If you’ve ever wondered exactly how many sets and reps you should be doing in your workouts, then this my friend is the article for you.
Quite frankly, this can be a pretty confusing topic.
I mean, I think it’s fair to assume that most people go to the gym without any real plan of how they’re going to structure things.
They don’t really know what exercises they’re going to do or how many sets and reps they plan on doing for each movement.
And if you fall into that category, then I’m glad you found this article.
Because I’m going to explain in detail exactly what you need to be doing when setting up your exercises.
No more guessing. No more not knowing what to do.
This will be your ultimate guide to sets and reps.
All I ask of you in return is that you read this entire guide from start to finish.
Deal? Alright, let’s go.
How Many Sets And Reps Should I Do: Understanding The Basics
Just in case you’re brand new to weight lifting and you don’t know what sets and reps even are, I’m going to give you a quick rundown of the basics.
I’m going to make this section relatively brief because I think it’s pretty straight forward.
Let’s pick an exercise that you would do in the gym.
Say, a bicep curl for example.
A rep is simply performing one repetition of that exercise.
So, curling the dumbbells up (the concentric part of the movement) and lowering them down with control (the eccentric part of the movement) is one full rep.
A set is a group of those repetitions, typically done consecutively.
And, when it comes to sets, what I’m going to be referring to in this article are working sets.
Simply put, working sets are challenging sets that provide enough of a stimulus to your muscles.
These are not warm up sets.
You should definitely be doing a few warm up sets prior to your heavy exercises in the gym.
But what I’m going to discuss here are actual challenging working sets.
When we take a look at your workouts as a whole, the number of exercises you do, the amount of sets you do on each exercise, and the number of reps you get on each set (along with weight used) is known as your training volume.
Again, these are just some very basic definitions that I thought I’d go over just so we’re on the same page about what these things even are when we discuss sets and reps in detail.
Why Does This Stuff Even Matter?
Now, I know what you’re thinking.
“Why should I even care about this? Can’t I just do my workouts in peace without worrying about every little detail! All I care about is losing some weight and feeling better.”
I get it. I really do.
On the surface it seems like it’s much easier to just go to the gym and do random stuff than it is to be methodical about your training.
But I’d like to give you my two cents on why I think these things matter for you and your goals.
If you’re going for that toned and defined look, you’re not really doing yourself any favors by throwing random things at the wall and hoping they stick.
Getting toned simply means building muscle and being lean enough to have that muscle show through.
The weight loss part is taken care of via your nutrition.
But the muscle growth part (don’t worry, you won’t get bulky) is taken care of by having effective resistance training workouts.
You need to be providing each muscle group with enough of a stimulus to see physical changes.
Especially for the muscle groups that you care the most about developing.
Whether that’s your butt, arms, back, etc.
And paying attention to sets and reps is key for making sure you actually get those physical changes that you’re after.
I mean, if you’re going to put time into working out consistently, don’t you want to get the most out of those sessions and know that they’re actually effective for getting results?
That’s why I believe you should care about this stuff.
An Important Note
Before diving into the nitty gritty, I wanted to quickly mention one more thing.
All of the specifics that I’m about to talk about regarding sets and reps are designed for you to implement in an actual resistance training program.
What do I mean by an actual resistance training program?
Like I mentioned before, a lot of people go into the gym without a plan.
And part of having a plan is following the guidelines that I’m about to lay out for you.
But that’s only part of it.
One key aspect of a good strength training program is actually sticking with the same exercises long enough to get progressively stronger on them.
Meaning, while everything I’m about to discuss should help you a lot, it’s going to help even more if you stick to good, basic compound exercises that you aim to get stronger on over time.
Switching things up too often is only going to hinder progress.
I recommend sticking with the same program for at least 4-8 weeks before moving on to another one.
And if you want more info on how to actually set up your workout program as a whole, make sure to read this guide here.
Now that we have that established, let’s get into some key details regarding sets and reps.
Don’t Make These Mistakes When It Comes To Sets And Reps
I have seen this time and time again.
And I think this is pretty common among people who are newer to exercise.
I often see people overdo it with sets and reps without first making sure the quality of what they’re doing is in check.
I’ve talked about this before, but people often assume that more is always better.
More exercises, sets, reps, etc.
Here’s a super common example of this that I’ve seen many times.
People will do 15-20+ reps of an exercise with extremely light weight and poor control.
Now I’m not saying that high rep sets are inherently bad.
