You Have No Time to Lift? Here are Some Tips According to a New Study

Strength training increases muscular strength and hypertrophy, and provides numerous other positive health benefits, including improved functional ability, cardiometabolic risk profile and well-being. 

A lot of people refrain from performing strength training and other forms of exercise, and as much as a quarter of the world’s population are at risk for developing health-related conditions linked to inactivity.

That is why it is so important to find ways to engage more people in both daily-life physical activities and forms of exercise such as strength training. A lot of people complain about lack of time as a common barrier to engage in exercise.

Typical strength and hypertrophy training programs for untrained or intermediately trained healthy adults involves training all major muscle groups with 2-4 sets of 8-10 exercises for 3-12 repetitions with 2-5 minutes rest between sets, carried out 2-4 times per week. 

In a recent study, researchers aimed to synthesize the evidence as to how strength training can be programmed for optimum time-efficiency. 

Tips and Key Points Found 

• Do a minimum of 4 weekly sets per muscle group. 
• Strength training can be more time-efficient by prioritizing bilateral, multi-joint movements through a full range of motion with  ≥ 4 weekly sets per muscle group using a 6–15 RM loading range.
• Use loads corresponding to 6-15 repetitions, where the last few are a challenge to complete. 
• Examples of multi-joint movements: squats, bench press and barbell row. 
• Use machines and/or free weights based on training goals, availability and personal preference. 
• The use of supersets and drop sets cuts the training time in half while maintaining volume. 
• Avoid extensive warm-ups to a few repetitions with light loads before performing each exercise and skip stretching, which is not considered necessary for strength training. 

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Source:

Iversen VM, Norum M, Schoenfeld BJ, Fimland MS. No Time to Lift? Designing Time-Efficient Training Programs for Strength and Hypertrophy: A Narrative Review. Sports Med. 2021 Oct;51(10):2079-2095. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01490-1. Epub 2021 Jun 14. PMID: 34125411; PMCID: PMC8449772. 

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