Suboptimal training might be your most optimal strategy
When you read info about weight training, you’ll find a lot of comparison studies such as “straight sets are superior compared to drop-sets for muscle growth” or “longer rest times are superior to short rest time for muscle growth.”
To summarize some of the literature for weight training for optimal muscle development, you may draw some reasonable conclusions such as:
longer rest times > shorter rest times
straight sets > super-sets, drop-sets, rest-pause, myo-reps, and circuit training
training pretty close to failure most of the time > training to absolute failure or way below the failure threshold
moderate to high volume > low volume
having a full gym of equipment > bare bones equipment or calisthenics
exercise X > exercise Y
training muscle groups 2x week > training them 1x week
… and I would agree that these bullet points would likely deliver a better hypertrophy response in comparison as long as the trainee has no other preferences or time restricting factors.
So I guess this post is for the people who have time restrictions or other training preferences and my message is “don’t let good-enough be the enemy of great.”
Most people aren’t anywhere near their natural genetic fitness potential and still have a lot of room to grow in a variety of training styles. Also, just because one style of training may have scientific evidence to show it is superior doesn’t mean other methods are completely ineffective. Assuming an exercise routine isn’t idiotic or dangerous, you’ll be much more likely to make progress if its something you enjoy and consistently do.
Here are some examples where “suboptimal” training styles might be optimal for your needs:
Only have 30 minutes to workout? Circuit training or supersets might be the answer.
You have to travel for work all the time? Calisthenics and some exercise bands are better than skipping a workout completely because you don’t have access to a gym.
Not interested in training 5 sets of calves because you are running late? Get on the machine and do a huge drop-set or myo-reps for 90 seconds.
People might not go pro with HIT (single-set to failure) training, but lots of people have made plenty of progress that way.
I used to own a personal training studio in Texas. One of my trainers was having a hard time consistently training himself because he was finishing an engineering degree and training a pretty heavy load of clients. I remember talking to him one day and said something to the effect of “If you don’t have time to train, just ‘run the rack’ on your arms before you leave the gym. Grab some 40lb dumbbells and curl them and keep going until you hit the 15s. It will only take a minute or two and at least that’ll be one thing your always consistent with.” Plus I knew this guy loved training arms. And guess what? His arms got bigger. So much he said his wife was taking notice.
For me personally, I can’t dedicate more than an hour in the gym. That includes warm-up and shower. I’ve been selectively using myo-reps, super-sets, drop-sets, shorter rest times, etc. to get in work on muscles and movements I would otherwise have to skip.
Anyways, sorry for the long-winded rant that could be summarized with “just do what works for you.” Manage your time. Consistency is king. Train as hard and long as you need to grow, but not any more than is necessary.
