About 10 hard sets per muscle per week is a good target for muscle growth; around 4 already have a measurable effect. More sets bring more growth, but each extra set adds a little less [1, 2].
What counts as a hard set?
A working set taken close to failure. The closer to failure, the more growth [3]. Warm-up sets don’t count.
Tarvo counts the same way: all working sets, no warm-up sets.
How many sets bring how much?
An analysis of 67 studies shows that each extra weekly set grows the muscle more, with diminishing returns [2]. About 4 sets per week is the smallest amount with a measurable effect. The studies had a median of 10.5 sets [2].
No upper limit beyond which more sets cause harm has been shown. More mainly costs time and recovery.
| Experience | Sets per muscle per week | Sets per exercise |
|---|---|---|
| New to it | 8 | 2 |
| Some experience | 12 | 3 |
| Experienced | 16 | 4 |
How Tarvo plans, by experience. All three numbers sit in the range that works well, 5 to 18 sets [2].
Do exercises count for several muscles?
As half. The bench press counts fully for the chest and half for the triceps and shoulders. This way of counting fit the studies better than “main muscle only” or “all muscles fully” [2].
How should I spread the sets over the week?
With the same number of sets, it doesn’t matter for growth whether you train a muscle once, twice or three times a week [4]. Two sessions per muscle do spread the sets so no single workout gets out of hand [5].
Which split fits your days is covered in Workout split.
How does Tarvo count your sets?
In your progress, a figure shows how many hard sets each muscle got this week: fainter under 10, full from 10. If a muscle gets fewer than 5 sets a week in your plan, Tarvo suggests adding sets for it.
Sources
- [1]Schoenfeld, Ogborn, Krieger (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass. J Sports Sci. doi 10.1080/02640414.2016.1210197Meta-analysis of 15 studies. Each extra weekly set added a little more muscle growth, with data up to about 10 sets.
- [2]Pelland, Remmert, Robinson, Hinson, Zourdos (2024). The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain. SportRxiv (Vorabfassung). sportrxiv.orgMeta-regression of 67 studies. More sets bring more growth with diminishing returns; secondary muscles fit best counted as half.
- [3]Robinson, Pelland, Remmert, Refalo, Jukic, Steele et al. (2024). Exploring the Dose-Response Relationship Between Estimated Resistance Training Proximity to Failure, Strength Gain, and Muscle Hypertrophy. Sports Med. doi 10.1007/s40279-024-02069-2Meta-regression. The closer to failure, the more growth; strength grew similarly across a wide range.
- [4]Schoenfeld, Grgic, Krieger (2019). How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy?. J Sports Sci. doi 10.1080/02640414.2018.1555906Meta-analysis of 25 studies. With the same number of sets, muscles grew equally regardless of weekly frequency.
- [5]Helms, Fitschen, Aragon, Cronin, Schoenfeld (2015). Recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: resistance and cardiovascular training. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govReview for natural bodybuilding. Most reps between 6 and 12, each muscle at least twice a week.