Research

Mixed

Autoregulated single repetition sets at RPE 9-9.5 may minimize training time but are less likely to produce meaningful strength gains compared to the standard METD protocol.

If you are extremely time-crunched, you can try doing just one heavy single at RPE 9-9.5 per session. However, be aware that this method is less effective for building strength. To get better results with minimal extra time, add 2-3 'back-off' sets at 80% of your single's weight.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
PL athletes who wish to further minimize their time spent training can perform autoregulated single repetition sets at an RPE of 9-9.5 though they should expect that strength gains will be less likely to be meaningful.
Patroklos Androulakis‐Korakakis et al. · 2021

Why this rating

Based on expert consensus/interviews and small intervention studies.

Source

The minimum effective training dose required to increase 1RM strength in powerlifters

Patroklos Androulakis‐Korakakis et al. · 2021

DOI 10.31236/osf.io/wubps

preprint · n=248Cited 1×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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