SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2020
The Effect of Resistance Training in Women on Dynamic Strength and Muscular Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 13 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
44 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Influence of Individual Resistance Training Variables on Muscle Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- The Resistance Training Dose Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gains.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of high-intensity interval training on physical fitness and body composition in recreationally active females: a systematic review and meta- analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of exercise interventions on prevention of sport-related concussion and related outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of sports medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Dose-Response Modelling of Resistance Exercise Across Outcome Domains in Strength and Conditioning: A Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- The Effect of Hormonal Contraceptive Use on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy, Power and Strength Adaptations to Resistance Exercise Training: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- Health-related physical fitness in women with polycystic ovary syndrome versus controls: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2024Pooled it
- The influence of resistance exercise training prescription variables on skeletal muscle mass, strength, and physical function in healthy adults: An umbrella review.Journal of sport and health science · 2024Pooled it
- The Effects of Resistance Training on Muscular Fitness, Muscle Morphology, and Body Composition in Elite Female Athletes: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Effect of Resistance Training in Healthy Adults on Body Fat Percentage, Fat Mass and Visceral Fat: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- The Effect of Resistance Training on Body Composition During and After Cancer Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2021Pooled it
- Sex Differences in Adaptations in Muscle Strength and Size Following Resistance Training in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of short-term resistance training plus whole-body neuromuscular electrical stimulation on blood cardiometabolic biomarkers in sedentary middle-aged women: a parallel-group, randomized trial.BMC women's health · 2026Trial
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- Trial
- The Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Lean Body Mass with and Without Resistance Training.Nutrients · 2025Trial
- Analysis of combinatory effects of free weight resistance training and a high-protein diet on body composition and strength capacity in postmenopausal women - A 12-week randomized controlled trial.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2024Trial
- Changes in Menopausal Risk Factors in Early Postmenopausal Osteopenic Women After 13 Months of High-Intensity Exercise: The Randomized Controlled ACTLIFE-RCT.Clinical interventions in aging · 2021Trial
- Examining the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a group-based physical activity intervention integrating strength training among pre- and perimenopausal women: A randomized pilot trial.Women's health (London, England)Trial
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe effect of resistance training (RT) on adaptations in muscular strength and hypertrophy has never been examined in an exclusively female synthesis of the literature.
objectiveThe objectives of this study were threefold: (1) to systematically review the literature on female adaptations to RT, characterising the effect in terms of muscular strength and hypertrophy; (2) to distinguish the individual effects of intervention duration, frequency, and intensity on these adaptations via sub-analysis; (3) to draw evidence-based conclusions regarding training expectations in female populations.
methodsThree electronic databases were searched using terms related to RT combined with females or women. Random-effects meta-analyses were undertaken to estimate the effect of RT on muscular strength and hypertrophy in females. Possible predictors that may have influenced training-related effects (e.g., training intensity and volume) were explored using univariate analyses.
resultsThe systematic search identified 14,067 articles of which a total of 24 studies met the inclusion criteria and were eligible. Upper body strength was assessed in 15 studies, lower body strength in 19 studies, and muscular hypertrophy in 15 studies. Study duration lasted between 4 weeks and 12 months. Large-effect sizes were found for upper body strength (Hedges' g = 1.70; p < 0.001) and lower body strength (Hedges' g = 1.40; p < 0.001). Following use of the Trim and Fill method (due to presence of publication bias), a large effect still remained for upper body strength (Hedges' g = 1.07), although a medium effect was found for lower body strength (Hedges' g = 0.52). A medium effect was found for muscular hypertrophy (g = 0.52, p = 0.002). Sub-analyses revealed that the moderating variables "training frequency" and "training volume" significantly influenced lower body muscular strength (p < 0.001). "Training frequency" and "sets per exercise" moderated the RT effects on upper body strength (p < 0.01). No moderating variables were found to significantly influence muscular hypertrophy. A trend for a moderating effect on upper body strength was found for "age of participants" (p = 0.08), whereby younger participants experienced a greater effect. A moderating effect was also observed where supervised training had a larger influence on the adaptation of lower body strength (p = 0.05) compared with unsupervised training. Methodological quality for the studies included in the review was found to be moderate.
conclusionsRT elicits large improvements in muscular strength and hypertrophy in healthy adult females. Training volume and frequency appear to be important variables that influence muscular strength.
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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.