Browse the evidence

A 3-month calorie-restricted ketogenic diet (KD) produces significantly greater weight loss than a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) in adults with obesity.

To lose more weight than a standard Mediterranean diet in 3 months, switch to a ketogenic diet with a 600-calorie daily deficit. This means eating very few carbs (5% of calories), moderate protein (30%), and high fat (65%). Ensure you are consuming enough calories to maintain basic function but below your maintenance level.

In resistance-trained men, increasing training volume from 1 set to 5 sets per exercise per session significantly enhances muscle hypertrophy (specifically in elbow flexors, mid-thigh, and lateral thigh) without providing additional strength or endurance benefits.

If you are an experienced lifter, doing 1 set per exercise to failure is enough to build strength and endurance, saving you significant time. However, if your primary goal is maximizing muscle size, you should perform 3-5 sets per exercise. The extra sets will yield more muscle growth, but you won't get stronger faster by doing them. Prioritize volume for hypertrophy, but don't expect strength to improve just by adding sets.

Resistance exercise training (RET) is as effective as aerobic exercise training (AET) for reducing the risk of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, and is superior for maintaining physical mobility in older adults.

Incorporate resistance training 2-3 times per week into your routine. You do not need to lift extremely heavy weights; moderate intensity (where you can complete 8-12 reps with some effort) is effective for reducing chronic disease risk and maintaining mobility. This is as important for your long-term health as your cardio workouts.

Resistance exercise training reduces cancer mortality and recurrence risk in cancer survivors, with benefits seen even at low-to-moderate intensities.

If you are a cancer survivor, aim to do resistance training at least once a week. Even low-to-moderate intensity exercises can significantly reduce your risk of cancer recurrence and death. This is especially important for breast and prostate cancer survivors to maintain muscle and quality of life.

Step reduction (SR) to <1,500 steps/day for two weeks causes significant declines in muscle protein synthesis (MPS), leg lean mass, and insulin sensitivity in older adults, with incomplete recovery upon return to habitual activity.

If you are older, do not underestimate the impact of even mild inactivity, such as reducing your steps to under 1,500 per day for a couple of weeks due to illness or weather. This causes your muscles to stop building protein and your blood sugar control to worsen. Crucially, your body may not fully bounce back to its previous state even after you start moving normally again. To protect your muscle, try to maintain your usual step count even during minor illnesses or bad weather, or use countermeasures like light resistance exercise and high-quality protein.

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of developing abdominal obesity (increased waist circumference) in normal weight individuals, driven primarily by low red meat intake and high vegetable consumption.

To prevent belly fat accumulation, focus on the entire Mediterranean pattern: eat plenty of vegetables, limit red meat and sugary drinks, and choose whole grains. Simply adding 'healthy' fats without addressing other dietary components may not provide the same protection against abdominal obesity.

High adherence to a personalized dietary program significantly reduces LDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B, whereas standard dietary advice does not, suggesting personalization may be necessary for lipid management in certain individuals.

If you have high cholesterol, a personalized diet that accounts for your specific biological response to food may be more effective at lowering LDL and ApoB than standard guidelines, provided you adhere closely to the personalized advice.

A personalized dietary program favorably shifts gut microbiome composition, increasing the relative abundance of species associated with favorable cardiometabolic health, compared to standard dietary advice.

A personalized diet that considers your biological response to food may be more effective at improving your gut microbiome composition, specifically by increasing beneficial species, compared to standard dietary guidelines.

High consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) is causally associated with increased risk of obesity, type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality, primarily through mechanisms of energy density, nutrient displacement, and gut microbiome alteration.

Prioritize minimally processed foods over ultra-processed options. The degree of processing itself contributes to weight gain and disease risk, independent of calorie counts. Focus on whole grains, vegetables, and unprocessed proteins to reduce exposure to additives, high sodium, and low fiber.

Resistance training produces comparable muscle hypertrophy across a wide spectrum of loading zones (heavy, moderate, and light loads) provided sets are performed to or near muscular failure.

You do not need to stick to a specific rep range like 8-12 to build muscle. You can use heavy weights (fewer reps) or light weights (more reps) as long as you perform your sets close to failure. Moderate loads (9-15 reps) are recommended as a practical default because they are time-efficient and easier on your joints, but varying your load can be beneficial.

Time-efficient strength training can be achieved by prioritizing bilateral, multi-joint exercises with a minimum of 4 weekly sets per muscle group using a 6–15 RM loading range.

To save time while building strength and muscle, focus on compound exercises like squats, presses, and rows. Aim for at least 4 sets per muscle group each week, using weights that allow 6-15 reps. You don't need to train every day; spreading these sets across 1-3 sessions is sufficient.

Twice-daily consumption of a multi-ingredient supplement containing 30g whey protein, 2.5g creatine, 500 IU vitamin D, 400mg calcium, and 1500mg n-3 PUFA stimulates significant gains in lean body mass and strength in healthy older men, independent of exercise.

For healthy older men, taking a specific mix of whey protein, creatine, vitamin D, calcium, and fish oil twice daily can build muscle and strength even without exercise. Adding resistance and high-intensity interval training on top of this supplement yields even greater strength gains. This approach addresses the high variability in how older adults respond to single nutrients.

