Build More Muscle in Less Time: The One-Set Gym Workout

New research shows you can gain real strength and size with just one set of nine exercises, twice a week, no failure required.

By now, you know that building muscle and strength are key to future-proofing your body and boosting your healthspan. But trips to the gym can take up huge chunks of valuable real estate from your schedule: If you’re training for a half-marathon, playing pickleball or tennis each week with friends, or just trying to keep up with a busy season at work or with your family, fitting in set after set in the gym can be tough. Or maybe you just don’t like spending hours in a mirror-lined room full of dumbbells.

You don’t have to, and you don’t have to give up the benefits of strength: According to a study published in Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise in April of this year, well-trained study participants were able to gain muscle and strength doing nine exercises for just one near-maximal set, twice per week. These workouts took less than 30 minutes. And because each set is only taken near the maximum amount the participants could do, instead of all the way to absolute failure, the sessions are easier to recover from, with less achy soreness in the days after each lifting session.

The Case for Smarter Strength Training

Many studies on strength training focus on “untrained” individuals who don’t have experience in the gym. And when you’re new, it’s easier to make strength and muscle gains: In one study from 2003, gym newbies gained three times as much muscle as lifters with experience, even though both groups did the same program for the same amount of time. 

For this study, scientists divided 50 young people with at least one year of lifting experience into two groups:

• Group 1 performed nine exercises, twice per week, doing one set of each move to failure—going until they literally couldn’t do another repetition of the exercise.

• Group 2 did the same exercises, also for one set per exercise. But instead of going to failure, they performed each move until they had two “reps in reserve,” meaning they were two repetitions away from failure.

Both protocols worked. After 8 weeks, both groups gained muscle, strength, and endurance. Some markers favored the failure group, but overall, there wasn’t that much difference in how much muscle and strength were gained.

Past studies have found that single-set resistance workouts like this can build muscle and strength in both untrained and trained individuals (though not as much as multiple working sets). But in most of those studies, getting results required taking all sets to failure … which is both uncomfortable, and can lead to more soreness, which will interfere with all the pickleball and half-marathon training you’re trying to save time for.

Can This Work for Super Agers?

One hangup with this study for people our age is that the study subjects were ages 18-40. But lead study author Thomas Hermann says he believes (or hypothesizes, since he’s a scientist) that a similar protocol could work for older trainees, too.

“As individuals extend into their 50s and 60s, making “optimal” progress may decline. This being said, adaptations with lower volumes and similar failure proximities as our protocol is still very much possible, and I (based on the current state of evidence) would say it is probable,” Hermann says. “Regardless of age, it seems as though as long as we train with good technique and close to failure, gains can be made, even at low volumes.”

The “close to failure” part is key. And previous studies have found that people often underestimate how many reps they can do in a set with a specific weight. So if you’re going to try this protocol, consider taking each set all the way to failure for the first few sessions—go until you absolutely could not do another rep with good form, and maybe even do an incomplete rep as your last one.

The Under-30-Minute, One-Set-Per-Exercise Workout

Make the most of your next trip to the gym with this workout routine:

Warmup: In the study, participants didn’t warm up. But those were young people. Get your blood and joint moving with 5-10 minutes of cardio. And before each near-max set, Hermann suggests performing a few repetitions of the move with a lighter weight, around 65 percent of the weight you’ll use for a 10-rep set.

The workout: After warming up, perform one set of each exercise. Choose a weight that you think you could lift for 12 repetitions. Then do reps of the move until you’re near failure, trying to leave two reps in the tank.

Each week, try to increase the number of repetitions you can do for each exercise. Once you hit 12 reps, increase the weight. These are the exercises used in the study workout. You can replace the machine moves with non-machine alternatives if you prefer.

• Exercise 1: Lat Pulldown
• Exercise 2: Horizontal Cable Row
• Exercise 3: Machine Shoulder Press
• Exercise 4: Machine Chest Press
• Exercise 5: Cable Triceps Pushdown
• Exercise 6: Dumbbell Bicep Curl
• Exercise 7: Smith Machine Squat
• Exercise 8: Plate-loaded Leg Press
• Exercise 9: Machine Leg Extension