Building Muscle On a Tight Time Budget 

Algorithm has caught him! He's going to the moon boys!

Thanks for this video. I have been doing one set of push, pull, and squat a day (to failure), five days per week. I can stay consistent and I rarely miss a session. At 61 years old I find doing this format effective and something I see myself doing forever. Keep the great content coming.

I've been doing 2 sets to failure per day 6 days a week and I've never been this consistent with my workout before, and the strength and size gains are insane

Thanks dude, many times I’ve canceled my workout if I didn’t have my allotted time. Now I realize I can just do one or two hard sets and get back after again the next day and still build muscle.

Honestly great stuff. As a new father who's time is limited, I've found even 15min a day workouts to help immensely. It all adds up and 2 years later, I'm still the only dad I know without any excuses as to why my fitness level has decreased and I'm definitely the only dad playing on the monkey bars with my toddler.

I rarely ever drop RU-vid comments, but I really want to thank you for your calm, clear, concise and common-sense approach of conveying information. In my opinion, this fills a gaping hole in our otherwise oversaturated and somewhat exhausting social media world of sports and fitness. Personally, I actively try to regard fitness as a life-long commitment and an investment in both my physical and also mental health. Of course, I also don't want to look like shit after years of sitting around in front of screens too much. So for me, it all has to be applicable, sustainable and also fun, as much as possible. After half-heartedly working out on and off over the past 10 to 15 years (I'm 35), I managed to make really decent progress over the course of the pandemic. Lost a bunch of weight through calorie-tracking, suddenly saw my abs for the first time since maybe 2004, managed my first real pull-up and worked up to sets of 10 and so on. Experimented with a lot of different workout structures and exercises. It all worked quite well. Very cool. Then, due to a quite exhausting move to a new apartment and a sudden family health scare (my 10-year-old son got diagnosed with Diabetes Type 1 and we spent a couple of weeks at the hospital) I completely fell out of my routine. Not a single real workout for weeks or months even since around October; went back to some emotional eating and put on a few kilos; felt completely burnt out regarding my workouts. Looking at all the unused equipment only made me feel sad and numb instead of inspired. And I also felt like I needed something new, or different, and simpler, less elaborate just for the sake of it. That's when I stumbled across your videos a few days ago which strongly resonated with me and so far, they really helped me to get back into some kind of groove, and to feel a little sense of purpose again. I've had a solid two weeks of meaningful workouts, always keeping it simple and focusing on basic compounds that I enjoy. Hoping it'll last again. So yeah, sorry for the lengthy sob story and again, thanks for all the content you've been putting out there so far! I hope even more people are going to notice this channel and I wish you all the best.

Agree! I would remind myself... "Don't commit to a programme you can't do forever." Still, I'd get ahead of myself, adding additional sets and eventually burn myself out or dread my routine! Now I strictly do 2 sets to failure every single day of a couple of basic push and pull movements, so that's 14 weekly sets per movement. The sheer consistency has lead to results I'm really happy with.

This is actually opens a new door for me to keep my mind, body and spirit healthy. Over the year counting sets and sets pays off very well but as a results i neglected some part of my life that are actually much more valuable for me. My job is already exhaust my body in the day and sometimes i cant be consistent because of it. I feel so shit when i cant do my usual 1-2 hour workout routine and when i try to push it into my time, i feel demotivated and it started turning into a chores. After feeling depressed i either stop doing it or doing it poorly. I hate it and i just can't lie to myself anymore. Just wanted a peaceful life, healthier mind, while still keeping my body in shape man. Thanks so much!

Gonna be honest I binged like all of your videos this past week and subscribed. Just finished my workout and before I was doing all these sets of weird weighted calisthenics and today I just did push-ups with perfect form like you do in your videos and my lord I haven’t felt this much of a pump in a while. My back muscles are even lit up just from push-ups. Amazing what proper form and control will do. Thanks man!

So glad I found this channel and through this video too. Thanks RU-vid for the recommendation and thanks Kyle for the simplicity of your explanations. I'm going to start incorporating hard single sets because I'd like to spend more time working on my business. Sometimes I find myself spending almost two hours with my calisthenics training and so don't have time to do certain things that are more important.

Seems like solid and encouraging advice- thank you

I love the simplicity of your channel. Thank you. 🙏

I used to do all kinds of splits and programs that required you to do 10+ sets for push, pull, and leg movements in a single session and it’s always been hard to commit too and sometimes I didn’t even see progress because I would end up to sore and have to go huge periods of time without working out. This has been huge for me. Training should be simple, especially for the majority of people, and the fitness industry really convinces us that working out is supposed to be complicated. You have changed the way I train so I thank you!

This is the biggest eye opener for me of the year. I recently switched up training to three days a week for the gym/work/ life balance lifting very heavy in the 5-7 rep range and I love that. But THIS….. I know this can work !!!

