Why Almost Everyone Is Wasting Their Time In The Gym
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Date: 2026-10-28
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Comments and reviews: 20
PotatoZemiak
TL; DR FOR EVERYONE: Train full body 2x per week with great technique, go hard every set (12 reps shy of failure, dial in your diet, and you are GOLDEN. That is guaranteed.
Explanation:
I would argue that people focus too much on volume and time. If I were to advise someone on how to start, I would say: Go to the gym only once per week, do a full body workout, and give 99% of your focus to correct technique and a hard workout. That's it. I would have them do this for at least a month and then add another workout per week.
Two full-body workouts per week (each can be done in about two hours) with great technique and going hard is more than enough for being healthy, fit, and gaining a LOT of muscle. Going hard = stopping 12 reps before failure, which also means going to failure from time to time to actually know what it feels like to be 12 reps shy of failure.
What does a lot of muscle mean, you ask Well, it means that if you go to failure on each set, do a lot more volume, do more workouts per week, etc, and this is the most important part: all of that is in exchange for fewer additional gains than you would think -> It is such a small difference that it only really makes sense for pro bodybuilders to consider (especially those on gear) you will need a lot more time in the gym and the program will not be as much fun.
Also, you are not on gear! (This applies to people who are actually not on gear. )
You need recovery, and it's a lot more than you would think. Doing those two workouts on Monday/Friday (as far apart as possible in the week) is GREAT for local (the muscle groups you just trained) and systemic (whole-body) recovery. Mike Mentzer was totally right about this one!
P. S.: This is not only great for calorie surplus AKA gaining muscle, but also for calorie deficit AKA loosing fat and preserving muscle OR if done correctly, especially the diet part, you can actually loose weight and gain muscle at the same time.
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TL; DR FOR EVERYONE: Train full body 2x per week with great technique, go hard every set (12 reps shy of failure, dial in your diet, and you are GOLDEN. That is guaranteed.
Explanation:
I would argue that people focus too much on volume and time. If I were to advise someone on how to start, I would say: Go to the gym only once per week, do a full body workout, and give 99% of your focus to correct technique and a hard workout. That's it. I would have them do this for at least a month and then add another workout per week.
Two full-body workouts per week (each can be done in about two hours) with great technique and going hard is more than enough for being healthy, fit, and gaining a LOT of muscle. Going hard = stopping 12 reps before failure, which also means going to failure from time to time to actually know what it feels like to be 12 reps shy of failure.
What does a lot of muscle mean, you ask Well, it means that if you go to failure on each set, do a lot more volume, do more workouts per week, etc, and this is the most important part: all of that is in exchange for fewer additional gains than you would think -> It is such a small difference that it only really makes sense for pro bodybuilders to consider (especially those on gear) you will need a lot more time in the gym and the program will not be as much fun.
Also, you are not on gear! (This applies to people who are actually not on gear. )
You need recovery, and it's a lot more than you would think. Doing those two workouts on Monday/Friday (as far apart as possible in the week) is GREAT for local (the muscle groups you just trained) and systemic (whole-body) recovery. Mike Mentzer was totally right about this one!
P. S.: This is not only great for calorie surplus AKA gaining muscle, but also for calorie deficit AKA loosing fat and preserving muscle OR if done correctly, especially the diet part, you can actually loose weight and gain muscle at the same time.
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Mangrovius
The results are actually fairly obvious and fairly in line with anything so far if you think about it. While I can't guarantee it, what makes sense is
-If you can recover from the extra volume, 6x will provide more growth than 3x a week
-If you struggle to recover from 6x a week, but do ok, it's probably similar or a slight advantage.
-If you simply cannot handle the volume at all, then 6 workouts might have less good results.
So over 200 people you will find people who have a lot of time and low IRL stress/lower age, and they can get more benefit from 6x a week. And also some overworked 3 kid household people who can't recover from 4, let alone 6. I think the program that works best is simply the one that logically fits your lifestyle. That being said, 3 workouts a week is obviously easier to recommend to a broader audience and also not worse by definition. So if that floats your boat, do it.
I go for 5 myself. 6 by definition means 6 in a row one way or the other, which is too much for me. A rest day every 2 or 3 days works for me. Find what works for you.
