BODYBUILDING & NUTRITION ARTICLES
HOW MANY SETS PER MUSCLE FOR NATURAL BODYBUILDERS
One of the most common recommendations in natural bodybuilding today is that you only need around 6–10 sets per muscle group per week to maximise muscle growth.
I disagree with treating this number as a universal rule.
Can you build muscle with 6–10 sets per week? Absolutely.
For a beginner, and even for some intermediate or advanced bodybuilders, this amount of training may produce very good results.
But there is a major difference between asking “What is enough to build muscle?” and asking “What amount of training will maximise my muscular development?”
After more than 40 years of bodybuilding and coaching, I have found that many experienced natural bodybuilders can benefit from considerably more volume than 6–10 sets per muscle group—provided that volume is introduced gradually, the sets are productive, and the individual can recover from the workload.
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What Does the Research Actually Tell Us?
Research generally supports a relationship between weekly training volume and muscle growth.
Earlier meta-analytic research found a dose-response relationship in which higher weekly set volumes tended to produce greater increases in muscle size. More recent evidence continues to suggest that increasing weekly volume can increase hypertrophy, although the additional benefit becomes progressively smaller as volume rises.
This is important.
It means that more is not infinitely better, but it also does not support the idea that everyone reaches maximum growth at six or ten sets.
Approximately 10 sets per muscle per week can be a useful general starting point for optimising hypertrophy, but there is substantial individual variation.
The key point is that 10 sets should not automatically be treated as a maximum.
Why Advanced Bodybuilders May Need More
When you begin weight training, almost everything is a new stimulus.
A relatively small amount of training can produce significant results because your body has not yet adapted to resistance exercise.
But after five, ten or twenty years of serious training, you are no longer that person.
Your muscles have adapted.
Your nervous system has adapted.
Your work capacity has increased.
Your technique has improved.
And the training stimulus that once produced dramatic results may no longer be sufficient to produce the same response.
This is one reason I don't believe an advanced natural bodybuilder should automatically train with the same volume that might be perfectly adequate for somebody who has been training for six months.
The more experienced you become, the more difficult additional muscular development becomes.
At that stage, additional productive volume can become one of the variables we manipulate to create a greater stimulus.
I Often Use 20 Sets or More
In my own training, I have frequently used approximately 20–30 sets for larger muscle groups, with lower volumes for smaller muscles.
I have also successfully used higher-volume approaches with natural bodybuilders I have coached.
But this is extremely important:
I am not suggesting that somebody currently performing eight sets should suddenly perform 25 sets next week.
Training volume itself requires adaptation.
If your body is accustomed to ten sets for the chest and tomorrow you perform 25 hard sets, you haven't necessarily created a better hypertrophic stimulus.
You may simply have created far more fatigue and muscle damage than you can recover from.
Instead, volume should be developed progressively.
You might move from 10 sets to 12.
Later, perhaps 14.
Then 16.
And you monitor what happens.
Are you progressing?
Are your muscles recovering?
Is your performance improving or deteriorating?
Are your joints feeling good?
Are you enthusiastic about training, or permanently exhausted?
The correct volume is not determined by an arbitrary number.
It is determined by your response to the training.
Not Every Set Is Equal
This is another major problem with discussing how many sets per muscle per week purely in terms of numbers.
Twenty sets performed with poor technique, inadequate effort and very little tension on the target muscle are not equivalent to twenty high-quality bodybuilding sets.
For hypertrophy, I want the target muscle doing the work.
I want controlled repetitions.
I want an appropriate range of motion.
I want sufficient resistance.
And I want the set taken close enough to failure to recruit the muscle fibres we are trying to stimulate.
Most of my working sets are not taken to absolute muscular failure. I generally prefer to stop with approximately one or two repetitions in reserve — 1–2 RIR.
This allows me to produce a large amount of high-quality work without generating the enormous fatigue that would result from taking every set to failure.
That distinction becomes increasingly important as training volume rises.
High volume plus failure on every set is a very different training system from high volume performed intelligently.
When Does Volume Become “Junk Volume”?
There is clearly a point at which additional sets provide very little additional stimulus while continuing to increase fatigue.
