How to BUILD MUSCLE in 2024, using SCIENCE (100+ Studies)

[@hamzahhussain6580]

Can you not get jacked using these tips in 2026?

[@WolfCoaching]

No. They only apply for this calendar year. Come back next year for a breakdown of the new meta!

[@srleplay]

@@WolfCoachingScientists always nerf stuff, full ROM, deloads etc. so you have to watch next breakdown

[@yunbha4418]

Shortened full-rom is the 2025 meta

[@liamburns8554]

😂😂

[@chayoto]

Perhaps the 2026 update to this video will be even more exciting.

[@JeffNippard]

Great video bro! -Jeff Nippard (2024)

[@flow1188]

Great comment bro! -Bro Jeff Nippard (2099) Still progressing.

[@vyacheslavperesunko732]

bro so narcissistic he writes his name on each comment

[@rockyevans1584]

​@@vyacheslavperesunko732and misspelled nipplehard

[@cameronadamson3809]

Dude you just summarized the last six months of watching your channel, the boys at RP, etc, in ten minutes! Saving and sending this to all the bros. Great job, this channel is a hidden gym, but not for long you're gonna get mad channel gains for sure.

[@wolvessoccercoach]

I'm 50 years old and have been lifting consistently for about 2 and a half years and I recently started a new 8 week mesocycle with an upper and lower split impletmenting long lengthened partials into 90% of my work out plan. And I'm super happy with the results so far. Stimulus to fatigue is way down, my time in the gym has lessened and my recovery has been a lot better. Can't say enough about the changes but they mainly stem from the long lengthened partials providing excellent stimulus with much lower overall body fatigue. I sleep better and my joint pain has been much lower. Thanks Dr. Wolf @wolfcoaching for putting this new information on KZbin because it has made a real difference in my overall approach to lifting. P.S. Can you @wolfcoaching do a video review of @musclemonsters

[@Ask-Ali]

Monster video. Also, thanks for answering my Q on the SBS pod Dr. Wolf! & goated for the Ramadan mention 🙏🏻

[@WolfCoaching]

Thank you Ali!

[@rapsanahmed9707]

This has to be the best video I ever watched for muscle growth or in general. It was so well organized and straight to the point. Thank you!

[@Coachahmadreza]

Happy to see that your channel is getting bigger ✌🏾

[@Yougetwhatyoupay]

Probably one of the most valuable video I saw recently on youtube 😍

[@phcz89]

Awesome video that everyone who starts out lifting needs to watch! It basically summarizes all the stuff I had to learn myself for the last two years the hard way. Keep it coming. Good job!

[@nutrihealth_lifestyle8009]

Great video, man 👏🏽 very informative ✌🏽

[@ParvParashar]

Absolutely amazing video as always! It’s super comprehensive and helpful. Thank you so much for all the great videos! It’s greatly appreciated. 🙌

[@AribaProduction]

Awesome video. Regarding improving sleep: is there a video coming up? I would highly appreciate it.

[@Theo5555]

Thanks for the educational video. Could you maybe make a video for older people, let's say 50 years +. I am 55 years old and trained for 15 years (25 years-40 years), then stopped but started again 5 years ago. So I started back at the age of 50 and have been able to build up quite a bit of muscle mass in these 5 years (completely natural - no TRT). I sometimes get asked if I use somthing ', so that means I'm doing well (of course). I am 1.76m and weigh 79kg with body fat percentage around 10-11%. I'm curious if studies have also been done for older people, about how many sets, how much protein, how many days of training per week, how many days of rest, etc. etc.... I train as follows: day 1 full body, day two 35-40 minutes cardio, day 3 cardio-hit training 30 minutes, day 4 back full body and day 5 cardio and day 6 cardio-hit. So I exercise 7 days a week and very rarely have a day where I do nothing. Thanks in advance .

[@Enthalpy248]

That was definitely one of your top 3 videos. Info blast - no nonsense. Awaiting the Wolf (and colleagues) video on blasting through a body part plateau.

