How to spend 80% less time in the gym and get BETTER result…

First mistake:

Doing too many exercises.

All you need is:

- A squat or similar movement
- A hip hinge
- Vertical push
- Vertical pull
- Horizontal push
- Horizontal pull

Add in some calf work and ab work.

You don't need multiple exercises for each muscle group.

Some people do 3 or 4 different exercises for each of the above, e.g. a flat bench press, a decline bench press, a pushup, an incline dumbbell press... this is a waste of time.

All of those are using the same muscles and fall into the "horizontal pull" category.

All you need to do is pick ONE for each category and lift to failure with good form.

Reaching failure (or close) creates the stimulus for adaptation.

Adding more work does not increase this stimulus, it just adds more muscle damage that you've got to recover from.

The other mistake is that people do too many sets.

You've all seen the bros in the gym on chest day...

HAMMERING the chest with 5 sets of flat bench press, 5 sets of incline, 3 sets of decline, 5 sets of flyes...

This is just cutting into recovery and making results worse.

This study was a robust meta-analysis of lots of studies on the hypertrophy response to multiple sets.

It found that 2-3 sets adds about 40% more than a single set, but 4-6 sets does not add anything significant over 2-3 sets.

https://t.co/lOR3j5y6gG

The takeaway from this? Pick one exercise per muscle group and do 2-3 hard sets with good form and get out.

Just focucsing on 6 movements (plus some calves and abs if you wish) for 2-3 sets each is going to DRASTICALLY reduce your gym time.

"but what about working in different rep ranges?"

It makes no difference 👇

This study found no difference in strength or size gains for resistance trained men, based on the load used, as long as they worked to failure:

https://t.co/2RcUEUCFDf

Many other studies have found the same.

This one from @bradschoenfeld analysed 21 others and found that hypertrophy gains were similar across a huge range of rep ranges.

https://t.co/0wWmteeaEZ

@BradSchoenfeld That's already going to save you a ton of time.

The other big one is the number of workouts.

Most people are doing too many.

It generally requires AT LEAST 48 hours for muscles to be recovered - and for many people this could actually be more.

@BradSchoenfeld The science supports that 3x full body workouts on non consecutive days is enough, possibly leaving 72 hours between workouts, like this:

Day 1: Full body
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Rest:
Day 4: Full body
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Full body

@BradSchoenfeld This study found that only 20% of people had fully recovered after 48 hours:

https://t.co/PaHoAgbtM5

Even after 72 hours 63% of the subjects (trained men) were not recovered but the test had involved 12 sets to failure (strengthening the point about lots of sets being overkill)

@BradSchoenfeld In this study, 40% of the subjects (trained men between 18-30) were recovered after 48 hours and 80% after 72 hours.

https://t.co/gCLPu59z3P

When the test was increased from 3 sets to 7 sets, recovery was increased to 96 hours.

@BradSchoenfeld The above study also tested older men (50-65) and even after 96 hours 70% of these men were not fully recovered. If you're older, recovery becomes even more important.

@BradSchoenfeld Here's another study where 40% were recovered after 48 hours and 80% after 72 hours:

https://t.co/ooZ1RCujEI

@BradSchoenfeld An upper lower split may be preferable if you want to work out on consecutive days:

Day 1: Upper
Day 2: Lower
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Upper
Day 5: Lower
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Upper (or rest to make a 7 day cycle)

@BradSchoenfeld So the movements you need are:

Vertical pull
Vertical push
Horizontal pull
Horizontal push
Squat
Hip hinge

This will train pretty much everything.

2-3 sets of 1 exercise to failure, every 72 hours.

@BradSchoenfeld There's no need for isolation exercises for muscles already worked to failure by compound exercises - e.g. direct biceps exercises after chinups.

Here's a study showing that adding this isolation work after compounds made NO DIFFERENCE.

https://t.co/FRjuwc44OB

@BradSchoenfeld Caveats:

If your goal is simply hypertrophy and health benefits, this thread is all relevant.

If your goal is to move as much weight as possible in specific lifts, you need to train those lifts with a high load.

Lifting heavy weights is a skill. You need to practise that skill

@BradSchoenfeld I know people will be VERY adamant that they need 5 sets of 5 exercises 5 days a week or whatever... after all "that's what Jay Cutler/Kai Greene/whoever did, and they're beasts!"

Well SOME people are outliers, others are extreme outliers...

@BradSchoenfeld In all the studies looking at recovery time, there were a couple of people who recovered much quicker, and a couple who took much longer.

Also, just because something works, doesn't mean it's the BEST approach...

@BradSchoenfeld I know you made progress with lots of sets, but how do you know 2-3 sets wouldn't have worked just as well, or better?

Most people have only ever done multiple exercises for multiple sets. They learned it from X person, who learned it from Y person, who copied Arnold's routine.

@BradSchoenfeld Give this approach a try, then let me know how it feels.

Make sure you control the weight and use good form.

At least 3 seconds up and 3 seconds down on every rep (don't dismiss this).

USE LESS WEIGHT.

Guarantee you'll find these 2-3 sets harder than your usual 20!

@BradSchoenfeld My n=1 experience is that all of this works.

When my son was born and my job was busy, I was determined not to give up on working out.

I did the minimum, thinking I'd just slow the rate of my DEtraining....

@BradSchoenfeld What actually happened was my results got better!

At first I maintained my muscle while getting lean. This took around 6 months.

@BradSchoenfeld And then I continued to gain muscle once I started eating more food.

My training routine didn't change for a year. I was doing 3 or 4 workouts per week of 20-30 minutes each.

@BradSchoenfeld This has totally transformed my approach to training.

I now don't stress about missing workouts and I generally tend to work out for 60-80 minutes per week (instead of 4-5x that amount!)

This has given me far more time to spend with my family and focus on my business.

@BradSchoenfeld That's the end of this thread!

If you found this thread useful, please use this link to jump back to the top and give it a RT!

https://t.co/xu0aoTkcdM

How to spend 80% less time in the gym and get BETTER results for building muscle than you're getting now (SERIOUSLY)

Backed up by science.

Thread \U0001f447 pic.twitter.com/acet1Hscbr
— Rob - Nothing Barred Fitness (@Rob_NBF) August 24, 2022

@BradSchoenfeld P.S. You can get my program with the full blueprint of what I did to get lean & build muscle with 20 minute workouts!

Options for your desired frequency, gym+home, nutrition +more!

Was $150, now just $47 (for 24 hours only!)

See the contents here 👇

https://t.co/jAlDkEgbZ9

How to spend 80% less time in the gym and get BETTER results for building muscle than you're getting now (SERIOUSLY)

Backed up by science.

Thread 👇

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How to spend 80% less time in the gym and get BETTER results for building muscle than you're getting now (SERIOUSLY)Backed up by science.Thread 👇

More from Learning

You May Also Like

How to spend 80% less time in the gym and get BETTER results for building muscle than you're getting now (SERIOUSLY)

Backed up by science.

Thread 👇