Excellent info- thank you 🙏

Subscribed! Talk so much practical sense and that resonates with me. Thankyou 👏

Thank you Kyle.... And welcome back... I was going to skip my workout, but now im not gonna do that... Thank you for motivating us!

Just the motivation I needed. Keep the videos coming.

Excellent advice, thank you!!!!

Incredible! This advice is gold!

Amazing content! straight to the point and very well explained. I’m a fan.

With age comes wisdom. I pace myself carefully. I learned this along time ago. The recovery time comment was spot on. I'm just glad to hear it coming from an expert. Thanks for all the good content and information.

This is so incredibly helpful. Like many guys my age, I spent hours in the gym back in the day. Now with kids and so on, i FEEL like a 30min workout is pointless. Thanks for completely busting that myth!! Perfect timing too. Found some old pics of myself and it game me the motivation to start working out again the past few weeks!

Thank you for this I needed to hear it.

Just started my first full time 40hrs a week job and haven’t worked out in 14 days because I feel like I have no time/energy.. will definitely be trying this routine 🙏🙏

Love this, Kyle! Your videos are so concise and to the point. And I totally agree with 1 set being the minimum effective dose. You kinda blow your wad on that first set if you do it right, and all the subsequent sets won't match or beat it in terms of performance, so it's a lot of time spent with diminishing returns when you tack on the volume. I'm curious what your thoughts would be on the Mindful Mover approach. Hopefully we can chat about it soon.

Kyle, oh Kyle...In terms of the insight you provide, thank you for taking "economical & precise" to a whole new level. God bless...!!!

I love that your content is short and sweet, to the point!

Today's video is why I'm here!!! That has happened to me so many times before, when I don't have time, I am very liable to postpone till the next day and this can potentially throw my workout schedule all off. I have been doing just this what is being recommended here, one hard set of pull, push, squat, (a very unintimidating amount of dedicated training time), then, if more time makes itself available, at the very least, I can do a bunch of GTG sets on top of the base practice of 1 set of pull, push & squat.

This must be the video that I've been coming back to the most and that helped not only me but so many of my friends as well. First of all: thanks for that and your great content!! Now to my question: would you be interested in making a series on this where you get a little more into depth on the training on a tight time schedule and on how to become more consistent? Especially on how to notice when you're loosing track due to events in life and how to get back again fast? Keep the great content coming - cheers! :)

Very straight to the point. I really enjoyed this video.

love your stuff man. love the simplicity!

Thank you for the great content. I experienced similar things regarding set and intensity. There are still a lot of mental barriers in the fitness industry on how to train your body or how to achieve a certain physic or fitness level overall. Again thank you! Oh, and btw: beautfiul push ups form. Seems like you really mastered this exercise. Definitely a goal of mine.

Subbed! Down to earth exercise content for the average person with realistic schedule who's willing to grow.

Your content is just amazing - thank you

As always excellent video! Thanks mate

Awesome Thank you…👍🏻

Great gems as always. I don't understand why you don't have like half a million followers on YT!👍

Another great video with useful and excellent content. Thanks!

Dude, your videos are so incredibly helpful! Thank you!

Hey bro this is fire and I really appreciate it. I was working from home during the pandemic and got some awesome gains. Then my first and only child was born and I was still able to do my exercise routine. Once I went back to work in person, that combined with having a child has limited my time drastically. This is great for me to hear!!! 🙏🏻

I also utilise 1 set to failure/near failure when short on time or energy or motivation. Consistency is what truly counts and by doing 1 set of an exercise you keep the consistency and gains coming. It's a great way to train when life gets on top of you or when on holiday and you just need to sneak in a quick session.

Needed to hear this. Thank you

Man, I watched a couple of videos from you just yet, and the google algorithm send you just at the right time. Doing a lot of cycling while also wanting to build muscle and gaining weight made me going to the brink of complete fatigue leading to a almost depressive state. You provide solutions.

This is the most effective method I used on my training. Nuclei overload and weighted calisthenics (high frequency, low volume). I only use 1 set 6 - 12 reps, 2 exercise for legs, 1 for chest/tri and 1 for back/bi everyday and it's working very well so far. Shorter duration helps to stay consistent.

I'm guilty of skipping workouts if I can't carve out 30 mins of my day. Thanks for the motivation!!

This might just be the most import piece of advice I have heard about fitness. It keeps in mind that fitness is a mean to and end, not a goal in itself. Almost everyone has to balance health/fitness, work and family/private life, and "work out a lot" is just not going to cut it as an answer to the question of how to stay fit for the rest of your life. Also very well delivered advice and love the simplicity of the whole video.

Great video, Succinct and straight to the point.

Thanks for the info, I have a newborn at the moment and this approach is defintitely going to be helpful as time is much more limited for me at present. It's good to know that even single sets can get me some decent results.

