Biological Sex Differences in Absolute and Relative Changes in Muscle Size following Resistance Training in Healthy Adults
A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.400Keywords:
resistance training, biological sex, muscle hypertrophy, bayesianAbstract
Muscle hypertrophy may be influenced by biological differences between males and females. This systematic review with meta-analysis investigated absolute and relative changes in muscle size following resistance training (RT) between males and females and whether key variables (i.e., assessment of muscle size, individual characteristics, and RT characteristics) moderate the results. Studies were included if male and female participants were apparently healthy (18-50 years old) adults of any RT experience that completed the same RT intervention, and a valid measure of pre- to post-intervention changes in muscle size was included. Out of 2199 retrieved studies, a total of 27 studies were included in the statistical analysis. Bayesian methods were used to estimate an effect size (ES) and probability of direction (pd) for each outcome. Superior increases in absolute muscle size were estimated in males versus females [ES = 0.35 (95% HDI: 0.20 to 0.49); pd = 100%], however, relative increases in muscle size were similar between sexes [ES = 0.05 (95% HDI: –0.07 to 0.16); pd = 80%]. Sub-group analyses found that the balance of probability favoured relative type I muscle fibre hypertrophy in males versus females [ES = 0.57 (95% HDI: –0.02 to 1.16) pd = 97%] and relative type II muscle fibre hypertrophy in females versus males [ES = –0.36 (95% HDI: –0.97 to 0.23) pd = 89%]. Other variables assessed (i.e., body region, measurement, RT experience, set volume, relative load) did not have a meaningful impact on sex differences in relative muscle hypertrophy.
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References
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Copyright (c) 2024 Martin Charles Refalo, Greg Nuckols, Andrew Galpin, Iain Gallagher, D. Lee Hamilton, Jackson Fyfe (Author)
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