Single Sets Versus Multiple Sets of Exercise

An initial consultation with a prospective Total Results client is very comprehensive and information-dense. The most important aspects of that hour-long meeting are to connect with and better understand the prospective client's needs, but also to learn about their medical history and to explain areas of preliminary consideration (which covers safety and expectations). Those are non-negotiable and must be discussed before we even go into the workout room. I also will give a general overview of our exercise philosophy and briefly touch on the fact that our workouts are brief, infrequent, and intense. Most people initially have a difficult time wrapping their minds around the fact that our sessions typically entail six or seven exercises and last about twenty minutes. Even in 2025 this concept runs counter to what most people in the exercise field are doing - traditional weight training workouts take longer to complete and are performed more frequently. Why do we use only one set of each exercise, and is it wrong to perform multiple sets?

Essentially, there are two philosophies in weight training: the volume approach and the inroad theory of exercise. The volume approach has its origins in the bodybuilding world, where trainees lift weights anywhere from three to six times per week and split up their routines by body parts (back and biceps on one day, legs on another day, chest and triceps on a third, etc.). Typically, multiple sets of each exercise are performed, sometimes going to the point of muscular failure, but other times completing an arbitrary number of repetitions per set. Workouts can last beyond 90 minutes, but the thinking is that a high volume of exercise will stimulate muscular growth. This excessively high volume approach has only gained popularity within the last half century; old-time bodybuilders of yesteryear used much lower volume than the enthusiasts of today. To be fair, a couple of well-known bodybuilders actually bucked the trend of the industry and trained with much lower volume and frequency. Dorian Yates won six consecutive Mr. Olympia competitions in the 1990s by using a more high-intensity approach. Mike Mentzer developed a low-volume and high intensity approach that he called Heavy Duty, and he was very successful in the 1970s (most observers believed he should have beaten Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980 Mr. Olympia contest).

The problems with the volume approach to weight training are multifold. Most of these workouts are performed without a regard for speed of movement, and faster speeds lead to greater force, which is the root cause of any acute injury. Consequently, a greater volume of exercise will overtax the already finite recovery ability that most people have, thus increasing the risk of overtraining, stagnation (or reversal) of progress, illness, and overuse injury. Professional bodybuilders and competitive athletes that look muscular and fit when training in this fashion usually do so as a result of having favorable genetics and/or taking performance-enhancing drugs. Finally, this approach requires more time spent in the gym in one week than most people can spare. Ask yourself: is it realistic to spend 90 minutes in the gym 3-5 times per week and still have a meaningful life?

The inroad theory of exercise (which is what the Total Results exercise protocol is built upon) has its roots in the classic sciences of biology, chemistry, physics, muscle physiology, and concepts of motor learning. It starts with the understanding that the body wants to do whatever it can to maintain the status quo, so if you want to create significant and lasting physical change you must give the body a very good reason to adapt. This is the very point of training in a high-intensity fashion; by utilizing a slow speed of movement we eliminate momentum and force the muscles to contract with a greater amount of effort. Intensity can be defined as inroad (depth of the fatigue of a fresh muscle's strength) divided by time. We take each exercise to the point of and beyond muscular failure, which ensures that we have done everything in our power to deeply fatigue the group of muscles involved in a given exercise. This is the stimulus that we seek, and it is what the body interprets as an existential threat to mobilize its resources to make physical improvements.

Why do we only use one set per exercise? Dr. Doug McGuff, an emergency room physician, owner of Ultimate Exercise exercise studio, and author of "Body by Science" and Ultimate Exercise Volume 1" discusses how exercise has a narrow therapeutic window. This is really the same principle as is used (or should be used) in prescribing medication. Not enough of the drug will not produce any positive effect, while too much of a drug will cause a toxic reaction. Most people require a lot less exercise than they realize, and often sacrifice meaningful effort for a high-volume approach. We should strive for the minimum dose of exercise necessary to elicit the adaptive response, which lends credence to the idea of performing shorter and more intense workouts less frequently. Further, performing multiple sets of an exercise is redundant, especially if you train to failure. Going to failure is the stimulus that was needed, but completing two more sets does not go beyond the initial stimulus; it simply reintroduces the same stimulus (and likely less effectively) multiple times. Lastly, we want to keep cortisol levels from becoming elevated. Cortisol is a stress hormone, and elevated levels can result in anxiety or depression, high blood pressure, weight gain, and poor sleep. The high-volume approach can lead to these negative changes. On a lighter note, Arthur Jones (founder of Nautilus and the father of high-intensity training) told a story in his autobiography about Arnold Schwarzenegger visiting the Nautilus headquarters sometime during the 1970s when he was at the peak of his bodybuilding career. It was not uncommon for several of the top competitors of the era to workout at Nautilus from time to time, but Jones recounted that Schwarzenegger left the compound very abruptly because the workouts were too demanding for him. I guess he preferred his old high-volume approach.

Multiple research studies support the idea that single sets of exercise are preferable to multiple sets. A study performed in 2024 by Brad Schoenfeld concludes that one set of exercise taken to failure can produce better muscular growth compared to two submaximal-effort sets. Two 30-minute sessions was all that it took. The link to the study can be found here: https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/484/1032. Wayne Westcott and Richard Wientt conducted two studies in 2001 that examined the difference between training with a faster speed of movement versus a slower speed. In both cases, the slower-speed group produced better results. This study can be found here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11894824_Effects_of_regular_and_slow_speed_resistance_training_on_muscle_strength.

Most people in the gym simply do not work that hard, because it is much easier to perform multiple sets of an exercise than one, intense, and properly executed set. It requires more effort, focus, and discipline to give your all for twenty minutes, and then get out of the way and allow the body to do what it needs to do. Time is a factor as well, and while intense workouts are psychologically and physically challenging, they are also shorter and more sustainable over the long term. After all, isn't uninterrupted meaningful progress what you really want? Let Total Results show you the way.