Defining Training Volume
Before diving into the numbers, it's essential to understand what 'training volume' means. In the fitness world, volume is the total amount of work you perform. It's most commonly calculated as sets multiplied by repetitions (reps) for a given exercise.
For instance, performing 3 sets of 10 reps on a bench press equals a volume of 30 total repetitions. When researchers analyse muscle growth (hypertrophy), they often simplify this to the total number of 'hard sets' performed for a specific muscle group per week. A 'hard set' is one taken close to muscular failure, where you can only complete a few, if any, more repetitions with proper form.
Challenging the 'More is Better' Myth
The prevailing wisdom in many fitness circles has long been that continuously adding more sets is the key to unlocking more growth. However, a growing body of evidence suggests this isn't the case. Like many things, training volume is subject to the law of diminishing returns. This means that while adding sets is beneficial up to a point, each additional set provides progressively less benefit until, eventually, adding more volume can actually hinder your progress by creating excessive fatigue that your body can't recover from. A recent study even found that a group of lifters who did not increase their training volume made better strength gains than groups who increased their volume by 30% or 60%.
What the Latest Research Suggests
So, what is the sweet spot? A major 2022 meta-analysis—a study that combines the results of multiple previous studies—provides some of the clearest guidelines to date. Researchers analysed studies comparing low (<12 weekly sets per muscle group), moderate (12-20 weekly sets), and high (>20 weekly sets) training volumes. Their conclusion was that for trained individuals, a range of 12-20 weekly sets per muscle group appears to be an optimal recommendation for maximizing muscle growth. Interestingly, for the quadriceps and biceps, there were no significant differences in growth between the moderate and high-volume groups. This indicates that doing more than 20 sets per week for these muscles might not be worth the extra time and recovery demands.
The Point of Diminishing Returns
The concept of diminishing returns is crucial. Research shows a clear dose-response relationship between volume and muscle growth, but it's not linear. The first several sets you do for a muscle provide the biggest stimulus for growth. After that, the gains from each additional set get smaller and smaller. One meta-regression analysis noted that while gains increase as volume increases, the returns for strength gains are even more pronouncedly diminished compared to muscle size. Another found that for muscle growth, the benefits start to level off significantly after about 10-11 sets per muscle group in a single workout session. This suggests that how you structure your volume throughout the week is just as important as the total weekly number.
It's Not Just About the Sets
While these numbers provide a fantastic guideline, they are not absolute rules. Individual factors play a huge role. Your training experience, genetics, age, sleep quality, nutrition, and overall stress levels all affect how much volume you can handle and recover from. For instance, the 12-20 set recommendation was for young, trained men. Furthermore, research suggests that for strength gains, increasing how often you train (frequency) may be more beneficial than just adding more sets to a single workout. The quality of your sets, ensuring you're training with high effort and good form, is also more important than simply chasing a high number of 'junk' sets. The goal is to find the minimum effective dose that allows you to consistently progress without overwhelming your ability to recover.