[@Vitinh0]

Damn...This is THE meta video for bodybuilding! Nice work, dude

[@askingwhy123]

Thank you for the time codes; you're a true professional 🙏🏼

[@ElAleman1234]

Pure gold! Thx U for the work.

[@LouisSerieusement]

super cool you put all ressources in description. Great video thanks !

[@Seneca121]

So in the 2022 meta analysis by Baz-Valle - did they count only direct work for the triceps biceps and quads? How were the sets counted? I.e., were rows and pulls counted towards biceps? I’d like to use these volume recommendations in my programming for triceps biceps and quads specifically but unsure how the volume was counted exactly. Thanks Milo

[@LucidStrike]

This is some of the best content of the past year. Good shit, doc. 👍🏿

[@josephmoore977]

Fantastic video. Thanks for the great tips.

[@CH1C4N0444]

Dr. Milo Wolf, how would you compare Pendulum Squats and Belt Squats vs Hack Squats or Leg Press? Also, would you ever do exercise tier lists? Like Rear Delt exercise tier list, Chest exercise tier lists, etc?

[@stevejohnson7002]

Great video! As a potential topic for future videos, I would be interested in your thoughts on the costs/benefits of a 1 set to failure approach vs. the use of multiple sets.

[@williamperaza9479]

great video, good to see this channel growing 💪

[@d2ds17]

I've been averaging 5 hours of sleep each night, for the past decade. The only time i can make it to the gym is 11:30pm. I train until 1am then I go home and have my last meal. I take naps on the weekends, and I feel like I have more energy than most people that I know. I'll be 42 in May. I'm also of Indonesian and Italian heritage.

[@projectoldman3383]

That's a solid wrap on the info needed to make gains, excellent video. I appreciate the concise and evidence based nature of this content, thanks

[@dariofg]

Awesome summary of the latest science, thanks!

[@wesrobinson7506]

Great video! Love the concise content! What weekly set volume would you set non-prioritized muscles at during a specialization phase? In a time constrained individual! Does about four sets per week sound appropriate for maintenance?

[@KCIsMe]

Good video! The only thing I think needed more clarification is the part about bulking. If you're already lean, surely at some point you'll stop putting on muscle if you don't bulk.

[@JJBfilm]

Nicely done. No bs and to the point. Looking forward to learning more. Keep up the great work...

[@czcx403]

Great video! Please do one on body recomp. There's still lots of controversial info on the internet about the topic.

[@nickfrantzeskakis185]

great quality as always! I would love if you do a specific one on creatine and touch on things such as elevated creatinine in the bloodwork after its use and whether weight training athletes should be worried by it etc. Just an idea, thanks for sharing all that great info!

[@lobaka291]

Could you do an in depth video on the bulking topic, please? This was the only new topic for me.

[@gad3iii532]

That was awesome! All the big points in one succinct vid!

[@Pain53924]

Please make a video about best exercises for the forearms for hypertrophy.

[@Karlosex450]

🔥 Solid info Wolf!

[@BenWinney]

Great video. Good to see I'm on the right track with most of these

[@sleis418]

I haven’t seen anyone do a video or series on maximizing newbie gains. Lots of beginners looking for tips and if you could start them off right with a focused set of lessons that would be awesome.

[@askingwhy123]

For the algo: amazing survey of best practice!

[@gerym341]

Excellent, excellent video. Thank you Doctor.

[@oioioi-9942]

Good summary of basics! Very helpful. Creatine doesn't do anything for me. I've given it a go every now and then over the years [as it's always recommended], but it never did anything for me and I've finally given up on it. As far as I understand, some 20-30% do not respond to creatine supplementation, and it's pretty clear I belong to that category. I don't like caffeine, as it is a stimulant. It provides a boost of energy, but only to coffee drinkers who already depend on caffeine for energy (like 90% of adults in the western world, the subjects in all those studies are already addicted to caffeine). Ditch the coffee (and go through a rough week of withdrawals), and you won't need any pre-workout caffeine again.