Here’s what I’m actually saying.
That person would likely benefit from either:
- controlling those reps more to make them more challenging
- or increasing the weight and doing less reps but ultimately providing their muscles with a better stimulus.
See where I’m headed with this?
If your sets in the gym feel easy, you’re probably not doing them right.
At the end of each working set that you do, you should feel like you only could’ve gotten at most 1-3 more reps.
If you’re able to do a lot more than that, chances are you need to be lifting heavier (with good form of course).
How Many Sets And Reps Should You Do: Everything You Need To Know About Sets
Okay.
Now that all the necessary background information is taken care of, let’s get into some more of the specifics.
Let’s start with sets.
How To Track Sets
Remember earlier when I talked about training volume?
Well, one of the best ways to measure volume to ensure that you’re getting enough work done for each muscle group is by taking a look at how many sets you’re doing per muscle group per week.
Generally speaking, you want to do anywhere between 10-20 challenging sets per muscle group per week.
Especially for the muscles that you care the most about developing.
What’s a challenging set?
It’s exactly what I talked about earlier.
It’s a set where, by the time you get done with it, you feel like you only had 1-3 more reps left in the tank at most.
This is called training close to failure and it’s the best way to get the most out of each and every set that you do.
Remember how I said more is not always better?
If you train close to failure on all of your working sets, you don’t need to worry about doing tons of volume because the quality of what you’re already doing will be in check.
If you take nothing else away from this article, please understand that you’re stronger than you think you are.
I promise.
Once you get comfortable enough on a given exercise, make sure you’re training close to failure on each working set.
This is the aspect of people’s training that needs to be improved the most.
Ironically, it’s also one of the most important elements of training for improving your body composition (losing fat and building muscle).
Now you can probably see one of the reasons why so many people keep spinning their wheels in their fitness journey.
Taking A Closer Look
Now, I’d like to elaborate a bit on the concept of doing 10-20 hard working sets per muscle group per week.
20 hard working sets for a single muscle in a week is A LOT.
And that’s putting it lightly.
If you’re never trained close to failure, it might not seem like a big deal.
But if you’re used to training hard, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
It can be draining.
That’s why I prefer 10-15 hard working sets per muscle group per week for most people.
I think this range is more applicable to the general population.
Because, candidly, if you aren’t already pushing it hard with that many sets, adding an additional 5-10 on top of that isn’t going to provide any more of a productive stimulus to your muscles.
“But I Don’t Care About Muscle Growth”
If muscle gain isn’t as much of a priority for you, then here’s a range that you should fall into.
I’d recommend doing 6-10 hard working sets per muscle group per week.
You can make some great progress in that range, especially as a beginner.
But here’s something worth considering.
In my experience coaching clients both in person and online, I’ve found that most people care a little more about muscle growth than they might think.
Especially when it comes to the muscle groups that they care the most about.
Meaning, you might not care about growing you arms, but maybe you do care about growing your butt.
In that case, maybe you’ll only do 6-10 sets per week for biceps and triceps, but 10-15 sets per week for glutes.
It’s okay to mix and match training volume like this if you care about developing certain muscle groups more than others.
There is an important caveat to this though.
Never neglect an individual muscle group altogether just because you don’t care about growing it.
You still need to train each major muscle group at least a little bit to promote bone, muscle, and connective tissue health and strength over the long run.
Especially as you get older.
Remember, we don’t only lift weights for aesthetic purposes.
We lift to improve our quality of life and to combat the effects of aging as we get older.
I can’t stress that enough.
How Do I Set Up These 10-15 Hard Sets?
Ideally, in a well-put-together training program, you’ll train each muscle group 2x/week.
So, the easiest way to do those 10-15 hard sets per muscle group per week is to divide your training volume in half.
For example, if you’re following a 4x/week training program and you really want to grow your glutes, you can do 5-8 hard sets for glutes on Monday (spread across 2-3 different exercises) and the same thing on Thursday just with different exercises.
“How Many Exercises and Sets Should I Do Per Workout?”
When it comes to sets per workout, it really boils down to your specific workout split.
Generally speaking, you want to do anywhere between 5-10 total exercises per workout depending on training experience and how many muscle groups you’re hitting that day.
The more of a beginner you are, the fewer total exercises and sets you’ll do.
One of the main benefits of this approach is that it allows you to focus a little bit more on form/technique before increasing volume.