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The results are actually fairly obvious and fairly in line with anything so far if you think about it. While I can't guarantee it, what makes sense is
-If you can recover from the extra volume, 6x will provide more growth than 3x a week
-If you struggle to recover from 6x a week, but do ok, it's probably similar or a slight advantage.
-If you simply cannot handle the volume at all, then 6 workouts might have less good results.
So over 200 people you will find people who have a lot of time and low IRL stress/lower age, and they can get more benefit from 6x a week. And also some overworked 3 kid household people who can't recover from 4, let alone 6. I think the program that works best is simply the one that logically fits your lifestyle. That being said, 3 workouts a week is obviously easier to recommend to a broader audience and also not worse by definition. So if that floats your boat, do it.
I go for 5 myself. 6 by definition means 6 in a row one way or the other, which is too much for me. A rest day every 2 or 3 days works for me. Find what works for you.
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AniverrA
Weirdly nonsensical premise for someone who has experience lifting.
6x is clearly superior, you can do different exercises and rep ranges, you don't need to do double the volume you can shorten each session to have less cortisol, more volume, more variety, both strength and hypertrophy rep ranges to quickly progress, which is ultra useful to reduce plateaus which happen when you keep doing the same thing only with only one path forward.
Also 6x only makes any sense for people who are already training for a while as beginners can even do 3x fullbody workout or even 2x fullbody workout and it wont make much difference. Most of these participants look nowhere near their generic limit. These are states that can be reached in 6 months from untrained with fullbody workouts, might be that they trained longer but probably lacked knowledge/experience to progress.
Edit: I see that the 3x fullbody is even mentioned at the end of the video but that is actually supporting what I stated, that this test is one that makes no difference even with fullbody workouts.
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Weirdly nonsensical premise for someone who has experience lifting.
6x is clearly superior, you can do different exercises and rep ranges, you don't need to do double the volume you can shorten each session to have less cortisol, more volume, more variety, both strength and hypertrophy rep ranges to quickly progress, which is ultra useful to reduce plateaus which happen when you keep doing the same thing only with only one path forward.
Also 6x only makes any sense for people who are already training for a while as beginners can even do 3x fullbody workout or even 2x fullbody workout and it wont make much difference. Most of these participants look nowhere near their generic limit. These are states that can be reached in 6 months from untrained with fullbody workouts, might be that they trained longer but probably lacked knowledge/experience to progress.
Edit: I see that the 3x fullbody is even mentioned at the end of the video but that is actually supporting what I stated, that this test is one that makes no difference even with fullbody workouts.
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pokedude104
as it always goes. The best plan is the one you'll actually follow. I like doing every other day full body. Basically I just make sure to hit everything across 2 workouts with all compound movements. One day is push so I'll do chest press, shoulder press and leg press and throw in some kind of accessory work, usually biceps. Day two is pull, so lat pulldown, rows, deadlift then an accessory lift again. Or sometimes I'll repeat an exercise from day one if I didn't feel good about it last time. That's it. 3 sets of 8-10 each, first 2 sets leave 1 or 2 in the tank and last set to failure, so I go heavy low volume. For the only reason its more efficient and I'm in and out of the gym in under an hour. Some times on the days inbetween I'll do cardio, but honestly I usually dont because my job is physical and I get my steps in regardless if I do it or not lmao.
its not the best workout, and I'm sure I'm wasting a lot of gains, but it is working and I am progressing so I don't care
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as it always goes. The best plan is the one you'll actually follow. I like doing every other day full body. Basically I just make sure to hit everything across 2 workouts with all compound movements. One day is push so I'll do chest press, shoulder press and leg press and throw in some kind of accessory work, usually biceps. Day two is pull, so lat pulldown, rows, deadlift then an accessory lift again. Or sometimes I'll repeat an exercise from day one if I didn't feel good about it last time. That's it. 3 sets of 8-10 each, first 2 sets leave 1 or 2 in the tank and last set to failure, so I go heavy low volume. For the only reason its more efficient and I'm in and out of the gym in under an hour. Some times on the days inbetween I'll do cardio, but honestly I usually dont because my job is physical and I get my steps in regardless if I do it or not lmao.
its not the best workout, and I'm sure I'm wasting a lot of gains, but it is working and I am progressing so I don't care
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willdieselpower
Interesting stuff. I'm currently doing the same 4 day split. Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri. Except it's a 3-cycle program Legs, Push, Pull, then repeat.
