Is One Hard Set All You Need?

What’s the least amount of work you can do and still make gains?

Most people do 3 sets per exercise. But what if you only did 2 sets? Would you cut your gains in half? Or.. what if you only did 1 set? Would you make any gains at all?

Well, there’s science to answer this.

For strength, just one heavy set done two to three times per week will build strength in most people.

For health, it’s even less. Just 1 hour of lifting per week is enough to reduce risk of death from all causes by about 30%!

And for any muscle to grow, just 4 hard sets per week can spark measurable growth. Yes, 4 sets. Per WEEK. So for your chest, that could look like this: 2 hard sets of flat bench on Monday, 2 hard sets of cable flyes on Thursday. Done.

Remember, six time Mr Olympia Dorian Yates built his chest off exactly that.. 4 sets per week! That may not yield maximum gains for you, but it will yield noticeable gains.

And any amount of training you do is a lot better than not training at all.