Clinical trial NCT05667233: Examining Changes in Muscle Size and Body Composition Between Two Hypertrophy Resistance Training Programs in Males
Official title: A Pilot Study Examining Differences in Waist, Upper-arm, Mid-thigh Circumference and Body Composition When Training to Momentary Muscular Fatigue Versus Close Failure-proximity Amongst Healthy Male Biological Sex University-aged Students
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Hypertrophy
Body Weight Changes
Muscle Size
Keywords: Exercise
Resistance Training
Lead sponsor: Dalhousie University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-12-28
Enrollment: 13
Sex: MALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two parallel groups (train to failure OR train to non-failure) and stratified according to their recent training experience (beginner \[3-9 months experience\], intermediate \[9-18 months experience\], advanced \[\>18 months experience\]).
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: This study aims to investigate if a less physically and psychologically taxing approach to resistance training can generate equal or greater outcomes when compared to a more physically and psychologically taxing approach.

Detailed description: Resistance training is commonly used to improve body composition, gain strength, increase muscle size (i.e., hypertrophy) and prevent muscle atrophy (i.e., muscle wasting). The most optimal mode of building muscle remains unclear, however there are many mechanisms that can be tested to yield optimal results. One variable that can be manipulated when designing a hypertrophy-focused resistance training regimen is intensity (i.e., proximity-to-failure). Proximity-to-failure is defined as the number of repetitions remaining in a set of prescribed exercises prior to reaching momentary muscular failure (MMF). MMF is when an individual cannot complete the lowering or concentric phase of a given repetition with a full range-of-motion without deviation from the prescribed form of the exercise. For all lifters, particularly amongst older populations, it can be psychologically demanding to push to MMF, and may increase the risk of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and/or injury due to technical breakdown. In contrast, there is some evidence that suggests training to a slightly less intensity (i.e., within 1-4 repetitions in reserve \[RIR\]) may result in comparable hypertrophic results with less of a physical and psychological demand on participants.

For these reasons, this study looks to investigate if an easier (i.e., less intense) approach to training such as training with repetitions in reserve (RIR), warrants similar or better muscle hypertrophy adaptations to MMF.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* biological male
* age 18 years or older
* enrolled at Dalhousie university
* minimum 3-months of consistent (at least 2x/week) resistance training experience

Exclusion Criteria:

* body fat percentage 25% or greater (obese)
* use of performance enhancing drugs that aim to increase rate of muscle growth (i.e., androgenic steroids, anabolic steroids, selective androgen receptive modulators, growth hormone).

Primary outcomes:
measure: Segment girth (cm)
timeFrame: 8-weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Body composition (kg)
timeFrame: 8-weeks
measure: Body Fat Percentage
timeFrame: 8-weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Halifax
country: Canada
facility: Dalplex Fitness Centre
state: Nova Scotia
Study officials:
References: