How to structure resistance training for strength

Practical Playbook

1. 1

   How many resistance sessions per week should you do?

   For most people, 3 sessions is the sweet spot. Two gives you progress, but it's slow, especially if you're over 40. Four can work, but I'd only recommend it if you're splitting upper/lower. Anything more than that? You're likely overtraining. The data backs this: a 2022 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine showed 3x/week produced significantly more hypertrophy than 2x, but 4x wasn't meaningfully better.

2. 2

   Pick compound lifts first, then isolate

   Start every session with a compound: squat, bench, deadlift, or overhead press. Multi-joint moves recruit more muscle, drive more hormone response. After that, accessories like curls or lateral raises fill gaps. Don't reverse the order, you'll fatigue small muscles first and shortchange the big lifts. I've seen too many guys do 45 minutes of biceps before touching a barbell. Stupid.

3. 3

   Progressive overload: add weight or reps each session

   You can't just show up and move metal. You need to add something, 2.5 kg to the bar, one extra rep per set, or one more set. If you do the exact same workout for six weeks, you're not training, you're exercising. Pick a scheme: double progression (hit 12 reps on all sets, then up weight) works well. Track it. Dorsi logs your loads automatically so you never guess.

4. 4

   Take most sets 1-3 reps short of failure

   Training to absolute failure every set burns you out and bloats recovery costs. Leave a rep or two in the tank for the first 2-3 exercises. Last set of your last exercise? Sure, go to failure. The research from Santanielo et al. (2020) showed similar hypertrophy between groups going to failure and those stopping 2 reps shy, but the failure group had more fatigue. I'd rather you come back next session fresh.

Common Mistakes

• Mistake

  You keep adding weight every session, thinking linear progression is the only way to get stronger.

  Why

  That approach works for a few weeks, then stalls hard. Without periodized overload, you grind into overtraining or joint pain and the bar stops moving up.

  Fix

  Use double progression: stay at the same weight until you hit the top of your rep range, then add weight at the bottom of the range. That keeps progress slow and sustainable.

• Mistake

  You run the same 5 exercises for months because you like them and they feel productive.

  Why

  Muscles adapt fast. Repeated exposure to the same angles and rep ranges kills the stimulus, and your growth plateaus. You're just burning calories, not building tissue.

  Fix

  Swap one exercise per movement pattern every 4-6 weeks. Instead of back squats, try front squats. Instead of flat bench, use an incline. Novelty forces adaptation.

• Mistake

  You skip warm-up sets and jump straight to your working weight.

  Why

  Cold muscles don't contract well, and your nervous system isn't primed for heavy loads. That's how you tear a hamstring on a deadlift or miss a rep on a squat and fold forward.

  Fix

  Do 2-3 ramp-up sets with increasing weight and decreasing reps. For example, 50% x 5, 70% x 3, 85% x 1 before your first working set.

• Mistake

  You take every working set to absolute failure, chasing the burn.

  Why

  Failure spikes fatigue out of proportion to the muscle gain it delivers. You need that fatigue for recovery, so you end up weaker on later sets and stall session-to-session.

  Fix

  Keep 1-2 reps in reserve on most sets. Only hit failure on the very last set of your last exercise if you're chasing a pump or a PR.

From the Dorsi blog

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