The SIMPLEST Way To GAIN MUSCLE (ft Dr. Brad Schoenfeld)
Summary
TLDRIn this discussion, Dr. Brad Shernfeld, a renowned expert in muscle growth research, delves into the concept of minimum effective dose training. He addresses the common misconception that extreme training volumes are necessary for significant muscle gains, emphasizing that for most people, a more moderate approach is both effective and time-efficient. Dr. Shernfeld shares insights on how individuals can achieve substantial muscle growth with single-set training, approximately 10 sets per muscle group per week, and how supersets can be a strategic time-saving method. He also discusses the importance of understanding individual responses to training and the role of science in refining training techniques without drastically altering the fundamental principles.
Takeaways
- 🏋️♂️ The majority of people are not aiming to be bodybuilders; they seek moderate muscle growth, strength, and health.
- 🧐 Dr. Brad Shanfeld emphasizes that for most, a minimalist approach to training can yield substantial muscle gains without excessive time investment.
- 🔍 Research suggests that single-set training, done three times a week, can maximize muscle growth for many individuals.
- 🤔 There's a genetic variability in how individuals respond to training; some may require more volume to see substantial gains.
- 🕒 Time efficiency is crucial for adherence to exercise routines; shorter, more intense workouts can be effective for most.
- 🏋️♀️ A 'sweet spot' for training volume to achieve a visibly muscular physique without becoming a 'mass monster' is about 10 sets per muscle group per week.
- ⏱️ Supersets can be an effective strategy to save time in the gym while still achieving significant muscle growth.
- 📊 A recent study indicates that supersets, with minimal rest between exercises, can lead to similar muscular adaptations as traditional sets but in less time.
- 🔄 There's a misconception that scientific recommendations for muscle growth change frequently; however, the fundamentals have remained consistent over the years.
- 📉 Dr. Shanfeld's views have evolved, particularly regarding the effectiveness of higher rep ranges for muscle hypertrophy, which was previously undervalued.
- 💪 Training to failure is not necessary for muscle growth; most people can make gains stopping two to three reps short of failure.
Q & A
What is the main topic of discussion between Dr. Pack and Dr. Brad Shanfeld?
-The main topic of discussion is the concept of minimum effective dose training and how little one needs to do to achieve solid hypertrophy or muscle growth, especially for those not aiming to be bodybuilders.
What does Dr. Brad Shanfeld suggest as a general guideline for most people to make substantial muscle gains?
-Dr. Brad Shanfeld suggests that a majority of people can make substantial gains with single set training, three times a week, amounting to an hour to an hour and a half of training.
How does Dr. Brad Shanfeld define 'responders' and 'poor responders' in the context of muscle training?
-In the context of muscle training, 'responders' are individuals who achieve muscle growth with relatively less training volume, while 'poor responders' require more volume to achieve similar results.
What is the significance of the study on supersets mentioned by Dr. Brad Shanfeld?
-The study on supersets is significant because it suggests that supersets can be an effective strategy to save time while achieving similar muscular adaptations, strength, and hypertrophy as traditional sets, with the superset group taking almost 40% less time to complete workouts.
What is the recommended training frequency per muscle group according to Dr. Brad Shanfeld?
-Dr. Brad Shanfeld recommends a minimum of two days a week of training for basic gains, with three days potentially yielding better results, depending on individual goals.
How does Dr. Brad Shanfeld view the importance of rest periods in muscle training?
-Dr. Brad Shanfeld suggests that rest periods are often overemphasized. His research indicates that after 90 seconds, there's no significant difference in muscle growth, and even 60 seconds isn't much different from 90 seconds for most people.
What has been Dr. Brad Shanfeld's opinion shift on repetition ranges for muscle hypertrophy?
-Dr. Brad Shanfeld's opinion has shifted to acknowledge that one can train across a wide spectrum of loading ranges, from 5 to 30+ reps, to achieve similar whole muscle hypertrophy, contrary to his earlier belief that higher reps were ineffective for muscle building.
What is Dr. Brad Shanfeld's stance on training to failure for muscle growth?
-Dr. Brad Shanfeld's stance is that most people can make gains stopping two to three reps short of failure, and for those looking to optimize results, selective use of failure training might still be beneficial.
How does Dr. Brad Shanfeld perceive the stability of fundamental muscle growth principles over the past 15 years?
-Dr. Brad Shanfeld perceives the fundamental principles of muscle growth to be relatively stable over the past 15 years, with most changes being minor tweaks rather than major overhauls, and that the basics are still very effective.
