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Those trying to become stronger by putting in extra hours at the gym may be getting it all wrong, according to new research.

Researchers have found that engaging your nerves could be more important to gaining strength than working out your muscles.

In the body, specialised nerves known as motor neurons relay signals from the brain to the muscle tissue, which allows us to choose when we flex our muscles.

Scientists have now found that some types of exercise engage the nerves surrounding our muscle tissue more than others.

They discovered that lifting heavy weights engages the nerve cells more than lifting light weights, even if you do far fewer reps.

Lifting heavy weights can induce nerves to carry more signals from the brain to the muscles, making muscles stronger, the researchers found.