Question about lifting weights

Former Member
Former Member
I have adopted a theory that doing a single set of each exercise 1-2 times a week is enough and that the diminishing returns from additional sets is large enough to make doing more than that a waste of time (especially for beginners/novices like myself). I have no evidence to back this up and I have adopted this theory mostly because I have never really liked lifting weights much. It's the hanging around, repetitive part that I despise. But I've found that if I do 10-15 exercises (mostly dumbbells) for one set of 10-20 reps I don't mind it at all and almost enjoy it. I'm done in about 30 minutes during lunch and think I might be getting something out of it. Is there any validity to my theory or am I wasting my time with this routine?
  • I have no background to comment on weightlifting, but your comment ... It's the hanging around, repetitive part that I despise. ... made me think, "How is that different from swim training?" I say this because, the other night my wife and I were watching our youngest daughter practice the same gymnastics routine over and over and over again. I said to my wife, "How boring. She's just doing the same thing over and over." My wife looked at me and said something like, "Didn't you just brag about the godawful number of 100s or 50s on some super fast interval that you did? Don't you swim the same events almost every meet and haven't you been doing that for twenty-or-thirty-something years?" The point is this: if you enjoy it, it's not repetitive ... even if it really is. On weightlifting, I think there are a huge variety of exercises that you could do that might add more variety and enjoyment to your sessions.
  • Vary the gym workout so that it does become something new each week or it will be boring.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Herb, As a beginner, almost anything you do in the gym will be effective. As long as you are preforming the exercises correctly, and you muscles are warmed up before you lift anything heavy, enjoy your workout. It is the stage after beginner that gets more difficult, when thinking about how you train becomes more important, if you want to continue to progress. If you hit a plateau and you are happy where you are, you can stick with what got you there and you should have no trouble staying there.
  • A long time ago a bodybuilder named Mike Mentzer wrote quite a bit on the subject of few reps/sets and high intensity training. He and his trainees seemed to get results. Might be worth looking into, he stressed a lot on the importance of recovery. I've subscribed to this philosophy of less is more regarding my weightlifting, but have modified my workout to what seems to work best for me. Currently I'm lifting once or twice a week, but only hitting each body part once every 12-15 days, or 2-3 times a month. It seems that this is enough to maintain my strength level, and allows me more days to swim (which is currently my main focus). I lift for power/strength, because I really don't want to add mass. So I'll do two exercises, four sets per exercise, with a main rep range from 3-7, going to failure on one set. :bliss:
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    A little bit of lifting is better than no lifting at all but you can certainly benefit by doing more. Only doing 1 or 2 sets of each muscle group "may" help you maintain your strength and improve it a little if lifting is new to you. Y You should look at the purpose and goals of your lifting program. For example, if want to put on muscle, most research shows that 12 - 20 sets per muscle is ideal with a rep range fo 8 - 15 reps. Not that you can"t get size from other protocols but reseach has shown this to be effective. To develop strength and power most strength coaches agree that the rep ranges should be from 1 - 8 reps with the sets staying around 12 - 16. The intensity or weight would obviously increase as the reps go down. I prefer to never go below 4 or 6 reps due to the risk of injury when lifting heavy.
  • I tend to believe from experience that lifting very intensly for say, 10 minutes 3 times a week can be optimal for power and build. Exercises include basic's - squats, clean/jerk, bench, pull ups, etc.
  • I have adopted a theory that doing a single set of each exercise 1-2 times a week is enough and that the diminishing returns from additional sets is large enough to make doing more than that a waste of time (especially for beginners/novices like myself). I have no evidence to back this up and I have adopted this theory mostly because I have never really liked lifting weights much. It's the hanging around, repetitive part that I despise. But I've found that if I do 10-15 exercises (mostly dumbbells) for one set of 10-20 reps I don't mind it at all and almost enjoy it. I'm done in about 30 minutes during lunch and think I might be getting something out of it. Is there any validity to my theory or am I wasting my time with this routine? I agree 100%. Something is better than nothing! Do as much or as little as you feel like doing. There is no right/wrong answer. I also like to do "less". I have a VASA at home and I basically do the main 3 exercises in 20 minutes. (4 x 40 freestyles, 3 x 12 leg presses, and then 3 x 10 flys.) That's it! Then onto other mat/core work and stretching to complete my 1 hour home workout. The most important thing is that you feel the effort put in is in line with the "reward". Could you do more reps, more weight, more exercises, more frequently? Absolutely! But why? No, seriously, why? You said it perfectly - diminishing return - and that is a very personal definition of what the return is.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Depending upon what goal you would like to reach (i.e endurance, muscular size, muscular definition, muscular movement specificity) repeats to failure will create the stress needed to reach the goal you set. If I wanted to swim long distances, my strength training regime would focus on more repititions at a longer interval but to failure and as my muscles adapt I would increase the weight and keep the interval the same. If I wanted speed I'd focus on more weight at a shorter interval and so on. Specificity of training is very important if you have specific goals (your goals determine what kind of training you'll be doing.).