What is the role of science in optimizing muscle training according to Dr. Brad Shanfeld?
-According to Dr. Brad Shanfeld, science plays a crucial role in optimizing muscle training, especially for those looking to take their bodies to their ultimate potential. However, for most people, the basic principles are sufficient to achieve their goals.
Outlines
💪 Optimal Training for Maximal Muscle Growth
Dr. Brad Shernfield discusses the concept of minimum effective dose training for muscle growth. He emphasizes that most people are not aiming to be bodybuilders but rather want to achieve a moderate level of muscularity and strength. Dr. Shernfield suggests that single-set training, done three times a week, can yield significant results for most individuals, allowing them to reach over 50% of their genetic potential. However, he acknowledges that there are individual differences, with some requiring more volume to see substantial gains. The conversation also touches on the idea that for those not aiming for extreme muscularity, the focus should be on time efficiency and achieving 'mod gains'.
🏋️♂️ Training Nuances and Their Impact on Gains
The conversation delves into the nuances of training that people often overthink, such as training frequency and rest periods. Dr. Shernfield argues that the focus on these details is often exaggerated, especially for those not aiming to be bodybuilders. He mentions a meta-analysis on rest periods, indicating that beyond 90 seconds, there's little difference in muscle growth, suggesting that shorter rest periods are acceptable for most. The discussion also addresses the misconception that scientific recommendations change frequently, with Dr. Shernfield asserting that the fundamentals of effective training have remained consistent over the past 15 years.
📚 Science and Flexibility in Training Approaches
Dr. Shernfield shares his evolving views on training, particularly regarding repetition ranges and training to failure. He admits that his stance has shifted from the belief that high repetitions were ineffective for muscle building to recognizing that a wide range of repetitions can yield similar results. He also discusses the importance of training to failure, suggesting that for most people, stopping two to three reps short of failure is sufficient. The dialogue highlights the flexibility that science offers in training approaches and how it can be adapted to individual goals and circumstances.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Minimum Effective Dose Training
💡Hypertrophy
💡Genetic Potential
💡Training Volume
💡Supersets
💡Exercise Adherence
💡Repetitions
💡Rest Periods
💡Failure Training
💡Science of Training
💡Limb Muscle Length
Highlights
Discussion on minimum effective dose training for muscle growth and its relevance to the general population.
The majority of people are not aiming for bodybuilding levels but rather moderate muscle gains and health.
A single set training routine three times a week can yield significant muscle gains for most people.
The concept of individual response variability to training volume and the need for personalization.
The effectiveness of 10 sets per muscle group per week for the majority, as a time-efficient approach.
The potential of supersets to save time while maintaining muscle adaptation and strength.
A recent study indicating that supersets can lead to similar hypertrophy results in 40% less time.
The importance of training intensity and being intentional in the gym for time-efficient workouts.
The myth of needing to train each muscle group more than once a week for basic gains.
The overemphasis on rest periods and the finding that over 90 seconds sees minimal gains.
The idea that making substantial muscle gains is not as complex as it's often made out to be.
The shift in understanding about training to failure and its impact on muscle growth.
The role of science in refining training approaches and the importance of seeking truth in training optimization.
The flexibility that science has introduced to training, allowing for a broader spectrum of effective methods.
The significance of training volume in relation to individual goals and the diminishing returns as one approaches their genetic potential.
The common misconceptions about the frequency of significant changes in exercise science recommendations.
The evolution of views on repetition ranges and the evidence supporting a wide spectrum of effective rep counts for hypertrophy.
The potential benefits of lung muscle training for the average individual and those with joint issues.
