How Many Sets per Workout? - This NEW Study Is Epic
Quick Answer
A new analysis of 35 studies shows that muscle growth increases with more sets per session without a clear plateau, but with clear diminishing returns. The optimal practical range is 10 to 20 weekly sets per muscle group, taken to or close to failure. While strength gains plateau around just two sets per session, hypertrophy continues to benefit from higher volumes, though statistical uncertainty increases beyond 11 sets per session or 31 sets per week.
Claims (10)
1. If you do the same total number of sets each week, it does not matter much whether you do them all at once or spread them out over several days for muscle growth.
2. Doing around 11 sets of exercises per workout is the sweet spot for building muscle. If you do more than that, your muscles won't grow any noticeably faster or bigger.
3. Doing more total sets each week makes your muscles grow more, which explains why doing many sets in one workout can still help you grow.
4. Doing around 31 sets per muscle group each week is the sweet spot for building muscle, and doing more than that won't give you noticeably better results.
5. If you do the same total amount of weightlifting work each week, doing it all in one session will build your muscles just as much as spreading those workouts across multiple days.
6. Doing very few sets can still make your muscles grow, but it is not the best way to get the most growth possible.
7. 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.
8. Doing more sets of weightlifting for each muscle group in a workout generally helps you build more muscle, but after a certain point, adding extra sets gives you smaller and smaller gains.
9. Exercises where a muscle works as a helper still help it grow, but not as much as exercises where that muscle does the main lifting.
10. How long you rest between sets does not change how much muscle you grow from a given number of sets.
Key Takeaways
- •Problem: People want to know the exact number of sets per workout that maximizes muscle growth without wasting time or causing unnecessary fatigue.
- •Core methods: Performing working sets to or close to failure, tracking volume using the fractional method (direct exercises count as 1 set, indirect exercises count as 0.5 sets), and distributing weekly volume across 1 to 3+ training sessions.
- •How methods work: Taking sets close to failure ensures sufficient mechanical tension and metabolic stress to trigger muscle adaptation, while the fractional method accurately accounts for both primary and secondary muscle involvement across different exercises.
- •Expected outcomes: Increased muscle size proportional to weekly volume up to a practical range of 10 to 20 sets per muscle group, with strength gains plateauing around two sets per session.
- •Implementation timeframe: Most studies measured changes over an average of 10 weeks, with results becoming apparent as volume is consistently applied over several weeks.
Overview
Determining the optimal volume of working sets per muscle group per session has been a longstanding question in resistance training research. This analysis synthesizes data from 35 studies involving over 1,000 subjects to evaluate how sets per session, weekly volume, and training frequency interact to drive hypertrophy and strength, while addressing methodological approaches to counting direct and indirect sets.
Key Terms
How to Apply
- 1.Step 1: Select exercises that directly target your primary muscle groups (e.g., bicep curls for biceps, bench press for chest) and count each as 1 working set.
- 2.Step 2: Include accessory exercises that indirectly train the same muscle (e.g., rows for biceps, close-grip bench for triceps) and count each as 0.5 working sets.
- 3.Step 3: Perform all working sets with 10 repetitions, taking each set to or very close to muscular failure.
- 4.Step 4: Accumulate a total of 10 to 20 fractional sets per muscle group per week, distributed across at least two training sessions.
- 5.Step 5: Track your weekly volume and adjust by adding or removing sets based on recovery capacity, aiming for the higher end of the range if recovery permits.
Consistent muscle growth proportional to the applied weekly volume, with noticeable hypertrophy over a 10-week period, while strength adaptations will likely stabilize after approximately two sets per session.
Studies from Description (2)
Claims (10)
1. If you do the same total number of sets each week, it does not matter much whether you do them all at once or spread them out over several days for muscle growth.
2. Doing around 11 sets of exercises per workout is the sweet spot for building muscle. If you do more than that, your muscles won't grow any noticeably faster or bigger.
3. Doing more total sets each week makes your muscles grow more, which explains why doing many sets in one workout can still help you grow.
4. Doing around 31 sets per muscle group each week is the sweet spot for building muscle, and doing more than that won't give you noticeably better results.
5. If you do the same total amount of weightlifting work each week, doing it all in one session will build your muscles just as much as spreading those workouts across multiple days.
6. Doing very few sets can still make your muscles grow, but it is not the best way to get the most growth possible.
7. 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.
8. Doing more sets of weightlifting for each muscle group in a workout generally helps you build more muscle, but after a certain point, adding extra sets gives you smaller and smaller gains.
9. Exercises where a muscle works as a helper still help it grow, but not as much as exercises where that muscle does the main lifting.
10. How long you rest between sets does not change how much muscle you grow from a given number of sets.