I'm intentionally minimizing my intensity as I'm just getting back to lifting the past 4 weeks. I. e, my reps across sets are flat, very little to no pyramiding up in weight during a workout. I'm doing this to allow my nervous system to adjust, as well as my joints to prepare for more weight, and lastly to find an easy on ramp to being consistent.
I'm less concerned with measured (inches or pounds or bodyfat %) results right now and more interested in seeing my strength increase from workout to workout. This tells me the program is working as well as I'm getting the nutrition and recovery I need.
Once I hit the 8 week mark, I will ratchet up the intensity, so this video is a nice science-backed reminder to push on each set when I get there.
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Interesting stuff. I'm currently doing the same 4 day split. Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri. Except it's a 3-cycle program Legs, Push, Pull, then repeat.
I'm intentionally minimizing my intensity as I'm just getting back to lifting the past 4 weeks. I. e, my reps across sets are flat, very little to no pyramiding up in weight during a workout. I'm doing this to allow my nervous system to adjust, as well as my joints to prepare for more weight, and lastly to find an easy on ramp to being consistent.
I'm less concerned with measured (inches or pounds or bodyfat %) results right now and more interested in seeing my strength increase from workout to workout. This tells me the program is working as well as I'm getting the nutrition and recovery I need.
Once I hit the 8 week mark, I will ratchet up the intensity, so this video is a nice science-backed reminder to push on each set when I get there.
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RDDHopsing7
In the 1980's there was a regular monthly columnist who wrote in Iron Man magazine called Bradley Steiner who constantly argued that full body training 3 times per week with moderate sets was the best way to train for the average hard gainer. Even then many were skeptical as young gym goers were influenced by what steroid users and genetic freaks were doing. True mesomorphic genetic freaks only need to look at weights and they gain muscle. I used to see Lee Priest who is a genetic freak around Wallsend and Jesmond in Newcastle Australia when he was young. At 14 he looked better than Jeremy, by 16 after 2 extra years training he looked like a seasoned body builder. Not massive, but big and very well built. People like Lee will still get great results in spite of their training programs and diet not because of it. However, the rest of us need all the help we can get.
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In the 1980's there was a regular monthly columnist who wrote in Iron Man magazine called Bradley Steiner who constantly argued that full body training 3 times per week with moderate sets was the best way to train for the average hard gainer. Even then many were skeptical as young gym goers were influenced by what steroid users and genetic freaks were doing. True mesomorphic genetic freaks only need to look at weights and they gain muscle. I used to see Lee Priest who is a genetic freak around Wallsend and Jesmond in Newcastle Australia when he was young. At 14 he looked better than Jeremy, by 16 after 2 extra years training he looked like a seasoned body builder. Not massive, but big and very well built. People like Lee will still get great results in spite of their training programs and diet not because of it. However, the rest of us need all the help we can get.
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arise-coffee-guy
What about starting from a 3 day workout one month then to a full body 3 day workout the next month and then a 6 day workout the month after Then repeat the whole thing with slightly heavier weights. I feel like this might work best because it will constantly challenge your body to adapt to the new routine without getting comfortable and plateauing. For the first 3 day workout month, I would focus on less reps but heavier weights to build strength then in the next month, focus on 3 days of full body workouts with slightly lighter weights but normal reps including super sets to grow the muscles and then the following month, 6 days of workouts with even more reps and lighter weights to tone the muscles. I think The Rock or Huge Jackman did something similar to get big
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What about starting from a 3 day workout one month then to a full body 3 day workout the next month and then a 6 day workout the month after Then repeat the whole thing with slightly heavier weights. I feel like this might work best because it will constantly challenge your body to adapt to the new routine without getting comfortable and plateauing. For the first 3 day workout month, I would focus on less reps but heavier weights to build strength then in the next month, focus on 3 days of full body workouts with slightly lighter weights but normal reps including super sets to grow the muscles and then the following month, 6 days of workouts with even more reps and lighter weights to tone the muscles. I think The Rock or Huge Jackman did something similar to get big
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NastiSanders
You guys, like pretty nuch everyone mostly overlook the MASSIVE difference that fatigue accumulation makes especially for intermediates. My progress started to skyrocket when i quit trying to grind out everything close to failure, in favor of 1 heavy top set for each compound movement cycling between rpe 5 or 6 through 9 or 10 each week peaking at hitting PRs on everything. After each top set doing 3 or 4 sets as low as 60-75% or 1 rep max leaving a ton of reps on the table accumulated (for these backoff sets.