[@Wtizreal]

This is your best video yet

[@deboraharnaut989]

Great video, thanks doc!

[@Sportbyscience-zr8yz]

thank's for video; is there definition exact of FAILURE in science?

[@repswithroscoe]

Another great video Milo

[@SchmittsPeter]

Nice. You could cover how acute muscle protein synthesis relates to long term hypertrophy. I'm honestly actually missing a meta analysis on that topic.

[@Franky-zc3xx]

About volume, I would like to see a total set volume recommendation. I recently went from doing 65 total weekly set (on/off, on etc.) to 76 weekly sets (on/on/off) and needed to take a few days off after increasing training days and volume. I think 50-80 sets per week is what most natties should aim for??? Great video btw!

[@supunathukorala7692]

fantastic video milo..❤

[@panizzutti]

Ur videos are so good omgg, could u discuss controversial topics on the science community? like the 52 sets study

[@tom420guitar]

I want to flag somethin - you can mix training types. For example, I do PPL and then either a upper lower split for a total of 5 days a week or an extra full body day after PPL for 4 days a week. Works well for me

[@cantbetouched1961]

Valuable content mate!!!

[@blase3121]

doing over like 15 sets (which is still high) per muscle per week is crazy!

[@Kem3s]

Why

[@blase3121]

@@Kem3s because its too much

[@Kem3s]

@@blase3121 for girls maybe

[@TenSaikyo]

What are your thoughts about doing partial reps were it is the hardest part of the lift. For example top half of pull ups and rows, bottom half of push ups and squats.

[@joaoamstalden6321]

Amazing tips, as always.

[@mahdirahimi3818]

Would you please make a video on training everyday? No days off team?. Thank you.

[@Abe_3000]

Now that you mentioned Ramadan, I would love to see a full breakdown on how eat, train, and sleep during this month. It's a struggle every year. There isn't good content for this subject yet there more than a billion people who practice it. It may go viral depending on the title and thumbnail. Would love to share parameters Dr. Wolf if you're interested.

[@VanToffel]

I would love to see a full body routine from you.

[@willmcgregor7184]

Thanks Great review Any consensus on volume per week to Maintain muscle?

[@HIaayl]

What are your thoughts on : 1. Higher volume shorter rest RIR 2-5 2. Lower volume longer rest RIR 0-1 What about junk volume ?

[@robert50173]

QUESTION. If someone is making strength gains in moderate rep ranges over time, is enough being done to grow muscle? Does it even matter IF super low volume, frequency, proximity to failure, and other scientific factors don't seem ideal? Does it make sense to change anything?

[@alexostroushko9315]

Hi there, Milo. What is your approach to implementing partials in the workout routine? What is the percentage of sets that should be partial to ROM? Or maybe it is better to stick only to partials. I'm very interested in your opinion. Thank you!

[@friendscallmeap]

Great video. In regards to diet, I'm a former rock climber, have a pretty good muscular base, but would like to give gym a proper go. Given the fact, I am already very lean, the assumption I have is that maintenance won't be able to produce good results, is that a faulty view and should I consider targeting weight gain of 1% of BW per month. I would estimate my body fat to be 8-11%.

[@lsik231l]

Hello. Is the protein required multiplied by total or lean body mass weight?

[@danielwing1985]

You mentioned the burning during leg extensions. I’ve always wondered why leg extensions seem to be uniquely painful in that regard. Any explanation?

[@TheVratilo]

What is your standpoint on practicing full body workout on consecutive days? Let's say... Saturday, sunday and wendsday? Would you advise in that case to spread volume in split like upper (torso), lower + limbs, and one full body?

[@tastytucker981]

Would you say training each muscle twice in 8 days is sub optimal? I do a legs push pull rest repeat after an injury when I used to just do 6 days straight. I like this routine but have been thinking of changing because my muscles usually feel healed before 4 days really.

[@jonathonhyde1666]

succinct and great job!

