All bodybuilders go to heaven… I actually found this painting at a thrift store. I can’t decide which I love more: the mullet or the muscles. (Or the 3.95 price tag!) Either way this has got to be the most terrifying guardian angel ever.
Let’s just get this out of the way right now: You should strength train. It’s good for you and in far more ways than the usual trope of “super charging your metabolism.” It builds better bone density. It increases neurological connections. It makes it so you can lift the 50-lb bag of cat litter into your cart at Costco without worrying about your heart exploding. And, yeah, it looks prettier and burns more calories than adipose tissue. (Although whether or not you consider that last point a bonus is highly variable on your culture, individual preference and whether or not you’re a serf in the Middle Ages.)
I still don’t love it.
I know. I really want to love it! Don’t worry, I still do it. I do it even when I don’t enjoy it because I’m all about doing/eating/thinking things that are good for me even if I hate them. (Also known as the reason I drink kale smoothies even though the texture of kale completely ruins the “smooth” aspect.) I think it’s the fact that I don’t get a “weight lifting high” like I do a cardio buzz. Although I think some people get an endorphin rush from the hoisting of iron? The good news is that after doing this blog for so many years, I’ve learned to like it a lot more than I used to!
At any rate, when I find a lifting hack that will make my strength workouts more fun, more efficient and/or more effective I’m all over that like brown on rice. And today I came across a fascinating research study that offers just such a magical hack.
Behold: The One-Set Workout.
The experiment is pretty simple: Researchers took a group of young men and divided them into two groups. The first group – we’ll call them Old Faithful – performed a series of 9 exercises targeting different body parts, doing 3 sets of each exercise – which is pretty standard when it comes to lifting. The second group – we’ll call them the Second Group because I’m tired and the only other option I can think of right now is Unfaithful which unfairly makes them sound like man sluts – performed the same series of 9 exercises but did only one set of each, essentially doing 1/3 as much work as the Old Faithful group. Both groups worked out 3 days per week for 8 weeks. All other aspects of their workouts were held constant.
At the end of the 8 weeks, the researchers employed certified strength coaches to test their strength and measure body fat using calipers. The results were surprising. At least to me. Both groups gained about the same amount of strength with the one-rep group barely edging out the Old Faithfuls. But when it came to body composition the one-rep group lost significantly more body fat.
So the group who did less got just as strong and ended up leaner. Things that make you go “huh.”
If you’re like me, that right there is enough to make you want to try it out. But before you (and I) jump on the One-Set bandwagon there are some things to consider (all bulleted, because… I’m tired).
How to do the One-Set Workout
1. Linear progression. The men just didn’t go into the gym and start picking up random weights willy nilly and moving them around. The strength coaches first tested the subjects’ one-rep max (the highest amount of weight you can safely execute a lift with, one time) and then assigned them to do their sets starting at 80% of their 1RM and then progressing each week by adding more weight. You still have to push yourself.
2. 6 reps to failure. Both groups did a weight that had them “fail” – unable to do one more rep – by six reps. SIX. That is not a lot. Especially if you’re used to doing the standard 10-12 reps like I am. These guys were lifting a lot shorter, yes, but a lot heavier as well.
3. Best for beginners/recreational athletes. The researchers noted several times that all their subjects were “recreational” weight lifters rather than advanced athletes or competitive lifters. In the conclusion they noted that the One-Set Workout may not be sufficient for people looking to go beyond functional strength gains/some body fat loss.
Benefits of the One-Set Workout
1. Less time commitment. The paper’s authors actually did some complicated math to show that the one-set subjects did 1/3 the work of the 3-set group. Which made me giggle. For people who don’t love lifting (like me) or are just new to it, this lesser-volume method may be better at helping people stick to a weight lifting program. Doing three sets and spending 45 – 60 minutes on the weight floor can feel daunting. Popping in for one set seems much more doable and therefore more likely to be done.
2. Less overtraining/workout program fatigue. The researchers also noted that the lesser volume would lessen the wear and tear on the subjects’ bodies as well as their psyches. There’s much less risk of overtraining, even though they are lifting very heavy. The risk of boredom also goes down.
3. Equal strength gains. Science said so. Why would you do three sets when you can get the same functional strength benefits with only one?
4. Better fat loss. Better! Like, whoa.
When it came to this last point, I had to know why. The results even surprised the scientists. Per the paper, “Although the data here clearly demonstrates that strength-training can be viewed as an effective means of subcutaneous fat reduction, the changes noted here suggest that the one-set training group produced the greatest alterations in skinfold thickness. This is surprising given the additional metabolic cost of performing two additional sets of exercise representing 2,592 additional repetitions across eight weeks. There is little scientific research available that states categorically that higher training frequencies produce greater alterations in body composition characteristics. However, lower volume training might maintain protein and muscle glycogen stores, reduce intramuscular damage, and therefore facilitate the capacity of muscle to enhance lean tissue formation.”
