Exercise · Protocol 2 of 4
Lift hard three times a week
1In 30 seconds
Train your legs on one day, your chest, back and core on another, and your shoulders and arms on a third, with cardio or rest days in between. In each session, do a few hard sets that you push until you cannot manage another clean rep, then add weight or reps over the weeks.
2Picture it
3Why do it
- 1
Strength training builds muscle and bone, which keeps everyday jobs like lifting boxes or climbing stairs easy as you age.
- 2
Muscle soaks up blood sugar, so stronger muscles make your body better at handling carbohydrates.
- 3
Short, focused sessions three times a week leave you energised for work and family rather than drained.
4How to do it
- If you are new to lifting, spend 1 to 3 weeks learning your exercises with light weights you could lift 10 to 12 times with about 5 reps to spare.
- Keep each session to about 60 minutes, give or take 20, and begin with 5 minutes of brisk whole-body movement until you sweat lightly.
- Do 1 to 3 warm-up sets per exercise: 6 to 10 reps at about 40 percent of your work weight, then 4 to 8 reps at 65 percent, and, before heavy sets, 2 to 4 reps at 75 percent, resting 1 to 2 minutes between them.
- For each muscle group, choose 2 to 3 exercises, including at least one multi-joint move such as a squat and one single-joint move such as a leg extension, for 4 to 9 hard sets in total.
- Pick a weight that brings you to failure in about 6 to 10 reps on multi-joint moves or 8 to 15 on single-joint moves, and rest 3 to 5 minutes or 90 seconds to 3 minutes respectively between hard sets.
- Write down every weight and rep, add roughly 5 to 10 percent more weight once you can do 10 clean reps, and take a full week off every 12 to 16 weeks.
5Make it work in India
- No gym nearby? A pair of adjustable dumbbells, a resistance band and a doorway pull-up bar cover most exercises in a small flat or on the terrace, and cost far less than a year’s membership.
- The book’s protein target is about 1 gram per pound (roughly 2.2 grams per kilogram) of lean body weight, so build meals around paneer, eggs, chicken, fish, dal, rajma, chana, soya chunks and curd, since many Indian diets fall short on protein.
- In summer heat, train early in the morning, keep water or nimbu pani with a pinch of salt within reach, and allow a little extra rest between sets.
6The long read: the science2 min read · tap to open
Lifting a heavy weight is a stress, and your body answers stress by adapting. When you push a muscle until it cannot move the weight again with good form, you send a strong signal that it needs to become sturdier. The actual rebuilding happens over the next two to four days, mostly while you sleep. That is why rest days are part of the plan, not a break from it.
Scientists think three things drive muscle growth. The first is tension, the pulling force on a muscle under load. The second is metabolic stress, the pump and burn you feel late in a set. The third is small amounts of damage from heavy weights. Research suggests that sets of anywhere from 5 to 30 reps build similar muscle size, but only when they reach failure. Mixing heavier and lighter days works different fibre types.
The weekly layout is clever. You train each muscle hard once a week, and it gets a lighter second dose on other days. Your arms help out on chest and back day, and the sprint session works your legs again later in the week.
Finally, keep improving. If you lift the same weight for the same reps every week, your body has no reason to change. Adding a little weight or one more rep is called progressive overload, and a notebook is the simplest way to make sure it happens.
Strong evidence Many human trials show that lifting to or near failure builds strength and muscle at any age, even in people in their eighties, but this particular weekly split is the author’s preferred plan rather than one proven better than other sensible programmes.
Questions people ask
Will lifting make me bulky?
Not by accident. Size depends heavily on how much you eat, and the book suggests only 200 to 400 calories above your maintenance level if you want to gain muscle. Most people simply look firmer and feel stronger.
What about creatine, whey and caffeine?
Supplements are optional, and good training, food and sleep matter far more. The author takes 5 to 10 grams of creatine monohydrate a day, one to two scoops of whey (about 20 grams of protein each), and 100 to 400 milligrams of caffeine about 30 minutes before training. Talk to your doctor first, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication or have a kidney, heart or other health condition.
Should my muscles be sore the next day?
Soreness is not a sign of a good session. Aim to work hard, recover within two to four days and lift a little more next time. Sharp or aching joint pain means you should change the exercise or your form.
What if I miss a session?
Shifting a workout by a day either way is fine. Keep the order of the week the same, and try hard not to skip leg day.
7Be careful
Never bench press or squat heavy on your own without a capable spotter or a rack with safety bars; use dumbbells instead if you train alone. Stop any exercise that hurts a joint, skip one-rep maximum lifts, and check with your doctor before starting if you have heart disease, high blood pressure or an old injury.
8Try it for 7 days
Tap a day each time you did my strength session.
From the book: “Resistance Train Three Times per Week” (Exercise Protocol 2). Evidence rating and India notes are our own.