At the top level, bodybuilders and powerlifters structure their whole lifestyle around training. They can ensure they cross their t’s and dot their i’s, and pay attention to every little detail, no matter how inconvenient it might be to the average person.
However, this same approach is unreasonable for the average lifter. Most lifters have to fight tooth-and-nail to fit workouts into their weekly schedule, much less find time to stay up-to-date with the scientific literature about details like nutrient timing.
If that sounds like you, we have you covered. In this newsletter, we’ll break down what you need to focus on to make gains, even in the busiest of times.
Fortunately, as we outlined in our e-books, the Art and Science of Lifting, you can probably get around 80% of possible gains with only 20% of the possible effort.
To build size, the main things to focus on are sufficient volume and proximity to failure.
As far as volume goes, the state of the literature suggests that doing more weekly sets will likely lead to more muscle growth (1). This appears to hold true all the way to 30+ weekly sets per muscle.
However, that doesn’t mean you need to do this many sets to see gains; just four sets per muscle group per week still tends to result in some growth. There are diminishing returns to volume for building muscle. So, if you only have a couple of hours a week, don’t hesitate to aim for only 10-15 weekly sets per muscle; you’ll still get great results. Doing more sets will net you more growth, but you can still make great gains with lower volumes.
When it comes to proximity to failure, you likely want to train pretty close to failure (2). Whether you need to train to failure isn’t clear yet. If you’re tight on time, you could simply take most sets to failure to cover your bases.
Other variables are much more flexible. While there are guidelines (see below), you can mostly pick the exercises you want, in a rep range you enjoy, follow a routine that fits your schedule, and take as much rest as you want between sets. It won’t make or break your progress.
Exercises – Pick exercises that are likely to be limited by the target muscle(s). To maximize your time savings, primarily focus on compound exercises, since they allow you to effectively train multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
Rep ranges – Mostly focus on sets of 5-10, because they’ll promote muscle growth while typically requiring shorter rest intervals than higher-rep sets. However, a much wider rep range (up to about 50 reps per set) can still be effective, so there’s nothing wrong with lighter, higher-rep training if you prefer it (3).
Routines – Any routines that allow you to train your muscles twice a week or more (1).
Rest times – You can use any rest time you’d like. If you take short rest times (i.e. <60 seconds), you may need more sets, and vice versa (4).
Progressive overload – Keep things challenging by adding weight and/or reps whenever you’re able to.
To get stronger, the main things to focus on are specificity and training heavy.
In contrast to training for size, you can maximize strength gains with only a handful of sets per week. In fact, you may even be able to see some strength gains with just one set per week! (1)
Likewise, if anything, you likely want to stay at least a couple of repetitions shy of failure – there’s no benefit to be gained, but training to failure can be more fatiguing. (2)
In contrast, specificity is huge (5). To get better at an exercise, you want to practice it as closely as possible. Want to improve your low-bar squat? Low-bar squat. Want to get better at high-rep pull-ups? Do high-rep pull-ups. There’s a time and a place for variation, but for performance, most of your training should mirror the outcome of interest.
In that same vein, if you want to get better at lifting heavy weights – improving your one-rep max for example – you’ll need to lift heavy (6). While any rep range will do for muscle growth, for maximal strength, specificity also applies to how heavy you go. Aim for mostly sets of 1-8 reps, adding weight week-to-week.
There may also be a slight benefit to higher frequencies for strength, specifically (1). For most, a full-body routine will work best. Likewise, to allow better recovery between sets, letting you lift more on each set, you’ll likely want to take slightly longer rest times (7).
Beyond these couple of principles, good, simple strength training will resemble heavy training for muscle growth. You can follow the same principles as above!
