How to Build More Muscle in Less Time (11 Hacks)

Summary

This video offers 10 time-saving techniques to build muscle efficiently, even with a busy schedule. Key tips include drop sets, paired supersets, shorter rest times, effective warm-ups, and focusing on the stretch during exercises. These methods help maximize muscle growth while cutting down workout duration. Additional tips include using time-efficient compound movements, exercise snacks (mini workouts), and optimizing workout structure. The video emphasizes that even just a few hours of weekly training can deliver significant health benefits. Practical applications for these strategies are provided to enhance workout routines.

Takeaways

• 💪 **Drop Sets**: Performing drop sets can lead to similar muscle growth in 30-70% less time compared to traditional sets.
• 🤸‍♂️ **Paired Supersets**: Pairing supersets can save up to 40-50% of workout time while promoting muscle growth.
• ⏱️ **Rest Times**: Resting for 1-2 minutes between sets is sufficient for muscle growth; shorter rest periods can significantly reduce workout duration.
• 🔥 **Improved Warm-up**: A heavy set of 1-3 reps can be an effective warm-up, potentially saving 10-20 minutes compared to longer warm-ups.
• 🌟 **Focus on the Stretch**: Emphasizing the stretch in exercises can enhance muscle growth without additional time.
• 🏋️‍♂️ **Make Each Set Count**: Training to failure can increase muscle growth by around 30% without added time.
• 📊 **Gauge Failure Accurately**: Most people underestimate their capacity by one rep; sticking to sets of 6-12 reps can help train closer to failure.
• 🔧 **Time-Efficient Exercises**: Compound, stack-loaded, machine, or dumbbell exercises are more time-efficient for muscle building.
• 🍔 **Exercise Snacks**: Breaking workouts into mini sessions or 'snacks' can fit training into busy schedules.
• 🏃‍♂️ **Workout Structure**: Saving the most demanding exercises for last can reduce the impact of fatigue on the rest of the workout.

Q & A

What is the main benefit of drop sets according to the meta-analysis by K and colleagues?

Drop sets can offer the same muscle growth in 30 to 70% less time compared to traditional sets, but may require an additional 30% sets.

How do you perform a drop set effectively?

Start with a weight you can lift for about 5 to 15 reps before failure, then reduce the weight by 20% without resting and continue until you reach the target number of sets.

What is a paired superset and how does it save time?

A paired superset involves doing two exercises targeting different muscle groups back to back, allowing you to save time by utilizing the rest period of one exercise for the other.

How can reducing rest times between sets impact muscle growth?

Resting for just 1 to 2 minutes between sets is enough to maximize muscle building, potentially cutting down workout time significantly.

Why might improving your warm-up routine save time during workouts?

A heavy set of 1 to 3 reps with 70 to 90% of your max may be enough to warm up, saving time compared to longer warm-ups.

What does the research suggest about focusing on the stretch during exercises?

Focusing on the stretch can increase muscle growth without costing additional time by ensuring a good stretch under resistance.

How can making each set count help in saving time at the gym?

Training to failure or using techniques like lengthened super sets can increase muscle growth per set, making each set more effective.

What is the importance of choosing the right number of reps per set for time efficiency?

Sticking to sets of 6 to 12 reps can help train closer to failure, which is important for muscle growth, and allows for more sets in less time.

Why are compound exercises recommended for time-efficient workouts?

Compound exercises train many muscles at once, involving a larger fraction of the body's muscle mass, making them more time efficient.

What is the concept of exercise snacks and how can they fit into a busy schedule?

Exercise snacks involve breaking down workouts into mini workouts that can be done in spare minutes, fitting into a busy schedule more easily.

How can the workout structure impact the effectiveness of a session?

Saving the most demanding exercises for last can prevent excessive fatigue from slowing down the rest of the workout.

What is the minimum amount of exercise recommended for health benefits according to the studies mentioned?

Studies suggest that 2.5 to 5 hours of vigorous physical activity per week can provide nearly all the health benefits.

Outlines

00:00

💪 Maximizing Muscle Growth with Time-Saving Techniques

This paragraph introduces ten techniques that can help save time in the gym while still promoting muscle growth. It emphasizes the effectiveness of drop sets, which can yield similar muscle growth results in significantly less time compared to traditional sets. The method involves performing a set to near failure, then reducing the weight by 20% and continuing until the target number of sets is reached. The paragraph also discusses paired supersets, which involve doing two exercises targeting different muscle groups back-to-back with minimal rest, potentially saving up to 50% of workout time. Additionally, it suggests optimizing rest times between sets, improving warm-up routines to be more efficient, and focusing on the stretch to enhance muscle stimulation without adding extra time.

