Is 3 Sets per Muscle Group the Upper Limit?

Is 3 Sets Per Muscle Group the Upper Limit when Training for Hypertrophy, Strength, and Power?

by Dr. Brent Brookbush DPT, PT, MS, CPT, HMS, IMT

Three sets per exercise appears to be the default number of sets given for resistance training programs. Recently, more articles have been published that correct this notion with the more nuanced recommendation that novice exercisers should start with 1 set/exercise and gradually increase to 3 sets/exercise as the body adapts. However, there may be another reason why recommending 3 sets/exercise has become so common.

When developing our course Acute Variables: Sets Per Muscle Group (which included a systematic research review), we noticed a trend in the research. This trend seemed to highlight an upper limit of sets per muscle group per session. This upper limit could be considered the maximum volume of resistance training the body is capable of adapting to. Often, fitness, strength, and performance professionals, avid exercisers, and researchers alike, forget that the body can only adapt to so much stimulus at a time. Once the maximum amount of stimulus the body can adapt to is reached, no additional benefit can be attained by adding more. In fact, any additional exercise may still pose a risk of injury, and perhaps a higher risk of injury (due to fatigue and deteriorating form/alignment), resulting in a scenario in which more exercise is potentially harmful.

So what is that upper limit? How much exercise can we adapt to? You guessed it. It could be that the "3 sets default recommendation" is actually where most exercisers end up after a few months of training.

For a more detailed recommendation, here is our position statement for sets per muscle group per session.

Position Statement (from the course: Acute Variables: Sets Per Muscle Group )

One-set/muscle group (2 sets/lower body muscle group) is recommended during an initial training period (6-12 weeks) for novice exercisers, followed by a progressive increase up to 3 - 4 sets/muscle group/session. Individuals with the goal of optimizing hypertrophy, strength, and/or power should likely not exceed 5-6 sets/muscle group/session. Adding more than 3 - 4 sets/muscle group results in relatively small increases in performance, suggesting advanced exercisers should consider increasing other relevant variables (e.g. velocity, load, reps, time-under-tension, etc.) before exceeding 3 sets/muscle group. Additionally, the number of sets/muscle group should decrease when introducing power exercises (e.g. ballistic or plyometric exercises) or supersets.

Now, if you are an avid exerciser, bodybuilder, personal trainer, or strength coach, this recommendation may seem like a relatively small amount of exercise per muscle group. This is especially true if you grew up reading body-building and fitness magazines that suggest multi-day split routines, 3 sets/exercise, 3 sets/muscle group, 10 reps/set, all sets to failure, etc. However, a few factors should be considered before you accept advice from these magazines, blogs, online gurus, and other sources that lack an expert peer-review process. First, the history of the fitness industry, bodybuilding, and even resistance training for sport was built from a foundation of "bodybuilding principles", including "more is better". Although this recommendation sounds good initially (most individuals are not doing enough exercise to see large improvements), there is an upper limit to the body's ability to adapt. Second, many body-building professionals are shall we say, "chemically enhanced individuals", and one of the advantages of these "chemical enhancements" is the ability to adapt more to a larger stimulus (e.g. steroids increase protein synthesis, enhancing the body's ability to recover from exercise). This implies that many of these recommended workout routines are great routines if you happen to be "chemically enhanced" yourself. Most importantly, most magazines, blogs, and other sources lack peer review and therefore do not benefit from a growing body of high-quality research. In the last two decades, many athletes have come to realize that monitoring the volume of exercise and optimizing recovery, may be as important, or more important, than the exercise itself.

Caption: Is 3 sets per exercise the most the body can adapt to?

Practical Tips for Optimizing Sets:

Think Quality over Quantity: This upper limit recommendation of 3-4 sets/muscle group/session is the research suggesting we prioritize "quality over quantity". It should not be construed to suggest that less effort is better; in fact, the opposite is true. The research likely implies that a progressive increase in the capacity to perform more total work per set (e.g. reps x load) is likely a big part of making progress toward most fitness and performance goals. The focus of training should be on performing better during a few "fresher" sets when our energy and concentration are at their peak. Imagine approaching each workout, as if each exercise was a chance to perform the best 3 or 4 sets of your life for each muscle group (that may be a little hyperbolic, but you get my point).