Transcripts
[Music]
doctor pack here real doctor with
another fellow doctor at arguably the
medical center of New York here I AG
your house Dr Brad shanfeld thank you
for being on the channel and I want to
talk specifically about minimum
effective dose training and essentially
have somebody who is known for
maximizing adaptation maximizing
hypertrophy maximizing muscle growth
looking into the research and actually
producing much of the research around
maximizing muscle growth and just hear
from you and have people here from an
expert who's focused on the maximization
side of things how little does one need
to make solid hypertophy Gates and is
that really the case even for those that
are trying to get really jacked it it's
a great question a great topic because
the vast majority of people are not
looking to be bodybuilders or or even to
optimize their muscularity they're
looking to get some muscle looking to
get some strength and they want to be
healthy and for the vast majority of
people the the type of stuff that I do
is just not within their purview that
they don't really care about that they
just want a a more moderate G word they
don't they don't aspire to get those
gains they're looking for mod gains but
time is of a much greater Essence to
them and uh they're not going to want to
spend the time or the effort to do what
what it takes to optimize results mhm
and how much would you say a regular
person would need to do in order to make
substantial gains and get pretty jacked
obviously it doesn't need to be the
lowest amount they can do to make some
solid gains but what is a sweet spot as
far as trading volume goes and just some
general recommendations for somebody who
wants to look visibly more jacked not
necessarily become a mass monster or
absolutely maximize or at least make a
safe bed and maximizing their true
potential but what's the the least they
could do and still end up being jacked
yeah so when I'm answering a question
like that I have to speak in
generalities CU there's a lot of
interindividual responses that need to
be taken into account probably a
majority of people can get a majority of
their gains doing single set training
three times a week two three times a
week so anywhere between an hour to an
hour and a half a week of training they
can make when I say a majority certainly
more than 50% of their genetic potential
now I I will also say with that that
there are respond responders and poor
responders so those who are poor
responders generally do better or they
will need more volume to bring that up
uh so there are people that if they did
that routine they would not make
substantial gains and that's going to be
a we determine on an individual basis
yeah I would even go as far as to argue
that 10 sets per muscle group per week
for the majority of people is not really
that much volume to do and you can get
it done in a relatively time efficient
way if you're aware of your surroundings
and you're int intentional your training
well I I would agree with that but then
it depends on how much time do you want
to allocate so some people only have an
hour hour and a half or I should say
they perceive they only have that they
only want to allocate that amount and
that if you tell them when you start
talking about 10 sets they're going to
be in the gym for several hours a week
and that could be four probably around
four or five hours a week when you're
talking that type of and that could be
problematic for some people as you know
uh time is considered a primary barrier
to uh exercise adherance however the
great doctors here at Leman College uh
recently AKA today pre-printed a brand
new study on supersets um and how that
affected hypertrophy so can supersets be
a potential strategy for people to not
only hit that minimum effective dose
with effective being relative to the
individual and obviously some adjustment
needed but um are super a potential game
Cher for people yeah Game Changer is a
strong word but I I mean certainly it's
a strategy that can really help to save
time and as our study indicated really
all the muscular adaptation strength um
obviously hypertrophy muscle endurance
and even power were very similar uh
between conditions between Su set group
and the uh traditional set group and the
superet group was almost 40% less time
that he took to to finish the workouts
so uh maybe game changers isn't even too
strong word that it certainly can make a
huge difference in the amount of time
allocated and that gives you the ability
to add in more sets particularly for
those quote unquote who are poor
responders uh they can get more volume
in in similar time and yeah cuz we we
specifically looked at Super sets that
uh took about 20 seconds to go from uh
one exercise to the other and it was
Agonist antagonist super sets um and
then a couple of minutes break between
each superet which can then be tailored
to the preference of each individual
correct but overall it does seem that
making really really solid gains doesn't
is not really rocket science no so I've
always said that uh if you want to just
get a good physique uh and gain some
strength look good feel good get good
health benefits really minimum dose
training is extremely effective uh and
unless you are really looking to be a
bodybuilder to optimize you know be one
of these people who wants to optimize
every Morel muscle you can build that's
when the nuances of training become more
important so you you can reach you know
it's always difficult to put an exact
percentage on it but let's say 3/4 of
your potential or so fairly minimalistic
routines now it it kind of goes
up quickly where you get a lot of the
gains very quickly and then kind of
tapers off so you need somewhat more and
more the the higher you want to go the
more in depth you need
to uh or the more Focus you need to have
on the nuances of training to really
take your body to its ultimate level
yeah that makes sense and what do you
think are some of the nuances that
people tend to overthink or at least
perceive as oh I saw this brand new
study by Dr Sean F's lab or this is the
the new technique people that are
talking about and they tend to over
focus on relatively minute details that
mostly uh cater to those who want to
optimize and I mean virtually all the
variables so for for instance uh
frequency you know do you need two days
a week or one day a week if there is a
benefit to doing more than one day a
week per muscle group so not you do need
to I should clarify when I say two days
