Sometimes, less is more, but what about less sets? There’s often a discussion surrounding training volume and what’s optimal to fuel muscle growth. Many powerlifters are proud of pushing through as many sets as they can, in a feat of strength and endurance. Researchers have been exploring weekly training volume, but there isn’t as much focus on how many sets to work through in a single session to still build muscle.
How many sets should you power through in one go before those gains start to dwindle? Researchers wanted to delve deeper in a new meta-analysis. Let’s take a look at the research.
The meta-analysis
In a new meta-analysis, the researchers wanted to determine how the number of sets per muscle group per training session affected muscle growth and strength. The analysis involved 67 studies, over 2,000 participants, and the meta-regression statistical method.
The researchers looked at:
- Direct sets, such as bicep curls for building the biceps muscles.
- Indirect sets, such as chin-ups that also hit the biceps.
- Fractional sets (indirect work counted as half)
The results
The researchers found that overall, more sets led to more muscle growth; however, those gains began trailing off at a certain point. The “point of undetectable outcome superiority” was the amount of sets or the training volume where adding any more sets on top wouldn’t provide those noticeable improvements.
For muscle growth, that point was around 11 fractional sets per muscle group per session. For strength, the point of those diminishing returns was as little as 2 direct sets per muscle group, per session.
The researchers noted that generally speaking, doing more sets in a workout leads to more muscle growth, but those advantages trail off at around 11 sets per muscle group, per session. They also noted that performing more sets directly targeting a muscle typically generates more strength gains, so it’s a good idea to keep hitting those specific muscle groups you want to work on. It isn’t clear if doing more than 2 direct sets per muscle group per workout generates more results, because that’s the point in this study where the most significant benefits topped out.
Concluding thoughts
Recent research also correlates weekly set volume with increasing muscle size. As the researchers all pointed out, more sets in a workout typically leads to more muscle growth, but there is a point where those benefits trail off, so it’s something to keep in mind. There’s no need to push yourself to burnout. Plus, some of us don’t have time to power through set after set, so it makes sense to focus our workout time on 3-6 sets close to failure for a specific muscle group, ideally training two or three times a week to see results over time.