I’m 23 and weigh about 270lbs trying to come down to 200lbs, started a cleaner diet, calisthenics and brisk walking this week. Your videos are very helpful for this journey I’m starting! My left shoulder and my knees feel a bit weak at times (played basketball and football in highschool) hopefully they don’t stop me

I love the form on your pushups and the title of this video.

Great video!!! 💪🏼🙌🏻🙏🏼

I love this- when my boyfriend and I started dating, he was in good shape. This was 9 years ago. Due to financial issues in 2013, we moved in with his parents for a time, and we both gained weight due to his mom's tasty (but not healthy) homecooking. He shot up to 210, I shot up to 115lb. About 4-5 years ago I started doing some crossfit bodyweight exercises with my friend who's a trainer to strengthen myself for a marathon I was running. I shared some of my exercises with my honey, and he does these exercises plus a few he's added twice a week. It takes 35 minutes. Paired with running about 2-4 miles twice a week, and a diet that's pretty clean (I'm allergic to dairy and gluten so I don't prepare meals for us that contain these), he's dropped to 171 lbs, at 12.5% body fat for his 6' frame. I'm 5', 102lbs, and come in at 15% body fat. It's a marathon, not a sprint, but we live, eat and exercise in a way that's sustainable and easy for us.

It’s funny you brought this up, I’ve been training this way for awhile. I want to see how big I can get with this method.

I feel so blessed and lucky that I stumbled on your video this night. Thanks for the inspiration Bigbro 💪🏾🤍I’m definitely subscribing asap 💪🏾

Thanks for the tip!

Nice congrats on 20k subs! Next is 50k and 100k, keep up Mann

Another gem of a video Kyle! Would love to hear your opinion on cut/bulk cycles vs eating at maintenance for recomp with regards to calisthenics and if you would preference one over the other?

Learning something new everyday on this channel, thanks Kyle :)

Very interesting. Jay Vincent and IFBB pro Phil Hernon both used this method as well. Jay recommends fullbody only 2-3 days per week, Phil recommended fullbody every day like you. Both of them used lighter weights/machines so its interesting to see that it works with calisthenics as well. Cheers !

I've found this way of training to work best for me because besides it takes less time it makes me feel energized after the workout instead drained like when I do 3 and more sets. Thanks

Fantastic video. Thanks boges

I appreciate your no BS approach thanks man

Just learned about your style of high frequency calisthenics today. You have some great content and I like the fact that you are very focused on being able to recover from one workout to the next. I've been feeling beat up for a few days from some weight training and your style of training seems like a good change of pace.

Yesss.... single set workouts really work well with minimum time commitment... BUT, as Kyle says, it has to be a hard set... you have to be very close to failure on that hard set... and the most important thing is consistency!.. if you want long term results... therefore, you have to find a good balance between hard sets and easy sets in harmony with your recovery abilities... Kyle posted a video on that... Arnold says in his book: always keep your body hungry for training.... so don't go near your recovery limits...👍

Brutha, another great video. Love it.

Awesome videos as always

That's what I'm doing currently, one set close to failure of push, pull, legs. Every two weeks I check my new max reps. I never feel burned out and it fits perfectly with my family obligations. Thanks for the video Kyle!

I tried your tips on pausing on each rep in my workout today. I did twice less the amount of reps and felt just as if not more tension. Full ROM makes all the difference! Not to mention, it's a lot harder cardio wise

Thanks for the research link 👍🏻

Thank you for this information.

Do keep in mind that this is very good as an ALTERNATIVE to standart volume work for muscle growth, it is nor better nor a replacement. The most important thing that I preach in my practice as a personal trainer is that the workout plan HAS to adapt TO YOU, not the other way around. If you are feeling like you are neglecting your personal life due to the time constraint/stress created by having to spend decent chunk of your personal time working out, by all means do try other methods including this one, because SOME work will forever be better than NO work. But do remember that doing only one set, even if it is driven to failure, per muscle group, despite being able to give a very good stimulus, might not be enough for you. If you are in the Begginer/Intermediate level yeah sure, you might get some gains both in strength and size, but as you progress to a more advanced level you need not only quality stimulus but also exposure to that stimulus for a longer period of time. I'm not saying you need to work till failure every set, because you don't need to ! It has actually been shown to be counter productive in an hypertrophy program to always go for muscle failure every set, because you will start acumulating so much fatigue that you will be unable to progressively overload and therefore hinder muscle growth. That said, I would like to congratulate you for this content, I'm tired of having people saying that they don't have enough time to workout and be active. It is our duty as exercise professinals to teach people that exercise should be a time to work on your body and mind and be more healthy, not another source of stress for your life.

This will be a welcome message for a lot of people I'm sure. What are your thoughts on the single set high intensity approach like Mike Mentzer in the bodybuilding world and Mindful Mover in the calisthenics world? Things like forced reps, rest/pause, etc., that let you go "beyond failure". If you're doing a single set per movement a day do you need to go all the way to failure? Thanks.

