Studies show mixed results on whether doing more resistance training sets leads to more muscle growth in people who already train regularly. Some findings suggest that increasing the number of sets...

We analyzed one study on this question and found it supports the idea that more resistance training volume doesn’t always lead to more muscle growth in people who already train regularly. The evidence we’ve reviewed so far suggests that increasing the number of sets may not consistently result in greater muscle gains for trained individuals, even when more work is done [1]. This doesn’t mean more volume has no effect — it just means the relationship isn’t straightforward. For people who are already experienced with lifting, the body may adapt in ways that make extra sets less impactful than they are for beginners. We don’t have enough data to say whether there’s a limit to how much volume helps, or if individual differences play a bigger role than total workload. What we’ve found so far leans toward the idea that after a certain point, adding more sets doesn’t automatically mean more muscle. If you’re already training hard, simply doing more sets might not be the best way to keep progressing — other factors like recovery, intensity, or exercise selection could matter more.