The less you lift, the better.

There is a gym saying that goes “less is more“. And yet, more is still more.

Let me explain.

In the gym, ‘less‘ would mean to workout fewer times a week, and ‘more‘, would mean to either workout more times a week, or at a higher volume, or at a higher intensity.

So why say that? Simply because, to build muscle optimally, what you need to do is workout at a higher intensity, lower volume, and lower frequency (times per week).

But why!? This stems from the fact that the bigger, fast-twitch muscle fibres get recruited more during intense, heavy training (to failure at around 6-8 reps). While all other, smaller fibres, will get recruited too. Thus, one can activate the bigger, stronger ones more efficiently, while also not neglecting any others.

Add more volume than necessary, or reduce the weight below the 100% required-effort mark, or increase the frequency, and you are recruiting less fast-twitch fires, stimulating less growth & strength and hindering your recovery, respectively.

Maybe if you’re practising a sport, training 5-7 times per week may be necessary; but it is certainly not optimal for building muscle.

Thus, the ideal amount of training is about 3x a week. You could subtract some, but then you’d have to go dangerously hard on the sessions left, and if you add, you shouldn’t go too hard in order to recover properly.

We must remember that when training high-effort, there is not only a local response at the level of single muscles, but also a systemic response at the level of the entire body (its ability to handle effort, produce it, and increase it over time).

Now, we’ve all been throught the phase where we did more than necessary; but with experience comes minimalism and efficiency.

That is why I’ve now gone from a 5x a week routine, with decently high volume, to a 3x a week one, with much lower volume.

Whereas before I’d train upper body 3 times and legs 2 times, now I train upper 2 times and legs 1 time.

With a 5x a week program, there is no way two days won’t overlap; and if you went hard to failure the day before, chances are, you will not be able to push as intensely.

Another negative point about it is that, besides pushing yourself becoming less natural, you also run the risk of getting hormonal imbalances due to so much high-effort activity.

It has been shown that intense, exhaustive exercise every day lowers testosterone, which in turn makes effort feel more difficult and unpleasing, and makes recovery more difficult.

Thus, given the motivation and justification, let me introduce this new lower-frequency routine, and the lifestyle that it is supposed to fit into.

Upper day 1: chest & lats focus:

On this first day, you’re going to train pretty much complete upper body, but with a bit more emphasis on the chest.

You start with benchpress (incline or flat), superset with chin-ups and lateral raises. This way, you already stimulate all upper body muscles. Go hard, with about 3 working sets, with your top-set to failure (at about 6 reps, or 10 for the raises) right after the warm up, to maximize strength.

Then you do some dumbell flies, superset with some pull-down variation (could be standard, one-hand, reverse-grip, etc.) and rear-delt-rows. This is the specific isolation block; go hard, starting with your top-weight and winding down to a set of 12 clean reps (still with effort, of course).

To finish off, you squeeze in 3 sets of tricep pushdowns, and some dumbbell curl variation and some abs. Again, about 3 sets, with one hardest set and some other non-death sets.

Thus, you get to stimulare every upper body muscle with at least one top-set (we’ll talk more about this below).

Legs: whole:

Here, you begin with bulgarian split-squats superset with RDL’s and calves. You want to use the initial burst of energy to get through the most difficult exercise first. Same as before; about 3 sets, with one of them to all-out failure, preferentially after the warm-up.

Then, some leg-extensions coupled with leg-curls and tibialis raises (could be machine, step-up, or kettlebell). Here, the ideal thing is to do one warm-up set, then one top-set (8 reps to failure), and one wind-down set.

Finally, finish off with some mobility-like work, with ATG split-squats and Jefferson curls. The goal here is not train to failure, but to get about 4 sets, not too hard, do drive bloodflow to those critical knee and low-back areas.

(1x a week for legs may seem like too little; but if you go hard enough it is certainly sufficient. And, once you have a baseline amount of legs, training them too often will cause more muscle growth on the lower body, thus hindering upper body progress)

Upper day 2: shoulders focus

On this final day, you’re going to train pretty much as the first one, but with the shoulders being the main focus.

You start with overhead-press (barbell or dumbbell), superset with chin-ups and lateral raises. By doin this, you already get stimulation in all of the upper body again, but with more focus on the shoulder development (a crucial muscle-group for any physique, both functionally and aesthetically). Again, go hard, with about 3 working sets, with your top-set to failure (at about 6 reps, or 10 for the raises) right after the warm up, to maximize strength.

Then you go over to some dips and rows (could be standard, one-hand, reverse-grip, etc.) and rear-delt-rows. This time, the second block does not provide more isolation but rather tries to complete what was lacking in the first day: upper back and the all-time greatest dips (also called the upper body squat); go hard, starting with your top-weight and winding down to a set of 12 clean reps (still with effort, of course).

Finally, you again squeeze in 3 sets of tricep pushdowns, and some dumbbell curl variation and some abs, but also some shrugs for the traps (and maybe some neck-curls, if you want that hulky look). Again, about 3 sets, with one hardest set and some other non-death sets.

With the above split, you are stimulating every upper body muscle 2x a week, either through a compound or an isolation exercise, and every leg muscle 1x a week.

For some, it may not look like enough; but believe me, if you go hard, to failure (this is the key) on at least one set per exercise, this will be more than sufficient.

Then, the other days of the week, you may either rest or do some-low impact cardio, namely, anything that does not exhast you too much (walking, hiking, short bike rides, a few sprints, etc.).

And, almost as a bonus already, I’ll sketch the dietary approach within which I believe this split best fits into.

Now, since this lower frequency approach is less fatiguing, it is also less energy-expensive. Which means that, basically, you need consume less calories and need to eat less to gain weight and muscle.

On the other hand, you can also be in a bigger deficit without so many negative effects, since the lower activity rate will decrease your hunger and improve your recovery.

Therefore, this scheme renders itself ideal for staying lean year-round, since you can cut easily and clean-bulk on autopilot.

However, this only works as long as you pay close attention to your body and your satiety. This will work wonders if you stay on a balanced diet of whole, nutritious foods with a similar amount of carbs, fats and protein; but it will wreck you if you eat poorly or unbalanced.

Why? Because of satiety; the body has a system that regulates hunger based on nutritional load, so, even if you’re in a surplus, if your nutrition is poor, you will still be hungry and thus, get fat.

But, if you do nourish yourself appropriately, then you should have no trouble gaining and losing “good weight“ back and forth. Again, as in the previous post, going in cycles (milder ones, however, since the contrast between a surplus and a deficit should be too great).

Make sure to give this a try; changing things up and experimenting with different approaches is as important as staying consistent and giving it your best.

Hope you enjoyed this post! Stay tuned for more every Sunday, and make sure to share and subscribe!