Most lifters don’t understand how many exercises per workout bodybuilding truly requires. As a coach of many years, I find that athletes just don’t understand training volume. This is a shame, as it’s absolutely crucial to program the right amount of sets, reps, and exercises per workout correctly. In this article we will examine several pieces of research that answer how many exercises you should be doing. We will cover the appropriate sets and reps per exercise for lifters of all experience levels. As you’ll see, that number can vary quite widely.
One of the most difficult concepts to understand about exercise volume is that there isn’t a magical number for any one person. If you really dig into the research, you’ll find that some trainees respond very well to high volume programs, and others won’t gain an ounce of muscle.
There is a fair amount of individual variability, regarding the appropriate amount of weight training volume. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t key points that we can use to help us understand just how many exercises per workout bodybuilding requires. Check out the overview below.
How Many Exercises Per Workout Bodybuilding Overview
- Minimum training volume is one set, of one exercise, 2-3 times per week
- Minimum set size is 6-12 reps
- Minimum weight is 70-85% of 1RM
- Maximum training volume is likely around 30 sets per muscle group per week
- Research shows an increased need for volume for more experienced athletes
- For most athletes 1-4 exercises per workout is ideal
As you can see, there is quite a range of training volume that you can use to to build muscle mass. Further on we’ll cover the different ranges for beginners, intermediates, and advanced lifters. We will also discuss choosing the right training volume given your specific training goals. Newsflash, doing max volume isn’t always the best choice!
Principles of Building Muscle Mass
It’s incredibly important to select the right volume in your workout routine. As you’ll see, there are only three mechanisms of hypertrophy, or building muscle. Workout volume touches on almost all aspects of these three mechanisms. Let’s talk about these muscle building principles.
Mechanical Tension
Mechanical tension is the easiest mechanism to understand. Your muscles fibers/nerves can accurately measure the amount of tension that they experience. While you must experience some mechanical tension in the form of heavy weights, you don’t need to lift your rep max all day. That’s impossible, and wouldn’t work very well.
Muscle Damage
One of the biggest drivers of hypertrophy is muscle damage. This is caused when the cells in your muscle fibers are damaged as a result of lifting weights. This is one of the main reasons you experience soreness in large muscle groups that are worked hard. Naturally, these damaged cells signal your body to repair them.
It’s important to understand that while muscle damage, and the resultant soreness can be an indicator that your program is helping you build muscle, it is not the primary cause of growth. If you’re never sore, then the odds are that you aren’t working hard enough. If you’re massively sore at all times, then you’re probably doing too much!
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Metabolic Stress
The most under appreciated driver of muscle growth is metabolic stress. This is the biggest difference between standard bodybuilding programs and a research backed full-body workout program (like mine). In my program I include specific programming, that will help your body build up metabolic stress and their by-products.
These by-products also signal your body to build more muscle tissue, to mitigate metabolic stress in the future. Next, let’s dive into the research so we can figure out how many exercises per workout bodybuilding requires for beginners, intermediates, and advanced lifters.
How Many Exercises Per Workout Bodybuilding Beginner
Beginner bodybuilders always build the most muscle mass the quickest. Because they aren’t accustomed to training, their bodies respond very well. In fact, if you look at this muscle gain calculator, you’ll see that it predicts that half of all your gains come in the first year of serious training.
You should also check out that calculator because it can give you a good idea how strong and muscular you can become with your specific bone structure.
Long time readers of this website know that I write about building muscle mass quite often. One of my most popular articles examined over 200 research studies on building muscle. It came to some startling conclusions, which I’ve summarized in the infographics below.
The research that I highlighted in that article examined all relevant studies in order to determine how much training volume caused the most overall muscle mass. The research also examined which exercise intensities were best to build the most muscle, as well as how often each of your major muscle groups should be trained per week.
Since most muscle building research is done on beginner and intermediate athletes, these guidelines are very relevant. For a beginner bodybuilder, I recommend hitting major muscle groups twice per week with about 40 reps per workout session. This means that they should do 2-3 exercises per workout, per muscle group, to hit the required number of reps.
As the years go on, you build less and less muscle mass. The only way to mitigate this is by engaging in more difficult training. This is why intermediate bodybuilders need more volume, and more difficult training programs. If you want to try my most popular hybrid bodybuilding program then check this out!
How Many Exercises Per Workout Bodybuilding Intermediate
This is where the vast majority of bodybuilders find themselves. Generally speaking, this is a lifter with a year or more of hard training behind them. They’ve made good progress with basic lifting programs, but they find that their gains are slowing.
For the intermediate lifter, I recommend erring on the upper limit of the inforgraphics above. These lifters should aim for 60 reps per workout, with each major muscle group worked 2-3 times per week. This works out to around 2-3 exercises per workout, per body part, with set sizes around 8-12 reps.
I also recommend that athletes add in specific isolation work to target lagging areas. This might be something like additional biceps curls, or leg curls for the smaller muscle groups.
