A Review of Resistance Training-Induced Changes in Skeletal Muscle Protein Synthesis and Their Contribution to Hypertrophy

Muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is stimulated by resistance exercise (RE) and is further stimulated by protein ingestion. The summation of periods of RE-induced increases in MPS can induce hypertrophy chronically. As such, studying the response of MPS with resistance training (RT) is informative, as adaptations in this process can modulate muscle mass gain. Previous studies have shown that the amplitude and duration of increases in MPS after an acute bout of RE are modulated by an individual’s training status. Nevertheless, it has been shown that the initial responses of MPS to RE and nutrition are not correlated with subsequent hypertrophy. Thus, early acute responses of MPS in the hours after RE, in an untrained state, do not capture how MPS can affect RE-induced muscle hypertrophy. The purpose of this review is provide an in-depth understanding of the dynamic process of muscle hypertrophy throughout RT by examining all of the available data on MPS after RE and in different phases of an RT programme. Analysis of the time course and the overall response of MPS is critical to determine the potential protein accretion after an RE bout. Exercise-induced increases in MPS are shorter lived and peak earlier in the trained state than in the untrained state, resulting in a smaller overall muscle protein synthetic response in the trained state. Thus, RT induces a dampening of the MPS response, potentially limiting protein accretion, but when this occurs remains unknown.