How Many Sets Per Muscle Group Per Week?

10-20 hard sets per muscle group per week. That's the evidence-based target for hypertrophy. A 2017 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld et al. (15 studies, 34 treatment groups) found that each additional weekly set per muscle group was associated with roughly 0.37% greater muscle growth, with the largest jump coming from moving above 10 sets per week.

But the real answer depends on which muscle you're talking about, how long you've been training, and whether your sets actually count.

Side delts can handle 24+ sets per week. Hamstrings tap out around 14. And half the sets most people count as "working sets" are probably warm-ups in disguise.

This guide gives you the exact numbers for every major muscle group, then explains the science behind them.

But first: what counts as a "working set"?

This is where most people over-count their training volume, so we need to get it right before the numbers mean anything.

A working set is any set performed hard enough to stimulate muscle growth. That means taking it to within roughly 3 reps of failure, or RPE 7 and above (where RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion, a 1-10 effort scale). A 2024 meta-analysis on proximity to failure confirmed that sets taken closer to failure produce significantly more hypertrophy than sets stopped well short.

If you could have done 4+ more reps, that set probably didn't contribute much to muscle growth. It's a warm-up, even if it didn't feel like one.

Junk volume is any set done when you're too fatigued for it to stimulate growth. The signs: your performance dropped more than 20% from your first set, your form broke down, or you can't feel the target muscle working. Those sets add fatigue without adding stimulus.

With that out of the way, here are the actual numbers.

How many sets per muscle group

Different muscles have very different tolerances for weekly training volume. Side delts recover fast and can handle high frequency. Hamstrings fatigue easily and need less. Your chest and legs (quads, hamstrings, glutes combined) sit somewhere in the middle.

These ranges are compiled from the largest available meta-analyses on resistance training volume, including Schoenfeld et al. (2017), Baz-Valle et al. (2022), and Pelland et al. (2024), combined with coaching data from competitive bodybuilders and strength athletes.

Here's the same data visualized. Tap any bar for the full breakdown:

A few things stand out:

Triceps and front delts get free volume from pressing. Every set of bench press or overhead press hits your triceps and front delts. You don't need as many dedicated triceps sets because compound pressing does a lot of the work.

Same for biceps. Rows, pulldowns, and chin-ups all train your biceps. If you do 12 sets of back work per week, your biceps might already be getting 8-10 indirect sets. Add 4-6 direct sets and you're in a good spot.

Side delts are the outlier. They recover unusually fast and tolerate high frequency. Many lifters do lateral raises 4-5 times per week and keep growing. If a muscle group is lagging, side delts are the safest ones to push volume on.

Keep in mind: These ranges are population averages. Your individual response depends on genetics, recovery capacity, sleep, nutrition, and training history. Use them as a starting point, then adjust based on how you respond.

How much should you do based on experience?

If the table above feels like a lot, start here instead:

• Beginner (under 1 year): 10-12 sets per muscle per week. Your muscles respond to almost anything right now. Focus on learning movements, not maximizing volume. Read the first month in the gym guide for a practical starting point.
• Intermediate (1-3 years): 12-18 sets per muscle per week. You need more stimulus to keep growing. Start tracking your weekly training volume if you're not already.
• Advanced (3+ years): 16-22+ sets per muscle per week. Progress is slower. You need to be precise with volume, intensity, and recovery. This is where periodization and deload weeks become essential.

How to split your sets across the week

Don't cram all your volume into one session. Spreading the same total sets across 2-3 sessions means each set is higher quality because you're less fatigued.

According to a 2016 meta-analysis by Brad Schoenfeld, PhD and colleagues, training each muscle group at least twice per week produced significantly more hypertrophy than once per week, roughly 63% more growth.

Here's how the same weekly volume looks across different splits:

The bottom line: train each muscle 2-3 times per week. Pick whatever split fits your schedule. A 2024 large review by Pelland et al. found that 2x and 3x per week produced similar muscle growth, as long as total weekly volume was equal.

The volume matters more than the split.

Common mistakes

Counting warm-up sets. Your first 1-2 sets on any exercise are usually warm-ups. They don't count toward your weekly volume. Only count sets at RPE 7 or above.

Assuming more is always better. It's not. Baz-Valle et al. (2022) found no significant difference in hypertrophy between 12-20 sets and 20+ sets per week for quads and biceps. More volume past a certain point just means more fatigue.

Not tracking volume at all. If you don't know how many sets you're doing per muscle per week, you can't know if you're in the right range. You might be under-training some muscles and over-training others.

Treating all muscles the same. Doing 15 sets per week for everything sounds balanced. But 15 sets might be too much for hamstrings and not enough for side delts. Use the per-muscle ranges above.

Ignoring indirect volume. If you do 4 sets of barbell rows and 4 sets of lat pulldowns, that's 8 direct sets for back. It's also roughly 8 indirect sets for biceps. Account for it.

The science behind these numbers

If you want to understand why these ranges work, here's what the research shows.

Brad Schoenfeld, PhD, one of the most-cited hypertrophy researchers, published a 2017 meta-analysis examining 15 studies and 34 treatment groups. The finding: each additional weekly set per muscle group was associated with approximately 0.37% greater muscle hypertrophy. But the relationship isn't linear. The biggest jump in growth comes from going from very few sets (under 5 per week) to a moderate amount (10+). After that, the curve flattens.

Going from 5 to 15 sets per week makes a big difference. Going from 15 to 25 makes a smaller one. Going from 25 to 35 might not help at all, and could hurt your recovery.

A 2024 large review by Pelland et al. reinforced this with 67 studies and over 2,000 participants: higher weekly training volume leads to greater hypertrophy with very high confidence, but the marginal gains diminish the higher you go.

Volume landmarks

Researchers use four thresholds to describe where your training volume sits:

The goal isn't to train at your ceiling all the time. Start near your minimum effective volume at the beginning of a training block, increase week over week, and back off before you hit your limit.