If you read my article on the science behind building triceps strength and size, you’ll remember that athletes responded well to 20 hard sets per week the best. This demonstrates that smaller muscle groups can benefit from these high volumes; however, you shouldn’t follow high volume year round, at this stage of your development.
How Many Exercises Per Workout Bodybuilding Advanced
It can be quite difficult to find muscle building research for an advanced lifter. This is because there’s a smaller group of people that fall into this category. I normally define an advanced bodybuilder / lifter as someone who’s engaged in at least 2 years of dedicated training. This is different than an athlete who may have trained hard for a few months here and there. This is continuous training.
This research article is entitled, ” High Resistance–Training Volume Enhances Muscle Thickness in Resistance-Trained Men.” The authors of this study noted that the vast majority of research on strength training for muscle hypertrophy artificially designates 10+ weekly sets, per muscle group, as high volume. If you’ve spent any time in the gym, you’ll know that you’re only half way through a workout split at the 10 set mark.
They realized that there was a real need to examine how high volume resistance training programs affect muscle gain, for athletes that have more than a year in the gym. This is exactly what they did. They recruited 27 men in their twenties, and early thirties, who had been lifting for 2+ years. Prior to this study, these athletes averaged 5 days per week in the gym. These guys sound like they’re following some of my programs!
They’re also relatively strong. They had an average bench press of 98kg or 215 pounds, at an average bodyweight of 177 pounds (80kg). Their average 1 rep max back squat was 114kg or 251 pounds. These are pretty good numbers, even if the back squat is a bit low compared to the bench press.
The Research Protocol
After the researchers did their baseline strength, and muscle mass measurements, they put the trainees through an 8 week program, that was designed to maximize muscle growth in the arms and legs. Along with the strength numbers, the researchers were interested in measuring biceps and quad thickness, so they designed a specific program to work on those areas.
They split the 27 trainees into three groups, low, mid, and high volume. The lowest volume group started at 16 sets per body part, per week. The middle group was 24 sets, and the high volume group was 32 sets. All groups followed the exact same 4 day per week lifting program, with the only change being the number of sets each group did. Based on the sample workout below it looks like they did around 2-3 specific exercises per workout for each muscle group.
They also had the research participants fill out a food log a few days during the protocol. They wanted to see if there were any changes for protein intake, or overall nutrition. Surprisingly, there did not appear to be any changes from a dietary perspective. Now, let’s take a look at the results.
How Many Exercises Per Workout Bodybuilding Research Results
Drumroll please (slowly and inexpertly opens envelope and puts glasses on). The high volume group takes home the gains trophy. They built the most muscle mass, and they built the most strength, by a wide margin. Honestly, I’m glad they made the most progress, as they put in a brutal amount of hard work. Here’s a sample of one of their workouts.
Sample High Volume Muscle Building Workout
Bench Press: 8 x 8-10 RM
Dumbbell Fly: 8 x 8-10 RM
Cable Triceps: 8 x 8-10 RM
Parallel Back Squat: 8 x 8-10 RM
Leg Extensions: 8 x 8-10 RM
If you really dig into the study, the authors gave the athletes only 1 minute of rest between sets, and 2 minutes of rest between exercises. They also controlled the tempo of each rep, which ended up being normal tempo for lifting. The researchers did a very good of job controlling as many variables as they could. This allowed them to see what effect increased volume had on hypertrophy, and strength gains.
The researchers found a pronounced effect for strength. The 32 set group gained the most upper body, and lower body strength. In only 8 weeks of training, the highest volume group gained 28.7% on their 1RM bench. They also gained 25.4% strength in their 1RM back squat. These are astounding numbers, considering that they didn’t lift any sets above 85% of 1RM, which most researchers would consider essential to gain strength. Here are the specific numbers.
These numbers are impressive. Even the lowest volume group gained 16-23% on their lifts. Next let’s take a look at the increases in muscle thickness. As you’ll see, these results will follow the same general trend. Higher volume training yielded better results.
High Volume Training Hypertrophy Results
Recall that the researchers measured muscle thickness at three locations on the body. They measured this with an ultrasound machine, which is much more accurate than using a tape measure. Prepare to be amazed by these results.
Biceps % Increase
- 16 Set – .5%
- 24 Set – 1.3%
- 32 Set – 3.1%
Triceps % Increase
- 16 Set – .8%
- 24 Set – 4%
- 32 Set – 7%
Quads % Increase
- 16 Set – 2.1%
- 24 Set – 5.6%
- 32 Set – 9.4%
If we break these compound exercises, multi joint movements, and isolation movements down, we can make some useful distinctions. We will also see that they tend to follow along with our previous research recommendations.
Interestingly enough the 32 set group increased their quad thickness at an astounding 1 percent per week for the 8 weeks of training. The triceps increased almost as fast, and the biceps were actually the slowest.
