Junk Volume: Why You Must Avoid It For Max Muscle

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In this video I'm covering the 3 most common types of junk volume. How many sets should you do per workout to maximize muscle growth? What is the threshold for effective volume per-session? How hard should you train to ensure that your workout volume isn't "junk"?
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References:
James Krieger Meta-analysis:
weightology.ne...
Training Frequency Study:
pubmed.ncbi.nl...
Easy Sets Study:
pubmed.ncbi.nl...
High Rep Sets Study:
www.massmember...
pubmed.ncbi.nl...
Music:
Bankrupt Beats:
• Video
Filmed by Big 3 Media:
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Edited by Jeff Nippard using Final Cut Pro
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About me: I'm a Canadian natural pro bodybuilder and internationally-qualified powerlifter with a BSc in biochemistry/chemistry and a passion for science. I've been training for 12 years drug-free. I'm 5'5 and fluctuate between 160 lbs (lean) and 180 lbs (bulked).
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Disclaimers: Jeff Nippard is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before starting any exercise program. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Jeff Nippard will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this video including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or death.

[@nickvalin5543]

I'd love to know how this principle works with the secondary muscles worked by compound movements. For example, does a hard set of pull-ups count as a hard set for biceps? What about lat pull-down? Seems like a big grey area to me.

[@s.bhaskar1736]

Very nice question! Was about to ask the same...

[@freddiecraven]

yea cause with that logic my ticeps on my upper days on compound alone would equal 15 sets, assuming they are secondary movers it does not have the same affect

[@MrSpicabooo]

Not a hard set but it still counts. Dr mike isratael from juggernaut periodization would be the go to guy for that kind of info.

[@mtmatt8958]

Thatd be a good video for jeff to make

[@GavinJBerry-kq1jq]

I believe bicep activation with back movements to mainly be a form flaw; where you extend your arms all of the way on a rowing exercise instead of keeping your elbow(s) bent throughout the entire movement, as an example. This allows for a better contraction for your back.

[@mertk.9136]

I still cant believe how good jeff is at holding presentations. He basically does minimized bachelore thesis in almost each of his videos.

[@samrad6508]

Lol that's the best way to describe his videos ! He works hard to make his content and I respect that a lot .

[@infensus87]

I actually learned how to package information to be presentable in his videos, besides the fitness stuff of course.

[@mertk.9136]

@@infensus87 yess!! I used his style on a student lecture about RSVP (graphic design based info lecture about reading words that appear fast one by one) Also added some interactive stuff - And my prof liked it so much he still keeps mentioning it whenever i have a presentstion Thanks jeff :D

[@KenanTurkiye]

He's (Jeff) is one of those people who critiques him self and strives to do better which results in good output that keeps on improving, where as many influencers are out there for an 'aim' that is souced outside of them selves, that is to gain money, hence why they lack the same quality. Basically, whenever one does something to satisfy themselves for themselves they bring out quality, but when someone does something for someone elses accolade (money is an 'outside' benefit) they usualy miss that quality. So do what you love people.

[@helojoe92]

I wouldn't go as far as comparing it to a bachelor's thesis, more like a short scientific review you'd have to do for a seminar. But yes, his presentation style is awesome!

[@SuperbSchmarts]

If I close my eyes, Ben Shapiro is telling me my workout is trash.

[@swifttech3602]

I will never un-hear that...

[@stuart124]

You need to play it at 1.25x speed.

[@tomkelly4496]

That's the first thing I was going to say.

[@JohnSmith-wv5km]

I think anyone watching this has better workout habits than him

[@swifttech3602]

@@JohnSmith-wv5km and why exactly do you think that?

[@adrianrump9003]

As a scientist who regularly deals with scientific papers I must say that Jeff´s ability to interpret such papers and especially putting them into the bigger scope is exceptionally impressive!

[@ricky5369]

What field are you?

[@adrianrump9003]

@@ricky5369 clinical pharmacy

[@REDACTED-1]

I’m something of a scientist myself.

[@mechanich1249]

Me too a scientist and look better than Jeffrey lol 😆

[@lb96]

shut up

[@tyrowolfe3034]

Extremely valuable video. Thank you. I farm for a living which is very physically demanding. When I work out, I want to be as efficient as possible in my results so I'm not burning myself out for my work. Videos like this really help

[@alexc7857]

thanks for feeding the world 🌍 and your hard work

[@evodota]

it means 6 8 sets per week is enough for triceps shoulders biceps and chest right ?

[@subject8776]

@@evodota No, per workout sessions. It's recommended to aim for at least 10 sets per WEEK (up to 20 sets)but not more than 6-8 per SESSION.

[@jujimufu]

Great video! The visuals and graphs helped illustrate this topic particularly well for me.

[@gerobonet]

omg it's juji

[@olimelkamu1403]

yh that defo came in cutch because ik ur thicc :)

[@polynesianmovtgp7439]

What if in the end sets you increase weight?

[@crraayyzehhhh9375]

There is a very easy hack around this. Who says you have to do all your volume in one go. 3 sets of chest incline followed by 3 sets high rows then go back and do flat chest. by interweaving groups of sets you can get away with way way more than you think and lactic acid wont build up so easy

[@quinnbero8221]

I agree with this comment

[@DrJacobGoodin]

Dr. Krieger is such a boss. I literally was sending some of his research to an excercise phys colleague last week as she prepped for a lecture about optimal sets for resistance training. Thanks for making such high quality knowledge available in video format Jeff.

[@mihailhidler5400]

People in prison do a lot of "junk volume" and still manage to grow big time. 90% fitness content on KZbin is BS.

[@Gong-Cheng]

Check my list, i followed and learned a lot from both of Dr.Jacob and Jeff

[@Nathancwpl]

Love your vids, helping me continue to learn and progress to achieving my Uksca here in the UK!! 🏅

[@ryedj707]

@@mihailhidler5400 video never said junk volume will prevent gains, it’s just about how junk volume is useless and you’re spending way too much time on things which won’t help you, thus slowing your overall gains in the long term.