First video I saw from you. Helpful, on the point, provided sources, subbed.... thats all I am looking for. Thanks and subbed

Wow, such great info and those pushups are impressive👍

Subscribed! Absolutely love your content man. Your physique is my goal. I am at around 20% bodyfat and want to be lean and muscular like you. I have a question. I am 21 years old 6'0 160 pounds with some previous experience of training. Can do 6 strict pullups 25 pushups but i have skinny arms and i want some muscle mass in forearms. Do i need to hit forearms, calves, abs/obliques seperately or different variations of pushups/pullups+rows/squats/lunges are enough?

You have a great content man keep up the good work 👏 I have a question let's say u like basic calisthenics and u practice that in daily basis and in the same time u have access of a full gym equipment ( weight lifting machines, etc) what the exercises that u would add it to your routine that has the same Properties of the basic calisthenics like low rate injury, low risk, etc ) I'm asking because I like your style in training and in the same time i have access of a gym and I was thinking about adding some exercise to the routine What is your thoughts on that ? And after u answer I hope u make video about this topic but don't delay the answer until u making that video please

Thanks for getting to the point quickly

I like the idea, keeps you in the groove.

After and elbow injury I decided to give a shot to intuitive training: I do one drop set of push, pull or leg depending on what muscle chains feels fresh when I get up from bed. It’s been 3 weeks, too early to notice results but I think I will adopt that approach for the next months, you made me confident about it.

i only train 20 to 30min a day everyday, and i really get way more results than when i used to train several hours with huge exhaustion several times a week

This was a great video! Thank you for the professionally crafted knowledge packed videos. I'm planning to apply this to my leg training since this seems like a very new approach to training for me :)

Nice to know. Thanks for the info

hey man. I basically started with calisthenic 3 years ago when i was 16 and long story short it fucked my wrist elbow and most importantly the ulnar nerve.It was due to poor form and a lot of volume bc i didnt know any better at that time. Now its been close to 1 year and a half since i have touched anything (gym home gym or any movement at all) i am back to square one and i dont know what to do. I cant do push ups bs it hurts me, the only thing i can work is legs and back to a certain extent but arms and chest are reallly hard to to. Hope you see my message and have a good day. I forgot to mention that it wasnt only calisthenics but regular gym splits where i tried to up the volume to the max with quite heavy weight as a beginner with little experience, and that was a mistake.

What do you think about arched back pull ups vs hollow body? I want to target/use my back more and make it stronger. From what I read arch back is more of a "row" and not necessarily an actual pull up. However, hollow body incorporates more core than back. Thoughts? I prefer pure bodyweight, no weighted variation.

Thanks man , this information is awesome 👌

Your content is fantastic, concise, to the point. Can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Got in a rut with my training (no training lol) maybe a year ago. Your vids put the fire back under me. Thanks man. Can't wait for more.

i thought he'd say "The roids"

Are you familiar with trainer Steve Maxwell? Hes a lifetime personal trainer, almost 70 now and after training his whole life his most recent ideas are that slow, single set workouts untill close to failure is the best when it comes to avoiding injury, gaining strength and just training for general fitness over a lifetime.

Very nice in depth content

love this!!!

is it possible to do high rep/volume calisthenics with quality reps? some iron wolf type shit, but doing reps how you do them? a bit more slow and controlled. quality over quantity=less reps. if not does it even out?

Hello Sir, I saw one of your diet videos and I'm trying to follow it in that certain way. I am facing an issue cause I wake up at 5am and then workout. Then I must also have a family dinner at 8pm. So how should I schedule 2 meals or if I do eat 3 meals then how should I eat it without going overboard. Any guidelines would be much appreciated!

K Boges has the best calisthenic content on RU-vid. Thank you for what you do.

You're channel is by far the best i have seen on helpfulness on fitness and health

Wouldn't this style be appropriate then for cutting, wouldn't take much energy that you would need to recover in food and if it can build muscle it can preserve it too?

Are you familiar with Pavel Tsatsouline and his "greasing the groove" concept? I wonder if doing two or more of these 'single sets' throughout the day would still result in the same diminishing returns you talked about with multiple sets in a shorter time frame. Any thoughts on that?

Incredible information

Just discovered you about half an hour ago and I would like to thank you for showing respect to your viewers and their time. More of, what to do, instead of silly clickbaits with niche issues. I know a VERY good content creator who has scared away people I know from working out all the while making good sensible videos. I need a simple answer man, don't hold me hostage for 25 min and tell me I'm gonna get injured every time I touch a dumbbell lol Your stuff is to the point, relevant to most people and very well packaged.

The picture you posted for the video is clearly the pre workout photo... Where is the post picture to your training?