Catch all that? They basically said they aren’t sure either why this happened, especially since the Old Faithful group did nearly 2,600 MORE reps (and therefore burning way more calories) than the one-set group. But they theorize that the lower number of reps may have “spared” the muscles and glycogen stores.
File this under Weird But Cool, right after A Boy Named Sue.
Some Caveats
As with any research, it’s not perfect. Here are a few variables that remain unaccounted for and could potentially change the results:
1. Only done on men. Like most fitness research, scientists only looked at men. I’d be offended except… okay, I’m a little put out they didn’t look at women too. Would it have been that much more work to throw some chicks in too? They can have separate charts and everything in the data. In addition to being only men, they were very young and already healthy dudes. And with a sample size of 16, not very many of them.
2. Doesn’t address hypertrophy or advanced athletes. If you’re training for a purpose other than functional strength and basic health this workout probably won’t do you.
3. Diet wasn’t tracked. The subjects were instructed to just eat their normal diet. Which may offer one explanation for the fat loss: more exercise = more hunger. So perhaps the 3-set group ate more afterward since they’d worked more? It’s a phenomenon also seen in other types of exercise. (Although people don’t talk about it much. Which is why exercise is great for maintaining a weight loss but not so great for losing weight.)
All in all this feels revolutionary to weight lifting like Tabata training (or the “4 minute miracle”) was to cardio. Again, science shows that short-and-tough workouts can be as effective (and even better in some ways) than longer and slower ones. It’s a small study but considering it tells me what I already want to hear (I can admit that!), I think it’s definitely worth me trying it out!
Do you love strength training? Hate it? What program do you follow??
I am not a huge fan of weight lifting, but like you I do it because I know I should. Although I don’t know if doing 8 minute arms twice a week really counts.
With all strength training I do (I do a lot of core stuff) I’ve learned that if the workout is longer than about 20 minutes it’s hard to convince myself to do it after a hard run or bike ride. So I have opted to do shorter but intense workouts knowing I can tell myself “It’s only 8 minutes, there is no excuse not to do it.” I can’t do that if it’s a 45 minute workout though.
So true about shorter workouts being more “excuse-proof”! You sound like me;)
VERY Interesting – I read the caveats too. I have never been one to care about 1 rep max & all that & doing 4-6 rep type workouts PLUS not in a trying to get big stage but just gain and or keep muscle.. so I think not for me BUT even if it was, I love weight lifting too much & I rather be in there more time lifting! I like to “sculpt” my bod which this really does not seem suited to do.. and I don’t even do the 3 set type workout :)… The pic – 🙂 I do my own thing & my own program that most would not do & many experts say is wrong yet I get results. 🙂
I wrote this on the share link but put it here too..
Hey I’m all about finding what works best for you! And clearly you have – you look fab Jody!
I started doing the New Rules workout this summer, which starts out being a very short workout, but I read in a FB group that the workout gets longer as you progress, so I decided to just continue with a short 30 min workout with only 2 reps. I lift heavy – I vary reps from 7-10. I’m having strength gains, especially in squats, and I’m slowly losing body-fat – I checked my measurements yesterday and I’ve lost 1/2 inch each off waist, hips and arms (and gained 1/4 inch in the shoulders). I’m not dieting right now – I was counting calories this summer, but I don’t have the time, plus my “diet” was a “weekends are free” thing, so I still try to eat healthy (and not too much) during the week and eat whatever I feel like on the weekends – it’s kind of an intermittent fast because I usually have a big breakfast (pancakes!) and a fairly big lunch and then no dinner. I’ve lost 5 lbs this year, not a lot, but I’m pretty much at goal weight without any struggle or deprivation.
Congrats on the progress! That’s so exciting! Are you doing New Rules of Lifting or New Rules of Lifting For Women?
NROLFW – I think it’s a great program but I’m not sure I’ll ever have the time…maybe next summer if I don’t have summer school.
I’ve always liked weightlifting, but the 3-rep workouts got to be too long (60-90 mins). About 3 years ago I started doing HIIT and kettlebell sport, and my heart now belongs to kettlebells. Kettlebell (or girevoy) sport combines cardio and strength in a way that nothing else seems to. It doesn’t fit into the 1-rep max paradigm, but nevertheless, my physical improvements have been significant and the workouts are only 20-30 mins. I can now effortlessly sling a 45-lb bag of kitty litter onto my shoulders (and even squat with it to pick up my keys when I drop them!) and carry two 40-lb water cooler bottles across our warehouse and up two flights of stairs. I think that true fitness means that the exercise you do improves your overall quality of life, and mine definitely does.
