In the fitness world, “junk volume” refers to any training that takes up time and energy but has no or minimal actual benefit in terms of muscle or strength gains.
So it is what it sounds like – junk.
On the other side – “effective sets” are the ones that provide you with strength and muscle gains. Or as some refer to them as, “hard sets.”
As someone in his 45th year and with a full schedule all the time, I like my workouts to be effective and quick. For me eliminating junk volume is very important, so I can spend more time with my kid.
If you are younger, this is important for you as well. By eliminating the junk volume and focusing on the effective sets, you will see progress sooner and have some extra time to do other things you like.
In this article, I will define 4 types of junk volume you should get rid of to maximize your time spent in the gym, and for 45 – 60 minutes training sessions, be all the time you need to see gains and health benefits.
Note: Remember to warm up properly before you start your effective part of the training.
EXCESSIVE SETS VOLUME PER WORKOUT
Example:
After a proper warm-up, you start doing your exercise. Chest, back, legs, biceps, whatever is on the schedule for that day.
Load up the maximum weight you can effectively work out with while keeping proper posture. With controlled motion, we do the first set of 8-12 reps with one rep close to failure or to failure if someone is there to assist us.
This effective hard set will stimulate muscle growth and increase strength (with proper rest and nutrition).
By doing 3 more sets like this (with the last one having at least 4-5 effective reps), the selected muscle group got all it needed to develop. Everything beyond that can be helpful to some point but with greatly diminished effect. At the same time, your body needs more time to recover. You are wasting your gains and precious time doing junk volume at that point.
Note:
10 – 20 sets per muscle group per week is a sweet spot for most people to see benefits from weightlifting in the gym. There is no need to do more than that.
If you don’t look for significant results or just want to maintain your current gains and physique, then 8-12 sets per muscle group per week is all you need. 3 to 4 sets per muscle group 3 times per week (for example: on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) will provide visible results within a few months.
By looking at James Krieger’s study, we see confirmation for this. As well, that is the way I managed to see the best progress after trying many different protocols.
Of course, each of us is unique, of different ages, and will push ourselves hard to true failure differently. Still, the recommendations above will fit most people just fine.
DOWNSIDE OF THE BRO-SPLIT
Bro-split: A “bro-split” is a weightlifting routine where each muscle group is trained on a separate day and once per week. For example, a typical bro-split might involve training as described in the text below:
Monday – Chest, and triceps
Tuesday – Back and biceps
Wednesday – rest time
Thursday – Legs and abs
Friday – Shoulders
Saturday and Sunday – rest time
Bro-split is a good way of training for beginners who will see initial results. But for intermediate or better results paying attention to your exercise program will provide more tangible results with less time spent in the gym, which is the topic of this article.
From my experience, exercising the same muscle group 2 – 3 times per week, as described above, will provide better results than a “bro split.” Again, I am not saying that “bro split” will not deliver results if the required volume is met, but the same volume spread over 2 – 3 sessions will provide better results. Each session will be more effective.
From my personal experience, this is the result of three main factors:
- When performing 10 – 15 series hitting the same muscle group, the muscle is not able to perform effectively, which usually leads to a junk volume — effectively wasting your time in the gym while unnecessarily prolonging the muscle recovery time.
- After an effective training session, muscles need two to three days of resting time to recover, and you stimulate them again. With “bro-split,” you promote your muscle growth once in seven days. Hitting the same muscle group two or three times per week instead of once will provide enough time for muscles to rest and grow. By doing this, you stimulate muscles more often to adapt & develop.
- By doing that many sets for the same group of muscles in a row (“bro-split”), you will lose your posture and technique due to exhaustion or boredom. That could lead to injuries. If you are injured, you cannot do your workouts. No workouts for a prolonged period of time – no gains.
With this in mind, bro-split is perfectly fine if you are young, have more time than obligations, or if, simply put, you enjoy your time and company in the gym. For everyone else, who would like to see progress but is constrained by the time at their disposal, there are better options than the bro–split.
EXCESSIVE VOLUME PER SET (Ultra High Reps)
By science and practical examples, ultra-high sets are a far cry from optimal performance and wise use of precious time.
Best practice: resistance exercises
10 – 25 sets per major muscle group/part per WEEK
5 – 25 reps per set
Goal: to hit each muscle group 1+ times per week
As mentioned, this is the upper maximum volume while looking for effective training sessions. So, anything above that is called easy sets or ultra-high reps that effectively don’t do anything useful except waste your time.
I did that and could not track any meaningful progress except for the pleasure of doing some exercises.
When performing sets of 35 – 50 or more reps, you are exhausting your muscles and spending too much time for minimal to no gains. By doing this kind of workout, you will get super sore, prolong recovery time, and dumper your capabilities for the next training and progress. Your overall performance and progress will be lower, although you have worked harder and spent more time practicing.
If you still like doing high reps for whatsoever reason, you would be doing much better by increasing the weight and getting down to 20-25 reps. With that reps range, you will see progress while cutting your time in the gym by one-third to half.
LIFTING TOO LIGHT
Most of us, while doing our exercises in the gym or at home, are chasing numbers. These magical 6 – 10 – 12 – 15 reps. Yet the fact is that 80% of people who can reach these reps can do significantly more.
If you only lift weights and don’t do your maximum or very close to it, you might as well call most of your workout “junk volume” because you don’t really improve your performance or gains.
If you chase some numbers without making effective sets, you will progress much slower and waste more time than needed. There are better strategies to build up or maintain your muscles and stamina.
Lifting light weight can be fine for someone who wants to go to the gym for fun and easy recreation. It will get them moving and doing some physical activities, which is much better than doing nothing.
But let’s say someone wants to improve beyond the beginner or early intermediate level. In that case, they might have a hard time.
For more advanced results, you’ll need to push your limits and be no less than three reps away from failure. This will stimulate your muscles enough to help you move forward while keeping your gym sessions between 45 and 60 minutes long.
CONCLUSIONS
To answer the questions
- How can I take less time at the gym?
- How can I speed up my gym progress?
- How can I maximize my time spent at the gym?
- Is 45 minutes enough time in the gym?
positively you need to follow these 6 simple leads:
- Start doing.
- Avoid excessive sets per session (no more than 6 sets per day for one muscle group)
- Have effective 3-4 sets per muscle group two to three times per week, or a total of 8-12 sets per week with 5-12 reps per each set.
- Lift hard enough so you get close to failure.
- Keep your volume the same and focus on your technique execution, posture, controlled movements, and effective effort per each set and rep.
- Rest enough and eat well.
