--- title: Lighter Weights Help Build Muscle, Study Shows description: Research shows that lifting lighter weights for more reps can be just as effective as lifting heavier weights for fewer reps. canonical: https://time.com/4422235/light-weights-build-muscle/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-01T15:37:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:31:32.663Z article:section: Health og:title: Lighter Weights Help Build Muscle, Study Shows og:description: Lift lighter weights for more reps og:url: https://time.com/4422235/light-weights-build-muscle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c8803bc2214eb4e/698878c0e20a87380ba8f072/weights-fitness-exercise-strength-health-betterment-body-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: weights-fitness-exercise-strength-health-betterment-body-image-motto-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lighter Weights Help Build Muscle, Study Shows twitter:description: Lift lighter weights for more reps twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c8803bc2214eb4e/698878c0e20a87380ba8f072/weights-fitness-exercise-strength-health-betterment-body-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # No Need to Lift Heavy Weights to Build Muscle, Study Finds > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Jordan Smith / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Jordan Smith / Health.com Contributor Aug 1, 2016 3:37 PM UTC  Molly Cranna for TIME by [Jordan Smith / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Jordan Smith / Health.com Contributor Aug 1, 2016 3:37 PM UTC If you’re looking to [build muscle](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20689183,00.html) but worry about overdoing it with the barbells, here is some encouraging news: Research shows that contrary to popular belief, lifting [lighter weights for more reps](http://jap.physiology.org/content/early/2016/05/09/japplphysiol.00154.2016) can be just as effective as lifting heavier weights for fewer reps. For the study, published in the _Journal of Applied Physiology_, researchers from McMaster University followed 49 young men over the course of a 12-week, full-body resistance training program. About half the participants used lighter weights for sets ranging from 20 to 25 repetitions. (Each person’s weights were set at 30% to 50% of his one-repetition maximum, or the amount he could lift one time.) The other half lifted heavier weights (set at 75% to 90% of each man’s one-rep max) for sets ranging from 8 to 12 reps. Both groups worked until the point of fatigue. What the researchers found: The gains in muscular strength and size among participants in the first and second groups were not significantly different. **_Health.com:_**[_Jillian Michaels’ Fat-Blasting Circuit Workout_](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20951658,00.html/?xid=time) “This research is significant because it challenges current resistance exercise dogma and guidelines,” says study author Robert W. Morton, a PhD candidate at McMaster University. “Put simply, your effort is more important than the weight you use.” Ideally, he says, the findings will motivate more people to take up [resistance exercise](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20366277,00.html), “particularly those who may have been intimidated by the need to train with heavy weights,” he says. So go ahead and grab whatever set of dumbbells you please—as long as you keep up the reps until you can’t do any more. _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/fitness/lighter-weight-more-reps/?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://www.health.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4422235/light-weights-build-muscle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4422235/light-weights-build-muscle/"},"headline":"No Need to Lift Heavy Weights to Build Muscle, Study Finds","datePublished":"2016-08-01T15:37:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:31:32.663Z","description":"Lift lighter weights for more reps","url":"https://time.com/4422235/light-weights-build-muscle/","keywords":["Exercise & Fitness"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c8803bc2214eb4e/698878c0e20a87380ba8f072/weights-fitness-exercise-strength-health-betterment-body-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jordan Smith / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c8803bc2214eb4e/698878c0e20a87380ba8f072/weights-fitness-exercise-strength-health-betterment-body-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"weights-fitness-exercise-strength-health-betterment-body-image-motto-stock","caption":"weights-fitness-exercise-strength-health-betterment-body-image-motto-stock","creditText":"Molly Cranna for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/exercisefitness/","name":"Exercise & Fitness"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4422235/light-weights-build-muscle/","name":"No Need to Lift Heavy Weights to Build Muscle, Study Finds"}}]}] ```