How many sets is too many?

The Takeway For How Many Sets You Should Do

Each workout can consist of a total of around 15-25 sets, but the number of sets for a specific muscle group in that workout should be at around 10 or below.

Is 30 sets too much per workout?

Conclusion. Training volume that causes the most muscle growth seems to be around 5 sets per muscle group, per session, 10-30 sets per muscle group per week (but 20 + sets is unnecessary for MOST lifters), which means training 2-5 times per week will allow most lifters to hit their optimal training volume.

Is 40 sets per workout too much?

Most hypertrophy training programs land somewhere in between, but that's a big middle ground, and it's entirely common to see people doing anywhere from 40 to 150 sets per week. There are a lot of factors that go into your capacity to recover — and recover productively — from exercise.

How many sets is too much in one day?

Aim for each workout to consist of 15-25 sets total but with less than 10 sets for a specific muscle group on one day. To go a step further, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends 8-10 multi-joint exercises per week.

Is 20 sets per week too much?

Most evidence-based fitness professionals recommend a training volume of 10-15 sets per muscle group per week. I've recommended 10-30 sets in my interviews the past years for most individuals with some outliers using higher volumes, like IFBB Pro Nina Ross. The truth is, even I may have been overly conservative.

Junk Volume: Why You Must Avoid It For Max Muscle

Is 25 sets too much in a workout?

Dr Israetel's research shows that most muscles grow best with a weekly training volume of around 8–25 sets per muscle per week, ideally spread out over 2–5 workouts. However, this can vary between people and also between muscle groups.

Is 25 sets too much for chest?

Be sure to keep your weekly training volume (the total of your working sets) for chest between 12-16 total reps. If you find out you are performing more than 20 sets per week, there is a very good chance you are doing TOO much and are actually diminishing your bodies ability to build new muscle mass.

Is 12 sets per workout too much?

A safe bet is to aim for 10–15 total sets per muscle group and week and work in a rep range from low reps (~5) with heavy weights up to high reps (20–30) with lighter weights. With that out of the way, let's look at exercise and set recommendations for all of your major muscle groups.

What happens if you do too many sets for a muscle?

Once you have stimulated a muscle to grow, doing more sets will not stimulate the muscle any further, but will only take away from your ability to recover from your workout.

What is considered junk volume?

"Junk volume" refers to exercise that doesn't improve strength or build muscle, wasting your time and energy, Jeff Nippard, a bodybuilder, powerlifter and fitness coach, said in a recent video on his YouTube channel.

How many sets is junk volume?

But how many sets in a single workout can you do before the set is considered to be junk volume training and not give you any results. Keep it to 6-8 sets per muscle group per training session to stimulate growth. This is not a rule to be followed blindly, but rather an idea of what happens to most people.

Is 20 sets for biceps too much?

If it's twenty hard sets per session for a single muscle group, yes, it's definitely too much. Past ten hard sets, you aren't really stimulating any more gains-check the triangle line below, for muscle protein synthesis. You ARE, however, generating fatigue.

Is 36 sets per workout too much?

One study suggests the optimal training volume is as high as 45 sets, the next says doing more than 10 sets is counterproductive and reduces your gains.

How many sets is too much for hypertrophy?

Typically, 3-5 sets are recommended for optimal hypertrophy. Conversely, the development of strength may occur with a moderate volume. For this reason, Peterson et al. (2004) suggested that 2-6 sets were ideal for improving strength, with the NASM guideline being 4-6 sets (2018).

How many sets for muscle growth?

Regarding how many sets total per session, that number can vary between 15 and 25. If you are training a big muscle, like the quads or back, that number will be closer to 15. However, if it is a smaller muscle like the biceps or calves, the number would be closer to 25.

Is 20 working sets too much?

Step-By-Step Example: So we know based on the 2017 meta-analysis mentioned earlier that roughly 10-20 sets per muscle per week is the sweet spot for maximizing growth. With beginners being at the lower end of this range and more experienced lifters being at the higher end of this range.

Is 18 sets of biceps a week too much?

Bicep Weekly Training Frequency for Intermediate and Advanced level. It is recommended that intermediate lifters should do 12-20 total training sets per week. The weights used to exercise the biceps can vary, but heavy weights (less than 8 reps) should be avoided because they might cause damage.

Is 12 sets for triceps too much?

TRICEPS TRAINING

Overall training volume is key, with most recommendations suggesting 12-16 total work sets per week for intermediate lifters. Performing as little as 6-8 sets per week can also suffice for some lifters who are performing a lot of pressing, as the triceps are also responsible for this movement.

Is 30 reps a set too much?

Sets of 20-30 reps can 100% build muscle. Even without looking at the studies, just think about how many callisthenics and gymnastics guys get absolutely jacked upper bodies just through doing loads of high rep bodyweight exercises. With that said, sets of 20-30 aren't always appropriate.

How many reps is too many for a set?

Anything greater than 20 reps in a set is probably far too many. Performing this many reps in a set will have diminishing returns. If you can easily do more than 20 reps, then the weight you are using is probably too light or too easy to elicit any significant growth.

What does a bro split look like?

The bro split, also known as the body part split, targets a different major muscle group each day of the week. This typically means you're in the gym five days per week with two days rest, but it can also be structured differently.

Is 4 sets of 12 reps too much?

For hypertrophy (building muscle), the sweet spot is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps. And if your objective is muscular endurance, shoot for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps. In each case, the key is to use the heaviest resistance that will allow you to complete all of your reps and sets with good form.

Is it OK to do a lot of sets?

On the whole, the more sets people do in workouts, the more strength, endurance, and muscle they gain. If you want to maximize strength and muscle gain or break through a plateau, then you want to do more sets, not less.