We Still Recommend 6-8 Sets Per Week: For those of you who are performing 3 sets of 3 exercises per muscle group during a workout, and each muscle group 1x/week, you are likely performing 3 or 4 high-quality sets, followed by 3 - 5 additional fatigued sets that your body cannot adapt to. One important caveat of the 3-4 sets/muscle group/session recommendation, is that this ideal volume is performed 2 times/week. Most research suggests that the ideal frequency of resistance training is approximately 2 sessions/muscle group/week. So, one way to think about the upper limits/set recommendations is replacing 8 sets/muscle group/1x week, with 3 - 4 high-quality sets/muscle groups/2x week. This is like replacing nearly half of your current sets with higher-quality sets later in the week, and this gives you 2 opportunities per week to try and achieve personal bests.

Don't Count Your Warm-up Sets. Ideally, you would integrate a movement prep/corrective exercise warm-up into every routine, followed by a warm-up set or two of the exercise you intend to perform. Warm-up sets should be performed with a lighter load, and with fewer reps than you could possibly perform (not performed to failure). However, we do understand that most individuals skip the corrective exercise and jump straight to warm-up sets. Either way, as long as your warm-up sets are not performed with reps-to-failure, you do not have to "count those sets" in the 3-4 sets/muscle group that may be the upper limit of your ability to adapt.

Think About Recovery: Since the upper limit recommendation assumes that sessions per muscle group are performed more often, it may be wise to increase the quality of your workouts with additional recovery aids. Research has demonstrated local vibration (massage guns, especially during a warm-up) , foam rolling, intermittent compression, IASTM, corrective exercise, etc. can significantly improve the performance of subsequent sessions when sessions occur with fewer than 4 - 5 days of rest between sessions.

Programming Different Exercises: Another common question posed when our staff has taught these recommendations to fitness and performance professionals is, "How do we work on multiple exercises for a muscle group, or work on different angles of motions?" We have 3 commonly used recommendations:

Include variations of the same exercise on different days (e.g. incline dumbbell press on Monday and flat dumbbell press on Thursday). Note, we do not recommend targeting the same muscle group with different exercises and different angles on different days (e.g. seated rows and pull-ups). Two much difference in exercises and progress slows to nearly equivalent with training 1x/week.
Include variations in your periodization strategy (e.g. stability and endurance training includes alternating stability ball dumbbell press (flat), hypertrophy training includes incline dumbbell bench press, and max strength training includes flat bench press).
More advanced exercisers can experiment with various super-sets; however, this may limit volume to 2-3 super-sets/muscle group/session (e.g. 6-12 reps of Incline Bench Press, and 6-12 reps of Close-grip stability ball push-ups).

Not All-or-None: As with all of our evidence-based conclusions; we do not expect you to accept them blindly. We hope we can establish trust with rigorous systematic review processes, but we know that outcomes are the only thing that matters. In fact, we continuously promote an evidence-based, systematic, integrated, client-centered, and outcome-driven approach. We are big proponents of "assess-address-reassess", with the intent that this will lead to refinement of intervention selection and better outcomes long-term. Basically, we recommend that our colleagues are continuously building little A/B tests into their training. So, feel free to test the approach recommended in this article with some of your training, and compare to your previous methodology. For example, you could continue your lower body workouts as is, but switch your upper body routine for a month (and then reassess). Or, use these recommendations for "chest", and keep all other muscle groups the same for 2 months (and then reassess). If you like the outcomes, switch more of your routine.

Links to Strength and Performance Articles

Acute Variable Courses

Caption: What if you performed deadlifts for legs today, with the intent of performing the best 3 - 4 sets of your life?

Recommendations and Sample Routines:

Note: These recommendations are based on an optimal training frequency of 1.5 - 3 sessions/week.