a week that would be of per muscle group
so certainly I would think a minimum of
two days a week of training for basic
gains probably three would be get you
somewhat better results depending on
your your goals there but uh how many
times a week should you train a muscle
grou maybe two would get you slightly
more results but the focus on that is I
I think way over blown I think it's very
minimal um the uh another one that's
really I think overblown is rest periods
we just came out with a a mate analysis
on that Mike do you need 2 minutes 3
minutes and basically the M analysis
that we uh carried out showed really
over 90 seconds you're getting uh
there's no really no differences and
even with 60 seconds wasn't that big a
difference from 90 seconds so again from
a minimalistic standpoint you might
sacrifice some gains but if you're not
looking at bodybuild I don't think it's
going to be appreciable enough to be
meaningful for the majority of people
yeah I'm full full on I'm fully behind
you on that and it's something that
intuitively made sense especially if
you're training with a high intensity of
effort and you're consistent um another
thing that I wanted to touch on is um
there's this misconception that
science constantly changes with the
recommendations and the way things are
supposed to be done which I feel is a a
very bad uh stra man that is not really
based on much what do you think has
really really changed in terms of
fundamentals for muscle growth in the
past let's say 15 years or so because
you've been doing research for how many
years now a lot of years a lot more than
15 so I I think it then comes down to
what your consideration is of of change
so I'll give you a few um my opinion has
shifted 180 degrees on um repetition so
I I was trained as a upand cominging
sports scientist on The Concept that if
you did more than 12 to 15 reps you were
basically doing glorified cardio and
that you're not going to build muscle
you're not going to activate and and
recruit all the highest threshold mod
units which are attached to the type two
fibers and over the past 15 or so years
there's now been compelling evidence I
mean where I there's few things that I
have I'm very confident in saying but
this certainly is one that you can train
across a very wide spectrum of loading
ranges uh anywhere between let's say 5
to 30 plus reps and get similar whole
muscle hypertrophy there's nothing wrong
with sticking with that hypertrophy Zone
that the majority of body bus do but to
say that doing higher reps is not going
to get hyperjoy it's been I think
undeniably refuted and and it opens up
the possibility I think one of the real
important factors that comes out of is
for people that have joy related issues
older individuals in particular where
they have difficulty with osteoarthritis
and other uh issues that it really can
be a very effective tool failure
training again so depending on what your
goals are uh I I think the vast majority
of evidence now is suggests Surly
suggests that most people can make Gain
stopping two to three reps short of
failure that you need to train all L and
look I came up from that Old
School uh go all out or go home where I
was doing not only every set to failure
but I was doing four straps and drop
sets and all these um extension
techniques set extension techniques so
uh I think the U my My Views have
changed do I think there still may be
for for those who are really looking to
optimize results a benefit for Selective
use of failure can't rule that out but I
mean we can go through really all the
variables and I think that we've we've
seen some shifts in in most of them but
uh I don't see why that would be an
issue for anyone because that's what
science is about and that should be what
everyone wants should want to seek the
truth and um if you come across new
knowledge if if your goal is to optimize
results if you're seeking new if if you
really want to get to your optimal
potential seeking the truth is is where
you should be focusing now you could you
could been training with a minimalist
routine 20 years ago and not changed
that at all and still gotten the results
that you want so again where science
really I think becomes more applicable
is when we're talking about those who
really want to take their body to its
ultimate potential are close to that
yeah I would even argue that science if
anything has made things even more
flexible so cuz people act as if every
week or every month or every six months
there's some huge scientific update that
completely changes the basics when in
reality the basics of doing enough
depending on your goal if you want to
maximize or not enough training volume
train hard be consistent make sure you
hit all your muscle groups or whatever
maybe some tweaks with exercise
selection and aside from that sure there
is some room yeah you may be able to eek
out a bit more muscle growth if you rest
a bit longer or if you include some
exercises that Target um that that will
to better Regional hypertrophy for some
muscle groups but nobody's not going to
make extreme Gaines just following the
most basic of principles yeah so
obviously uh we have been involved in
the Linton partial uh research and
bringing that to the Forefront and where
I think the evidence is showing at least
some promise to the fact that uh
training at lung muscle LS uh provides
added benefit again for the average
individual I don't think it's something
that really is going to make an
appreciable difference the the person
that just wants I I think they should
incorporate to me that's the type of
thing that it's kind of a no-brainer to
to at least look at some of that because
it doesn't involve extra training or
anything but if they didn't do that it's
not like the difference between them
making games or not making exactly so so
again I think it really comes down to
context in this type of situation yeah
that's what I feel most people miss and
it's great to hear I think for for many
people watching to hear somebody who
like yourself who is behind the scenes
at the highest level um and behind the
scenes of maximization at the highest
level um essentially telling them hey
the basics will get you there for the
most part thank you so much for being on
my pleasure thank you for your service
am man hey real doctors out don't forget
to like subscribe and keep an eye out
for many cool research projects coming
out from the lab from New York we'll see
you later peace
[Music]
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