[@PurifyWithLight]

@@mihailhidler5400 Men naturally produce more testosterone in prison to defend thier holes

[@Gamer.Instinct]

I had a friend that always complained that no matter how much protein and surplus he had & how often he worked out he couldn’t put on more muscle. He was lean and a bit muscular but could never put on noticeable muscle… one day we did a “I’ll train one day with you and you train one day with me.” So it was his turn first to workout with me and workout the way I do. Mind you he’s about 4 inches taller than me and normally stronger. So I started & showed him the routine for the day and my work out philosophy and mentality. Predominantly, low reps high weight. So for example, our first workout was bench press. I did 10, 8, 5, 3 reps (sometime most of y’all might already consider too high volume). With 10 being a decent challenge weight, let’s say 50lbs (yes I am completely weak in the chest), then by the 5 rep weight I would be doing 75lbs, something that for me already required a spotter. And for the final set, 3 reps of 80lbs which was literally almost my max, I’m talking like barely being able to actually do it. So you feel me? That sort of workout where you can actually feel your muscles sore and like they’re torn up. Constantly doing reps close to your max. This system really works for me, and I notice very fast and good results from it. So it was his turn to do the bench, and I told him “make sure that you use a weight where 10 reps ends up being a decent challenge, 8 you increase the weight a little more, 5 is a hard challenge, like you might not finish it. And 3 reps of a weight that you can barely do.” Dude was like “yea yea,” and proceeded to do the same weights I did with so much ease that he did like 15 reps, then 15 more, then 10, and 10 :| so we moved on and all throughout the workout I kept telling him that it seemed he was going too light and to increase the weight more and he kept on bitching and telling me no. We finished and he was like “that’s it??? This is so easy man” meanwhile I’m there feeling all the muscles we worked on about to rip and tear :| A week later it was my turn to workout out with him. Needless to say, we did like 40 more minutes of cardio than what I normally do. Then we “hit the weights.” We started with bicep curls, and he was like “alright dude let’s do 50 curls…” and he preceded to grab the 15lbs when I know for a fact that his one rep max for a curl is at least at 50lbs :| and like he wouldn’t rest either, it’s like his rest from doing curls was dips, like you feel me? By the end of his workout routine I felt tired ye, and sore but it wasn’t the same soreness. My soreness was over literally like 6 hours later, whereas the soreness from my workouts usually last 2-3 days depending on how close to failure or my one rep max I’m getting to. I was like, yo no wonder this dude can’t put on weight or get stronger, he just trains light weights for insanely high volume and never gets close to actual challenging weight. He never understood this, no matter how I tried to explain it or how many KZbin videos like these I showed him. To this day he still workouts out like 2 hours daily, diets severely (I’m talking, any surplus calories must come from greens & proteins, almost no fats not even healthy ones, and no bad carbs, dude literally takes the bread off his burgers… no he’s not gluten intolerant), prioritises high volume as opposed to high weight, and still bitches about not getting bigger or any stronger 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@CapnCoconuts]

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting things to change. Besides that, he's doing heavy cardio before weights, he's most likely held back by the interference effect, and doing so many reps with small weights is more of an endurance exercise than anything. No wonder he has no gains.

[@EI_Greko]

make sure to warm up before and stretch after working out that will help with soreness

[@catedoge3206]

he's too far gone. may the gainz godz help that lad.

[@jaysherman4149]

Is he still stronger than you despite being much taller?

[@kristoferprovencal3608]

I know this is an old comment but you’ve got the right idea man, some people will just never understand progressive overload and take low reps, high weight for hypertrophy way too far and miss out on the hypertrophy. Curious to see how much stronger you are now and if you’ve closed that gap with your friend. Maybe once you do he’ll figure it out.

[@charlesmendeley9823]

Thanks for these ultra valuable videos. Just as a side note: the "easy sets" only becomes a problem if one does not have a working progression scheme. Else, easy sets only happen temporarily until one has increased the weight / reps / sets until the exercise becomes challenging again.

[@RodgerBeatty]

0

[@RodgerBeatty]

8😊 0:23 0:23

[@steveloge8119]

The info. The explanation. The organization. The literature review. The video editing. Jeff's videos are better than what the online fitness community deserves.

[@steveloge8119]

Reading this dissolved my white matter tracts

[@christopherdoiron4294]

heres a question then. lets say you're lifting with form and getting 6-10 rep but if you muscle it, you can rep out 16-20. BUT, if you increase weight, with form you cannot do 6-10. What's better. form 6-10 with Progressive OL, rep out volume, break plateau with heavy weight, or increase weight and rep out a viscious 6-10 with bad form?

[@steveloge8119]

@@christopherdoiron4294 I think it would depend on your stimulus-to-fatigue ratio, which would differ from person to person. When you life in the 6-10 rep range vs the 15-20 rep range, do you feel it more in the target muscle, or are you just entirely exhausted after the set? For some people, lifting in a certain rep range is just more exhausting and less stimulative to the target muscle than in another rep range. At the end of the set when you come close to failure, does your target muscle feel fried, or do you just feel like you were surviving the whole time?

[@christopherdoiron4294]

@@steveloge8119 I think this is why I also like Ryan's videos because he focuses on that connection over all else, volume or intensity, he wants the target obliterated. Thank you

[@evodota]

it means 6 8 sets per week is enough for triceps shoulders biceps and chest right ?

[@scolez161]

Would love to see a breakdown video on warm up sets. Specifically how many sets to do, how heavy each set should be, etc

[@ePICS8]

Me too

[@qraxulz4376]

I think it ultimately depends on the program. For me, I'm running nSuns 4 day LP and it has you doing a top set amrap of squat, bench, deadlift every week. Each compound movement has a total of 9 sets but is usually in the 3-5 rep range, rather than the 8-12 because it is a strength/ powerlifting program. That being said for warm ups I typically do 2-3 warm up sets before that. So, often times I gotta do 12 sets of squats. For me, my warmups are less than the first set weight. For instance, if my first set is 140 kg/ ~315 lbs then I would warm up with the bar, 60kg/ ~135 lbs, and 100 kg/ ~225 lbs. Then I would put on knee sleeves, wrist wraps, chalk, and a lever belt for the working sets. To clarify, the warm ups are without any equipment.

[@edrius154]

If Im not mistaken, he has elaborated on a warm up sets in the recent _push pull legs 2022_ video for the squats and bench.

[@durachoks]

This is so individual, just try what works best for you

[@h0451]

The answer is whenever you feel warm. Different from everyone different every session don’t complicate it just go by how you feel 👍🏻

[@magicjerk2641]

Thank you - this video in particular was more useful than most content I've seen... I love that you back up your claims with meta-analysis of the scientific literature. Thanks to you I'm going to be able to save a significant chunk of time related to "junk volume" with confidence. I've already been trending this way already from personal experience (breaking up big sessions into many sessions over the week), but now that I have some evidence behind the decision, I'll be able to modify my remaining 'big' sessions into multiple 'smaller' sessions with zeal.

[@turnipking8788]

Basically an 8 hour arm workout

[@benjscar1540]

That's called "edging"

[@NattyLifeYT]

Excellent video! I think lots of people have a junk volume problem and we should all be trying to optimise our programming in order to make all our sets as effective as possible. Also I think someone's junk volume could change with time. For example when they are novices perhaps 2 sets per body part is plenty to get them growing muscle, however as you get more advanced or even elite, you will have to add more sets in order to accumulate more tonnage to keep progressing.

[@ArgonEygovsson]

quite the opposite actually, as you get more advanced you need less volume as you are able to make each set more effective

[@NattyLifeYT]

@@ArgonEygovsson I don't think that's the case mate. Someone who has been training naturally for 10 years can't just decrease their volume and keep progressing. That doesn't make much sense. That's why novice programs are usually very basic whereas intermediate and advanced programs will usually push the lifter much more.