General Recommendation
- A progressive increase from 1-5 sets/muscle group/session
Specific Recommendations:
- Novice Exercisers (6-12 weeks): 1 - 2 sets/upper body muscle group, 2-3 sets/lower body muscle group
- Experienced Exercercisers: 2-5 sets/muscle group/session
- Power Exercises (Plyometric/Ballistic): 1-4 sets/muscle/group session
- Supersets: 1-4 sets/muscle group/session

Sample Novice Exerciser Routine (Goal: Initial Training Period)

Acute Variables:

Load: Lighter (60-75% of 1-RM)
Reps/set: 12-20 reps
Sets/exercise (circuits): 1-2 sets/upper body muscle group, 2-3 sets/lower body muscle group
Rest between exercises: 1-3 minutes
Training Time: 20 – 45 minutes (excluding warm-up).

Total Body Strength Endurance/Stability Routine:

Note: If you add a "Total Body" exercise and a "Leg Exercise", but you do not repeat the upper body movement targeted in the "Total Body" exercise, you will create a routine with 2 exercises for the lower body and 1 set for each upper body muscle group.

Total Body: Squat to Row
Chest: Push-up on Knees
Back: Floor Cobra
Shoulders: Scaption
Legs: Frontal Plane Step Ups

Sample Experienced Exerciser Routine (Goal: Upper Body Hypertrophy)

Special Notes:

Day 1 of a 2-day split routine (Upper Body Day, Lower Body Day)
Strength/Stability Supersets

Acute Variables:

Load: Moderate (75-90% 1-RM)/Light (60-75% 1-RM)
Reps/set: 6-12/6-12
Sets/exercise (or circuits): 2-3 super-sets/muscle group
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between sets: 3 minutes (alternatively, can be performed in a circuit)
Training time: 20 – 60 minutes (excluding warm-up).

Strength/Stability Super-sets Routine:

Chest: Incline Bench Press and Asymmetrical Dumbbell Press on Ball
Back: Pull-up and Chaos Row
Shoulders: Curl & Press and Standing Cobra to Balance to Calf Raise

Caption: Is 6 - 8 sessions week better than 15 - 20 sessions a week for legs?

Annotated Bibliography

Research Summary on Upper Limits of Number of Sets

Similar Results: 3 - 12 sets/muscle group/session (3-27 sets/muscle group/week) may result in similar increases in strength, hypertrophy, and power.
Better Outcomes Following Moderate Volume for Lower Body: 6-9 lower body sets/session (3-5 lower body supersets/session) may result in larger increases than 12 lower body sets/session (6-9 lower body supersets/session) when resistance training is performed 2x/week.
Better Outcomes Following Moderate Volume (Even 1 Session/Week): Even when sessions are performed 1x/week, 5-10 sets/muscle group/session may result in significantly larger improvements than 15-20 sets/muscle group/session, and 20 sets/muscle group/session may actually result in a decrease in muscle cross-sectional area (CSA).

Similar Outcomes Following Moderate and High-Volume Training

Two studies demonstrate that high-volume and very high-volume routines are likely to result in similar increases in strength and hypertrophy. Specifically, these studies suggest that 3 - 12 sets/muscle group/session (3-27 sets/muscle group/week) may result in similar increases in strength, hypertrophy, and power .