[@walidst_4321]

Very good points here but I don’t agree with going to failure only for your last sets, you can do it for the whole session, you just need to take a pretty good amount of rest between sets (the more the better) this way you will be fully recovered to hit your next set the best way in order to reach the same amount of reps as the previous sets, so the closer to failure the more hypertrophy as you said, with enough rest between sets

[@H3aby84]

If you take all your sets to failure you won't match reps even with long rest times. If you do match then either you'll be doing very few sets and thus sacrificing volume or resting so long that your sessions become needlessly long.

[@KurokamiNajimi]

This is a good strategy it looks what basement bodybuilding does if you check any of his workouts I’m assuming he’s fully warmed up beforehand because he either gets the same number of reps or only 1 less. But it takes a lot more time in my experience resting 5 minutes for example isn’t enough. You don’t necessarily have to rest longer than 3 minutes imo people are operating under a false premise that performance drops are bad. Your performance should be dropping that’s how you know the set was effective. You could hold back 3+ reps on every set and get more reps with the same weight but even the faulty research shows this doesn’t result in more growth. We have some showing you need far more sets to grow in this context. Also not taking into account the effectiveness of different exercises like a fast tempo bench press compared to a slow tempo long pause camber bar larsen press or a ring push up with the same stretch benefit but otherwise the ability to converge at the top is a night and day difference. But I think the 10-20 set rule is accurate regardless of all this since muscles adapt to the higher stimulus in time. The real point of using more effective exercises is that we can only perform so many exercises before we get overuse

[@mnakash77]

great stuff

[@jusducks07]

When we talk about frequency can we stop forcing it into the Gregorian calendar? When “optimal frequency” is at least twice a week, does that mean it’s optimal to hit it after two sleeps, or just before seven sleeps?

[@bobbyb7018]

Soooo, pretty much the same as Arnie and the other guys were saying over 30 years ago.... cutting edge 2024 science right here!!

[@TurdBoi666]

@@bobbyb7018 ratio

[@lanzarotepersonaltraining1563]

What’s your thoughts on forced reps? Say hitting 2 reps with a partner helping you past that sticking point. Would this be similar to partials? Or a drop set? Thank you for your information and channel. It’s nice to hear a different perspective on training that we have been hearing at this time.

[@emiliojoserangelgonzalez8542]

In wolf we trust

[@Nick.....]

I managed to pack on 25 lbs of muscle without ever bulking, but my weight just stayed roughly the same and I went down in bf % substantially. I just started my first bulk and because my strength had skyrocketed my body isn’t used to the stimulus and I started getting doms again. Do you think the benefit of bulking comes for allowing people to train harder rather than just packing on lean mass, which obviously isn’t the case with most weight gained in a bulk?

[@WolfCoaching]

Hmm, it’s hard to say. I do think a surplus benefits anabolism/muscle building in a few different ways, and generally the heaviest athletes also have the largest muscle sizes.. but we don’t fully understand the physiology as far as the contributions of different mechanisms yet. It’s probably more helpful to look at the applied data, at any rate (I.e., studies on bulking measuring hypertrophy directly)

[@rexmgwezane9409]

On the sleep point. Are there any benefits to taking naps during the day? Or should sleep.tp.maximize muscle growth be continuous?

[@GeoFan.]

@@rexmgwezane9409 sorry I don’t remember who - maybe Dr. Mike - but some say that the most benefit comes right AFTER the first six hours of sleep. Something about SPECIFIC sleep cycles. Maybe we should Google this.

[@douglasauruss]

Do you think biceps wouldn't similarly see a benefit from more sets? Or can they not recover?

[@jonpageable]

If you are already very lean, how are you going to build muscle at maintenance?

