How to Make Your Strength Training More Efficient
You can make make great gains in less time by updating your program to focus on barbell lifts and using some time-saving methods like supersets.
Photo Credit: Becca Heuer
Introduction
One of the biggest obstacles to building muscle and strength is time. Or, more accurately, the perception that you need lots of time to get results. This is even more true if you're in your 40s and beyond, as life becomes much more hectic.
You might make quicker progress with an "optimized" approach that requires a lot of hours in the gym per week. But let's break down some of the flaws with this thinking:
Quick progress is only your goal if you have a specific athletic deadline. Your timeline is the rest of your life. Even in your sport, you should plan to compete for as long as possible. You want to get stronger continuously and sustainably.
You exist in the real world, not in an exercise science lab. Your training needs to reflect the reality of your life. You may have parenting or caretaking duties and a demanding career. Plus, you should seek to find purpose in all areas of your life, not just in the gym.
Individual variation matters a lot. Your needs as a lifter in your 40s will be different from a 20-year-old male. Heck, your needs will differ from when you were in your 30s.
As we age, optimal shifts toward more efficient and shorter training anyway. Due to psychological and physiological changes, we need to prioritize rest and recovery over pure effort.
This article will cover the best methods for streamlining your training sessions so you get the highest ROI.
Strategize your Warmup
I get it; you have aches and pains. And you've developed a solid routine of PT movements from various injuries over the years.
Over time, however, that routine has turned into an elaborate ritual. You've become dependent on this ritual for comfort, even if it provides minimal physical value.
Here are four methods for creating a more effective warmup routine:
Rank your highest needs for the day. What are the 2-3 body parts that benefit from targeted efforts?
These might not always be the movement's primary muscle groups or joints. For example, I spend 3 minutes on my low traps before barbell squatting. The more engaged they are, the better I can support the bar during the lift.
Identify your largest performance gaps.
Consider your shoulders, a frequent weak spot for masters athletes. Let's assume you can bench press 250, but your rotator cuff gives out while pressing a 5-lb kettlebell upside down
Warming and strengthening those smaller cuff muscles is the best use of your time. You have enough strength in your pecs and delts; these smaller muscles will determine long-term progress.
Start with dynamic warmups.
While some targeted work may be necessary, focus on 2 to 3 fast, whole-body movements. These can prepare your entire system for training. One of my favorites is a single-leg landmine Romanian deadlift, which requires balance, coordination, and strength.
Interperse your working sets with warmups for other body parts. If you're benching and squatting on the same day, for example, start getting ready for the second movement during your set rests.
Analyze your Program
Sometimes, you need to take a fresh look at your workout routine. If you're struggling with staying objective, consider hiring a strength coach or personal trainer to review for you.
Here are the main elements to consider.
Proportion of Compound Lifts
Any resistance training or weight training can produce results. Whether it's free weights or body weight, an effective exercise is one that you enjoy doing and can progressively load.
But if you're short on time, ensure that 75% of your daily volume revolves around bilateral lifts. These are preferably barbell exercises. Let's say you have time for four movements in a session. Three can be core stuff that has worked for centuries: benching, overhead pressing, squatting, deadlifting, and rowing.
Even if you primarily use barbell lifts, closely examine your programming. You may have added more specialized or isolated exercises over time that no longer have an obvious benefit. Strip some of those away to get back to basics.
Weekly Volume
Adding more work is natural if you've trained for a little while. You're eager to keep the gains coming as you learn more. Maybe your deadlift stalled, so you added three backoff sets per week. Then you felt like your hamstrings would benefit from a couple of sets of 20.
Fast forward six months, and your program now takes nearly 90 minutes. This presents two problems:
Life has gotten busier, and you no longer have that long. You fall into an "all-or-nothing" trap, deciding a 45-minute session is worthless.
You may be doing more harm than good. As we age, junk volume presents a greater risk for aches and pains.
To solve this problem, start by assessing your current workout. If your workout includes 75%-80% compound lifts, the next step is to calculate your weekly volume. If you're above 15 sets of pressing movements, ten sets of lower body movements, and eight sets of assistance movements, drop each by 20%.
Use Time-Saving Models
Once you've streamlined your warmup and programming, you can shorten your workouts with various tools. Choose the ones that work best for your training style. For more detail click here to read my article on training techniques.
Supersets
Application: assistance movements or lighter compound lifts.
Supersets are a way to rest one body part while working on another. Instead of taking a 1-3 minute break for a single movement, you do so only after a second one. These work best for antagonist movements, such as a bench press and a row.
How to perform:
Perform all reps in movement A
Move immediately to movement B, performing all reps
You've completed a set, so rest for 30-60 seconds
Repeat until all sets are complete
Density Blocks
Application: super setting moderate-to-high rep lifts during a time squeeze
Density blocks combine the benefits of supersets with a defined work period. For example, combining an overhead press with a barbell row for 12 minutes with 2-minute breaks. That allows you to get plenty of volume while staying within our available time for the day.
Perform all reps in movement A
Move immediately to movement B, performing all reps
You've completed a set, so rest for 60-90 seconds
Repeat until the clock runs out
MYOREPS
Application: heavier compound lifts
Myoreps provide a unique advantage. They depend on pre-fatiguing the muscle and capping total effort, which makes them ideal for more demanding compound lifts.
How to perform:
Choose a weight that's about 65% of your one rep max. If you don't know that number, go with 50% of what you would typically lift.
Perform 12-15 reps, stopping when you can only do one more.
Perform three sets of 5 reps, with a 30-second rest in between. If you do three more reps on the final set, you can perform up to 2 additional sets.
EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute)
Application: higher volume assistance work or conditioning. I like these for core sessions.
An EMOM allows you to make the most of limited time. For example, if you only have 5 minutes to train your triceps, you can squeeze out many sets and reps.
How to perform:
Set a timer (a range between 5 and 9 minutes works best)
When the timer starts, do your chosen movement for 30-40 seconds
Take a rest and then start again when the timer hits the next minute marker
AMRAP (As Many Reps/Rounds as Possible)
Application: Assistance movements or combining conditioning with lighter-intensity weights.
Like EMOMs, this method is time-bound. Instead of doing movements every minute, you will do as many reps or rounds as possible for a designated period. For example, you could structure an AMRAP with pushups, bodyweight squats, and planks. Typically, you will not take a rest period.
How to perform:
Set your timer
Perform your first exercise until you can only do one more rep.
Move immediately to the second exercise until you can only do one more rep.
Repeat for additional movements, cycling back through each one until the timer ends.
Circuit training is known for its time-saving advantages. This section provides an overview of circuit training, guides readers on designing balanced circuits for full-body engagement, and offers tips on adapting circuits to individual fitness levels and goals.
HIIT Workouts
Conditioning plays a crucial role in lifting performance. Your cardiovascular fitness drives recovery and longevity. A longer health span gives you more productive years for training.
Ideally, we would combine steady-state cardio with HIIT. However, HIIT might be a better option if that's not feasible during a particular life phase or transition. Just limit your total number of weekly sessions to 1-2 since this is a taxing training style.
And as soon as you're able, try to sneak back in that zone 2 work, even if it's just for 20 minutes.
Conclusion
There are many ways to fit your strength training into your busy life. I've covered only some of the methods here.
The most significant shift, however, is your mindset. Break through the mentality that more is better or that you should work the same way in your 40s as in your 20s.
Embrace your time limitations as a creative constraint. That will force you to uncover new training styles you might even like more. You're also likely to learn you can drive better gains in less time while appreciating the moments you have in the gym.