This is often described as junk volume.
I agree that junk volume exists.
What I disagree with is pretending that the exact point at which it begins is identical for everybody.
If your first ten sets are excellent but sets 11–20 become progressively weaker, your technique deteriorates and you can barely contract the muscle, those additional sets probably aren't accomplishing very much.
But an experienced bodybuilder who has gradually developed a high work capacity may still be performing productive sets considerably beyond that point.
This is why training history matters.
Recovery matters.
Exercise selection matters.
Effort matters.
And the individual matters.
There is no magic number at which a productive set suddenly becomes useless.
What About Training Each Muscle Twice Per Week?
Another popular recommendation is that every muscle should be trained at least twice per week.
Again, this can work extremely well.
But training frequency and weekly training volume should not be confused.
Research comparing different training frequencies generally finds that when weekly volume is matched, frequency itself appears to have much less influence on hypertrophy.
In other words, training a muscle twice per week isn't automatically superior simply because it is being trained twice.
One of the main advantages of higher frequency is that it allows you to distribute a large amount of weekly volume across multiple sessions.
If you're performing 20 sets for a muscle, you could perform ten sets on Monday and ten on Thursday.
That may work extremely well.
But some bodybuilders—including myself—can also successfully train a muscle very thoroughly and then give it several days to recover before training it again.
The important question is not:
“How many times did I train this muscle this week?”
The important question is:
“Did I provide enough productive training stimulus, and did I recover sufficiently before training it again?”
Recovery Determines How Much Volume You Can Use
You cannot discuss optimal training volume without discussing recovery.
Your productive training volume is partly determined by how much training you can recover from.
That includes:
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sleep
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nutrition
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protein and calorie intake
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age
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training experience
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psychological and physical stress
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exercise selection
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training intensity
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joint and connective-tissue tolerance
If your performance is continually declining, soreness never disappears, your joints hurt and you have no enthusiasm for training, adding another ten sets isn't the answer.
Volume should stimulate adaptation—not overwhelm your ability to recover.
This is particularly important for natural bodybuilders because recovery resources are finite.
So How Many Sets Should a Natural Bodybuilder Actually Perform?
I don't believe there is one number that applies to everybody.
For a beginner, relatively modest training volume may be all that is necessary.
As experience and work capacity increase, volume can gradually increase.
For an experienced natural bodybuilder, 15–25 productive sets for a large muscle group can be entirely reasonable, and some individuals may successfully tolerate even more.
Others will grow extremely well on considerably less.
The objective is not to reach 20 or 30 sets simply so you can say you train with high volume.
The objective is to find the highest productive volume that produces progress without exceeding your ability to recover.
Start with what you can recover from.
Monitor your results.
Increase volume gradually when appropriate.
And don't confuse temporary fatigue with muscular stimulation.
The Bottom Line
So, how many sets per muscle per week do natural bodybuilders really need?
There is no single number that is optimal for everybody.
Six to ten sets per muscle per week can build muscle and may produce excellent results for some people.
But it should not automatically be treated as the maximum useful training volume for every natural bodybuilder.
Training volume is something we adapt to.
As our experience, muscular development and work capacity increase, the amount of productive training we can perform may increase as well.
After more than four decades in bodybuilding, my position remains simple:
Don't chase a particular number of sets. Chase a productive stimulus that you can recover from—and be prepared to adjust that stimulus as your body adapts.
For many experienced natural bodybuilders, that may mean considerably more than 6–10 sets.
Train intelligently. Recover fully. Grow consistently.
Dr. Nash Jocic
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 10 sets per muscle per week enough to build muscle?
Yes. Ten quality weekly sets can certainly stimulate muscle growth and may be sufficient for many people, particularly beginners and intermediate trainees. More experienced bodybuilders may benefit from additional productive volume if they can recover from it.
Is 20 sets per muscle per week too much?
Not necessarily. Whether 20 sets is productive depends on your training experience, exercise selection, effort, recovery ability and how gradually you developed your training volume. Twenty productive sets for one experienced bodybuilder could be excessive for another.
How many sets should a natural bodybuilder perform?
