Short on Time? Use these scientific backed methods to still progress.

THE BRIEF
Short On Time? ⏱

Good Morning Framework! Let’s face it, at points in our life, we all struggle for time to dedicate to our strength, muscle growth and all round general fitness goals.

Maybe your a new parent? Work’s a bit hectic right now or you simply have other priorities in life at this moment. Having your fitness take a back seat shouldn’t have to be the price.

In today’s issue, I want to bring you recommendations on how to get the most out of your available time, allowing you to still make progress with your strength & hypertrophy goals… How do we get the most “bang for your buck”?

In Today’s Issue

• 🧘‍♂️ Warm ups

• 💪 Agonist / Antagonist Supersets

• 🔥 Drop Sets

• 🏋️ Exercise Selection

• ✍️ Key Takeaways & Practical Applications

• 💡 Example Training Session Incorporating These Methods

RECOMMENDATION #1
YOUR WARM UP 🧘‍♂️

A lot of people faff with their warm ups, getting this done efficiently can knock up to 10 minutes off your gym time.

• Stop static stretching! Sure if you’re going to squat and your hips are a bit tight, get them loose. However dynamic stretching and movement specific warm ups are preferred. It’s been shown that static stretching before lifting can reduce muscle strength and power output (Garber et al., 2011) & (McHugh & Cosgrave, 2009).

• Be specific. This is done to increase muscular activation and provide neuromuscular practice of the exercise to be performed (e.g. performing squats with light weights and working your way heavier before squatting your working weight). It will also raise your body’s core temperature.

• Warmup rest times. You do not need 2 minutes rest between warm up sets on your way to your working sets. The loads are light and require less effort. Keep this time minimal, maybe 20-30s as you start and a set before your working sets upto 1 minute.

RECOMMENDATION #2
Agonist Antagonist Supersets 💪

Agonist / Antagonist supersets (AAS) involve using movements paired together which target opposing muscle groups back to back before resting (e.g. bench press & barbell row). Depending how much you use them in your training can reduce training time by 30%.

As you can see from the figure above, you can save a lot of time using the above method, so your now asking, does it affect performance vs traditional set training (TS)? Well…

A recent peer reviewed study by (García-Orea et al., 2023) took moderately strength trained men through a 6 week training programme to study what effect AAS style Upper-Lower training vs Traditional had on strength in the squat and bench press outcomes, with the set up being squat first then bench press. The results showed the squat improved similarly between the groups and the bench press strength improvements slightly favoured the traditional set group but by a small amount.

A study by (Pringga et al., 2021) on 16 untrained men, using the leg extension and hamstring curl in either traditional set style or AAS. They found no difference in muscle thickness gains between the groups.

Another study by (Paz et al., 2017) took 15 trained men comparing AAS vs TS with the bench press and wide grip seated row. 2 minutes rest was taken after each super set and a 2 minute rest was taken between exercises in the TS group. The results showed greater volume load was achieved in the AAS group which was paired with greater muscle fatigue. Authors of the study state this “may provide and enhanced training stimulus”.

RECOMMENDATION #3
Drop Sets 🔥

DS is a strength training technique where an exercise is performed to the point of muscle failure, then the weight is reduced, and the exercise is continued until muscle failure is reached again. This process can be repeated multiple times within a single set.

A recent systematic review and meta analysis by (Sødal et al., 2023) looked at using drop sets for muscle growth. A total of 5 studies were included. Findings showed no statistical difference between using drop sets vs traditional sets.

A meta analysis by (Coleman et al., 2022) looked at a total of 5 studies comparing the effects of utilizing drop sets vs traditional training. Of the studies, all 5 compared the effects for hypertrophy and 4 the effects on strength gains. The results of the meta analysis show similar effects on muscular strength and hypertrophy. Below are the Forest Plot charts from the study.

RECOMMENDATION #4
Exercise Selection 🏋️

Several studies, including (Haugen et al., 2023) & (Heidel et al., 2021) have shown free weights and machine’s give you similar hypertrophy and strength outcomes. The only difference being movement specific strength (e.g. squatting leads to greater squat strength and leg press leads to greater leg press strength. However both lead to improved leg strength).

In terms of exercise selection to aid in time efficiency 👇

Free weights:

• Offer the ability to perform multiple exercises with the same equipment, which can reduce time spent waiting for equipment

• They are often multi joint movements which target several muscle groups with the one exercise. Killing two birds with one stone…

• Increased set up and put away time with plates.

Machines:

• Provide time efficient for inexperienced lifters due to the fixed movement pattern requiring fewer coordination/technique skills. This allows you to focus on effort more than form.

• Changing the resistance is quick and easy.

• However this comes with a trade off with having to shift between machines, which in a busy gym could add a lot of time on spent waiting for it to become free.

SHORT CUT ANSWERS
Key Takeaways & Practical Applications ✍️

• Static Stretching reduces muscular strength, so cut it from your warmup.

• Keep your warm ups short and specific to the sessions task.

• Agonist / Antagonist Supersets & Drop sets can reduce training time while not sacrificing hypertrophy & strength outcomes.

Your warmup can be as little as 5 minutes. Find what works for you. For me, on an upper day I like to use cable face pulls supersetted with cable straight arm pulldowns, this warms up my shoulders, back and triceps effectively in minimal time and only requires one piece of equipment. Then I head to my first exercise doing a specific warm up with the bar, and work up in load to working set weight.

Agonist / Antagonist Supersets can be used in your whole session or for a section of it to cut down time. If pressed for time, I might use this method for a section of my session. (E.g. I may Bench Press first in traditional style with 2-3 minutes rest between each set, then for my next two movements perform them AAS style such as Dips & Pull Ups.) Or even keep them for the final two lifts of the day. Add this in to save time based on your current program.

Drop Sets, I would keep for later in your session and reserved for less technically demanding lifts to reduce chance of injury. I would not use this with lifts like the squat or bench, but instead leg press or dumbbell press. You could do one set with 1-3 drops sets afterwards, or do 2-3 sets traditional and on your last set perform a drop set.

Exercise selection can play a huge role in how quickly you get through your training session. As stated above free weights offer quickness through being able to use the same equipment for various movements, however takes longer to set up and put away. Machines offer beginners a plug and play lift scenario, where lack of technical ability allows them to get started quicker, with quicker set up and no put away time. If you want to use both set up your training where all movements flow, do all your barbell work one after the other, before moving to machines to finish.

JUST FOR YOU
Example Upper Day 💡

Total Time - 45 Minutes (20 - 30 minutes optional)

This is for a full upper body training session aimed at both strength and hypertrophy, with every major muscle group worked, covering vertical and horizontal planes of pushing and pulling. With the accessory work using optimal stretched position bicep curl and tricep extension. This is a non personalised template, adjust to your own settings and goals.

1. Cable Face pull + Cable Straight Arm Pulldown - 3 sets × 10-15 reps (No rest between exercises or sets) (~2-3 Minutes)

2. Bench Press - 3 sets x 5 reps (2 minutes rest) (~10 minutes)

3. Barbell Row - 3 sets x 8 reps (2 minutes rest) (~10 minutes)

4. DB Shoulder Press + Pull Ups - (AAS) 3×8-10 (~ Rest 1.5 minutes) (~ 8 minutes)

5. Incline DB Curl + DB Overhead Tricep Extension - (AAS) 3×10-15 (Rest 1.5 minutes) - (~ 8 minutes)

6. DB Lateral Raise - (DS last set) - 2×12-15 (1.5 minutes Rest / None on DS) (~ 5 minutes)

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