- A bodybuilding researcher said that for most people, less time in the gym can lead to better gains.
- Save time and build more muscle by choosing the right exercises, equipment, and techniques.
- Smart, consistent workouts can help you see progress in as little as an hour of exercise each week.
Don't let a busy schedule stop you from building muscle — just four weekly sets of exercise per muscle group is enough to see gains, according to a bodybuilding researcher.
Milo Wolf, a strength coach with a Ph.D. in sports science from Solent University, UK, studies how to get the most benefits from the least amount of exercise. As a competitive bodybuilder, he's seen the results firsthand.
Too often, people sabotage their progress with long, exhausting workouts, Wolf told Business Insider.
More reps can help you build more muscle, to a point. But for most people, there's a sweet spot in the first few sets, which can prompt the majority of gains without wasting energy on increasingly smaller benefits.
"For many people, trying to chase those incremental returns just leads to burnout," Wolf said.
He and another bodybuilding researcher, Patroklos Androulakis-Korakakis of Lehman College in New York, designed a fitness app called MyoAdapt, which customizes workouts to make the most out of a tight schedule.
According to Wolf, simple strategies like picking the right equipment and exercises can help you build muscle in as little as an hour per week.
"It's a really powerful way to make working out more satisfying because you still make progress even if you don't have a perfect week," he said.
Use dumbbells for faster results
One of the easiest ways to save time in the gym is to pick the right equipment.
For instance, using a barbell can mean spending precious minutes to change plates, a waste of time unless you're training for a specific competition.
In contrast, dumbbells or stacked weight machines quickly allow you to adjust the amount you're lifting, instantly trimming down your gym time.
"On a set for set basis, it gives you more in the same amount of time," Wolf said.
Prioritize compound exercises that stretch the muscle
Next, choose exercises that give you the most bang for your buck by activating multiple muscle groups at once. These compound movements include deadlifts, push-ups, presses, and pull-ups.
Wolf said you can get more out of each rep by aiming for movements that lengthen the muscle under tension. Research suggests this increases hypertrophy, or muscle growth.
"With no downside, you can see more hypertrophy by focusing on stretch-biased exercises," he said.
To feel the stretch, try movements like deficit deadlifts, deep Bulgarian split squats, good mornings, seated dumbbell overhead presses, dips, and T-bar rows.
Working through a full range of motion and stretch can also improve mobility to reduce injury risk and, anecdotally, lead to fewer aches and pains in the gym, according to Wolf.
Lifting near failure builds more muscle
The cardinal rule of building muscle is that you need to challenge your muscles to prompt them to grow. That means continually pushing yourself over time, known as progressive overload.
A simple way to know you're working hard enough is when you hit muscle failure and can't complete another rep with good form.
Getting to or near muscle failure can be ideal for gains. You might even be able to eke out a bit more benefit by doing partial reps at the end of your set, fighting through a shortened version of the movement when you're too tired to complete the whole thing .
"The more you push your set, the more muscle growth you see, and that's even true past failure," Wolf said.
Drop sets: the ultimate workout to build muscle in less time
Once you've picked your equipment and exercise, you can cut your workout time in half with a technique called drop sets, Wolf said.
A drop set involves completing reps of an exercise until you're near failure, then decreasing the weight to do even more reps, and repeating the process.
The end result is that you exhaust your muscles more quickly, optimizing your muscle-building within a few sets.
Put all Wolf's advice together, along with a good warmup, and you can get in and out of the gym in around 20 minutes. Do that 3 days a week, and you've got a muscle-building routine even with a busy schedule.