[@thealbinorhino8760]

A problem with the studies above is that they are all characterized by very low numbers of participants, relative to how large of an effect one can expect different training volumes to yield. Had the number of participants in the studies been higher, we could have possibly been able to discern more differences between different approaches. Low numbers of participants in the individual studies increase the need to meta-analyze the results. That is, to combine the results from all similar studies into one pool. But then we have the problem of heterogeneity: it is difficult to compare studies with such different approaches in terms of exercise choices and training sessions per week. If we work ourselves from the bottom up, it looks fairly clear that about 10 sets taken to failure per muscle and week give greater strength increases and muscle growth than less training. This is mainly based on research on previously untrained participants. If we look at trained participants, it seems possible that a training volume upwards of 15-20 sets to failure per muscle and week can give a slightly better result, at least if the training is divided into at least two sessions per week. In my personal experience, I also seem to have seen that a training volume upwards of 15-20 sets to failure per muscle and week can yield additional gains for someone who has previously mostly done around 10 sets to failure per muscle and week. For some people, even more sets than that can probably be beneficial, at least during certain time periods, but then we are probably starting to talk about special cases rather than general cases. Note that, for example, a high-level bodybuilder or powerlifter may very well be a special case.

[@coachingconfidant2785]

@@ArgonEygovsson argon is right you guys are all really dumb. I got my money on him for making the most gains..smart lad provided u lot are natural

[@nunninkav]

@@ArgonEygovsson no, I think you need more, but not more like a guy on roids can do more. Muscles become used to the workload, so I assume a newb peaks at 6 sets and an advanced trainer probably 10. The guy on roids can do 14 and still recover.

[@dastanbekkadyrkulov]

Jeff puts so much work into his videos the only thing i can do for him is standing ovations . Thanks bro!

[@evodota]

it means 6 8 sets per week is enough for triceps shoulders biceps and chest right ?

[@tomphelan6223]

His ability to explain the concept is exceptional. Like an instructor I once had told his students, if you can explain it to a 6 y/o and they get it, you understand it yourself.

[@evodota]

it means 6 8 sets per week is enough for triceps shoulders biceps and chest right ?

[@Aryan.schizo]

​@@evodotaIf you push to failure it definitely is enough. Even though personally (not a scientist or anything 😂) Ive found out that working muscle groups like the chest 6 sets per week is too low. Id rather be around 10

[@evodota]

@@Aryan.schizo i think the same bro

[@Aarohnn]

I appreciate you leaving the links to the studies in the description, high quality information right here

[@johannes01]

yes such a good move from him :)

[@shaunakkulkarni4679]

Don’t trust these studies tho. They don’t account for your body. Tbh the one study showing how many sets to do was kind of inconclusive. Sure they showed a trend but the outliers show that they really don’t know what’s going on.

[@taovanrooyenreyes2543]

Can we stop and appreciate how good the quality of Jeff's videos are. Crazy honestly

[@popelgruner595]

That's not the only thing is crazy good about him...

[@Manguerah]

Absolutely. Most fitness channels typically have the same info said differently. This man's channel is different 👍👍👍

[@rj_p]

i think #2 is the most relevant to me... a few months back I realized that I essentially wasn't pushing myself hard enough in the gym, doing too many "easy" sets... while I was in good shape, I wasn't getting stronger and I wasn't progressing. I started tracking my PRs on every lift at every weight and my goal is to set a PR on every visit to the gym. so far so good.

[@jeltoninc.8542]

Me too. I get used to a certain workout schedule and then I don’t really push myself when I need to. This week I started really pushing myself hard.

[@manpip1359]

This guy is so fucking good. All the research, the papers and work puts in, i really appreciate trainers who actually show proof and know what they are talking about .The fact he is researching and trying to learn and present to us, means that what he says is even more trustworthy, and not just broscience

[@nimishsharma10]

Undoubtedly, the most consistent fitnesses you-tuber. Clearly putting in the work in order to bring out the quality content!! 👏👏

[@evodota]

it means 6 8 sets per week is enough for triceps shoulders biceps and chest right ?

[@pieterwesterink50]

This is actually what I needed, I want to increase my jiu jitsu and wrestling training to 5 times a week and strength and conditioning training 3 times a week, so this will really help keeping myself from over fatigueing. It is almost suspicuous how coincidental this video is

[@johannes01]

awesome! for how long are you doing jiu jitsu already?

[@strider5474]

I'd be interested too, because sounds like a lot of load to recover from

[@johannes01]

@@strider5474 yess

[@cbjueueiwyru7472]

Thank you for covering the point at 3:46. In the past, when I have decreased volume based on things like this, I felt progress slow. Everyone is different so I appreciate that you acknowledged that it's not 1 size fits all

[@wishesandfishes]

I think a distinction needs to be made between sets per muscle group and sets per exercise. For instance, three sets of bench, two sets of dips, and two sets of weighted push-ups feels much more effective for me than seven sets of bench, despite both options containing seven sets for chest.

[@stevensimcox1780]

@@wishesandfishes I have to imagine this comes about because you can work harder on two different exercises because, though they do train the same sets of muscles, they won't train them in the exact same way so you will get some effort shifted from one head of muscle to another in each (i.e. one exercise doing 60%-40% between two parts of the muscle, the other doing 40%-60%) thus giving you a better all around workout. I'd be curious to what extent that actually makes a difference vs just the rest time being greater (typically) between sets of one exercise and between two wholly different exercises.

[@shawnchristophermalig4339]

Thank you, Jeff! I'm a philosophy student, I do read researches as a routine. Your video is like a meta analysis to all. I have good leverage in my learnings, all because of you. I love your sources and all!

[@markpetruschi6034]

Great video!! As a beginner, my two main mistakes were lack of sleep and not eating enough. I was disappointed because my weight stagnated. Then I got my first diet plan (I think it was from Nextlevel DIet). I realised that my previous food intake was way below my needs, although I thought I'm good. At the beginning it was hard to eat so many kcal in a day, but I got used to it. I started noticing real gains and it felt amazing. I wish I'd understood the importance of diet earlier.

[@riveralvarez7517]

How much did you eat?

[@sonic-fm1gw]

You can't know how many are junk sets. Undertraining is worse because there is no stimulus at all. It is better to do more volume than not enough.

[@thereisnofinishline5773]

God I fucking hate these diet add bots

[@danielstan2301]

@@thereisnofinishline5773 i know it is a bot but what it says is correct. I also had huge shock after i started counting my calories. In my head i was eating lots of calories but in reality i was eating about half of what i thought . For people like me it is a struggle to eat over 2000 calories of non junk food and because of this any amount of work i do in the gym is not that helpful and can even cause muscle loss instead of muscle gain especially when you do junk sets

[@markpetruschi6034]

@@riveralvarez7517 A lot for sure

[@matthewclark7952]

I’m grateful every time I see a good video like this that gives me the opportunity to learn something that will stay with me throughout my training. Thank you.

[@johannes01]

it's awesome that we can learn so much for free on yt!!

[@patrickvanmeter2922]

Thank you for posting this. Answered questions I have had for quite some time. BTW, I have followed you since you started and would just like to say, you should be proud of yourself. Your gains are incredible. I'm 82 and still learning after weight training and exercising since I was 15. Always appreciate your knowledge. Thank you.