Barker et al. compared 16 experienced male exercises (age: 18 - 21 years) who were randomly assigned to a 1 set/exercise group or a 3 sets/exercise group (3 sets/muscle group or 9 sets/muscle group, 3x/week). All exercisers performed an upper body routine (bench press, inclined bench press, dumbbell flyes, biceps curls with barbell, biceps curls with dumbbells, hammer curls with dumbbells, seated shoulder press behind neck, lateral raises, and upright rows) for 8 weeks, 3x/week, 6 reps/set, 85% of 1-RM load, 2-3 min rest between sets, and a moderate (2:0:2) tempo. The findings demonstrated that both groups exhibited significant and similar increases in the reassessment of bench press, barbell biceps curls, and barbell shoulder press 1-RM strength.
- Baker, J. S., Davies, B., Cooper, S. M., Wong, D. P., Buchan, D. S. and Kilgore, L. (2013) Strength and body composition changes in recreationally strength-trained individuals: comparison of one versus three sets resistance-training programmes. BioMed Research International, doi: 10.1155/2013/615901
Ostrowski et al. compared 27 experienced exercisers (age: 23.7 ± 5 years) randomly assigned to groups performing 3 sets, 6 sets, or 12 sets/muscle group/session (and week). All exercisers performed a 4-day split, full body program (Day 1: squats, leg press, leg extensions, stiff-legged deadlifts, leg curls, and single-leg curls; Day 2: Bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, shoulder press, upright rows, and lateral raises; Day 3: lat pull downs, t-bar pull downs, seated rows, calf raises, calf press, and seated calf raise; Day 4: Barbell curls, preacher curls, dumbbell curls, close grip bench press, triceps push downs, and triceps extensions). The program was performed for 10 weeks, 4 sessions/week, reps until failure/set, 12 RM load weeks 1-4, 7 RM load weeks 5-7, 9 RM weeks 8-10, 3 min rest between sets, and 1, 2, or 4 sets/exercise. The findings demonstrated that all groups exhibited similar increases in post-exercise serum concentrations of testosterone, similar increases in rectus femoris and triceps brachii hypertrophy, similar increases in the bench press and back squat 1-RM strength, and similar increases in vertical jump and bench press throw height.
- Ostrowski, K. J., Wilson, G. J., Weatherby, R., Murphy, P. W., & Lyttle, A. D. (1997). The effect of weight training volume on hormonal output and muscular size and function. Journal of strength and Conditioning Research, 11, 148-154.

Better Outcomes Following Moderate Volume for Lower Body

Additional studies suggest that very high volumes may result in less improvement than moderate or high-volume routines. Specifically, the studies below suggest that 6-9 lower body sets/session (3-5 lower body supersets/session) may result in larger increases than 12 lower body sets/session (6-9 lower body supersets/session) when resistance training is performed 2x/week.

Aube et al. compared 44 experienced exercisers who could squat 2x body weight (age: 18-30 years) and were randomly assigned to groups performing 6, 9, or 12 lower body sets/session (12, 18, or 24 sets/week). All participants performed a lower body routine (squats, leg press, glute/ham raise) for 8 weeks, 2 sessions/week, 4 - 15 RM loads, and reps until failure/set, and 2 sets, 3 sets, or 4 sets/exercise. The findings demonstrated that the groups exhibited a similar increase in fat-free mass, and 1-RM back squat strength. However, this study alludes to a trend of 18 sets/week resulting in larger increases in strength than 12 sets/week, and 12 sets and 18 sets/week resulting in larger improvements than 24 sets/week.
- Aube, D., Wadhi, T., Rauch, J., Anand, A., Barakat, C., Pearson, J., Bradshaw, J., Zazzo, S., Ugrinowitsch, C. and De Souza, E. O. (2020) Progressive resistance training volume: effects on muscle thickness, mass, and strength adaptations in resistance-trained individuals. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003524
Methenitis et al. compared 29 females performing training volumes of 3, 6, or 9 lower body super-sets/session. All exercisers performed 10 weeks of super-sets that included 4 reps of high-velocity eccentric half squats with 70% of 1-RM load, followed by 3 reps of max effort counter-movement jumps (post-activation potentiation training), and sessions/week was not disclosed (although likely 2x/week). The findings demonstrated that the 3 super-sets/session group exhibited the largest increases in jump height and rate of force development during the early portion of the concentric phase, and the 6 and 9 super-set/session groups exhibited a significant transition from type IIx fibers to type IIa fibers.
- Methenitis, S., Mpampoulis, T., Spiliopoulou, P., Papadimas, G., Papadopoulos, C., Chalari, E., ... & Terzis, G. (2020). Muscle fiber composition, jumping performance, and rate of force development adaptations induced by different power training volumes in females. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 45(9), 996-1006.

Better Outcomes Following Moderate Volume (Even 1 Session/Week)

Research demonstrates that very high volumes/muscle group/session, even when performed 1x/week, may result in less improvement. Specifically, when sessions are performed 1x/week, 5-10 sets/muscle group/session may result in significantly larger improvements than 15-20 sets/muscle group/session, and 20 sets/muscle group/session may result in a decrease in muscle cross-sectional area (CSA).