On isolated stuff can go a bit harder more often.
The whole scene is retarded on fatigue and intensity. I get that many peoples problem is not training hard enough but a lot of us were also training way too hard.
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You guys, like pretty nuch everyone mostly overlook the MASSIVE difference that fatigue accumulation makes especially for intermediates. My progress started to skyrocket when i quit trying to grind out everything close to failure, in favor of 1 heavy top set for each compound movement cycling between rpe 5 or 6 through 9 or 10 each week peaking at hitting PRs on everything. After each top set doing 3 or 4 sets as low as 60-75% or 1 rep max leaving a ton of reps on the table accumulated (for these backoff sets.
On isolated stuff can go a bit harder more often.
The whole scene is retarded on fatigue and intensity. I get that many peoples problem is not training hard enough but a lot of us were also training way too hard.
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vryizen4665
Doesn’t this all come down to a bit of common sense when it comes to training Like, aren’t most of our gains actually coming from good and high quality rest Sleep for turbo charging growth hormone, rest day walks/hike/ light recovery based work. Sometime less really is more when you realise the body has to build and adapt rather than just be put under pressure all the time. I also think the mindset is just healthier - we all have to be adults, which means kids, wife, jobs, family. Doing 6-7 days a week just sounds ridiculous for the average person who has to juggle many other things in life. We are better to do 5-6 things are 80% effort/efficiency than one thing at 120% leaving everything else behind.
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Doesn’t this all come down to a bit of common sense when it comes to training Like, aren’t most of our gains actually coming from good and high quality rest Sleep for turbo charging growth hormone, rest day walks/hike/ light recovery based work. Sometime less really is more when you realise the body has to build and adapt rather than just be put under pressure all the time. I also think the mindset is just healthier - we all have to be adults, which means kids, wife, jobs, family. Doing 6-7 days a week just sounds ridiculous for the average person who has to juggle many other things in life. We are better to do 5-6 things are 80% effort/efficiency than one thing at 120% leaving everything else behind.
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SteveSUX2BU
I used to train 5-6 days a week when I competed in natural bodybuilding. I definitely grew the fastest and got strong. I also had no responsibilities so I had the time.
New job and kids came along, so I changed my workouts to 4 days a week, upper/lower twice. Kept making progress but I dreaded lower body days. Progress plateaued or went backwards and I no longer enjoyed training.
Now training 3x a week full body. 1 day I start Push, the next day Pull, and the last Legs. It's super flexible and each day is fun and not overwhelming. My strength is better than when I trained 5-6 days a week, however the muscle mass isn't. I'm also older, so that's a factor.
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I used to train 5-6 days a week when I competed in natural bodybuilding. I definitely grew the fastest and got strong. I also had no responsibilities so I had the time.
New job and kids came along, so I changed my workouts to 4 days a week, upper/lower twice. Kept making progress but I dreaded lower body days. Progress plateaued or went backwards and I no longer enjoyed training.
Now training 3x a week full body. 1 day I start Push, the next day Pull, and the last Legs. It's super flexible and each day is fun and not overwhelming. My strength is better than when I trained 5-6 days a week, however the muscle mass isn't. I'm also older, so that's a factor.