[@evodota]

it means 6 8 sets per week is enough for triceps shoulders biceps and chest right ?

[@unchained8]

Thank you for your honesty and patience of being one of the few really natural body builders. Really real is better because longevity and quality of life prove it.

[@_ryfitz_]

The most results I have seen is with the 4-5 day a week full body workouts with the regimen spread out over those 4-5 days. I absolutely love the pumps and my results have been fantastic. Thanks Jeff!

[@za.307]

Full body split 4-5 days. Suprised you can recover from that.

[@Grunger999]

@@za.307 Jeff has a 5-day High Frequency Full Body Program. This is probably what he's referring to. It's a great program.

[@steelers3242]

Share the routine!

[@PercyJackson93]

With 4 sets per excercise? How long is a workout? That has to be about 2 hours each time. Are you just doing compound excercises to cut the time?

[@liamjohnson7887]

​@za.307 exactly what I was thinking.

[@philipmorgan5033]

Thank you Jeff this is literally the best stuff on the Internet as far as I’m concerned. Following your videos has been a major contributor to my training results.

[@johannes01]

are you doing weight lifting?

[@jaemsie]

The caveats are important, everyone is different which is not always highlighted in almost all KZbin training video. I personally need volume to see big changes in my body which took a very very long time to realise, mainly because I was being far too sensible. The advice such as from these vids with a splash of Ryan Humiston is what works for me

[@higherresolution4490]

An excellent video and one that is particularly useful for me. One thing about the volume studies that needs to be clarified is which people in the studies are on gear, and which people are not.

[@FitLabb]

Such an important & quality video Jeff! This is exactly what all beginner & even intermediate lifters need to learn to counter all the sub-optimal advice they’ve been fed by people on social media. 💪

[@GerosFitness]

This dude has helped the world

[@GazaAli]

I recently switched to a low-volume, higher-weight routine, and I'm starting to see some pleasing results. I feel much stronger and my physique is much fuller as well. Definitely going to stick with this for a while at least.

[@JohnDoe-qq8et]

Combine both. Too much heavy lifting can wreak havoc on the joints, especially in your older years. A healthy balance is key.

[@GazaAli]

@@JohnDoe-qq8et I agree. It's just that I've been doing high-volume for quite some time.

[@nishanalfred]

A phasic approach is best imo. Spend 2/3rd of your year focusing on 10-20 reps and 1/3rd of your year in the 5-10 rep range

[@JakeLuden]

@@JohnDoe-qq8et common misconception. It’s the repetition that kills your joints. Doing 6-8 heavy reps will be optimal for your joints while 12-15 will hurt you faster over time.

[@justkenny724]

I also did this for a few months now. And since 2 weeks I started getting pain in my elbow joint. So now I have to slow down. In this Time Frame I went from a 75Kg 1RM to a 100Kg 1RM. But it Sems that my elbow didn’t like that progression😂. So Pls don’t over work yourself. It’s really annoying right now because I had to reduce a lot of weight.

[@Priapos93]

I started watching KZbin to make sure I develop good form. Thanks to the algorithm, I've watched a few of your videos on volume, and have switched from two to three sets per exercise, per workout. Next, I'm going for three full-body resistance workouts per week, up from two. I'm still a noob, but I'm aiming to achieve beginner status. I wish I had acess to this kind of "lift with your mind, not your ego" content when I was young! I wouldn't be getting such a late start.

[@henrytang2203]

Brilliant video. I'm going back into training after a nearly decade hiatus. Good to know these tips for optimising my workout.

[@JessJ2011]

I've been doing Jeff’s upper/lower program for 7 weeks now, and I gotta say - I was definitely doing a ton of junk volume before starting the program. When I originally got it I thought I would see no progress because it was almost half the total sets per week as I was doing before, but I've already really improved my squat and I've been having to add weight the last 3 weeks to hit RPE 7-9 for most movements in the rep ranges he gave. Most importantly, I don't feel run down and exhausted outside the gym, I feel awesome.

[@matthewturner1201]

That's a good review man. I think back how how I trained (just coming back into bodybuilding) and I swear half my time was junk volume lol

[@StonkeyKong]

I’m a bit confused though, if you only do 6 sets per muscle won’t that only take like 20-30 minutes?

[@JessJ2011]

@@StonkeyKong it’s an upper/lower split, so I do multiple muscle groups each workout. (Ie upper = 6 sets for chest, 6 for back, 4 for shoulders, 4 for triceps etc). I’ve switched to push/pull/legs now tho

[@larrydavid4668]

@@JessJ2011 do you think its best to work out on only one muscle group per session or is it better to incorporate more per workout?

[@JessJ2011]

@@larrydavid4668 I think any split that allows you to hit most muscle groups at least 2x per week is best.. but different ppl respond differently to different splits. If you’ve always done a bro split, might be worth trying a push/pull/legs or upper/lower.

[@edinahahhahahahah]

This is a bit random but I just want to thank you for your videos, they have really helped me get an effective workout and its almost unbelievable how much I have grown and gained weight the past 2 years. Without your videos, I would definitively have been doing ineffective/wrong movements. Never stop making videos, bye!

[@goodquestion1233]

What about pyramid sets for pull ups for example?

[@WestCoastUSA546]

​@@goodquestion1233 What about it?

[@ehsanzahoor607]

Jeff, your content is unmatched on this platform (or any platform for that matter) and you are an extremely knowledgable individual. After the great (late) JOHN MEADOWS you are my go-to science based fitness KZbinr. I am sure you will not mind being number 2 to the legend! :)

[@thequintanashow5058]

I get it. However,I just love being in the gym so yes I prob do more sets than necessary, but, I’m in a place I love

[@svetlioramos3345]

I am training with really low weekly volume per muscle and still making good progress . Every set and every rep must be perfect for me to get that progress . Thank you so much Jeff for your videos .💪

[@Danuliq952]

Interesting. Can you describe your low weekly volume? What split? How many sets and reps per day?

[@1TieDye1]

Damn. 6 sets sounds like almost nothing. Very good to know though. I think another struggle that I and other gym rats struggle with is that we enjoy working out. Lifting is the favorite part of my day so why wouldn't I want longer workouts? Long hard workouts are very enjoyable too, at times, and it feels good to make a hard workout for yourself then succeed

[@gregperez-greene7408]

i feel you, what I do is instead of pushing my self to do the same exercise excessive times, I just cut my losses and try to go and do as many different exercises

[@WhopperCheeseDota]

Just don't do a bro splits. Do upper lower. 6 sets of chest, back, shoulders and arms in a workout is tough and takes a while.

[@animesloversunited9069]

that's per day session workout

[@sondersonics7534]

@@WhopperCheeseDota 6 sets in total for upper body? What

[@WhopperCheeseDota]

@@sondersonics7534 each body part

[@johnasigbekye3028]

This man here is giving liquid gold advice for free. God bless you Jeff!

[@TheBcoolGuy]

I usually don't like your videos, but I like this one. Probably because you didn't stare yourself blind at studies.