There is no universal number. Beginners can make excellent progress with relatively modest volumes, while experienced natural bodybuilders may require or tolerate considerably more. The objective should be enough productive volume to stimulate progress without exceeding your ability to recover.
Is more training volume always better for muscle growth?
No. Increasing volume can increase the hypertrophic stimulus, but additional sets eventually produce diminishing returns and increasing fatigue. More training is beneficial only while the additional work remains productive and recoverable.
About The Author
Dr. Nash Jocic is a former bodybuilding champion, author, nutritionist and fitness consultant with more than 40 years of bodybuilding and coaching experience. His approach combines decades of practical bodybuilding experience with an evidence-informed approach to training and nutrition.
WHICH MUSCLE GROUPS SHOULD YOU TRAINT TOGETHER FOR MAXIMUM GROWTH?
One of the most common questions in bodybuilding is: what is the best training split for building muscle?
People debate 3-day, 4-day and 5-day routines, push-pull-legs, upper-lower splits and countless other combinations. But there is another question that is just as important:
Which muscle groups should you actually train together?
There is no single combination that everyone must follow. The best muscle group pairings depend on your training frequency, weekly volume, recovery ability, exercise selection and which body parts you want to prioritise.
After more than 40 years of bodybuilding and coaching, my approach is simple: pair muscles in a way that allows you to train each muscle hard and productively without allowing fatigue from the first muscle group to compromise the second.
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Why Muscle Group Pairings Matter
Muscles do not work completely independently.
When you train your chest, for example, your triceps and front deltoids assist with pressing movements. When you train your back, your biceps and forearms contribute to most pulling exercises.
This creates an important programming decision.
Should you train muscles that work together in the same workout, such as chest and triceps? Or should you deliberately separate them so that each muscle is fresher when you train it directly?
Both approaches can work.
However, for an experienced natural bodybuilder performing substantial training volume, fatigue management becomes increasingly important.
If you perform a demanding chest workout and then attempt to train triceps, your triceps have already performed considerable work during your pressing exercises. The same problem can occur when performing a large back workout immediately before training biceps.
This is why I often prefer combinations that preserve performance in the second muscle group.
Chest and Biceps
Chest and biceps can be an excellent bodybuilding combination.
Your biceps contribute very little to pressing movements, which means that after completing your chest training they should still be relatively fresh.
You can therefore perform a substantial chest workout and then train your biceps with good strength, concentration and exercise quality.
Compare this with chest and triceps. After several chest pressing exercises, your triceps may already be considerably fatigued before you begin training them directly.
That does not make chest and triceps wrong. It simply means that the second muscle group may not receive the same quality of training.
For bodybuilders who want substantial direct arm work, chest and biceps can therefore be a very useful pairing.
Back and Biceps: A Popular Combination, But Not Always Ideal
Back and biceps is probably one of the most common bodybuilding combinations.
It is logical because most back exercises involve elbow flexion, meaning the biceps assist during rows, pulldowns and other pulling movements.
But that is also the potential weakness of the combination.
If you perform 15, 20 or more productive sets for your back, your biceps have already been working before you begin your direct biceps exercises.
For someone performing relatively low training volume, this may not be a significant problem. But with higher-volume bodybuilding training, it can reduce the quality of the subsequent biceps workout.
Again, this does not mean that back and biceps cannot build muscle. They certainly can.
The question is whether the pairing allows you to perform your best training for both muscle groups.
How I Would Structure a 3-Day Split
With only three training days per week, more muscle groups inevitably need to be combined in each workout.
A practical structure might include larger combinations of upper-body muscles while keeping legs as a substantial dedicated workout.
The challenge with a 3-day split is fitting enough productive weekly volume into only three sessions without allowing individual workouts to become excessively long.
For beginners and some intermediate trainees, three days can work extremely well.
For an advanced bodybuilder who requires considerably more volume to continue progressing, however, distributing that work over additional training days can often make the individual workouts more manageable.
Why I Like Four Training Days
For many natural bodybuilders, a 4-day split offers an excellent balance between training volume and recovery.
It provides enough training days to distribute substantial weekly volume without requiring you to train every day.
It also allows intelligent muscle pairings.