Oooh I have not heard of girevoy! I love the kettlebells – off to Google!
Girevoy or kettlebell sport is the competitive (originally Russian) form or kettlebells. The events are typically 10 mins in length–5 minutes/arm for women, 10 mins with 2 KBs for men. Lifters usually compete in one of 3 disciplines: one-arm longcycle (a clean followed by a jerk), biathlon (10 min set of jerks, an hour break, then 10 min set of snatches), or snatch (10 min of just snatches). There are different federations with different ranks and standards. I’m training for a big competition in San Francisco in February at the Ice Chamber: http://www.icechamber.com/event/2014-west-coast-kettlebell-sport-classic/
It’s kind of intense because most of the work is done anaerobically (your body goes from working aerobically to anaerobically pretty quickly with this stuff, especially snatches).
Wow…that angel is ripped!
A sample size of <20 always makes me suspicious. We need a grad student to do a MSc on this with different groups and genders. I do want to see how it applies to women.
I know, right?? I seriously want to design research studies for a living. (Not actually implement them or run the stats haha) That’s a real job right??
I’ll handle the implementing and stats part, you send me the ideas! Win-win. We just need the money man. 😀
Arthur Jones called and wants credit for his 50 year old research back.
I do one set, once a week, and get slow but steady strength gains and hypertrophy.
http://www.bodybyscience.net/home.html/
Haha wow! I hadn’t heard of him! Thanks for the link – can’t wait to check it out.
I do three sets, once a week, and get slow but steady strength and size gains.
Now what?
6 reps? wow! Definitely going to need a spotter.
I think you should definitely try this and let me know Charlotte! 😀 Because if someone else tries it then I don’t have to deal with the personal uncomfortableness of changing my workout, lol. I tend to be a creature of habit, especially in terms of my biggest hang-ups (diet and exercise). Seriously. I once ate a hummus sandwich every day for lunch for over a year.
But, I did recently join a woman’s weight-lifting club so that’s getting me to try a new lifting routine every month and a new rep range every week. That’s a big step for me. I’m still pretty tied to the 3 sets thing though. I think I would have a hard time doing less with the whole more exercise=better mindset. I also kind of like my workouts to take an hour-ish and I’m pretty sure I’d just fill that hour with more cardio which is bad, bad, bad for me.
A women’s weight lifting group sounds awesome! Congrats on shaking things up a little! Plus, I think there are lots of “right” ways to do stuff so if you’ve found a way to lift that you love, run with it;)
I’m following Starting Strength right now, it focuses on the 3 main powerlifting lifts – bench, dead and squat, with power cleans too. I was running for a while – about a year – and it just never gave me the same satisfaction as knowing I can shoulder my body weight and squat it or lift even more than that. I leave my gym feeling powerful and my legs get this awesome buzz. The lifters there are awesome and supportive and I just love my gym. I am seriously considering joining the powerlifting team there.
I love the lifting community! I know some women are a little afraid of weight floors because of the burly guys there but I can say that they (and the women) are almost always super supportive and nice!
I recently tried the “Spartacus” workout. 20-30 minutes, challenging (but not to the point where I feel like I’m gonna die), and done. They were designed by Rachel Cosgrove, although she doesn’t present the workouts. I like short workouts. They make me happy.
I’ve done that vid! Love Rachel:))
An experiment? An experiment! I really miss those here! Try it out and report back, cadet!
Haha! Will do!
the fact that it’s such a small sample and exclusively male makes me skeptical of the study’s application to women. HOWEVER, I love weight training. I always liked it but never knew I loved it until I went the 3-6 reps, heavy as I possibly ever can route. I have never stopped to think about why I love it, because why would I? It’s just amazingly awesome! I have only 2 regrets: 1) that I’d discovered it earlier (started aged 36; aged 16 would have saved me so much body-image dysfunction and attendant misery) and 2) that I had the genes to excel at it (because I really don’t. I’m a triumph of persistence over success.)
To build muscle, women typically need a higher volume and rep range, so I mix it up. But heavy singles and triples are WHERE IT’S AT, BROS AND BRO-ETTES.
Love that you already found this on your own!! I also love “bro-ettes” – totally have to find a way to use that in a sentence now!
Our fitness center (GHFC) has a set of negative re-enforced machines where one set to failure is a very good workout. There are only two of these in the country at this point.
I’m have major gym envy right now!!!
I’ve read Lyle McDonald’s review of a couple of studies leaning in this direction. It’s time-efficient and I guess good re fat-burning for these young dudes, but 6 reps to failure starting at 80% RM, 3 x a week, might not be great for people over 30, people with prior injuries, people with hypermobility… recovery and risk will be different for these groups. I stay on the high end most of the time, 10 to even 20 (because I am all those things I mentioned).