[@aussiesimmo]

Definitely makes sense. I made the jump from body building to powerlifting a year ago. I got myself a good coach who monitors my form and volume. I remember looking at his first program and thinking "where's the volume? I'm not gonna grow doing these 4 small full body sessions". Good thing I trusted the process because I'm in the gym less, still growing and adding weight to the bar week in week out.

[@thespeeddemon5685]

Can u explain your workout routine

[@marcwente8943]

Amazing content like always! Wish I had known all this 20 years ago haha! Doing 6 sets per workout and 10-20 sets per week per muscle group is the holy grail of training. I've been able to maximize gains while minimizing recovery time and recovery past your mid 30s gets brutal. I realize not everybody has easy access to the gym but I've seen a huge benefit of doing short workouts 4-5x a week instead of cramming the same workload into long grueling gym sessions 2-3x per week. Consistency and moderation is key! Thanks Jeff!

[@luissilvahernandez2943]

Hey brother, quick question Are the 6 sets including warm up sets or are the 6 sets all hard sets not including warm up sets?

[@MindYourOwnBusinessPls]

@@luissilvahernandez2943 All hard sets

[@strange4change_6]

I’m glad I read this! I was just at the gym thinking that a hour & a half is too much.

[@kamacazi8]

@@strange4change_6 it's not. You have to think of everything. You're age, experience in gym, health, genes, form, sleep schedule, nutrition. Of course these videos don't cover all this, neither do the studies he looks over.....

[@JusticeFPS]

If you do a split that hits each muscle once per week, and thus making you have fit all your weekly volume in one session, should you go with the 6-8 sets guideline or 10-20 sets?

[@absolu222]

I no longer count the repetition in a set but aims at roughly 10 reps. I find that failure is a much better yardstick and now see volume in terms of time under tension. I do only one set, (HIT extended set), slow repetition, 4 seconds eccentric and 2 seconds concentric controlled movements and I am having a better workout and recovery, spending less time working out.

[@defaultworkouts]

TUT IS KEY. time under tension rules!

[@kolyagreen1566]

I also do one set, man! Works good for me!

[@bunny.bunbob]

Rather time under high tension aka low movement velocity even with high effort

[@stevenzacharie2291]

Jeff, your content is amazing. Recently started following and it is clear you're passionate about what you do by the amount of time, research and information you put into each video.

[@kaimaurin-jones9688]

Thanks so much, Jeff! Having followed you for several years now, it's so cool seeing the production quality of your video just keep going up and up and the information staying as amazing as ever. Really grateful for your stuff! Keep up the awesome work

[@mihailhidler5400]

Bot

[@scottmelissa9594]

Absolutely! Jeff, incredible insight bro. Thank you for your relentless digging for our benefit

[@evodota]

it means 6 8 sets per week is enough for triceps shoulders biceps and chest right ?

[@n.davidmiller2029]

Kudos to a guy who has minimal junk talking in his videos :) Thank you.

[@soulreaper1461]

It's amazing how barebones those studies are. They always come up with some golden rule based off pretty much anything consistent. That is it bro: do 6 sets per muscle per day. Here is the list of variables that don't play a role at all: height, weight, age; lenght of your arms, legs and torso; number of reps, RiR rate, type of exercises, difference between compound and isolated exercises, influence of compound exercises on pre-exhaustion of non target muscles, sequence of exercises, type of program, rest period between sessions, type of muscle (it is the same rule for quadriceps and biceps, hell yeah), etc... None of that matters, just follow the golden rule and go to town. People make fun about gym bros but I feel like a lot of these researches are conducted by the same bros who just put on a lab jacket

[@lundh821]

Yes, these kind of studies always lack a lot of information. What were the subjects physical status? Were they all new to training or were they all close to their natural limit? Nutrients? I mean eating right will definetely do more than doing "the right" amount of sets.

[@soulreaper1461]

@@lundh821 "6 sets per muscle per day. Bro... trust me!"

[@SpecialAbonnent]

Exactly my thoughts

[@andrewlalis]

All of the authors of these studies aren't really drawing any definitive conclusions, just showing what appear to be some general trends that occur when you change certain factors of a training regimen while keeping all other factors as constant as possible. It's still important that more studies continue to come in so that we have a stronger consensus so that we can actually make proper judgements.

[@thealbinorhino8760]

A problem with the studies above is that they are all characterized by very low numbers of participants, relative to how large of an effect one can expect different training volumes to yield. Had the number of participants in the studies been higher, we could have possibly been able to discern more differences between different approaches. Low numbers of participants in the individual studies increase the need to meta-analyze the results. That is, to combine the results from all similar studies into one pool. But then we have the problem of heterogeneity: it is difficult to compare studies with such different approaches in terms of exercise choices and training sessions per week. If we work ourselves from the bottom up, it looks fairly clear that about 10 sets taken to failure per muscle and week give greater strength increases and muscle growth than less training. This is mainly based on research on previously untrained participants. If we look at trained participants, it seems possible that a training volume upwards of 15-20 sets to failure per muscle and week can give a much better result, at least if the training is divided into at least two sessions per week. In my personal experience, I also seem to have seen that a training volume upwards of 15-20 sets to failure per muscle and week can yield additional gains for someone who has previously mostly done around 10 sets to failure per muscle and week. For some people, even more sets than that can probably be beneficial, at least during certain time periods, but then we are probably starting to talk about special cases rather than general cases. Note that, for example, a high-level bodybuilder or powerlifter may very well be a special case.

[@MrNgParker]

Trying to go from the intermediate to advanced and believe this video may have finally convinced me to switch over to the PPL. I’ll give it a go and see how it works out. Thanks for the video.

[@lucasricardofolco442]

If you do full body 3x a week you get more volume ;)

[@do870]

@@lucasricardofolco442 Really? I thought 6 days a week would give more chance for volume or are you talking about the 3 times frequency per muscle group?

[@fifis101]

I think PPL, day off, PPL, day off, is the best option but unfortunately it doesn't work for me. I have a young family and the weekend is family time and we go away a lot. Running a PPL program means I'd have to train during the weekend. So for now I'm stuck doing the bro split as it fits better in a 5 day split.

[@JoshBenware]

@@lucasricardofolco442 he said he's becoming advanced. Full body 3x a week is great for novices, but for someone who is on the cusp of becoming advanced, it's a horrible idea that noone advanced does at all. You'll spend 3 hours in the gym just due to warm up sets with the weights you'll need if your doing full body. PPL is already hard enough to prioritize just those muscle groups and not spend hours in the gym. This is why many advanced guys tend to lean towards body part splits with emphasis on lagging muscles twice a week, everything else once. It just takes too long to do multiple muscles in a day.

[@fifis101]

@@JoshBenware yep exactly. Same reason as to why they have to move into the two sessions a day. Advanced enhanced athletes have to do this to get the volume & intensity they need.

[@buffbatman2]

Mike says 1 set to failure then 96 hrs of rest. He was huge i believe him.

