present piece clarifies to trainers and trainees the impact of these variables by discussing interpretation of synchronous and sequential motor unit recruitment and revisiting the size principle, poor agreement between whole-muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) and biopsy-determined changes in myofibril CSA, and neural adaptations around task specificity. Our opinion is that the practical implications of being able to self-select external load include reducing the need for specific facility memberships, motivating older persons or those who might be less confident using heavy loads, and allowing people to undertake home- or field-based resistance training intervention strategies that might ultimately improve exercise adherence.
Indexed as
Identifiers
27480764What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.