Amirthalingam et al. compared 19 healthy men (age: 19-24 years) randomly assigned to a 5-set/exercise or 10-set/exercise group (10 or 20 sets/muscle group/session, 1x/week) (German Volume Training). Both groups performed a full body split routine (Session 1 - flat bench press, lat pull downs, incline bench press, seated rows, crunches; Session 2 - leg press, dumbbell lunges, leg curls, leg extensions, calf raises; Session 3 - shoulder press, upright rows, triceps pushdowns, biceps curls, sit-ups with a twist) for 12 weeks, 3 days (each session 1x)/week, 10 reps/set (20 reps/set for core exercise), 60 - 80% of 1-RM, 60-90 sec rest between sets, and a moderate (2:0:1) tempo. The findings demonstrated that both groups exhibited significant increases in lean body mass; however, the 5-set/exercise group exhibited significantly larger improvements in arm and trunk hypertrophy, and neither group exhibited significant increases in lower extremity hypertrophy. Both groups exhibited significant increases in strength; however, the 5 set/exercise group exhibited larger improvements in strength for lat pull downs and bench presses.
- Amirthalingam, T., Mavros, Y., Wilson, G. C., Clarke, J. L., Mitchell, L., and Hackett, D. A. (2017) Effects of a modified german volume training program on muscular hypertrophy and strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 31(11), 3109-319
Barbalho et al. compared 40 experienced female exercisers (age: 25 ± 2 years) randomly assigned 5 sets, 10 sets, 15 sets, or 20 sets/muscle group/session. All groups performed a 3-day split routine (Day 1: barbell bench press, inclined barbell bench press, military press; Day 2: lat pull down, cable row, upright barbell row; Day 3: 45° leg press, barbell squat, stiff-legged deadlift) for 24 weeks, 3x/week (each routine 1x/week), 4-15 RM/set (daily undulated training), 30 sec - 3 min rest between sets, and a moderate (2:0:2) tempo. The findings demonstrated that all groups exhibited significant improvements in 10 RM strength and muscle cross-sectional area (CSA); however, the 5 sets and 10 sets groups improved significantly more than the 15 sets and 20 sets groups. Further, although increases in muscle CSA were larger for the 10 sets group for the latissimus dorsi and quadriceps, the 5-sets group exhibited larger improvements in CSA for the pectoralis major. Note, the 20-sets group exhibited less improvement than all other groups.
- Barbalho, M., Silveira Coswig, V., Steele, J., Fisher, J. P., Paoli, A. and Gentil, P. (2018) Evidence for an upper threshold for resistance training volume in trained women. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001818
A pilot study by Hacket et al. compared 12 experienced male exercisers (age: 23.7 ± 3.0 years) randomly assigned to a 5 set/exercise or 10 set/exercise (5-10 and 10-20/sets muscle group, 1x week). Both groups performed a full body split routine (Session 1 - flat bench press, lat pull down, incline bench press, seated row, crunches; Session 2 - leg press, dumbbell lunges, leg curls, leg extensions, calf raises; Session 3 - shoulder press, upright row, triceps pushdowns, biceps curls, sit-ups with a twist) for 12 weeks, 3 days (each session 1x)/week, 10 reps/set (20 reps/set for core exercise), 60 - 80% of 1-RM, 60-90 sec rest between sets, moderate (2:0:1) tempo, and either 5 sets or 10 sets/exercise. Neither group exhibited significant increases in total lean body mass, lean trunk mass, lean arm mass, or lean leg mass; in fact, the 10-set group exhibited a decrease in leg mass. A small increase in 1 RM bench press strength was exhibited by the 5-set group, and a small increase in 1-RM leg press strength was exhibited by the 10-set group.
- Hackett, D. A., Amirthalingam, T., Mitchell, L., Mavros, Y., Wilson, G. C. and Halaki, M. (2018) Effects of a 12-week modified german volume training program on muscle strength and hypertrophy - a pilot study. Sports, 6(7), doi: 10.3390/sports6010007

Comments, critiques, and questions are welcome!

Is 3 Sets per Muscle Group the Upper Limit?