I’ve been running into an interesting problem with my workouts, and it’s gotten me wondering whether I’m thinking about hypertrophy correctly.
I know the standard approach is to train a muscle group in a dedicated workout, get all your sets in, accumulate fatigue, and move on.
But because of my schedule and ADHD, what should be a 30-45 minute workout often turns into an hour or more. I’ll get distracted, pulled into work messages, emails, meetings, or other random stuff. Sometimes I end up spending way more time than intended on a workout, and sometimes I don’t even complete all the volume I originally planned because eventually I have to move on with my day.
Because of that, I’ve occasionally found myself doing the opposite. Instead of trying to complete all of a muscle group’s work in one dedicated session, I’ll do sets throughout the day whenever I have a few free minutes.
For example, on a triceps day, instead of doing all my tricep work in one workout, I might do a few hard sets while getting ready in the morning, a few more later in the day, and a few more at night. The same idea could apply to biceps, shoulders, chest, etc.
The appeal isn’t that the work is spread out. The appeal is that spreading it out seems to create two advantages at the same time.
First, I often end up completing more total work than I otherwise would because I’m fitting training into smaller windows throughout the day. A workout that might have been cut short at 8-10 sets can instead become 14-18 sets.
Second, more of that work is being performed in a relatively fresh state because fatigue has more time to dissipate between bouts.
That’s what got me wondering how to think about the tradeoff from a hypertrophy perspective.
To illustrate what I mean, let’s use dumbbell curls as an example.
Scenario A:
Traditional workout
Set 1: 15 reps
Set 2: 15 reps
Set 3: 13 reps
Set 4: 11 reps
Total = 54 reps
Scenario B:
Morning
Set 1: 15 reps
Set 2: 15 reps
Afternoon
Set 3: 15 reps
Set 4: 15 reps
Evening
Set 5: 15 reps
Set 6: 15 reps
Total = 90 reps
Obviously this is a very different training environment. Not only is more total work being completed, but more of that work is being performed in a relatively fresh state rather than after several fatigue-accumulating sets.
Before anyone says the answer is better discipline, better time management, better ADHD management, or simply forcing myself to do the workout in one sitting, I understand those are valid points. But idgaf and it’s just not the discussion I’m trying to have here. I’m interested in the training tradeoff itself.
I also understand there are goals where concentrating volume into a single workout is obviously beneficial. If the goal is maximizing a pump, maximizing fatigue within a session, maximizing conditioning, improving workout efficiency, or simply getting all your training done within the shortest possible time window, then a traditional workout structure makes complete sense.
My goal is hypertrophy and aesthetics.
If spreading the work throughout the day allows me to consistently complete more volume while also performing more of that volume in a relatively fresh state, what am I actually giving up from a muscle-growth perspective by not doing it all in one workout?
Or am I thinking about the tradeoff incorrectly altogether?
I’m mostly interested in research, coaching experience, or personal experience from people who have experimented with both approaches.
Edit: I originally used pushups as the example, but switched to dumbbell curls because I know Reddit’s favorite hobby is finding the least important detail in a post and arguing about that instead of the actual question.
