Speed up your workout with fewer sets

The American College of Sports Medicine reports you can do just one set of your strength training exercises and get roughly the same benefits as doing more sets.

Get the same strength results in 50 to 67 percent less time by doing just 1 set of strength moves. Recently revised strength-training guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend a single set of 8 to 12 strength reps (with enough weight that you can’t do any more) instead of 2 or 3 sets. “Research shows that this gives similar results in terms of muscle strength and endurance as multiple sets,” says Robert M. Otto, PhD, the guidelines’ associate editor and director of Adelphi University’s Human Performance Laboratory in Garden City, New York.

This is great news for anyone who thinks they don’t have time for strength training. And hey, who couldn’t make good use of time saved pretty much anywhere in life?

Also, you will burn more fat if you keep your rest periods between sets down to 30 seconds instead of 60. I’ve been advised of this by trainers, and I find it to be true in my experience.

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Posted in Health and Beauty on January 21, 2008