What is the minimum amount of weight training needed to do to build muscle, get stronger and change your physique?
This is a very reasonable, and common question to ask for those who want to stay in shape on a busy schedule. For many, juggling training around life's stresses can lead to frustration, as the common assumption is that short training sessions are a waste of time.
Should you bother if you've only got 20mins to train?
Great news! To make meaningful gains in strength and muscle mass, you don't need to spend as much time in the gym, or do as many different exercises as is most often thought.
Training Volume One of the cornerstone variables for muscle hypertrophy (muscle building) is Training Volume. Put simply, Training Volume is the number of working sets done per muscle group, per session, or totalled per week.
For example, If you do a Chest session once per week, comprising of 4 exercises of 3 sets each, your total Chest volume is 12 sets per week. If instead, you split that up into two sessions of two exercises, your weekly volume would still be 12 sets.
Now, we do know that more training volume will lead to greater muscle hypertrophy. More is better - to a certain point. But, what we also know from the research exploring this topic, is that even a little goes a long way.
Minimum effective dose
While it's easy to think that we should optimise everything (thanks social media), the pursuit for "Maximal Gains" is often not practical or sustainable for many. This expectation often leads people to be inconsistent with training , whereby they disappear from the gym for weeks during busy periods. They only return when they know they have 3 x 60 minute windows available per week. See ya when I see ya!
For muscle growth, the minimum volume required is around 4 to 6 sets per muscle group per week. This could look like one exercise for each major muscle group, times 2 to 3 sets, twice per week. 20 minutes. By doing this we could expect to achieve about 50-60% of our muscle building potential. While this might not sound like much, it could be the difference between making long term gains and NOT at all. 4kg of muscle built over 12 months is better than 4kg over 6 months, if the next six becomes a hiatus.
Dose-response to training volume
If we upped the volume from six to roughly 10 sets per muscle group per week, we would likely see muscle growth increase to 70-80% of maximal potential. Beyond this, getting closer to 20 sets per week may push someone closer to their maximum growth potential.
With this information in mind we can draw a few conclusions:
Yes, more is better - and where we can, we should.
Even a little is great - and we should do some as consistently as possible
We can do lower volumes during busy periods, and back to higher usual volumes, rather than being either ON or OFF the program.
If other fitness qualities are important to you (cardio, specific sport), you could still make some time for strength & hypertrophy within your week.
Training Frequency doesn't really matter
Whether you meet certain training volume in one day or split up over a few days doesn't seem to matter, from what the evidence shows. So, essentially you can chip away at training over the week accumulating as much volume possible, with a minimum of 4 to 6 sets per week. If you can get to the gym just once per week, maybe you'll prioritise muscle groups that are harder to train at home (back & legs), and do push ups for chest on other days.
Effort matters a lot
Effort intensity is an important talking point here. Where the training volume is low, the effort MUST be high. This means performing the exercise until near failure, if not all the way to failure. Muscle growth occurs when the machinery within the muscle cells are stimulated. High effort, close to failure is a loud signal to the muscle. More volume at high effort is a loud and frequent signal. Hence more muscle growth. To reap the reward of lower volume training, it must be hard.
What if you do want to maximise muscle growth? Whether you have no choice but to squeeze in workout volume where you can, or you have more time for higher volume training - there are other training principles that should be followed to maximise the return on your time and effort investment. This is where you need to read my eBook - Maximise Muscle Growth
You'll learn about:
the the Muscle Building Hierarchy - understanding the priorities and cutting out the fluff
the most important principle - Progressive Overload
Strategies to increase volume under time constraints
exercise selection & form to maximise muscle building stimulus
rest periods, exercise tempo, and more
Losing your gains over the holidays
Another common concern from people that are training consistently with higher volumes, is that when on holidays or when times are busy, they'll lose their gains. The truth is, it’s much harder to lose muscle than most people think. And it's much easier to maintain muscle than it is to build it in the first place. With as little as 2 to 4 sets per muscle group per week, your gains should be maintained. So go on your holiday, and don't make stressful times more stressful than they are. Do a few push ups, pull ups and lunges to failure, and you'll be right.
Conclusion: No Excuses
Life happens, and you might not always have the time or energy for the perfect training program. But that doesn't mean you should give up. The minimum effective dose approach shows that even a little effort can go a long way. Whether you're maintaining your gains or making progress, the key is to do something rather than nothing. Remember, fitness isn’t about perfection—it’s about consistency. So, if you're short on time, don't stress. Just do what you can, and you’ll still see results!
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