For example, you can separate muscles that strongly assist one another so that arms are fresher when trained directly. You can also devote sufficient attention to legs rather than adding them to an already demanding upper-body workout.
The precise combinations are less important than the underlying principle:
Every muscle should receive enough high-quality productive work while still having sufficient time to recover before it is trained again.
When a 5-Day Split Makes Sense
A 5-day bodybuilding split allows even greater specialisation.
This can be particularly useful for experienced bodybuilders who perform relatively high training volumes or who have specific weak body parts.
Instead of trying to perform large amounts of work for several muscles in one session, training can be distributed across more days.
This can improve concentration, exercise quality and energy for individual muscles.
But adding training days does not automatically produce more muscle.
If the additional days simply create more fatigue without adding productive training, there is no advantage.
Training frequency and volume must always be balanced against recovery.
Prioritising Weak Muscle Groups
Your weakest muscle group should not always be trained when you are already exhausted.
If your biceps need improvement, for example, repeatedly training them after an exhausting back workout may not be the best strategy.
Place priority muscles where you can train them with high energy and concentration.
The same principle applies to shoulders, calves, hamstrings or any other body part that is lagging behind.
A training split should therefore not simply look balanced on paper. It should reflect your individual physique and your individual priorities.
Recovery Determines Whether Your Split Works
The best training split is not necessarily the one that looks most sophisticated.
It is the one that allows you to perform enough productive training to stimulate muscle growth while recovering sufficiently between sessions.
More training is beneficial only while the additional work remains productive and recoverable.
Your age, training experience, nutrition, sleep, exercise selection, intensity and total weekly volume all affect recovery.
This is why copying another bodybuilder's split without considering these variables is rarely the best approach.
The Bottom Line
There is no magical muscle-group combination that everyone must follow.
Chest and triceps can work. Back and biceps can work. Chest and biceps can work. Many other combinations can work.
But I prefer to ask a more useful question:
Does this combination allow me to train both muscle groups with maximum quality?
For natural bodybuilders, particularly experienced lifters performing substantial volume, managing fatigue becomes extremely important.
Choose muscle pairings that allow you to train hard, maintain exercise quality, address weak body parts and recover before your next workout.
Your split should serve your muscular development—not simply follow a popular template.
Frequently Asked Questions
What muscle groups are best to train together?
There is no universally best combination. Muscle groups should be paired according to training volume, frequency, recovery and individual priorities. Pairings such as chest and biceps can be useful because the biceps remain relatively fresh after chest training, while combinations such as chest and triceps or back and biceps involve greater overlap.
Is it bad to train chest and triceps together?
No. Chest and triceps is a well-established combination and can produce excellent results. However, pressing exercises already involve the triceps, so after a high-volume chest workout the triceps may be fatigued before direct training begins. Whether this matters depends on your
volume and goals.
Is a 3-day, 4-day or 5-day split best for muscle growth?
All three can build muscle. A 3-day split can be excellent when weekly volume is moderate. Four days provides more opportunity to distribute volume and recovery, while five days can provide greater specialisation for experienced bodybuilders. The appropriate choice depends on how much productive training you need and how well you recover.
About The Author
Dr. Nash Jocic is a former bodybuilding champion, author, nutritionist and fitness consultant with more than 40 years of bodybuilding and coaching experience. His approach combines decades of practical bodybuilding experience with an evidence-informed approach to training and nutrition.
What are the best exercises for building every major muscle group?
Not necessarily the exercises that look most impressive or allow you to lift the most weight. The best exercises are those that place effective tension on the muscle you are actually trying to develop.
After more than 40 years of bodybuilding, competing and coaching, I have learned that exercise selection matters — but execution matters just as much.
You can choose an excellent exercise and perform it badly. If you use too much weight, shorten the range of motion or rely on momentum, much of the tension can move away from the muscle you are trying to build.
Here are some of the exercises I consider most effective for each major muscle group.
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CHEST
Flat Barbell Bench Press
For overall chest development, the flat barbell bench press remains one of my favourite exercises.
It allows substantial loading while strongly involving the pectoralis major. But bodybuilding is not powerlifting. The objective is not simply to move the heaviest possible weight — it is to make the chest work.
