Minimalist Muscle: How Little Exercise Do You Really Need for Strength and Health?
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A surprisingly small amount of resistance training—even just one or two workouts a week—can deliver significant gains in strength and overall health, challenging the common belief that building muscle requires hours at the gym.
Most Americans don’t incorporate regular strength training into their routines, often citing a lack of time as the primary barrier. But according to experts, this perception is largely a misconception. Many believe achieving results necessitates lengthy sessions working through a multitude of exercises, but emerging research suggests a “minimum dose” approach can be remarkably effective.
“They’re like ‘my God, I’m going to be in there for an hour and a half or longer,’” says an exercise physiologist at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, describing the common apprehension surrounding resistance training. This sentiment is driving a shift toward promoting more accessible and time-efficient workout strategies.
The Power of Less: Redefining Strength Training
The key to maximizing results with minimal time commitment lies in focusing on multi-joint exercises, also known as compound lifts. These movements, such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, row, and overhead press—or their machine-based alternatives—efficiently engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
A review of resistance training studies led researchers to conclude that beginners can experience substantial benefits from just one workout per week for the first three months. This routine should incorporate a handful of compound exercises, performing approximately one set of 6 to 15 repetitions for each movement.
“After that, if you have more time and want to get better, then work out twice a week, or move to two sets,” the researcher explained. While increasing the number of sets generally correlates with greater muscle growth, the relationship isn’t linear. “You see the biggest increase in the first few sets, and then you see it leveling off,” noted a professor of exercise science at Lehman College in the Bronx.
Finding Your Optimal Dose
While a minimalist strategy may not yield maximum strength or muscle mass, experts agree that “very good gains” and measurable health improvements are achievable with as little as one to one-and-a-half hours of training per week. A practical approach involves two 30-45 minute workouts, totaling 4 to 6 sets per muscle group throughout the week.
However, individual goals and responses will vary. Regardless of the specific routine, intensity is paramount. A U.K.-based exercise scientist emphasized that “effort is probably the more important determinant,” adding, “It should feel like it’s hard work to actually try and move that weight.”
In resistance training, effort is often gauged by proximity to failure—the point at which muscles are exhausted and unable to continue. While reaching complete failure isn’t necessary, working within a few repetitions of it can optimize results.
Long-Term Gains with Short Bursts
Remarkably, a large-scale study involving nearly 15,000 participants demonstrated the effectiveness of even shorter workouts. Participants followed a regimen of a handful of machine exercises just once a week for approximately 20 minutes. The results were striking: participants experienced a 30% to 50% increase in strength during the first year, with gains sustained—and even slightly improved—over a seven-year period.
The takeaway, according to the U.K.-based scientist, is clear: “You don’t need to spend hours working out, but you do need to be regular.” He concluded, “Pick a program that you enjoy, do it consistently. You still need to train hard. You can’t avoid it. But other than that, you have a lot of freedom.”
