New research: get stronger with 45 minutes strength training per week

New research shows that trained male athletes can become stronger with only 45 minutes of training a week. How is this exactly? And to what extent can you apply this in practice?

The short answer:  The research results show that for trained male athletes to build muscle power in the short term there is little difference between a high or a low training volume. This does matter for building muscle mass. The group that trains with a high training volume builds the most muscle mass.

The research
The aim of the study was to investigate how muscle mass, muscle strength and muscle endurance of trained male strength athletes develop when training with a low, medium or high volume .

For this purpose 45 healthy trained men were selected and subdivided into three groups. The men had about four years of experience in strength sports and trained for 8 weeks 3 times a week under the guidance of a professional.

Average number of sets per muscle group per week
Group 1 trained at a low volume: 6 to 9 sets per muscle group per week.
Group 2 trained with a moderate volume: 18 to 27 sets per muscle group per week.
Group 3 trained at a high volume: 30 to 45 sets per muscle group per week.
What did a training look like?
A training consisted of 7 exercises, in which the entire body was trained. The exercises performed were bench presses , military press , lat pulldown , cable row , barbell back squat , machine leg press and the unilateral leg extension .

There was always at least one day of rest between the training sessions. The sets consisted of 8 to 12 repetitions and the exercises had to be performed until muscle failure .

The repetitions were checked. The rest time between sets was 90 seconds. The rest time between the exercises was 120 seconds.

Nutritional pattern
The subjects were advised on an appropriate diet. In addition, the respondents kept their diet in an app.

The results
Power build-up
This research shows that despite the difference in training volume, the athletes in all groups had built up an equal amount of muscle strength with the squat and the benchpress on average after 8 weeks. The muscle strength was measured by means of a 1rm test in the squat and the bench press.

These findings are in conflict with the results from earlier studies, in which a training with a larger  volume seems to be more effective than a training with a lower volume to build maximum strength [2,3,4] .

It is important to note that in other studies usually untrained athletes were examined. The difference in strength building between the groups could then probably be explained by the fact that the athletes who were subjected to a high volume could simply practice more with the new exercise. In other words, improved coordination has probably provided more muscle power. This effect is expected to decrease as a person has more experience.

What about muscle mass?
The athletes who trained with a larger volume, on average, built up more muscle mass. This result is in line with a recent meta-analysis [5] , which also showed that training volume is an important factor for building muscle mass.

And muscle endurance?
Another interesting finding is that all groups scored just as well on muscle endurance when measuring the bench press. The athletes had to try to execute the benchpress at 50% of their 1RM as often as possible. It is unclear how it is possible that no difference was found between the groups.

Comments on this research
There are a number of comments to be made about this research, including the following points:

First, the study lasted only 8 weeks. This means that you can make few statements about whether a training with limited volume is just as effective in the long term. Especially because the build up of muscle mass is greater with a higher training volume. This can lead to more muscle strength in the long term.

Second, the respondents trained in the current study within a rep range of 8 to 12 repetitions. It may be that with a lower number of repetitions (for example between 1 and 5 repetitions) more volume is needed to achieve the same increase in maximum force than with the current training protocol. 

Third, not everyone trained equally intensively in the study. Some were more likely to suffer from muscle failure than others. This can cause biased results. It could be that one person had achieved better results if he had trained more heavily, while someone else had better results if he had gone a bit less often.

Finally, the survey consisted of a small sample. This makes the results less reliable. Also only men are involved in the research; whether the same effects for women will occur is therefore still the question.

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