05:01

🏋️‍♂️ Time-Efficient Exercises and Workout Snacks

The second paragraph delves into the importance of making each set count when time is limited, suggesting techniques like lengthened supersets and training to failure to maximize muscle growth without extra time investment. It also touches on the value of sticking to sets of 6 to 12 reps for better failure estimation and efficiency. The concept of time-efficient exercises is explored, advocating for compound movements that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously. The paragraph introduces 'exercise snacks,' which are short, intense workouts done throughout the day to accumulate muscle-building stimulus. Lastly, it advises structuring workouts to save the most demanding exercises for the end to minimize their impact on rest times and overall workout duration.

10:02

🚴‍♂️ Balancing Busy Schedules with Effective Workouts

The final paragraph reassures viewers that even with a busy schedule, it's possible to achieve significant health benefits and muscle growth with a limited amount of exercise time. It references a study indicating that as little as 2.5 to 5 hours per week of vigorous activity can lead to substantial health improvements. The paragraph concludes with a recommendation for an app called 'myadapt' designed for time-crunched individuals seeking efficient workout routines and a promotional offer for Rascal apparel, which is highlighted as durable and squat-proof gym wear. The presenter summarizes the video's key points and provides a comprehensive guide for applying the discussed techniques to maximize muscle growth in minimal time.

Keywords

💡Drop Sets

Drop sets refer to a training technique where the weight is reduced after reaching failure in a set, allowing the individual to continue performing additional sets without rest. This method is highlighted in the video as a time-efficient way to stimulate muscle growth, as it can offer similar results in 30-70% less time compared to traditional sets. The script mentions that for most exercises, doing four sets with drop sets can be beneficial, as it keeps the weight decent even in the last set.

💡Paired Supersets

Paired supersets involve performing two exercises back-to-back that target different muscle groups, allowing one set to rest while the other is being worked. This concept is presented in the video as a way to save up to 40-50% of workout time. For instance, the script suggests doing a set of barbell curls followed by a set of barbell overhead extensions with minimal rest in between.

💡Rest Times

Rest times are the intervals between sets in a workout. The video emphasizes that resting for just 1-2 minutes between sets is sufficient for muscle growth, which contrasts with the longer rest periods many people take. This advice can significantly reduce workout duration, especially for those who previously rested for 3-5 minutes between sets.

💡Warm-up Routine

A warm-up routine prepares the body for more intense physical activity. The video suggests that a heavy set of 1-3 repetitions with 70-90% of one's max can be an effective warm-up for muscle-building workouts, potentially saving 10-20 minutes compared to longer warm-ups. This is supported by recent studies that indicate a shorter warm-up can be just as effective.

💡Stretch

Focusing on the stretch in an exercise involves performing movements that provide a good stretch on the target muscle under resistance. The video suggests that this technique can increase muscle growth without additional time, as it ensures all muscle fibers receive a great stimulus. An example given is performing half-reps in the stretch position after reaching failure.

💡Lengthened Super Set

A lengthened super set is a technique where full reps are performed until failure, followed by half-reps in the stretch position until no more stretch reps can be completed. This method is mentioned in the video as a way to increase muscle growth by 40% in the calves, as demonstrated in a study comparing this technique to doing just full reps.

💡Training to Failure

Training to failure means continuing a set until no more repetitions can be performed. The video cites a meta-analysis suggesting that training to failure can increase muscle growth by around 30% compared to stopping at four reps. This technique is recommended as it can boost growth substantially without any additional time cost.

💡Time-Efficient Exercises

Time-efficient exercises are those that maximize muscle engagement in the least amount of time. The video recommends compound, stack-loaded, machine, or dumbbell exercises as they allow training many muscles at once and can be started quickly. This is particularly beneficial for those short on time, as it can help to optimize workouts.

💡Exercise Snacks

Exercise snacks refer to breaking down traditional workouts into mini workouts or 'snacks' that can be done throughout the day. This concept is suggested for those with busy schedules or home gyms, allowing for quick sets of exercises in between other activities. Examples include doing push-ups, pistol squats, or single-leg calf raises whenever time permits.

💡Workout Structure

Workout structure refers to the order and arrangement of exercises in a training session. The video advises saving the most demanding exercises for last to avoid being winded for the rest of the workout. This strategy can be effective for high rep compound training or drop sets, ensuring that the most intense training is completed early.

Highlights

You can build muscle in less time by applying specific techniques.

Drop sets can offer the same muscle growth in 30 to 70% less time compared to traditional sets.

To maximize drop sets' effect, perform an additional 30% sets.

Pairing supersets can save up to 40% workout time while maintaining muscle growth.

Supersets involve doing two exercises back-to-back targeting different muscle groups.

Rest times between sets can be reduced to 1-2 minutes for optimal muscle building.