Higher velocity loss (VL) thresholds during resistance training (typically >30-40%) are superior for inducing muscle hypertrophy, whereas lower VL thresholds (10-20%) are superior for optimizing power-related adaptations such as jumping, sprinting, and velocity against submaximal loads.

If your main goal is building muscle size, allow your bar speed to drop significantly (30-40% loss) by the end of your sets. If your main goal is jumping higher or sprinting faster, stop your sets earlier when your speed drops only a little (10-20%). Do not use high-velocity-loss sets for power exercises if you want to improve power, as the fatigue will hinder your performance gains.

Adherence to a dietary pattern high in chocolate, confectionery, butter, and low-fiber bread (and low in fruit/vegetables) is associated with a significantly increased risk of total and fatal cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.

Avoid combining high-fat, low-fiber foods (like butter on white bread, chocolate, confectionery) in your daily diet. This specific combination is strongly linked to higher risks of heart disease and early death. Prioritize fresh fruits, vegetables, and high-fiber cereals instead. If you consume these items, ensure they are part of a broader diet rich in fiber and plant foods to mitigate risk.

In-season Enhanced Negative Work-based Training (ENT) using a flywheel device significantly improves change of direction (COD) ability in semi-professional soccer players, whereas traditional weight training does not.

If you are a semi-professional soccer player in-season, adding one weekly session of flywheel-based eccentric training (focusing on controlled braking during squats) can significantly improve your change of direction speed. Traditional weight training at the same volume does not provide this specific benefit. Focus on controlling the descent phase of the squat to mimic the braking forces used in soccer.

Enhanced Negative Work-based Training (ENT) improves the hamstrings-to-quadriceps (H:Q) ratio in semi-professional soccer players, potentially reducing injury risk, while traditional weight training does not.

To reduce hamstring injury risk, incorporate flywheel-based eccentric training into your weekly routine. This specific type of training improves the balance between hamstring and quadriceps strength, which traditional weight training fails to do. This is particularly important during the competitive season.

Ingesting approximately 0.31 g/kg of high-quality, rapidly digested protein (e.g., whey) post-exercise maximizes myofibrillar muscle protein synthesis in young adults without inducing excessive amino acid oxidation.

If you are a young adult with average body composition, aim to consume about 0.31 grams of high-quality protein (like whey) per kilogram of your body weight in your post-workout meal. For example, if you weigh 70 kg, consume roughly 22 grams of protein. This amount maximizes muscle building signals without wasting protein through oxidation. You do not need to consume massive amounts (like 40g+) to get extra benefits for muscle synthesis.

Peri-exercise protein supplementation (specifically post-workout) optimizes physical performance and recovery in resistance and endurance training, provided total daily protein and caloric intake are adequate.

Ensure you are eating enough protein (1.4-1.6g/kg) and calories every day. After your workout, consume 20-40g of protein (whey or similar) within an hour. This helps your muscles recover faster and perform better in your next session, especially if you train multiple times a day or compete.

High loads (>60% 1RM) are superior to low loads for maximizing strength gains, while both high and low loads can produce similar hypertrophy if performed to failure.

To build strength, prioritize heavy loads (>60% 1RM). To build muscle, you can use either heavy or light loads, provided you take your sets close to failure. Light loads are a viable option for joint health or accessibility without sacrificing muscle growth.

Full range of motion (ROM) produces greater strength gains in full ROM tasks and greater hypertrophy in specific muscles (e.g., gluteus maximus) compared to partial ROM, although partial ROM can be used to overcome sticking points.

Prioritize full range of motion for your main exercises to maximize strength and muscle growth. Use partial ROM strategically to target weak points (sticking points) or to reduce joint stress, but do not replace full ROM with partial ROM as your primary strategy.

Resistance exercise-induced muscle hypertrophy is load-dependent, with high-load (80% 1RM) training producing greater hypertrophy than low-load (30% 1RM) training when sets are performed to volitional failure.

To maximize muscle growth, prioritize heavier weights (around 80% of your one-rep max). If you must use lighter weights (30% of 1RM), you must take every set to absolute muscular failure to achieve similar, though likely slightly lesser, hypertrophy compared to heavy loads. Failure is the key equalizer for low loads.

Periodized resistance training (linear or undulating) is superior to non-periodized training for enhancing maximal strength, with undulating models potentially offering greater benefits for leg press strength.

If your goal is maximum strength, do not stick to the same weights and reps forever. Use a periodized plan (either linear or undulating) that changes your training variables over time. This approach is consistently shown to produce better strength gains than non-periodized training, regardless of your experience level.

Achieving remission from type 2 diabetes through lifestyle intervention significantly reduces the long-term incidence of chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease compared to maintaining active diabetes.

Achieving remission from type 2 diabetes through intensive lifestyle changes—specifically significant weight loss, improved diet, and increased physical activity—substantially lowers your risk of developing kidney disease and heart problems over the long term. You do not need to maintain remission forever to gain these benefits; even short periods of remission are associated with significantly better health outcomes compared to staying in active diabetes.

Losing 5% or more of body weight within the first year following a type 2 diabetes diagnosis significantly reduces the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease events compared to maintaining weight.

If you were recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, aim to lose at least 5% of your body weight in the first year. This moderate loss is linked to a significantly lower risk of heart disease and stroke over the next decade. You don't need extreme measures; focusing on small, sustainable changes to your diet and activity levels can yield major long-term heart benefits.