If you want to get stronger, doing about two hard sets per exercise in each workout is actually the sweet spot. You don't need to do as many sets to build strength as you do to build bigger muscles.

Doing more sets in a workout helps you get stronger and bigger, but after a certain point, extra sets don’t help much—especially for strength. You hit your sweet spot for strength with fewer sets than you need for muscle growth.

If you lift weights until you're almost too tired to do another rep, you'll likely build bigger muscles—but your strength gains won't be any better than if you stopped earlier, as long as you're doing the same total amount of work and lifting the same weight.

If you're already used to lifting weights, doing more sets and reps over time will help you build bigger muscles and get stronger — but only if you keep training consistently.

Doing a lot of stretching can make you stronger without necessarily making your muscles bigger. This suggests the strength gains come from your nervous system and muscle structure working better together, rather than just from building more muscle mass.

Lifting heavier weights makes you stronger and improves your brain-muscle connection more than lifting lighter weights, even if you do the same total amount of work and build the same muscle size.