Shortening rest times can significantly cut down workout duration.

A concise warm-up routine can be sufficient for maximizing performance.

Focusing on the stretch can increase muscle growth without additional time.

Make each set count by training to failure or using techniques like lengthened supersets.

Training with heavier weights and fewer reps can help train closer to failure.

Compound exercises are more time-efficient as they target multiple muscle groups.

Exercise snacks involve breaking workouts into mini sessions throughout the day.

Structuring workouts to save the most demanding exercises for last can reduce rest times.

Even a few hours of hard training per week can provide significant health benefits.

The video provides a comprehensive program to maximize muscle growth in less time.

Rascal apparel is recommended for durable gym clothing.

Transcripts

you can still build muscle even if

you're short on time in fact by applying

these 10 techniques you could save time

in the gym and build more muscle than

you currently are at the end of the

video I'll show you a way to apply them

to your program for maximum benefit

first drop sets the biggest meta

analysis on drop sets by K and

colleagues suggests that drop sets can

offer the same muscle growth in a

whopping 30 to 70% less time compared to

just doing traditional sets the catch is

that to get the same effect you might

need to do additional 30% sets or so so

if you'd usually do three straight sets

on an exercise you might need to do

around four instead here's how to do a

drop set pick A8 you can do for about 5

to 15 reps before hitting failure do a

set and get pretty close to failure I

recommend ending the set when you're not

quite at failure but could have done

another two rep stops without resting

reduce the weight by

20% do another set

immediately you should get at least five

reps and go a bit closer to failure this

time drop the weight by another 20%

again again get at least five reps do

this as many times as required to hit

the target number of sets I like doing

four sets total for most exercises as

you'll still be using a decent weight

even on the fourth drop set the benefit

of drop sets may have to do with the

fact that during each drop set you're

training close to failure each rep you

perform since you're close to failure

all muscle fibers are probably receiving

a great stimulus the second timesaver is

paired Su sets we recently published a

new study in trained lifters finding

that using sup sets can help you shave

up to 40% from your workout time while

causing the same muscle growth three

previous Studies have found similar

growth while sometimes saving up to 50%

of Time how do you do a paired superset

take two exercises that Target different

areas of the body an easy way to achieve

this is to pick two muscles that perform

OPP functions the chest and the back the

biceps and the triceps or the quads and

the

handstands you get the idea you can also

pick two muscle groups that are simply

distinct like the cabs and abs for

example but let's use the barbell curl

and the barbell overhead extension as an

example do a set of bbell curls rest for

about 30 to 45 seconds then go ahead and

do a set of barbell overhead extensions

rest for another 30 to 45 seconds then

do another set of borrow curls and so

forth until all your sets are done the

term superpets just refers to doing two

exercises back to back superpets allow

you to save time by combining two

exercises and the time you'd be spending

just resting for one exercise anyways

since different muscles are being

targeted in the two exercises you can

utilize the rest time to get more

training in cutting down on training

Time by up to 40 to 50% third rest times

we conducted the biggest metanalysis on

rest times for building muscle muscle

and found that resting for just 1 to 2

minutes between sets on average was

enough to maximize muscle building most

people rest quite a bit longer than this

but there's a chance they're just

wasting time instead try resting for

about a minute between isolation

movements and around 2 minutes for

compound movements this can often cut

down in your workout time by a

surprising amount especially if you were

previously resting for 3 to 5 minutes

between sets fourth improve your warm-up

routine

many people spend 10 to 30 minutes

warming up before doing their actual

first training set unless you're dealing

with an injury and a medical

professional gave you a specific warm-up

routine to complete you don't need that

much of a warmup in fact when looking at

six of the most recent studies on

warming up before doing a traditional

hypertrophy workout of multiple sets of

6 to 12 reps on different movements one

thing became clear you don't need a long

warmup to maximize performance instead a

single reasonably heavy set of one to

three repetitions with 70 to 90% of your

max may be enough to maximize

performance some research suggests that

proceeding that with a set of 4 to eight

repetitions at around 40% of your max

may help a bit more but if you're

already pretty warm and just going from

one movement to the next a set up 1 to

three with 70 to 90% of your max could

be all you need to get your muscle

building workout started this could save

10 to 20 minutes from your workout no

problem my fifth tip is focusing on the

stretch the time savings Priceless on a

serious note the research thus suggests

that focusing on the stretch can

increase your muscle growth without

costing any additional time a couple

dozen studies now have compared focusing

on the stretch to not focusing on the

stretch to focus on the stretch simply

perform movements that provide a good

stretch on the target muscle under

resistance make sure you don't skimp on

that position either you can either use

a full range of motion or even do half

reps in the stretch position this will

likely help you build more muscle in the

same amount of time in fact a recent

study we did compared doing just full

reps on the single leg calf ra to doing

a technique I call the lengthened super

