How to Cut Your Workout Time Without Sacrificing Gains
Most gym sessions are longer than they need to be. Learn how to cut your workout time in half without compromising gains.
- Muscle growth begins after as few as two sets, but returns diminish beyond 10–12 sets. So 2–10 sets a week is most time-efficient.
- Complex sets, compound exercises, specific warm-ups, machines, shortening rest times, and planning your sessions can also save time.
- Reps lasting 1–2 seconds produce the same muscle growth as 8-second reps. Slowing the rep tempo beyond that provides no additional benefit.
Resistance training is one of the most effective ways to build muscle, develop strength, and protect your long-term health — but it doesn't have to take over your schedule and the rest of your life.
In this article, we’ll go through seven evidence-based resistance training ‘hacks’ that can save you time without compromising gains. By using a few of these strategies, you should be able to get your workout sessions down to about 30 minutes.
Most people who want to start weightlifting but tend to avoid it say the same thing: they don’t have enough time. Traditional gym lore tells you you need 90-minute workouts, 6 days a week, with 30-40 sets a session with dozens of exercises, so it’s understandable why many people stay away from it.
That version of training is really reserved for a select few elite athletes, who would probably get the same (or possibly better) results by reducing their training load. They’re probably training for a completely different reason and purpose than you are, so why copy them?
Muscle growth and strength gains are driven by a handful of things: volume (how much you train), effort (how hard you train) and consistency. Each of these can be achieved in a surprisingly short window of time when you do the right things. Here are seven ways to get the most out of training for the least amount of time.
1. Train with the most efficient dose
Estimated time saved: 20-30 minutes
Training ‘volume’ is the total number of sets completed per muscle group and probably the primary driver of muscle growth1. More volume generally means better gains, but returns start to diminish after a certain point.
The evidence seems to suggest this is around 10-12 sets per muscle group. Beyond this point, you tend to accumulate fatigue more than growth. Research also shows that as few as two sets per muscle group are needed to stimulate meaningful growth.
Traditional gym programmes often prescribe 3–6 sets per exercise across 3-5 exercises for the same muscle group, so up to 30 sets total. This is more than most people need, especially for beginners and intermediate lifters. A “minimalist approach” of 2-6 sets per muscle group per week, performed to a high level of effort, produces meaningful results.
In practice: instead of doing 4 sets of three different variations of the same chest exercise, pick 2 exercises and do 2 sets on each.
2. Choose the 'right' exercises
Estimated time saved: 5-10 minutes
Not all exercises are equal when it comes to ‘time efficiency’. Multi-joint (“compound”) exercises work across two or more joints, engaging several muscle groups simultaneously. This means more muscle is trained per set, so you need to do fewer exercises overall.
Compare a barbell back squat to a leg extension machine. The squat loads your quads, glutes, adductors, lower back, hamstrings, calves and abs simultaneously2. Whereas the leg extension only works one muscle group at a time, the quads.
Similarly, select bilateral exercises where both limbs work at the same time (e.g., bench press, barbell row, deadlift) rather than single-leg or single-arm exercises; these take twice as long to do, and there doesn’t seem to be any extra benefits3.
If you’re really tight on time, pick exercises that don’t take a lot of time to set up or warm up for.
Dumbbell, cable and machine-based exercises are just as effective for muscle growth (compared to free-weight barbell exercises)4; and you can (generally) get through these types of exercises a bit quicker. However, the best exercise is also one you can perform safely, confidently, and without a long wait for equipment.
3. Cut your rest time — but smartly
Estimated time saved: 5-10 minutes
Rest between sets is not wasted time; you need to rest between sets. Shortening it too aggressively will affect your performance and, in turn, your growth. However, you can also rest for far longer than necessary.
Research suggests 1–3 minutes of rest between sets is optimal for most exercises5. Heavier ‘compound’ lifts may benefit from up to 3 minutes. Most people don’t need five.
The most effective way to use rest time is the ‘agonist-antagonist superset’, which pairs of exercises work opposing muscle groups. For example, biceps curls followed immediately by triceps pushdowns, or a bench press followed by a row. Because one muscle group rests while the other works, no formal rest period is needed between them.
Research shows that it doesn’t affect your training performance, but saves you a lot of time6.
If full supersets don't suit your session, you can still use rest productively. Use your rest period to warm up for your next exercise, or adjust your weight or set up the equipment for it. These small tweaks will reduce dead time without interfering with your recovery between sets.
