05/11/2024
How many SETS PER MUSCLE GROUP PER WEEK should you do if your goal is to improve fitness?
When I look at a question like this, the first thing I like to do is find the edges – find a reasonable minimum and maximum and then work within those limits to look at what might be optimum. For example, almost no one suggests performing just 1 set per muscle group per week. Additionally, almost no one suggests using 100 sets per muscle group per week, so we can immediately rule any such recommendations out. In this context, every time we talk about sets it will be referencing EACH major muscle group per WEEK, I am not going to keep repeating that every time throughout this post. We are also only discussing WORK sets for this topic, not warm-up sets.
4 – 40 sets per week is our boundary. Anything less than 4 sets is likely not to be enough; anything over 40 sets is very likely to be excessive.
4 sets – This is a good minimum threshold to meet. Even the proponents of low-volume training such as Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates generally performed at least 4 sets. This may very well not be enough stimulus, but at least you have likely arrived at the minimum threshold necessary for consistent gains. Generally, when one performs such a low number of sets, it is paired with someone either being very deconditioned or on the other end of the spectrum the intensity used on each set is extremely high. If one is not making progress when performing 4 sets per week, the first thought should be to increase that number.
40 sets – This is on the very high end of what is tolerable for most individuals. The vast majority of trainees should NOT perform 40 sets as it has a lot of negatives: it is very time consuming; it is very difficult to train with proper balance to the whole body; it is extremely easy to overtrain using this method. However when this arrangement is set up properly it can be done. I myself have used this method when I was training for and won the Strict Curl World Championships. So it can be done, but it should be used with caution, and it likely isn't sustainable long-term. If one is not making progress with 40 sets per week, the first thought should be to reduce that number significantly.
8-20 sets per week is a good range for most folks.
If we double our minimum (4), and if we cut our maximum (40) in half we arrive at 8-20 sets. This is a great, productive range which works very well for the vast majority of folks. 8 sets is a great starting point for most beginners and also works well if you are pushing the intensity pretty high on your sets. 20 sets is almost assuredly enough volume to force the body to respond as long as the intensity is reasonably high. I would be at least slightly skeptical of any program that is outside of these ranges, although as we have established it can be done.
14 sets per week, with a range of 12-16, is probably optimum.
If you are more serious about training and you aren’t sure where to start, 12-16 sets is a great window to ensure you are likely providing your body with the proper stimulus to ensure a response. If you are newer, more focused on recovery, and/or train very intensely perhaps use the lower end of that range (8-12). If you are younger, really focused on making progress, and enjoy your time in the gym perhaps use the higher end of that range (16-20). One should spend the significant majority of their workout lifetime in that 8-20 range per week.
What about Beginners?
While this post wasn’t aimed specifically at beginners, let’s examine their program briefly. The good news is that all of the major certifying bodies are in general agreement on how beginners should train:
Total body routine 2-3 times a week
Perform 1-2 exercises for each major muscle group per workout
Perform 2-3 work sets per exercise
If we look at the minimum guideline, working out twice per week, 1 exercise per area, 2 sets per exercise we get 2 x 1 x 2 = 4 sets per week. Hmmm, look at that.
If we look at the maximum guideline, working out three times per week, 2 exercises for each area, 3 sets per exercise we get 3 x 2 x 3 = 18 sets per week.
Thus 4-18 sets per week is our range for beginners, and anyone who trains people for a living knows that 18 sets per week for each major muscle group will simply be a very long workout (much longer than an hour with normal rest periods) so a middle ground of 8-12 sets for beginners works well.
If you enjoy the topic of exercise program design you might like the book All About Program Design, it was written for trainers and fitness enthusiasts to help them write their own workouts for their specific goals. Program Design is one of my favorite topics to teach, discuss, and learn about.
If you really want to dive deep into how the body works and how it responds to exercise, you might find my text Fundamentals of Fitness and Personal Training to be useful. It was written to be the primary educational reference for students studying to become personal trainers at NPTI.
If you have any questions about these topics or want to learn more let me know.
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