Research
Study summaries and evidence-based findings.
What Does This Week's Strength Research Tell Us?
Three new studies on cold-water immersion, repetitions-in-reserve accuracy, and blood-flow restriction training share a common thread: the lifters who get the most from their training are the ones making deliberate, goal-aligned decisions — not just working harder.
Can Low-Load BFR Training Reduce Exercise Dyspnoea?
A 2026 randomised crossover trial in Thorax found that blood flow restriction training at 30% 1RM significantly reduced ventilatory demand and perceived dyspnoea compared to traditional high-load resistance exercise—with meaningful implications beyond clinical populations.
Is Training to Failure Actually Necessary for Strength?
Two new studies published in 2026 converge on a clear message: training to momentary failure isn't required for comparable adaptations, and learning to gauge your own effort accurately is a skill anyone can develop.
Does Muscle Size Actually Explain Your Strength Gains?
A 2026 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology challenges how researchers — and lifters — should interpret the relationship between muscle size and strength, with real implications for how you evaluate your own progress.
Does Blood Flow Restriction Training Actually Build Muscle?
Twenty-five years of blood flow restriction research points to a consistent conclusion: low-load BFR training produces hypertrophy comparable to traditional hig
Do Oral Contraceptives Affect Muscle Hypertrophy?
A 2025 narrative review found that oral contraceptive use does not consistently impair muscle hypertrophy from resistance training — but the details around progestin type are worth understanding.
Does RPE Actually Match Your Training Intensity?
A 2026 study found that the same relative intensity produced significantly different RPE scores depending on the exercise — which has real implications for how you program and track your training.
Can a Pocket Ultrasound Actually Measure Muscle Hypertrophy?
New research validates a pocket-sized ultrasound device for measuring muscle cross-sectional area against MRI gold-standard imaging — with implications for how hypertrophy gets tracked inside and outside the lab.
What's the Minimum Effective Dose for Hypertrophy?
How little training do you actually need to build muscle? The research on minimum effective dose for hypertrophy has some surprisingly specific — and useful — a
Can Bar Speed Tell You How Heavy You're Lifting?
A 2026 study on female soccer players confirms that mean propulsive velocity in the full squat accurately predicts relative load — and that this relationship holds regardless of age.
Cluster Sets vs. Straight Sets: Which Builds More Strength?
Intra-set rest changes how fatigue accumulates — but does it actually build more strength? A look at what the research says about cluster training versus tradit
Does Red Light Therapy Boost Resistance Training Results?
A 2026 meta-analysis found no clear strength advantage from adding red light therapy to resistance training in older adults — but the recovery story is more nuanced.
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