Lifting heavy weights at least twice a week, doing full movements for a few sets each time, and doing it early in your workout can help healthy adults get stronger compared to not exercising or doing other types of training.

Doing just one set of strength exercises a few times a week can still build significant muscle strength and improve daily physical function, whether you are new to working out or already experienced. Cutting down on the number of sets does not stop your muscles from getting stronger as long as you are working the big muscle groups.

Lifting heavy weights fewer times, three days a week for a month, helps young active men build more muscle and get stronger than lifting lighter weights many times.

Lifting extremely heavy weights or pushing your muscles to their absolute limit every day or almost every day can quickly make you stronger. This happens because your nervous system and muscles adapt to the heavy stress, giving you big strength gains without needing to spend hours in the gym.

For young active men, doing lighter weights with more reps three times a week for a month might cause less muscle damage than lifting heavy weights with fewer reps, based on a blood test that measures muscle stress.

If you lift weights the same total amount each week, it doesn’t matter if you do it in one big session or split into three smaller ones—you’ll get just as strong and build just as much muscle.