The Study
Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men
This study compared different amounts of weightlifting and found that doing more sets made muscles bigger, but didn’t make people stronger. It’s like testing if eating more ice cream makes you taller — it showed more ice cream (volume) led to bigger muscles, but not better strength.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Men who lifted weights 3 times a week for 8 weeks got just as strong no matter if they did 1, 3, or 5 sets per exercise — but those who did 5 sets grew bigger muscles in their arms and thighs.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 555 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — if you want bigger muscles, do more sets; if you just want to get stronger, even a short workout works.
- 21-set group: 6–9 weekly sets; 5-set group: 30–45 weekly sets.
- 35-set group had 5.5% vs 1.1% triceps growth and 12.5% vs 3.4% mid-thigh growth.
- 4Strength gains were similar across all groups.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
Year
2018
Authors
B. Schoenfeld, B. Contreras, J. Krieger, J. Grgic, Kenneth Delcastillo, Ramon Belliard, Andrew Alto
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who perform more total resistance training per week tend to gain more muscle size and strength, regardless of whether they spread their workouts across many days or concentrate them into fewer sessions.
Among men who regularly lift weights, performing five sets of each exercise leads to more muscle growth than performing one set, when measured over eight weeks.
In men who regularly lift weights, doing five sets of each exercise per workout for eight weeks causes larger increases in muscle thickness in the upper arm, mid-thigh, and outer thigh than doing one set per workout.
For men who regularly lift weights, doing one, three, or five sets of each exercise for eight weeks leads to the same gains in maximum strength and upper-body endurance.
Resistance-trained men who do six to nine sets per muscle group each week for eight weeks increase their strength significantly.
In men who regularly lift weights, increasing the number of sets for elbow extensor exercises does not result in significantly more muscle growth, even though higher volumes show a slight, non-significant tendency to produce more growth.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.