Analysis Version
v1
History
Back to Study: Increasing set volume relative to baseline does no...
causal
Analysis v1
Strong Support

If you're just casually working out, doing a few sets of bicep curls with one arm is just as good for getting stronger as doing a lot more sets—your muscles don't need extra work to keep improving past a certain point.

55
Pro
0
Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

55

Community contributions welcome

55

Increasing set volume relative to baseline does not augment skeletal muscle adaptations when compared to maintenance of baseline training volume in recreationally trained individuals

Randomized Controlled Trial
Human
2025 Apr

The study found that doing the usual number of arm curls gave the same strength gains as doing more curls — so doing extra sets doesn’t help beyond a certain point.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Increasing set volume relative to baseline does not augment skeletal muscle adaptations when compared to maintenance of baseline training volume in recreationally trained individuals

Score: 55
DOI: 10.1007/s00421-024-05655-4

Similar Assertions

If you're an average gym-goer doing one-arm bicep curls, doing more sets than your usual routine won't make your arm muscles bigger or stronger—your gains plateau at your current volume.

55
0
90%

If you're someone who works out a little but not super hard, just keeping up your usual routine for 3 months can actually make your biceps bigger and stronger — you don’t need to go all out.

55
0
80%

If regular gym-goers train their biceps by lifting in a way that stretches the muscle more, they’ll likely gain more muscle size over two months.

47
0
76%

Both methods probably push your muscles to about the same level of fatigue, which is why they end up making your arms grow about the same amount.

0
66
76%

Doing arm exercises that shorten and lengthen the muscles might help build arm size a little, but the evidence isn't super strong—there's only about a 55% chance it's better than just lengthening exercises.

47
0
76%