[@OhDevBeard]

Curious your thoughts on a technique like greasing the groove and what it means for Hypertrophy

[@franzbauer5946]

Is a caloric surplus needed on days where there is no muscle protein synthesis, when training full body x3/week? For better understanding: Mo Training (surplus) Tu Rest (surplus) We Training (surplus) Th Rest (surplus) Fr Training (surplus) Sa Rest (surplus) Su NO CALORIC SURPLUS

[@waggs99]

Maybe some weird topics for a video but I wouldn’t mind you recapping what literature exists on alcohol’s effects on muscle growth and Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen’s effects on muscle growth

[@kingh6647]

What is the science on sets per workout? 2 sets everyday or 7 sets 2 times a week , what happens in terms of gains? what is ups / downs of doing 1 set every hour throughout the day, of exercises i can do at home, been doing this working from home.

[@seban-jackedweeb5513]

Do you think there's merit to using exercises with more resistance in the shortened position for regional hypertrophy benefits or no? For instance, I can sissy squats and deep pistol squats with partials, but would adding leg extensions be a good idea to get more "even" quad development?

[@Ala_Diego]

So is it fine to use less weights to get more repetitions for progressive overload?

[@Kyle-ys3cv]

Random question for you: If someone did 1 set, followed by 2 drop sets (10 seconds between each, ~.5 RIR), how many total sets would you count that as, vis-a-vis tracking total volume?

[@hokagerulzz]

What if i work nights ? Am i screwed ? I try to sleep 7-8h and take vitamins. Is it enough ? Hoe detrimental night shifts might be for muscle gain and weight loss?

[@warrenhenning8064]

How do you determine when additional volume is helpful and when it's junk volume?

[@Claframb]

Dr. Milo wolf does high intensity training

[@wartstein8814]

Hello from a fellow Austrian;) (I am from Salzburg, you are Austrian too, right?) Question on progressive overload: If adding reps is sufficient here, using always the same weight or the same body weight exercise AND going truly close to failure in each set rep should do the trick, right? Cause that way while getting stronger one does add reps inevitably (again, if always going really close to failure)... or am I missing something?

[@pshao86]

do you have a video on body recomp?

[@Oppator_]

Would you recommend creatine to a 14 year old. I've been working out since November. I'm on 75 Day Hard challenge and I'm not recovering well.

[@warrenhenning8064]

How should beginners learn to gauge RIR, like saying "I stopped that set at 2 RIR not 1 RIR"? Some exercises have a huge amount of effort required to reach true muscular failure and many people will give up before then, like squats and deadlifts.

[@orangachang]

Anything significant different for someone working out in their 40s?

[@shaqitup]

May be a silly question but how about PPL with 6 training days for every eight? E.g PPL, rest PPL rest. Basically how I have been operating for a while and I don’t see much difference between 7 and 8 days.

[@Abdo-co7ye]

what do think is more important to focus on. Reaching failure or progressive overload

[@kamshik]

How are these exclusive? If you're new to the gym, try to reach failure on each excercise so you have a baseline. After that, as he said, just train until you don't think you can do another rep or when the reps become really slow, thats usually good enough. Progressive overload is needed for growth over time. As a rule of thumb, always use weights that make you fail at around 10 reps. If you cant overload over time, you need to start eating more (if you're sufficiently lean)

[@franzhulk2947]

Dont reach failure and progressive overload

[@user-bl9fj7kf1s]

Im not taking any chances. I'll wait for the 2025 video

[@moneymaker-ju1mq]

I think i didn't grow any muscle last year. Now i know it will work this time

[@anasbendahou7722]

The best split is the one that can suit your lifestyle

[@pongsakornonnim1845]

Somehow getting enough sleep is the hardest thing to do for me.

[@Mokujinko]

Hello Mr Wolf, I have a question for you that my doctor hasn't been able to. Nor have I been able to find any information suggesting that this is a risk: taking creatine invariably gives me seizures and I don't know why or if there's a way to make it safe to use. Is this something you're familiar with? I've tried various brands, times of the day, pre vs post workout. The outcome is always the same.

[@Mokujinko]

Woops, Dr Wolf now not Mr - sorry!

[@nickm2677]

Do you agree with huberman’s recommendations of upping Creatine to 10g per day?

[@Coconut282]

there’s no agreement, it’s facts. Dose creatine based upon bodyweight 🤦