Research

Hormonal

Resistance exercise-induced lactate accumulation may promote skeletal muscle hypertrophy through multiple mechanisms including lactate-stimulated testosterone production, histone lactylation, and activation of satellite cell pathways via GPR81/ERK1/2 signaling, although direct evidence in humans is currently insufficient.

While mechanical tension is king, incorporating training styles that generate high lactate (e.g., higher reps, shorter rest) may offer additional hypertrophic benefits via metabolic signaling. However, do not rely on this as a primary driver, as human evidence is currently weak compared to mechanical load.

LimitedConditionalLOW confidence
The present review aims to explore and discuss recent research relating to the lactate response to resistance training and the potential mechanisms by which lactate may contribute to skeletal muscle hypertrophy or help to prevent muscle atrophy.
Daniel J. Lawson et al. · Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology · 2022

Why this rating

The paper is a review of mechanisms, noting that human data is lacking and most findings are from cell cultures or animal models.

Source

Beyond Mechanical Tension: A Review of Resistance Exercise-Induced Lactate Responses & Muscle Hypertrophy

Daniel J. Lawson et al. · Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology · 2022

DOI 10.3390/jfmk7040081

narrative_reviewCited 25×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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