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TravelGeeq
This. Over the years I have come to the same conclusion. For me, it is unrealistic to workout6 days a week. I learned that if you work out with intention and decent intensity, then 3-4 days is the sweet spot. I also would like to comment on the importance of mental health. For me, the gym became a happy place and somewhere I can escape for an hour, and if my schedule allowed it, I would totally do 6 days instead. You just need need to keep pushing play, stay consistent, work out with intensity, eat healthy, get sleep, and stop drinking your calories (for me, alcohol was a huge thing to stop. Stay strong people. You can do it
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This. Over the years I have come to the same conclusion. For me, it is unrealistic to workout6 days a week. I learned that if you work out with intention and decent intensity, then 3-4 days is the sweet spot. I also would like to comment on the importance of mental health. For me, the gym became a happy place and somewhere I can escape for an hour, and if my schedule allowed it, I would totally do 6 days instead. You just need need to keep pushing play, stay consistent, work out with intensity, eat healthy, get sleep, and stop drinking your calories (for me, alcohol was a huge thing to stop. Stay strong people. You can do it
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aron_ruiz
I don’t understand why there’s so much debate about this stuff. The principle is simple: train as much as your recovery can handle. If you work 2 jobs, drink alcohol, and sleep like shit, then 3 sessions is too much. If you’re a millionaire athlete who eats 12 bison livers a day and sleeps in a state of the art pressurized cryo space ship breathing vaporized stem cells, then you can probably train 8 days a week. The only useful advice that actually applies to everyone is this: track everything and adjust until you find your optimal program.
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I don’t understand why there’s so much debate about this stuff. The principle is simple: train as much as your recovery can handle. If you work 2 jobs, drink alcohol, and sleep like shit, then 3 sessions is too much. If you’re a millionaire athlete who eats 12 bison livers a day and sleeps in a state of the art pressurized cryo space ship breathing vaporized stem cells, then you can probably train 8 days a week. The only useful advice that actually applies to everyone is this: track everything and adjust until you find your optimal program.
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OberonPan
At 61, I've found that what works best for me is 4 workouts a week, a bro split of 6 sets either to failure or almost, which is 16-40 reps depending. Lots of water and sleep. It's about balance for me. I have absolutely no qualms about spending three days just relaxing and recovering, especially from leg/lower body days. I'm 5'-10 and 190 pounds. I get compliments all the time on my physique. And I'm good with that. Six days a week in the gym is excessive unless you're training for Mister Universe. I'm not and I don't know anyone who is.
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At 61, I've found that what works best for me is 4 workouts a week, a bro split of 6 sets either to failure or almost, which is 16-40 reps depending. Lots of water and sleep. It's about balance for me. I have absolutely no qualms about spending three days just relaxing and recovering, especially from leg/lower body days. I'm 5'-10 and 190 pounds. I get compliments all the time on my physique. And I'm good with that. Six days a week in the gym is excessive unless you're training for Mister Universe. I'm not and I don't know anyone who is.
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yamchoonhian
I train 5-6 days a week but most sessions are intense but short. These include around 2 rock climbing sessions which I usually finish with resistance work for 2 muscle groups. At 52 years of age, I'll never do more than 2 targeted sessions per week for one body part unless it is a peripheral activation, such as chest or legs employed during climbing. I miss my 30's though when pain & injuries are rare & mostly short-lived. Now my approach to training is more like a sniper than a machine gunner.
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I train 5-6 days a week but most sessions are intense but short. These include around 2 rock climbing sessions which I usually finish with resistance work for 2 muscle groups. At 52 years of age, I'll never do more than 2 targeted sessions per week for one body part unless it is a peripheral activation, such as chest or legs employed during climbing. I miss my 30's though when pain & injuries are rare & mostly short-lived. Now my approach to training is more like a sniper than a machine gunner.
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Berticus92
You know I watch so many videos that do these studies and that evaluate prior studies, and no one ever seems to talk about how you can take a study like this and extrapolate it out over time.
Yes, perhaps 10 weeks doesn't show as big of a difference as you might expect. But hellllloooooo, weight lifting occurs over YEARS.
If we take the marginal gains seen here by the 6-day lifters, and we multiply it out (x5 to see 50 weeks, we see how over a year this is pretty darn significant.
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You know I watch so many videos that do these studies and that evaluate prior studies, and no one ever seems to talk about how you can take a study like this and extrapolate it out over time.