In terms of number of sets, here are some very general basic guidelines to follow as a beginner:
- 2-3 working sets per exercise
- 10-14 working sets per workout
- Note: Two exceptions to this are full body workouts and upper body workouts. You may end up doing more sets in these types of workouts simply because there are so many muscle groups to hit.
As you get more advanced, you’ll be able to recover better from more exercises and more total sets per workout (up to a certain point, of course).
Here are some very general guidleines to follow as you get more advanced:
- 2-4 working sets per exercise
- 14-24 working sets per workout
I can’t stress enough just how general these guidelines are.
This topic can get very nuanced and individual from person to person, but I just wanted to give you general parameters.
How Many Sets And Reps Should I Do: Everything You Need To Know About Reps
Now that you have a good idea of how many sets you should be doing throughout the week and in each workout, let’s dive in to everything you need to know about reps.
I’m going to divide this section into talking about different rep ranges and the pros and cons of each.
By the end you’ll have a good idea of why you would want to choose a certain rep range over another.
But, before we dive into that, here’s what I’d like you to know.
For the average person, it makes sense to train in a variety of rep ranges.
In a minute you’ll see why each rep range has a place in your training program.
Reps For Building Strength
Training in the 3-5 rep range tends to be more strength focused.
This is a solid rep range to train in on those heavier compound exercises that we can load more weight onto.
Exercises like bench press, squats, deadlifts, overhead press, etc.
In my coaching experience, I believe that aiming for about five reps is best for most people when it comes to building strength.
That’s not to say that 3-4 rep sets are bad, however, the lower you go in reps the heavier you go in weight.
If you’re not completely dialed in with your form while training in this rep range, your risk of injury can go up.
So, by aiming for five reps, you get all of the strength building benefits without as much of the risk of injury that comes with slightly lower rep sets.
Just something to be mindful of.
Reps For Building Muscle
Training in the 6-12 reps range tends to be a bit more conducive for muscle growth.
This rep range for muscle growth, also known as hypertrophy, is where I believe most people should spend the majority of their time in their training.
Here’s why.
In this rep range, you’re lifting heavy enough to build muscle and get more “toned”, but you’re not lifting too heavy to where you’re likely to get injured.
It’s sort of the happy medium.
Not to mention, this rep range is often a bit less taxing on the joints, tendons, and ligaments than the lower rep ranges.
Exercises often done in this rep range include movements like lat pulldowns, leg press, Bulgarian split squats (everyone’s favorite), dumbbell bench press, and much much more.
Really any exercise can be done in this rep range.
And that’s one of the main reasons why it’s so versatile.
Reps For Muscle Endurance
Training in the 15-20 or even 20+ rep range tends to be better for muscular endurance.
In this rep range, you’re using an energy system that trains your muscles’ ability to do work for a longer duration.
You’ll often see isolation exercises like bicep curls, shoulder raises, and leg extensions programmed in this rep range.
You definitely can still build muscle in this rep range as long as you’re training close to failure.
However, practically speaking, if I program a set of 25 reps on a bicep curl, most people are going to opt for dumbbells that are way too light for them.
As a byproduct, often times they won’t be anywhere near failure once the set is over.
I’ve seen people pick up weights that they can really do 50+ reps with simply because the weight is way too light for them.
This leads me directly into another topic I wanted to discuss regarding reps.
You Need To Understand This About Reps
Remember how I mentioned earlier that training close to failure is pivotal for successful training?
Well, over the years I’ve found that it’s much easier to train closer to failure when you’re training in lower rep ranges.
It’s much easier to gauge how heavy you should be lifting when you’re in say the 6-12 rep range than it is when you’re in say the 15-20 rep range.
Not to mention, even though lower rep ranges (like the 6-8 rep range) can suck because of how heavy you have to lift for a given set to be challenging, it’s way less daunting than having to do tons of high rep sets.
Here’s why.
Often times high rep sets feel like they take FOREVER to be done.
I mean, imagine you’re doing Bulgarian split squats for sets of 20 reps on each leg.
Sounds miserable, right?
If you instead did sets of eight reps on each leg on that exercise, you’d be able to be more intentional with each rep and it wouldn’t be quite as mentally draining.
Just something to consider when it comes to figuring out how many reps you should be doing.
Wrapping Things Up
Well, there you have it.
Hopefully you’re now way more informed about everything having to do with sets and reps.
If you have any question son this specific topic or anything else, feel free to reach out to me personally and I’d be happy to help!