[@your_source_network_media]

Yes thank you for touching on this subject. It's something that we all need to think about. I realized a long time ago . You hear from these other guys wondering how many repetitions and how many sets. If you feel it and it's burning and you've know your really hitting the muscle then you're doing it right If you're not going to go the distance then you're not going to feel that burn You're not going to get those gains. Yes there are junk days. I personally have had junk sessions. We have to avoid these and work hard enough and then you won't have to wonder if your doing enough sets or reps. Your muscle part will tell you everything 👍. And the way your physique looks after you've been doing your routine the way you do.

[@inconnu7582]

Hi from France ! In my opinion, I think we forget one thing which is crucial. It's the currently feeling. Indeed, if your 3 sets of 10 reps and that you are in a good moove, why just don't add a set more ? weiglifting in general is focus on the volume or intensity as you said a lot of time. But, the most important rule is to learn to know your body. If your body wants to add some reps and/or set, just do it. In a other hand, if you body tells you to reduce (for any reason like fatigue, stress etc.) just listen your body. Be carefull, don't justification for lazy ! I could use a exemple to illustrate what I think : Running. If you start to run for 15 km (I don't know with miles..) and that you'r feeling this desire to run more, just do it. You can easily add 5 Killometers if you want. Besides, if you like to train with high reps or low reps, make it. Numbers are good if you have a very high level in bodybuilding. But for 90% of all viewers, this is not the case. (and when I said very high level, it most of the time with illegal supplements because you don't have choice to keep build muscle) Finally, listen and learn your body and your saoul. PS : sorry for my english.

[@K.Ali.K]

Your English is fine man! I totally agree and I believe what you're referring to is a principle called autoregulation, which is basically exactly what you said. Going with how you feel in the moment.

[@adam____________]

Pas faux mais après c'est compliqué de structurer ta progression si tu te reposes uniquement sur ton feeling du jour...

[@brendan8593]

There is an argument to be made for what you're feeling on any given day. I agree with you that if you're feeling it, then go. But 90% of the time I think it's smarter to just stick with a plan to avoid over/under training. As you said, 90% of the viewers aren't high level bodybuilders, but they still benefit from planning out their workouts. Going by "feeling" make your workouts less accurate. As in, one day you might feel good, which gets you to lift more, but the next day you feel shit, causing you to lift less. If you just try to lift at at a certain % of your 1RM, or lift at a certain RPE with a certain weight and don't go by feeling, there's a more accurate way of measuring your progress. Also you have got to take into account the fysiological processen when training. You might "feel" good, because you just took preworkout, had 8 hours of sleep and ate well, which will lead you to do excessive amounts of exercises or sets or whatever -- which will lead you to overtrain and/or you're just, like the video says, doing junkvolume. Edit: Really, trust me, I get going into the gym and just working out. But if you're even just a little bit serious about working out, you shouldn't only go by "knowing your body". A lot of people don't even know their body. They barely know what muscles are supposed to be worked when doing a certain exercise. We, Jeff Nippards viewers, generally, probably, know more about our own bodies, but new people in the gym definitely don't.

[@inconnu7582]

@@brendan8593 I'm totally agreed with your last paragraph, your edit. If you are begginer, yes you need to follow a routine and specific training. But when you know your feeling and your body, you can just follow them and trying to stay between your "tolerences" with weights, sets and repetition. Obiously, it depends of every training style for sure. If I speak about myself, I don't count any sets and repetitions. Unconsciousness, I know what I'm doing, as long as it stays at the minimum more than 3 sets and 8 reps for each exercice. It's like, Sometimes I don't plan to do an exercise. Just the willingness in the moment to do dips (example) boosts the session even if in my currently program I don't have dips. But you are right, everybody needs to learn with basics training at the beginning and step by step listen and learn to yourself

[@inconnu7582]

@@adam____________ Je suis d'accord avec toi à 100% J'aurai peut-être dû préciser qu'il faut quand même un minimum de cadrage. Par exemple, pour chaque exercice faire au minimum x série à x rep. Mais il ne faut pas se limiter à cela selon moi. Mais bon, chacun à sa manière de s'entrainer mais il me semble que beaucoup de youtuber comme celui-ci oublie de parler d'une chose fondamentale qui est de s'écouter et de se connaitre. Apres attention, je n'ai pas regardé toutes ses vidéos ni celles de ses confrères. :) Si tu t'entraines et que tu te sens moue et que tu sais que ce n'est pas parce que tu es fatigué réellement (journée de travail ou autre) ce qui risque de te créer des blessures, si dans ces moments tu arrives à te remotiver par quelconque raison, c'est top. Evidement il faut un certain temps de pratique.

[@MonkeyBarsEveryday]

I do 3-10 sets of vertical pulls per day. Usually 3-5 weighted during a lifting session and the rest unweighted throughout the day. Idk if it's junk volume but I'm getting pretty good at vertical pulls 😄

[@siali8683]

It really depends on what you want to train. For hypertrophy, you'd definitely better off with more rest, less sets and probably some more resistance. If you only wanna get better at the skill itself you're basically training your myoneural connection and your central nervous system go get better at the skill itself. I'm an aerial artist so I know a thing or two about practicing skills and from my experience, you'd still be better off with more rest for that as well. With that amount of volume you're also making it likely that you might get injured since your system is newer fully recovered

[@gackoman08]

All training is good training

[@MC-fu5ej]

This is of the highest quality of all bodybuilding youtubers so far.

[@Manguerah]

Dog you just answered a question could not get the answer for, for the last year. Nobody would cover it. People would say multiple sets per day, but they never mentioned how many sets for every variation. Like when they say 3 sets for biceps, they never mentioned if that's 3 sets for a specific head, or if it's 3 sets meaning 1 set per head. This changed the way I am approaching the gym now. Thank you x10000

[@nwgrizzlies11]

Love this. I think people at the gym think they gotta go as hard as possible on every set. Since he brought up the chest. I probably do 4 different chest exercises per workout. But on each different exercise the first set I always start with a light weight in order to not over fatigue myself, but to also make sure my technique is feeling good.

[@DJSIC82]

How many sets for each chest workout ? 3x12 or 5x12?

[@attackmaster519]

@@DJSIC82 Experiment and figure out what works best for you. There is no specific science, much as we would all like there to be, so we say that aiming for 10 to 20 hard sets per muscle group per week is what you should be looking for. For most people this will provide adequate stimulus for muscle growth. So to answer your question, so long as the RIR is roughly the same, there is not much of a difference. There will be some, and other factors like genetics play a role, but as long as you're finishing each set with enough energy to pump out a few more reps you will be golden. So 3x12 can work perfectly fine, as can 5x12. Understandably, 5x12 will likely need to have lower weights than the 3x12 in order to actually finish all those sets. That does not mean it is less effective than the other. There are plenty of strongmen who swear by sets of only around 5 or so reps, and they have no problem building muscle. So in conclusion: So long as you have a few reps in the tank left over after every set, it will not matter what format you do them in. High sets and/or high reps will understandably take more time whereas less sets and/or less reps will take less time. Some people find it boring to be pushing that weight for 15 reps, but they love the struggle of a heavier set where they're only doing around 5 or so. Others are the opposite, preferring the longer sets for one reason or another. My recommendation? Spend a few weeks trying different formats, differing amounts of reps/sets/weight, until you find something that feels right to you. Jut keep the RIR in the back of your mind as your switching things up, to make sure it all stays proportional. Injuring yourself is never fun.

