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What’s the minimum effective dose?

This is an excerpt from Train Smarter, Not Longer by Patroklos \"Pak\" Androulakis Korakakis.

BLUF

The minimum effective training dose can be defined as the smallest amount of effort needed to achieve real improvements in strength and muscle growth, offering a realistic, efficient, and sustainable way of training. This approach counters the common “illusion of optimal” in fitness, which fixates on perfection at the expense of accessibility and consistency. Although the minimum effective dose approach may not be suitable for 100% optimal gains, it does produce meaningfully large gains with relatively low input.

The Concept of the Minimum Effective Dose

The minimum effective dose refers to the smallest amount of input, or action required to achieve a desired outcome. This is not a new concept or some form of “fad” but rather a concept employed in many fields, including fields like medicine (Thomas and Ting 2014). For example, in anesthesia, the minimum effective dose of an anesthetic drug is the smallest concentration that prevents patient movement in response to surgical incision (Shafer 2000). By using the minimum effective dose of said drug, anesthesiologists can minimize potential adverse effects while still effectively treating the patient (Shafer et al. 1988). In essence, the minimum effective dose helps to maximize the drug’s benefit while reducing the likelihood of side effects that typically increase with higher doses.

In lifting, the minimum effective dose revolves around finding the smallest amount of training needed to achieve meaningful gains. For example, when lifting weights for muscle growth, doing enough to gain an appreciable amount of muscle mass is minimum effective dose training (Pelland et al. 2024). Similarly, for strength, doing enough to produce a measurable strength increase represents the minimum effective dose (Androulakis Korakakis, Fisher, and Steele 2020).

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