Yes, perhaps 10 weeks doesn't show as big of a difference as you might expect. But hellllloooooo, weight lifting occurs over YEARS.
If we take the marginal gains seen here by the 6-day lifters, and we multiply it out (x5 to see 50 weeks, we see how over a year this is pretty darn significant.
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Sephronchillbeats
Training since 30 years, i tried myself every Versions from 7 days/4 hours a day to 3 days a week/1-2 hours. Believe it or not the 3 day Version was by far the most effective one.
Im a personal/medical fitness coach and have solid knowledge so i also worked in alternating muscle group days during the intense 6-7 days workouts, took care of my routine, food/sleep/regeneration, a lot of stretching.
still the result was much much less then a solid 2-3 day workout per week.
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Training since 30 years, i tried myself every Versions from 7 days/4 hours a day to 3 days a week/1-2 hours. Believe it or not the 3 day Version was by far the most effective one.
Im a personal/medical fitness coach and have solid knowledge so i also worked in alternating muscle group days during the intense 6-7 days workouts, took care of my routine, food/sleep/regeneration, a lot of stretching.
still the result was much much less then a solid 2-3 day workout per week.
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badummtish
whatever u do, make sure u hit the muscle twice a week at least (tops 3 so that the muscle can always rest at least one day)
effort matters, i push hard on both sets for the exercise - when u do multiple angles/variations, u really dont need many sets
do what u enjoy, it helps with consistency & that is where results come from at the end of the day - if u dread an exercise (ive been there, just do a different exercise! i hate bar squats, i dont do them, simple as that
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whatever u do, make sure u hit the muscle twice a week at least (tops 3 so that the muscle can always rest at least one day)
effort matters, i push hard on both sets for the exercise - when u do multiple angles/variations, u really dont need many sets
do what u enjoy, it helps with consistency & that is where results come from at the end of the day - if u dread an exercise (ive been there, just do a different exercise! i hate bar squats, i dont do them, simple as that
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InvaderR00123
That's why I gave up on the gym all together. I've been 130lbs my entire life, even when I was going to the gym. My friend said it's because I don't eat enough to build muscle, but even if try to eat more I puke it up, I literally cannot eat more food, so why waste my time.
Problem is that now I have back issues at 39yo and they're telling me I have to go this, so now I have to learn, but seems the only benefit I'll get is not throwing my back out
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That's why I gave up on the gym all together. I've been 130lbs my entire life, even when I was going to the gym. My friend said it's because I don't eat enough to build muscle, but even if try to eat more I puke it up, I literally cannot eat more food, so why waste my time.
Problem is that now I have back issues at 39yo and they're telling me I have to go this, so now I have to learn, but seems the only benefit I'll get is not throwing my back out
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stevey1077
Thank you for putting the effort into these experiments. I think frequency is far more important than volume. Neither plan here is great IMO. the 6 days per week PPL has good frequency but it's too much time in the gym, and as you showed it leads to lower effort for most people. 3 days / wk PPL is too low frequency. A 2 day split or full body allows for high frequency at 3-4 days per week. Btw I saw you in Jesse's challenge, you are a beast
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Thank you for putting the effort into these experiments. I think frequency is far more important than volume. Neither plan here is great IMO. the 6 days per week PPL has good frequency but it's too much time in the gym, and as you showed it leads to lower effort for most people. 3 days / wk PPL is too low frequency. A 2 day split or full body allows for high frequency at 3-4 days per week. Btw I saw you in Jesse's challenge, you are a beast
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carlobomb95
Nowadays, I workout only 3 days per week, I train at fryday-saturday-sunday, during the week not possible for me going gym because my work and other things to do
In past I trained 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days and even 6 days per week, my conclusion, for me, is that when I have only 2 or 3 workout days per week I convince my self, and my brain know, that I can push mysefl in gym, because I know and will have good time to rest
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Nowadays, I workout only 3 days per week, I train at fryday-saturday-sunday, during the week not possible for me going gym because my work and other things to do
In past I trained 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days and even 6 days per week, my conclusion, for me, is that when I have only 2 or 3 workout days per week I convince my self, and my brain know, that I can push mysefl in gym, because I know and will have good time to rest
reply
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