This Scientifically Backed Exercise Guaranteed to Gain Muscle in 10 Weeks

Got 34 minutes to spare every week? Build muscle and burn fat fast. It sounds like magic, but it’s the science of making exercise smarter and more efficient—And It has been scientifically proven.

In a published study Strength and Conditioning Magazine This month, non-weightlifters did two workouts per week, each lasting just 17 minutes. And they did just four exercises per session:

1. Bench press
2. Seated cable rows
3. Leg press
4. Lat pulldowns

After 10 weeks of these workouts, study participants gained an average of 0.5 kg of muscle and lost 1.2 kg of fat.

Here's the cool part: Another group did the same four exercises, but with more rest, so the workouts were twice as long. The 34-minute group gained a little more strength, but didn't gain more muscle or lose more fat than the 17-minute session group. Shorter workouts worked just as well. (On average, those on the shorter workouts actually gained a little more muscle and lost a little more fat, but not by a statistically significant amount.)

The secret? Supersets—pairs of exercises performed back-to-back with very little rest in between. The group doing these faster sessions did one set of bench presses, followed immediately by one set of cable rows, before resting. The group doing the longer sessions did one set of bench presses, rested, then did another set of bench presses. The idea of ​​supersets isn’t new and has been studied before, but not in this exact way, says Marius Fimland, Ph.D., professor of movement science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and one of the study’s authors.

Related: 10 Best Cardio Exercises for Weight Loss

Fimland says most previous studies on supersets have used paired exercises that work just a few muscles at a time—for example, biceps curls and leg extensions. Curls fatigue the biceps, so exercisers work their legs while their upper arms rest. But in this new study, Fimland and his colleagues used multijoint exercises that use multiple muscles, which can make the subjects twice as tired. It’s all about working the muscles to exhaustion.

“You may have active muscle fatigue [where the muscles you work get tired]and total-body fatigue,” he says. “Supersets often increase total-body fatigue even more. This is especially true with these multi-joint exercises. If you were doing biceps, [paired with] “If you work the triceps, you won't feel as much fatigue throughout your entire body.”

Despite this whole-body fatigue, the group that did the shorter workouts improved in strength, muscle mass, and fat loss. If you're short on time, you can too.

17-Minute Workout to Build 1.2 Pounds of Muscle in 10 Weeks

Directions

The exercisers performed two sessions per week, workout A and workout B. Both workouts consisted of the same two supersets of two exercises each.

In superset 1, the leg press machine is paired with the lat pulldown machine.

In superset 2, the barbell bench press was paired with the seated cable row.

In both supersets, exercisers will do one set of the first exercise, then move on to the second exercise with minimal rest – starting within 30 seconds of finishing the first move. So in superset 1, they will do one set of leg presses, then move on to the lat pulldown machine within 30 seconds. After finishing with the lat pulldowns, they will return to the leg press. They will need to start the second set of leg presses no more than 2.5 minutes after the time they started the first set of leg presses.

Each superset would be performed as a warm-up set, followed by three work rounds with heavier weights. After the three work rounds, they would repeat the same process with a 2nd superset.

1. Bench Press

How To

1. To start, lie down on the bench with your eyes directly under the bar.
2. Grasp the bar just outside your shoulder width.
3. Arch your back sharply so that your lower back is completely off the bench. Your shoulder blades should be pulled together.
4. Squeeze the bar firmly and remove it from the rack.
5. Take a deep breath and lower the bar to your sternum (in line with the lower edge of your pectorals), keeping your elbows tucked in at about a 45-degree angle to your sides.
6. When the bar touches your body, press your feet hard into the floor and push back up. Exhale at the end of the rep. Note: Keep your grip, core, hips, and legs tight; don't let your feet move; and don't let the arch in your back collapse as you bring the bar to your chest.
7. This is 1 rep.

2. Sitting Cable Pull

How To

1. To start, attach a straight bar to the lower pulley of a cable station and sit on a bench or the floor.
2. Pull the cable toward your sternum and squeeze your shoulder blades together in the finish position.
3. Return to the starting point in a controlled manner, maintaining tension on the cable.
4. This is 1 rep.