This might indicate that they had already been trained hard perviously, and didn’t have as much room to grow. Or, it could also mean that biceps don’t respond as well to that many sets per week. Next, we’ll cover how to structure a bodybuilding program for the best results. If you want to check out a great advanced bodybuilding program then take a look at this.
How to Pick Exercises for Your Training Program
The research is clear. You can build muscle mass in a wide variety of conditions, with almost any number of exercises. I’ve even seen research that shows detrained people gain muscle mass simply by doing cardio on a bicycle. With this in mind, it’s important to structure your program according to your personal preference. You aren’t like to gain muscle if you hate the program exercises.
Compound Movements vs. Isolation Exercises
The vast majority of your training needs to be compound lifts done with free weights, done with the longest range of motion that you can safely support. If you read my article on the best lower body exercises, you’ll recall that trainees gained more size in different muscle groups when they used full range of motion.
Beginner Fitness Programs
Given the research that we’ve reviewed, beginners should choose two compound exercises per workout. They should also seek to work each major muscle group twice per week with a total of 40 reps per session. This is what a hypothetical upper body workout could look like.
Beginner Upper Body Workout
Bench Press: 3 x 8
Triceps Extension: 2 x 10
Lat Pull Down: 3 x 8
Dumbbell Row: 2 x 10
If you’ve read other popular bodybuilding websites, you probably won’t find a program with this little volume. That’s the problem. Even programs that are marketed towards beginners, have way too many sets and reps. There is absolutely no point in doing more work than your body can recover from!
If the program you’re doing is working then don’t change it. It’s always ideal to start with an easy program that works, and only add difficulty when you stop making progress.
Intermediate Fitness Programs
Intermediate athletes need to work towards the upper range of the recommendations. This means that they need around 60 hard reps per session, 2-3 times per week, for each muscle group. This generally equates to 2-3 exercises per workout. Here is a sample lower body workout.
Intermediate Lower Body Workout
Trap Bar Deadlift: 3 x 6
Romanian Deadlift: 3 x 6
Machine Hamstring Curl: 3 x 10
Parallel Back Squat: 3 x 10
Leg Extension: 3 x 12
You can see that there’s nothing earth shattering about this sample program. It features compound movement patterns, first in the workout, and finishes with isolation work. It’s important to note that at the intermediate level you need some isolation work to help develop a well rounded physique.
Advanced Fitness Programs
When you ask how many exercises per workout bodybuilding requires for an advanced lifter, the answer is yes! Recall that our advanced trainee research demonstrated that up to 30 sets per muscle group, per week, generated the best gains. While they worked this hard for only 8 weeks, it’s important that advanced trainees work up to this volume from time to time. Moreover, they should not work this hard all year, as this is likely to lead to injury and overtraining. Here is a sample upper body workout for advanced lifters.
Advanced Upper Body Workout
Bench Press: 4 x 10 RM
Incline Dumbbell Bench: 4 x 15
Cable Triceps: 4 x 16
Wide Grip Pull Ups: 4 x 10
Dumbbell Row : 4 x 15
T-Bar Row: 3 x 8
Alt Dumbbell Biceps Curl: 3x12L, 12R
You can see that sets and rep ranges remain the same in this specific workout, however the weekly schedule changes. At this level of training, the athlete would be doing this amount of upper body volume around 3 times weekly, for the highest volume portion of their training.
The advanced trainee needs to vary volume and exercises throughout the year to continue to make gains. The majority of the year should be spent around 20 sets per muscle group, per week, with 3-4 months spent closer to the 30 set per week mark. In the next section, you’ll find some great research based bodybuilding programs.
Bodybuilding Programs Recommendations for Muscle Mass
I’ve been writing programs and workout plans for many years, and I have something for just about everyone. In this section I’ve put together a quick list of my most popular muscle building programs. If you want to see which order I recommend following for each of the programs, then check this article out.
- The 8 Week Functional Bodybuilding Hybrid Program
- 6 Weeks of Muscular Growth for Functional Fitness Athletes Program
- 12 Week Free Bodybuilding Program
- 10 Week Functional Power Building Program
- The 11 Week High Intensity Bodybuilding Program
Some of these programs are designed for functional fitness athletes who want to build muscle, and maintain their conditioning. However, other programs like the 12 Week Free Bodybuilding Program, and 11 Week High Intensity Program are pure muscle building programs. You won’t find a WOD or metcon in sight! Now let’s talk about some simple nutrition advice that can get you headed in the right direction.
Final Thoughts
We’ve covered a lot of research and it’s important to realize that research should be interpreted as a road map, that should be altered given your real world conditions. Remember to prioritize full range of motion, compound movements over isolation work.
Next it’s important to realize that working consistently is the most important factor in your ability to build muscle. An athlete doing a little too much or too little volume who consistently works, will be better off than someone who is perfect a few weeks out of the year.
If you have any questions or comments about how many exercises per workout bodybuilding requires, put them below, and I’ll get you an answer. Now get out there and get training!
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