I Proved (Almost) Everyone Is Wasting Time In The Gym

Summary

Jeremy Ethier describes a 10-week experiment involving more than 200 lifters to test whether training six days a week produces more muscle growth than training three days a week. Participants tracked their nutrition, aimed for a calorie surplus and a minimum protein intake, and reported muscle measurements. The measurements were practical rather than high-tech, allowing the experiment to include a larger group.

The main finding: the three-day push–pull–legs group and the six-day push–pull–legs group achieved statistically similar muscle growth, despite the three-day group doing about half as many sets. A third group completed the six-day program’s total volume in three full-body workouts. It had the largest average increase, but that result also wasn’t statistically significant.

The video’s key point is that more sets only help if they create enough effort and maintain good form. In everyday training, fatigue and the expectation of having many more sets to complete may lead people to pace themselves or let their effort slip. Research studies often supervise participants, which can help ensure that higher-volume groups keep training hard.

Practical Training and Self-Check Strategies

• Look for slowing reps: If your final reps move almost as quickly as your first reps, you may be stopping too far from your limit.
• Check for rep drop-off across sets: With the same weight, reps will often decrease somewhat from set to set when earlier sets are challenging. Nearly identical or increasing reps may suggest you weren’t pushing hard enough.
• Track your main lifts: Review the past two or three months. If you’re consistently adding reps or weight, your program is likely working. If your lifts have stalled for months—particularly with five or six weekly workouts—consider adjusting your training.
• Try a lower-volume training block: Reduce the number of sets while deliberately giving each set strong effort and maintaining good form. One example from the video is doing two hard sets per exercise instead of three or four.
• Choose a schedule you can sustain: Three workouts can be enough to make progress. Full-body sessions may also let you distribute work across the week rather than accumulating many sets for one muscle in a single workout.
• Treat extra volume as a trade-off: More work may offer some additional growth, but returns can be small—especially as weekly sets climb. Decide whether the extra gym time is worth it for your goals.
• Support training with nutrition and consistency: The video emphasizes that many different plans can work when people stick with them and support training with adequate nutrition.

Presenters and Sources

Jeremy Ethier is the presenter. Dr. Eric Trexler is a statistician and muscle-growth researcher, and Dr. Eric Helms is a muscle researcher and natural pro bodybuilder. Drew, Matt, Otto, and other experiment participants also appear in the video.