[@someone-ji2zb]

Same with me but for biceps/forearm area. You simply cannot build your arms off of one exercise each half.

[@toasterman1457]

@@DJSIC82i do 2 sets per exercise to failure except on legs 2-3 sets max on those for chest Im trying to do less then 10 sets in a week. Great advice said by some people here is to just experiment withh this and see what works with you I personally train more intensity focused then volume but you do you have a good one bro God bless👊

[@DarkSolidity]

Very informative, I’ve been doing the 5 day a week full body routine and man I’ve not ever had results like this, thus far I’ve gone up in weight everyday on every muscle group except on pull-ups, that’s been a constant, but I’m not doing full body weight on those yet. Great routine and I’m absolutely loving it!

[@Niko-nt4wn]

Can u elaborate on ur full split plz🙏

[@BigBadBadger05]

This is an awesome video! Jeff Nippard, I am curious about one thing though and anyone else reading this; feel free to answer. I worked with a trainer at my gym 1 day a week for about 3 months he he did something with me that I have never done before. We did a full body workout on Monday or Wednesday with the next day off. BUT this full body workout was so unique he had me exhausted very quicklly. He called it 100s, we did 1 chest, 1 back, 1 leg, 1 shoulder, 1 ab, 1 bicep and 1 triceps workout; BUT 100 reps each at a weight he determined. So if he knew I could Bar curl 50 lbs around 20 times, he would set the weight to that; but have me do as many reps as I can, rest for 10 seconds and continue until I got to 100. Basically this turned into something close to 5 sets of 20 reps kind of ordeal. Another thing he added when it came to my legs and shoulders, those 2 being my weakest; was the closer I got to 100 the lower the weight would be. With all that said, do you think I was doing junk volume in that way? Because I think this method was a way to get me doing HIIT more than anything else. But I am curious to others thoughts.

[@Kyuubiboy321]

The thing I'm wondering about is different parts of every muscle. I have a dedicated upper back/shoulder day, a dedicated leg day and a dedicated chest day. For the chest day, I do barbell bench press, incline dumbbell bench press and cable flys with core/stomach exercises thrown in between. Bench press is 5x5 heavy, incline db press is 3x10 medium and cable flys is 4x8 or 5x5 depending on how the shoulders feel, often medium to somewhat light. Now, this is only one day, but it is also the primary volume for the whole week courtesy of only one chest day. And the incline db press is for example supposed to hit upper chest much more than the barbell bench press. I have felt like my upper chest has been gaining, and so it doesn't feel like junk volume, but this perspective might be a little bit overlooked or at least understudied regarding the point of Jeff's video above.

[@justinly974]

Great video as always. It definitely gave me a lot to consider with respect to my own approach to training. I think that many people (myself included) might find it hard to reconcile this info with the general sentiment that more is better when it comes to training; personally, I would find it hard to shake the feeling that I’m leaving gains on the table if I only do 6 hard sets per muscle group per session. But if I could decrease my demand for recovery *and* further optimize strength and size gains by doing less volume, it does seem like a no brainer. I will certainly read the research for myself, but I would have liked to hear more about how the studies’ experimental conditions might affect the takeaway. For example, might more volume be beneficial to optimized trainees (ie those who have their exercise selection, nutrition, and recovery dialed in)? I think that question is particularly relevant for your viewers, who on average probably have more optimized regimens than the average gym-goer.

[@kozmo7]

Not to mention psychological factors too, ie Stress. And and specific personal volume adaptations, some people can just do more leg volume per week than others and that’s just how it is I think ones you get too specific you’re not going to be able to reference studies and will have to get a professional coach and run your own case study as it were

[@SIideAway]

For people who want to know: For compound lifts, the supporting muscles, like the triceps in a bench press, 1 set of bench press counts as 0.5 sets for triceps. So if you do 4 sets of bench press, that counts as 2 sets of direct tricep work. 4 sets of pull ups counts as 2 sets of direct bicep work and should be included towards your weekly total sets. Dr mike israetel covers this in his videos.

[@Nk36745]

Seems odd as they are not going close to failure

[@SIideAway]

@@Nk36745 wich is why it counts as half a set. Bro

[@JAYC.]

Ive been looking for a video to answer questions I’ve had with no luck until now! Great Vid

[@supremesheep9418]

Love your stuff, your body is the best example to show how and where the muscles work in videos

[@aronstoneboovip]

The amount of effort and research you put into your vids are INCREDIBLE Jeff !!

[@Rocker3829]

Love the presentation format and the video flow. I'd be curious to see a similar video but with regards to max strength. Keep it up man!

[@johannes01]

yeah me too!

[@Coachtroybrown]

Great video Jeff. Quality information and very well thought out. Brilliant.

[@user-xz7sx5xk5l]

Needed this gem 💎 I’ve been doing like 20+ sets per body part in a session but I changed it up to 10 sets perk session 3x a week and my bench and squat have sky rocketed thanks 🙏

[@lacanian_lifter]

This was the video I needed to see. Approaching my mid 30s, I'm focusing on strength and finding that bowing to that superegoic demand to do 7-10 sets per workout with a 3 rep max, for instance, is neither viable vis a vis recovery nor necessary for improvement.

[@whyking0815]

But Jeff! In your Fundamentals Program under "Body Part Split" you got 4 Chest exercices with a total of 12 sets in one single session. (Bench press, incline bench press, Dips, Cable Flys) According to this video this program is considered "trash". Can you elaborate on that?

[@joseleal4876]

Would love to know too…

[@Sai-mj6wh]

I think they all target different chest muscles maybe?

[@matteofabrizio409]

Very well done video! Personally I like to not make things too rigid, as i believe in many cases people set goals that are too far from where they are currently, and your mind subconsciously performs these sets with suboptimal technique just so you can grind through them and say "yeah i hit my number of sets goal.." Pushups frequently come to mind. You have some people say they can do 100 pushups, but can they really? Quality vs quantity. The point of working out isn't to mindlessly bang out sets and then go home. Bottom line, workouts shouldn't be "easy".. they prob don't have to be grueling, but they can't be easy.

[@scuba8349]

Your video quality has gotten so good over the years.

[@fatcat22able]

NaturalHypertrophy's channel was unjustly terminated. #FreeNH

[@phillips8366]

It seems a lot of people are worried about how to count primary and secondary movers in most exercises, so I’d like to voice an opinion: as long as you’re aiming for around 4-6 sets per body part, it **might** not matter that much - but a little bit of common sense goes a long way. How many chest sets should the close grip bench press count for? Well, after 4-6 sets of horizontal push work with your chest as the main mover and triceps as a secondary mover, you probably shouldn’t do more than a couple heavy, focused sets of close grip bench pressing, bc you’re approaching “junk volume” territory.

