Every year I spend 2-3 weeks refreshing and updating my fitness knowledge. My first principle beliefs, my recommendations for workouts and exercises, my understanding of physiology, biomechanics, and nutrition, etc.
As I write multiple programs a year and get constant feedback and data from trainees, this yearly update keeps both my knowledge current and makes sure my programming is maximally effective.
My goal is to always challenge what I think I know. And what I am certain of, I want to find as much evidence as possible for it.
When it comes to EXERCISE, what matters most is training consistently over time, with PRODUCTIVE workouts
How do we accomplish that?
The following are my guidelines for productive training that builds strength and muscle
Guidelines for Training in 2025
To preface, these are GENERAL guidelines. Emphasis on GENERAL.
Train 2-3 muscles each workout
Muscles can be grouped many ways. Follow a grouping that makes sense to you. Whether this is push pull or upper lower or anterior/posterior or movement patterns…it doesn’t matter. There is no magic schedule
do 4-10 sets per muscle, per workout.
These sets are WORKING sets, taken to positive failure, or close to it.
If taking sets to failure, 4-8 sets is probably the reasonable limit.
If you do not train to failure and prefer to leave “reps in reserve”, you can do 8-10 sets (maybe even more), but personally I find this harder to track, and high volume training also has the risk of overtraining and burnout. But some people love it, so do what works FOR YOU
This breaks down for 8 total sets for 2 muscles, to a possible 30 total sets for 3 muscles with 10 sets done for each. I would not suggest maximum volume for 3 different muscles in a workout, but it can be done.
As a heuristic, I would suggest limiting a workout to 20 total sets (cumulative of all muscles trained) at maximum. Both for recovery sakes (thats a lot of sets), and times sake (you are going to be in the gym awhile to get all that done)
Again, its most efficient train to positive failure, or close to failure
do 1-4 warmup sets of moderate reps, 5-10 reps is a good rule to follow. These don’t count as work sets
do 1-3 working sets per exercise.
If you do only one working set you can do more exercises in a workout Example; doing 4 exercises for one set each. This would be “HIT style” training -->This is personal preference if you like to train this way.
Generally you want to do your hardest exercises first, which will be your big compound movements in most cases
Pre-exhaust can be a smart strategy for lower body training, especially long term hip and knee health.
The hardest an exercise is on a joint (say bench press), the more warmup sets you should do
all rep ranges work, provided sets are done to positive failure or close to it. When in doubt, 5-10 for compound movements, 8-15 for isolation
If doing two exercises per muscle, do one lower rep exercises, and one higher rep exercise.
If doing three exercises, do one low, one middle, and one for high reps.
train each muscle 1-2 times weekly
train 3-5 days per week. 3 days you will always be recovered. 4 days is the sweet spot for double frequency, such as a PPL schedule where one of the days repeats each week. 5 days or more, I assume you are a gym rat and you should know your body and how to structure your training.
control the eccentric on all your rep
when in doubt, slow the reps down
rest 2-5 minutes between hardest sets (the more fatigued you are, the more rest you should take)
train with the same core group of exercises year around
rotate exercises to similar variations when workouts get stale and progress stalls (example, smith machine incline in place of barbell incline)
get stronger over time in moderate rep ranges on productive exercises
Take a break from training every 9-12 weeks. That means take a week off and DON’T lift. Allow recovery and super compensation to happen. This deload assumes you are training CONSISTENTLY. If not, you do not need a deload.
Always use a logbook to record sets, reps, and progression. Whether this is an actual notebook, phone notes, an app, it doesn’t matter. Keep records
Push Pull Leg schedules work great. So do Upper-Lower. So do bro splits. So do Squat-bench-Deadlift style programs. EVERYTHING WORKS IF YOU BELIEVE IN IT AND DO IT CONSISTENTLY.
There is no mega ultimate schedule or workout. Arguing about this is a monumental waste of time
Your training is either you getting objectively stronger/muscular, or it is NOT. This is a Yes/No question
Clarifications, Since I know People Will have questions
Yes, you could train only ONE muscle in a workout, or train your entire body if wanted. This is PERSONAL PREFERENCE. Some people love the 1x weekly bro split. Some people want the efficiency of total body twice a week. DO WHAT YOU THEN
Overall, I GENERALLY find best for people to train 2-3 muscles per workout due it being simple to organize and follow
2-3 sets per exercise are working sets done to failure or close to it. Whether this is ONE set to failure, and one set close to failure, or 3 sets close to failure, or all sets close to failure, IT DOES NOT MATTER. What matters is intensity is being applied.
Yes, you could do something High Intensity Training and do Only One set per exercise and do super low volume. Personal preference.
Yes you could also attempt to do 10 sets per exercise and train every muscle twice weekly with 20-30+ sets. Good luck to you.
FYI-You grow based on what you can recover from, not from how much you can train.
NO, you dont need train to failure. But if none of your sets are hard and you are terrible at assessing your own effort, your half assed sets are not doing much. As I often say, 3/4 of Americans are overweight. You did not get fat from training too hard.
Your reps could be slightly lower (say 4-8), or be higher (10-20). Personal preference. Figure out what works for you
Eccentric control means controlled, that could be 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, 2.5 seconds, etc. Exercises with big ROMs will take longer than others. The point is not to drop the weight on yourself and have no control over it.
You can train faster. This will make the workout more cardiovascular. This will not lead to more strength and muscle gains.
Changing up your exercises constantly is how you make zero progress. Muscle confusion is bullshit
To merit a deload from training you need to train CONSISTENTLY. If you cannot string together even 4 weeks of showing up at the gym, do not ask about deloads.
You could not record anything ever. I find it doubtful you take your health and fitness seriously if you refuse to use numbers, the same way I would doubt someone who said they wanted to be rich but didnt check their bank account.
Excellent stuff. Do you have a favorite/recommended logbook, AJAC?
Good stuff, bro.