set in a lengthened super set you do

full reps until you can't get another

rep then extend the set by doing half

reps in the stretch position until you

can't get another stretch rep we found

40% more growth in the calves when doing

these forced lengthened half reps and

this brings me to tip number six make

each set count if you only have a few

hours to be in the gym each week you

need to make sure each set is as good as

it gets I just mentioned lengthen super

sets which are a way to train past

failure but even just taking a set to

failure will likely make the set build

more muscle with no additional time cost

the most recent met analysis on training

to failure by Robinson and colleagues

found that taking a set to failure could

increase musle muscle growth by around

30% compared to taking it to just four

reps in a tank so training just a bit

harder could boost your growth

substantially without any additional

time cost a great way to make it easier

to go close to failure is to go heavier

which is my next tip for time saving we

conducted the biggest meta analysis yet

on how accurate people are at gauging

failure for example if I told you I

thought I could do another three reps

before hitting failure how accurate

would I be in my prediction on average

well according to our review paper

people underestimate themselves by one

rep on average however when you perform

High rep training much above 12 reps per

set you become way way less accurate and

start training less hard sticking to

sets of flat to 12 reps can help you

train closer to failure which is

important additionally most people can

squeeze in more sets this way the sets

are shorter than if you did Endless reps

and you might find you need less rest

between sets too this is especially true

for exercises like squats and in fact

that brings me to my next tip pick time

efficient exercises fortunately myap

does all this for you if you're short on

time it will give you the most time

efficient exercises possible if you're

busy and don't have much time to train I

think you'll love my adapt myapt is the

smallest training app out there soon to

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launches by signing up early you'll

receive a lifetime discount SK as myop

knows the most time efficient exercises

are usually compound stack loaded

machine or dumbbell exercises why

compound or multi-joint movements allow

you to train many muscles at once in

moving several joints at once they

involve a larger fraction of your body's

muscle mass in fact a metanalysis on

studies comparing isolation and compound

movements found that they were similarly

effective for building muscle dumbbell

and machine movements are generally more

time efficient than their barbell and

plate loed machine counter ports instead

of setting up a barbell loading up the

plates Etc stack loaded machines and

dumbbells allow you to get started very

quickly and then the exercise very

quickly as well depending on what your

gym is like you should also consider

which pieces of equipment tend to be the

busiest if your chest press machine is

always busy but the dumbbells and

benches are always free you should

prioritize dumbbell pressing tip number

nine is called exercise snacks the

concept of exercise snacks is to break

down traditional longer workouts into

bite-sized mini workouts hence the term

Stacks this can work really well if you

have a home gym just a pair of

adjustable dumbbells or even just like

using body weight exercises as

calisthetics athletes will love to tell

you there are many solid body weight

exercises out there that can build a lot

of muscle whenever you get a spare

minute like in between work meetings try

pumping out a set of any exercise

since you're just doing one set you can

cut out the rest time commitment too and

could be done in just 30 to maybe 60

seconds granted this would be a bit

difficult if you work an office job but

working from home it's totally an option

I find it very convenient to do a few

sets right before showering this allows

me to sneak in some extra training into

especially busy days plus I get the

shower off and sweat

afterwards some of my favorite movements

are push-ups especially with deficit

handles pistol squats squats and

single leg calf raises our final tip is

about walkout structure if you do really

hard training early into a walkout like

high rep squats for example you can end

up really winded for the rest of the

walkout which can cause you to take

longer rest times instead when you train

save some of your hardest training the

stuff that gases you at the most and has

the greatest card your respiratory

demands for last this could be some high

rep compound training like high rep

squats or it could be a drop set in Just

2 to 3 minutes you've gotten a lot of

effective training in and since you're

leaving the gym in a second anyways

breathing heavy afterwards isn't the big

deal and won't slow you down for the

rest of the workout since you stuck with

me until the end of the video let me

give you one final tip or rather let me

be the bearer of good news if you're

busy and worried that a lack of time to

exercise is negatively impacting your

health don't worry the biggest studies

we have on how much exercise you need to

really get health healthy suggest that

you can get nearly all the health

benefits in just a few hours of hard

training each week for example a huge

cohort study in over 100,000 American

adults published in the circulation

Journal found that the nearly maximal

reduction in overall mortality risk was

achieved with Just 2 and 1/2 to 5 hours

of vigorous physical activity not

accounting for any other physical

activity you might do in your leisure

time like the occasional walk even if

you only get a few hours to work out

each week not only can you make solid

physique gains but you can also still

take care of your health if you want to

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applying these techniques for maximum

benefit Dr mil wolf maximizing growth in

less time we're out