Recruiting

Resistance TrainingEffects of Exercise Frequency on Muscle Size and Strength in Healthy, Untrained Young Adults

Sponsor:

Cameron Mitchell

Code:

NCT07760597

Conditions

Healthy Adult Male and Female Volunteers

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 19 - 39

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

10 sessions per week of resistance training

Two sessions per week of resistance training

Study Details

Brief summary:

Resistance training (RT) is important for building and maintaining healthy muscles. An exercise frequency called "exercise snacks" involves short bursts of exercise throughout the day (\~5-15 minutes), but no studies have examined a gym-based RT exercise snack program. The invetigators will randomize 40 participants into one of two groups for 10 weeks: the control group will complete two full-body workouts per week (standard-frequency) and the experimental group will complete 10 mini-workouts per week (high-frequency). Muscle hypertrophy (size) and strength will be measured before and after the exercise program to determine if the participants had the same or different results.

Conditions

Healthy Adult Male and Female Volunteers

Study ID

NCT07760597

Start date

Aug 12, 2026

Status verified date

Aug, 2026

Completion date

Jun, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 19 - 39

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

Can fluently read and write in English
Lives, works, and/or studies at or near the Gateway Health Building (where all study visits will occur)
Willing and able to commit to 2 or 10 in-person training sessions per week for 10 continuous weeks, as well as one week of testing before the training period and one week of testing after the training period
Has continuous access to smartphone or other device that they can use to access the Technogym app
Answers "No" to all questions on the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology - Get Active Questonnaire (CSEP-GAQ) or has their doctor's approval to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

Any major uncontrolled cardiovascular, muscular, metabolic, and/or neurological disorders
Lung disease, kidney disease, or liver disease
Current diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, or cancer
Medical conditions that limit their ability to undertake strenuous physical activity
Regular use of any medications that may affect muscle physiology or body composition (i.e. benzodiazepines, hormone replacement therapy, ADHD medication, Metformin, Ozempic)
Participated in consistent resistance exercise training more than twice per month in the previous 12 months
Participated in consistent moderate or vigorous aerobic training more than twice per week in the previous 12 months, or planning to start consistent training in the next few months
Significant gain or loss of body mass in the past 6 months (greater than 2 kg)
Current smoker (including but not limited to cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or vaping)
Body Mass Index of less than 18 kg/m2 or over 30 kg/m2
Pregnancy or breastfeeding
Currently taking blood thinners
Allergic to Tegaderm medical tape (used with the activity trackers)

Study Design

Enrollment

40 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Standard-frequency resistance training

experimental: High-frequency resistance training

Interventions

10 sessions per week of resistance training

Full-body resistance training consisting of 10 sets per week for all major muscle groups with progressive overload in a gym-based setting. Training at an exercise frequency of 10 brief sessions per week (around 8-12 minutes per session).

Two sessions per week of resistance training

Full-body resistance training consisting of 10 sets per week for all major muscle groups with progressive overload in a gym-based setting. Training at an exercise frequency of two sessions per week (around 45-60 minutes per session).

Primary outcome measure

Change in Total Body Skeletal Muscle Mass Measured using the D3-Creatine Dilution Method [ Time Frame: From enrolment (Week 1) to the end of the exercise training phase (Week 12) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Cameron Mitchell, PhD

604-827-2072 cameron.mitchell@ubc.ca

Locations

University of British Columbia | Gateway Health Building

Recruiting

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z1

Contacts

Cameron Mitchell, PhD

604-827-2072 cameron.mitchell@ubc.ca

hdennis@student.ubc.ca

More Information

Sponsor

Cameron Mitchell

Last update posted

Aug 13, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2026

Keywords

Exerise Snacks
Exercise Frequency
Resistance Training
Muscle Strength
Skeletal Muscle Enlargement
Exercise

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Cameron Mitchell on 2026-08-13.