[@ZackAschliman]

The close grip bench press is meant to focus on development of strength and mass of your tricep, not the chest. I wouldn’t categorize that exercise as primary chest movement. A wide grip bench would be a better fit.

[@phillips8366]

@@ZackAschliman I didn't, but I can see how you may have misunderstood based on the wording. The 4-6 sets of horizontal push work would be for a "main" movement with your chest as the main mover and your triceps as a secondary mover (normal/wide grip bench, DB bench, etc), and the close grip bench would be an accessory that you would do after that. I begged the question that anyone would train close grip bench as a main horizontal push exercise, but I guess it does happen. Jeff himself actually addressed this question better than I could on his channel, so I'd recommend people just read that because I actually gave a way lower volume recommendation than he did.

[@phillips8366]

But I'd like to reiterate my main point: common sense goes a long way and aiming for anywhere around 6 sets per body part of focused work is solid.

[@ZackAschliman]

@@phillips8366 totally agree!

[@zacharylong7717]

This channel is outstanding. Well done! Fantastic and succinct presentations. Top notch quality!

[@harrysahota8216]

I really needed this video. Thank you. I’ll plan my workouts accordingly from tomorrow onward.

[@evodota]

it means 6 8 sets per week is enough for triceps shoulders biceps and chest right ? 5:15

[@MagnusStormfist]

I follow a bro split and I perform roughly 12-14 sets a workout. I recover fine, I progressively overload and I keep getting bigger. I think too many people are trying to optimise everything. Train hard with a good amount of volume, progress and you will make gains. Across 5-10 years it does not matter, as long as you enjoy your training and keep progressing your lifts. However, I train my legs twice a week because the doms from hitting them in one session are horrible!

[@arrow2380]

Saying bro split is "sub optimal" is a sign that someone doesn't actually understand science

[@randygreen007]

I’m glad that you mention this curve trajectory at 3:46 as I’ve always kept my core building sets for each muscle at around 8-12 sets (think 4 progressively heavier for each flat, incline and decline) then move into lighter weights for finishing or giving them a good increased flow of blood by doing flys etc for that good pump. After around 35 years total of bodybuilding this is what I’ve found to work best for me. My hat’s off to Jeff and the new generation of bodybuilding because you have so much information, from Jeff really good information, that will help you reach your greatest potential much more quickly. No more trial and error like I had to go through.

[@christopherdoiron4294]

heres a question then. lets say you're lifting with form and getting 6-10 rep but if you muscle it, you can rep out 16-20. BUT, if you increase weight, with form you cannot do 6-10. What's better. form 6-10 with Progressive OL, rep out volume, break plateau with heavy weight, or increase weight and rep out a viscious 6-10 with bad form?

[@brettjosephallen]

This is the best content I’ve seen with regard to building muscle. Quoting active research too

[@willberg8599]

Congrats! That’s hands down the best dslr camera out there for video production

[@boondoggle3000]

Jeff, how do you tally weekly set-count for exercises that overlap muscles? Many exercises have a primary muscle and secondary ones. Do you have a partial set count for secondary muscles? For instance, when you do a pushup that is chest focused, do you tally any of the sets against your tricep set count?

[@nishanalfred]

Check out the hypertrophy landmarks by renaissance periodisation. They cover all of this

[@kozmo7]

@@nishanalfred Loving the RP references here good shit

[@RDS_Armwrestling]

Yeah to save you watching the video if you're short on time, you can count the secondary muscles as having performed 1/3 or 1/2 a set etc, depending on how much you feel they contribute during exercises

[@boondoggle3000]

@Markoviccc Nikola thx

[@grimgamer24]

Definitely going to implement this into my routine and lower the amount of sets I'm doing.

[@sagardahiya6138]

Make sure, every set is worth it

[@Zayl1016]

Man, someone doing 2 sets just absolutely exploded in muscle growth. We need to study THAT guy.

[@danked6731]

I keep rewatching these videos a year on and keep going yep yep he's right everytime😂😂

[@Matt-vn9cb]

Good advice, I wish I had known this when I was a bit younger. I remember training 10 x 10 170 kg deadlift and all I got to show for it was two herniated discs! 😬

[@YiGzit]

10x10 for deadlift? Jesus christ my dude

[@Matt-vn9cb]

@@YiGzit And that's why I don't do it anymore 😁

[@dkexpat2755]

For me I do around 15 hard sets, but i pyramide up on each exercise. I just feel like going straight to what is your top lift on a bench day is rough. I like start slow adding more progressive weight to the bar. I dont count the first 3 sets as they are "Warm up".

[@bukelley]

so nice to see a bodybuilding vid that doesn't have a metal soundtrack

[@PeterLE2]

When I just read the title I thought he was talking about gaining muscle volume without gaining more strength. But I have not found a video yet where it's explained how to maximize strength gain while not gaining much muscle mass. Super high reps sets might not be good to gain more strength but maybe the people doing it want to improve the strength endurance of a muscle group.

[@lukestevens8402]

Thank you so much Jeff! I understand the correlation between frequency and hypertrophy, but as a 45 year old lifter have there been any studies involving recovery of connective tissue in relation to volume. High frequency workouts work on my muscles but they always beat me up in my joints.

[@damofoluis]

Can you do an update on how to combine this with the other ways to stimulate muscle growth (specifically TUT)? Thanks Jeff, great content as always.

[@rietzhu]

This guy was the Lil wrestler you knew that was highly skilled but small BUT also eventually blew up!

[@Shamala-Hairless]

This has been so helpful for me! I was putting the blame on my cardio sprint intervals training, but it was actually junk volume 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@sheikaejulius4441]

Jeff, I love your videos but I'd also be super interested to hear how this information stacks up when applied to calisthenic loads.

[@Kodeee]

Speaking of series with super high repetitions, in Spain there is a bilbo team (it has a KZbin channel) where it shows how I managed to lift 227.5 kg on the bench press, training from 20 to 50 reps. In case anyone is interested, good video

[@usernamemlgdoge]

What video?

[@Kodeee]

@@usernamemlgdoge It has a KZbin channel in Spanish, it's called bilbo team, it has many videos explaining its method, it's very interesting, but it's in Spanish.

[@usernamemlgdoge]

@@Kodeee idk spanish can you give me a tldr of the method?

[@maximpershutin8257]

Regarding the bench press reps in reserve paper, I would say it is difficult to go to failure on that particular exercise, since it requires a spotter, and people usually train alone. Though having 50% of people who had 6 or more reps in reserve is still nuts

[@Fhantom161]

its crazy how we all started on how to get a 6-pack

[@shreyaanshkumar6294]

And we don't have it anymore

[@Pabst_Comandante_I.]

Perfect timing! I just figured out by myself that 5 sets of 100 kg deadlift with 10-14 reps are a pretty bad idea :D Sometimes it seems that we have to learn things the hard way. Anyway thanks for all the great videos, Jeff :)