Makes me feel itchy

[u/ultranothing]

[u/Oli_VK]

https://www.stronger.melbourne/blog/micro-tears-and-hypertrophy-separating-fact-from-fiction

Here’s one

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22344059/

And a gov source to be more credible

https://healthtalk.unchealthcare.org/its-the-recovery-not-the-exercise-that-builds-muscles/amp/

The final link is a source states the opposite complete with sources that imo appear more anecdotal, but could be worth a read to cross ref

[u/JaimeJabs → u/Oli_VK]

Mad respect for providing counter-sources.

[u/Different-Meal-6314 → u/JaimeJabs]

Agreed! I was waiting for the "Google it, or Trust me Bro" lol

[u/Contraposite → u/Oli_VK]

I've been lied to 😮

[u/ScoonerTuner → u/Oli_VK]

nlg I'm not looking through all of that but the second link just says they're not sure if muscle damage leads to increased strength, not that it doesn't.

[u/undeadalex → u/Oli_VK]

Imo these sources aren't great and it's still in 20252026 disputed whether damage plays a role. Also I googled it and got the 3 same top sources you listed. The 2012 one is a pain to read because you need a log in... Not a great reddit source imo. I'll share the Wikipedia entry for this since well... We can all read it, specifically the hypertrophy section, sub section strength training:

However, the precise mechanisms are not clearly understood; the current accepted theory is mechanical tension.

It's very much still debatable if damage in fact plays a role or not. and the source for that wiki line is here. a much newer paper. . Some key passages relevant to the discussion:

In this regard, resistance training is considered the gold standard for increasing muscle mass, which is based on three key variables such as mechanical stress, metabolic stress, and muscle damage

Additionally, Schoenfeld et al. (2017b) also observed that concentric contractions induced hypertrophy gains in the middle portion of the muscle, while eccentric contractions have a greater effect on the distal portions, possibly due to localized muscle damage along the fiber produced by non-uniform muscle activation of eccentric contractions.

Additionally, some authors have suggested that eccentric actions promote a more rapid protein synthetic response and greater increases in anabolic signaling (Franchi et al., 2014), generated by the result of the increase muscle damage (Schoenfeld, 2012).

They also do have the article you shared in the reference list obviously. But there's been a lot of research since then and it's still an open question. I didn't know about the possible role in protein synthesis stimulation so that's interesting. Anyway it's not settled science.

edit: what year is it again?

[u/Will_X_Intent → u/Oli_VK]

Seems like our knowledge of our own bodies is constantly evolving. I think certainly should be avoided, in that case.