I also use incline pressing to place greater emphasis on the upper chest.
Best choices: Flat bench press, incline press and dumbbell or cable flyes.
BACK
Pull-Ups and Rows
The back contains several muscles, so no single exercise develops everything.
For width, I favour pull-ups and pulldowns. For thickness, rowing movements are essential.
I do not consider the conventional deadlift the best exercise for back hypertrophy. It is an excellent strength movement, but more targeted exercises are available when muscle development is the primary goal.
Best choices: Pull-ups, pulldowns, barbell rows and supported rows.
SHOULDERS
Presses and Lateral Raises
Complete shoulder development requires training the different heads of the deltoid.
Pressing movements strongly involve the front deltoids, while lateral raises are particularly valuable for building shoulder width. Rear-deltoid work should also be included.
Keep lateral raises controlled rather than swinging heavier dumbbells.
Best choices: Overhead press, lateral raises and rear-delt flyes.
BICEPS
Barbell and Dumbbell Curls
The basic barbell curl remains one of the most effective biceps exercises.
Avoid excessive body movement. If you swing the torso simply to lift more weight, you reduce the work the biceps must perform.
Incline dumbbell curls are another excellent choice because they train the biceps from a lengthened position.
Best choices: Barbell curls and incline dumbbell curls.
TRICEPS
Presses and Extensions
The triceps make up a large proportion of upper-arm mass.
I favour combining a pressing movement with an extension movement. Overhead extensions are particularly useful for training the long head of the triceps.
Best choices: Close-grip bench press, lying triceps extensions and overhead extensions.
QUADRICEPS
Squats
For overall quadriceps development, squats remain one of bodybuilding's great exercises.
Depth, stance and control matter. Simply adding more weight does not automatically produce greater muscle growth.
For quadriceps, I generally favour higher repetitions than for many upper-body muscles, often around 12–20 controlled repetitions.
Best choices: Squats, hack squats, leg presses and leg extensions.
HAMSTRINGS AND GLUTES
The hamstrings perform several functions, so I favour straight legs deadlifts with leg curls.
For the glutes, deep squats, deep leg press and lunges can provide an excellent stimulus
CALVES
Standing and Seated Calf Raises
Calves should not be trained with fast, bouncing repetitions.
Use a controlled range of motion, allow the muscle to stretch at the bottom and contract strongly at the top.
Best choices: Standing and seated calf raises.
ABDOMINALS
The abdominal muscles should be trained like other muscles — with control and progression.
Hundreds of fast repetitions are unnecessary.
Best choices: Roman chair runches, and controlled hip raises.
THE EXERCISE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
This is the principle I want people to remember.
Choosing the “best” exercise means very little if you perform it poorly.
Bodybuilding is not simply about moving weight from A to B. The weight is a tool used to create muscular tension.
Control the resistance. Use an effective range of motion. Avoid unnecessary momentum and concentrate on making the target muscle perform the work. The weight is the tool. The muscle is the target.
DO YOU NEED TO KEEP CHANGING EXERCISES?
No. If an exercise suits your biomechanics, effectively trains the intended muscle and allows you to progress, there is no reason to replace it simply because a new exercise has become fashionable.
The fundamentals have built great physiques for generations.
Squats. Presses. Rows. Pull-ups. Curls. Extensions. Raises.
You don't need hundreds of exercises. You need the right exercises performed correctly and consistently.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
What is the best exercise for building muscle?
There is no single best exercise for the whole body. Different muscles require different movement patterns. Compound exercises should generally form the foundation, supported by appropriate isolation exercises.
Are compound exercises better than isolation exercises?
Both have value. Compound movements allow substantial loading and train several muscles together, while isolation exercises allow more specific targeting of individual muscles.
Should I change exercises regularly?
Not necessarily. If an exercise is effective, comfortable and allows continued progression, there is no need to change it simply for variety.
About Dr. Nash Jocic
Dr. Nash Jocic is a former bodybuilding champion, author, nutritionist, fitness consultant and personal trainer with more than 40 years of bodybuilding and coaching experience.
For training programmes, nutrition guidance, books and online coaching, visit Nash Fit Training.