3. Leg Press

How To

1. Initially, adjust the machine's seat so that you can sit comfortably with your hips under your knees and your knees in line with your feet.
2. Remove the seat belts and lower your knees toward your chest until they are bent at 90 degrees.
3. Press upwards with your feet.
4. This is 1 rep.

4. Lat Pulldowns

How To

1. To start, attach a straight bar to the upper pulley of a cable station and grasp the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Bend slightly from your hips to feel a stretch in your back muscles, then pull the bar toward your hips with your arms straight.
3. Return to the starting point in a controlled manner.
4. This is 1 rep.

Exercise A

6 reps per set

In this session, each working set of each superset was performed with a weight that participants could lift for 6 reps before reaching “technical failure,” meaning they were unable to do another rep with good form. This is important: Working to failure ensures that you’re working hard and creating the stimulus exercisers need for muscle growth.

When participants were unable to complete six reps in the second and third rounds of supersets, they reduced the number of reps without changing the weight and performed as many reps as they could until failure.

Once exercisers were able to achieve the required number of reps for two rounds in a single workout, the load for that movement was increased when they next performed Workout A.

Exercise B

12 reps per set

This session works the same as Workout A, but the working sets are increased to 12 reps instead of 6. This means, of course, that participants use lighter weights. Each exercise is still performed to failure.

When participants were unable to complete 12 reps in the second and third rounds of supersets, they reduced the number of reps without changing the weight and performed as many reps as they could until failure.

Once exercisers were able to achieve the required number of reps for two rounds in a single workout, the load for that movement was increased when they next performed Workout A.

Related: 50 Best Ab Exercises to Strengthen Six Pack Abs

How to Make This Work for You

These exercises were performed in laboratory conditions: No one else was in the gym, so the exercises could be performed without interruption, and the scientists were there to ensure rest time for each participant. But by slightly modifying this four-move program, you can make it work in a regular, crowded gym without tearing your hair out over the timing.

Replace Some Machines with Weighted Moves

If the gym is crowded or the machines are far apart, doing a set of leg presses paired with a lat pulldown machine may not be possible. The same goes for pairing bench presses and seated rows: You're monopolizing a large area of ​​the gym.

Fimland recommends replacing one of the machine movements in each pair with a weighted movement that performs a similar, multi-joint movement.

Replace lat pulldowns with barbell or dumbbell rows. Move the bar or dumbbells you're using closer to the leg press machine so you can easily switch between the two exercises.

If you modify the lat pull in this way, include it in the second superset and replace the barbell bench press with a dumbbell bench press or dumbbell floor press. Move the dumbbells (and bench) you need close to the lat pull machine and alternate back and forth like this.

A move suggested by Fimland Negative Substitution: Squat.

Simplify the Rest Between Rounds

It’s simple enough to move from the first exercise in each pair to the second within 30 seconds. But the other timing protocol in the study got complicated: Participants had to start the next round of the superset within 2.5 minutes of starting the first.

In the real world, that’s not necessary, Fimland says. Instead, rest after the second exercise until you’re ready to do the next superset, even if you’re not fully rested, he says. That means you shouldn’t be out of breath, but you shouldn’t be cold either. Keeping things moving keeps your workout time productive, and that’s the goal of supersetting.

Add a Third Superset or a Third Session Over Time

By increasing the weight each exercise and reaching your target rep count, you can do two sets of this workout to continue to get stronger and make gains. But if you enjoy your workouts, you may want more—more muscle, more strength, and even more of the feel-good factor that a workout can provide.

In that case, Fimland says, you can make each session a bit longer by adding a third pair of exercises. As with the other two, you'll want to choose two multi-joint exercises that don't interfere with each other.

You can choose to match the following:

• Dumbbell lunge and shoulder press
• Dumbbell Romanian deadlift and dumbbell incline bench press
• Barbell push press and dumbbell row

Alternatively, if you like the length of these workouts but have time to add a third session each week, that works too, says Fimland. His suggestion: Make the third session another round of Workout A, the 6-rep workout.

This will provide more maximum strength gains than a 12-rep workout and will take less time than a 12-rep session. Make sure you rest at least one day between workouts.

Let the earnings begin.