It’s one of the great things about exercise.

When you first get started, your fitness improves quickly.

But due to a principle known as diminishing returns, the rate of improvement slows the fitter you become.

This is why many believe simple programs are no longer enough once you’ve got some training experience under your belt.

But a new study has turned this on its head.

It found trained lifters made decent strength and muscle size gains with a simple 8-week program lacking many features considered "essential" for their experience level.

And it's a great reminder you don’t need to overcomplicate exercise—no matter how fit you are.

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Do simple programs really work for the resistance-trained?

The study recruited young men and women aged 22 on average who had a mean resistance training experience of 4.4 years.

The participants were divided into two groups who both trained twice per week for 8 weeks.

They differed only in terms of how close they trained to failure:

• One group took all sets to failure
• And the other stopped their sets when they believed they had 2 reps (in reserve) before failure

Now the key finding was both groups made very similar gains over the 8 weeks:

But here's the neat thing:

These gains were made with a seriously uncomplicated program.

Here’s what wasn’t required for these experienced gym-goers to make some impressive gains in just 8 weeks.

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They DIDN’T do multiple sets per exercise

Single-set programs only work for gym newbies, right?

Wrong.

All participants did only single sets (of 8-12 reps) of 9 exercises per session:

• Seated row
• Lat pulldown
• Machine chest press
• Dumbbell biceps curl
• Smith Machine squat
• Plate-loaded leg press
• Machine leg extension
• Machine shoulder press
• Cable triceps pushdown

Granted, that’s not a small number.

But given most time in the gym is spent resting between sets, single sets of exercises covering all major major groups is incredibly time efficient.

And clearly it works.

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They DIDN’T do long, frequent sessions

30 minutes, twice per week.

That’s all these trained lifters needed to make further gains in muscle size and strength using a simple full-body program.

The crazy thing was some participants were even doing less than their usual training volume and still made improvements.

Conventional wisdom suggests beyond a certain point, lifters must “graduate” to split programs where they are training 3-5 times per week.

But clearly, this isn’t the case.

For most people, a simple full body program is more than enough to make gains.

Again, advanced doesn’t have to mean complicated.

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They DIDN’T take their sets to failure

Well, one group did.

But they made about the same gains as the group who pushed their sets all the way to failure.

This again shows it’s not mandatory to take resistance training sets to failure to grow muscle.

Even in trained lifters.

This is of course good news since leaving nothing in the tank at the end of your sets means considerably more:

• Effort
• Fatigue
• And discomfort

You don’t need to max out your workouts to improve your fitness—even with years of experience under your belt.

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Of course, there are some caveats

Like any research study, there’s always more to consider.

So let’s dig into some factors that might have impacted the results:

Training experience:

The participants in this study had more than 4 years of lifting experience (on average).

But they weren’t highly trained by any means.

Their one-rep max (1-RM) squat and bench press averaged about 102 kg and 76 kg for men and women combined.

So it’s possible higher training volumes and/or effort levels may be needed to produce further gains in those who are even more strong.

Impact of supervision:

Supervision improves the benefits of resistance training.

A 2023 study found those who were supervised during an 8-week resistance training program gained about 1 kg more muscle and improved their 1-RM squat by around 9 kg more than others who did the same program unsupervised.

So while this was a simple training program, direct supervision no doubt boosted the benefits (which is no different to most training studies, by the way).

Training intensity or effort:

This study shows even trained lifters don’t have to take sets to failure to make gains.

But taking sets to 2 reps shy of failure isn’t easy, either.

So it’s possible the benefits of such a simple program hinged on applying a reasonably high—albeit not maximal—level of effort each set.

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All things considered, there are some important takeaways from this study.

Principal among them is simple resistance training programs work—even in the trained.

This again shows you don’t need to overcomplicate things, no matter your fitness level.

Sure, there are many ways to tweak your program to make some extra gains.

But nothing is more impactful than doing the simple things often.

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As always, it’s great to have you here.

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Until next week,

Jackson

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IMPORTANT:

The information contained herein is of general nature only and does not constitute personal advice. You should not act on any information without considering your personal needs, circumstances, and objectives. Any exercise program may result in injury. We recommend you obtain advice specific to your circumstances from an appropriate health professional before starting any exercise program.