The Study
Effects of Different Weekly Set Progressions on Muscular Adaptations in Trained Males: Is There a Dose–Response Effect?
This study shows that if you slowly add more squats and leg presses every two weeks, you’ll get stronger than if you do the same number every week. But it doesn’t prove you’ll get bigger muscles — the numbers are too close to say for sure.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Men who added more lifting sets every two weeks got stronger on the squat, but their thighs didn’t grow bigger than those who kept the same number of sets.
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 552 / 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 — adding sets boosts strength, but beyond 22 sets/week, extra volume doesn’t make muscles bigger, and takes much more time.
- 2Groups did 22, 42, or 52 sets per week.
- 3Strongest group: +52 sets.
- 4Thigh size: all groups grew similarly.
- 5Workout time: 52-set group took twice as long.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
Year
2023
Authors
Alysson Enes, E. D. De Souza, Tácito P. Souza-Junior
Related Content
Videos (3)
Claims (10)
People who regularly lift weights with higher total volume over the week tend to experience more muscle growth compared to those who lift with lower volume.
Increasing the number of resistance training sets per week leads to greater strength gains, but muscle size stops increasing significantly after about 22 to 52 sets per week.
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.
No matter how many leg sets people did, their eating habits didn’t change—so differences in muscle growth or strength weren’t because of diet.
Even doing a huge number of leg sets—over 50 a week—didn’t make anyone’s muscles shrink, which means there might be a very high limit to how much training your muscles can handle without losing size.
People who did more sets didn’t lift heavier weights—they just did more reps and sets. The weight stayed the same, but the total work went up.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.