Even if you’re already strong—squatting almost twice your body weight—adding more sets will make you stronger, but won’t make your muscles grow more than doing a moderate amount.

Scientific Claim

Resistance-trained males with a baseline squat strength of approximately 1.7 times body mass show significant strength and hypertrophy adaptations to 12 weeks of resistance training, regardless of whether volume is constant or progressively increased.

Original Statement

“Thirty-one resistance-trained males... one-repetition maximum [1RM] barbell back squat: body mass ratio = 1.7 ± 0.1 a.u.”

From study:Effects of Different Weekly Set Progressions on Muscular Adaptations in Trained Males: Is There a Dose–Response Effect?

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

definitive

Can make definitive causal claims

Assessment Explanation

Baseline characteristics are clearly reported and all groups showed significant within-group improvements. The conclusion is descriptive and directly supported by the data.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (1)

Effects of Different Weekly Set Progressions on Muscular Adaptations in Trained Males: Is There a Dose–Response Effect?

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2024 Mar 1

The study found that lifting more sets over time made people stronger than keeping the same number of sets, so the idea that it doesn’t matter if you increase volume is wrong.

Source Study

Effects of Different Weekly Set Progressions on Muscular Adaptations in Trained Males: Is There a Dose–Response Effect?

Score: 52

DOI: 10.1249/mss.0000000000003317

Similar Assertions

Whether you rest 1 minute or 2.5 minutes between sets, your strength gains in squat and bench press end up being about the same after 10 weeks of training.

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You don’t need to train every day—just twice a week for two months can make your upper and middle thighs bigger, as long as you do enough total work.

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When people who already lift weights do either mostly heavy lifts or mostly lighter lifts—but keep the total amount of work the same—both ways make them just as strong after 8 weeks.

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For guys who already lift weights, doing short bursts of heavy lifts with brief rests in between can help them lift a little more weight after 8 weeks than doing regular sets, even if they do the same total amount of work.

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If you lift weights twice a week for 8 weeks and do the same total amount of work, your upper and middle thighs will get thicker — no matter what fancy technique you use.

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