ReviewSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2024
The Plateau in Muscle Growth with Resistance Training: An Exploration of Possible Mechanisms.
Review in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 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
- Muscle Function and Bone Strength in Children and Adolescents with Tall Stature.Hormone research in paediatrics · 2026Article
- Unlimited adaptations of muscle fibres to exercise; are you kidding me?Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Body composition changes over a 4-year span in American college football players.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Is there a volume saturation point for muscle hypertrophy in resistance-trained individuals? A narrative review.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Review
- Mechanisms of muscle repair after peripheral nerve injury by electrical stimulation combined with blood flow restriction training.Sports medicine and health science · 2025Review
- Exceeding the Limits with Nutraceuticals: Looking Towards Parkinson's Disease and Frailty.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It is hypothesized that there is likely a finite ability for muscular adaptation. While it is difficult to distinguish between a true plateau following a long-term training period and short-term stalling in muscle growth, a plateau in muscle growth has been attributed to reaching a genetic potential, with limited discussion on what might physiologically contribute to this muscle growth plateau. The present paper explores potential physiological factors that may drive the decline in muscle growth after prolonged resistance training. Overall, with chronic training, the anabolic signaling pathways may become more refractory to loading. While measures of anabolic markers may have some predictive capabilities regarding muscle growth adaptation, they do not always demonstrate a clear connection. Catabolic processes may also constrain the ability to achieve further muscle growth, which is influenced by energy balance. Although speculative, muscle cells may also possess cell scaling mechanisms that sense and regulate their own size, along with molecular brakes that hinder growth rate over time. When considering muscle growth over the lifespan, there comes a point when the anabolic response is attenuated by aging, regardless of whether or not individuals approach their muscle growth potential. Our goal is that the current review opens avenues for future experimental studies to further elucidate potential mechanisms to explain why muscle growth may plateau.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.