How many reps and sets for maximum muscle mass gain? The ideal number for bulking, sculpting and weight loss.

Most of us still do not know how to deal with this difficult but crucial question and, frankly, it is not surprising at all. There is simply no right answer. There is no universal or even magic number of reps and sets that would guarantee you maximum muscle mass gain. We are all different and something completely different can work for each of us.

Ultimately, it's up to us to figure out what our body responds best to and stick with that. Therefore, with this article I would like to explain this topic and recommendto give you some hints and tips that might just help you build muscle mass.

How does muscle growth actually work?

First of all, we need to be clear about how our muscles work and what allows them to grow. Simply put, it goes like this. Through intense training, we try to load and shock our muscles enough to getto damage as many muscle fibres as possible. This then puts them into a state of hypertrophy. Damage to the muscle cells leads to the release of the so called cytokines, which are cells that our immune system produces and which then enable it to repair the damaged muscle cells.

Hard training puts a strain on our muscles that they are not used to, which is why they get damaged and torn. Our body then tries to adapt to this load, and it is thanks to this that we gradually become bigger and stronger. In other words, through persistent and intense training, we can repeatedly put our muscles under stress they are not used to. They then have no choice but to constantly adapt to the increasing load.

However, in order for our immune system to repair damaged muscle fibres, it needs, in addition to sufficient loada balanced diet that contains sufficient protein and amino acids to protect and build muscle mass. Furthermore, an optimal level of hormones in our body is important and, of course, rest is indispensable for sufficient recovery.

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What do the scientific studies show?

Since they give you the answer to such a complicated question "how many reps and sets for maximum muscle mass gain?" I can't give you a clear answer, you need to look elsewhere for answers. Scientific studies might be the perfect place to start looking. So what are the conclusions from studies looking at this very issue?

1. On the number of series

The conclusion that can be drawnfrom scientific studies is that the moremore series you do, the better and more significant your progress will be. The optimal number of sets for maximum muscle growth is 10 to 20 sets. per week, with fewer sets found to be less effective. Conversely, the maximum number of sets possible has not been clearly determined, as it is a very individual thing.

However, other studies have come to the opposite conclusion. Here, the observed exercisers were divided into several groups, according to the number of sets they performed. It was found that those who performed as few as 5 sets per week per muscle part performed much betterbetter results in terms of muscle mass gain than those who performed 10 or 20 sets.

Another study then concluded that performing several sets per exercise is more effective for differentmuscle mass gains than just doing one set for a given exercise. Which basically completely disproved the effectiveness of training methods like "Heavy Duty", which which is based on the principle of one set of each exercise to complete exhaustion. However, the results of Mike Mentzer or Dorian Yates clearly show that it is not possible to follow the results of studies alone.

2. About the number of repetitions

So the studies have not helped us much with the optimal number of sets, but maybe they will at least clarify the number of repetitions. But is it even possible to follow these conclusions?

I'm sure you've come across a statement or table that breaks down the number of reps into three imaginary categories. According to this division, 6 to 12 repetitions was considered the optimal number of repetitions for building muscle mass. A lower number of reps was then found to be ideal for building strength, and conversely a higher number of reps for endurance. However, the results of several scientific studies have not clearly shown a significant effect of repetition count on muscle growth. In fact, in most cases, the observed exercisers experienced almost identical muscle gains, regardless of how many repetitions they performed. This suggests that we are able to effectively build muscle mass at virtually any number of repetitions. Still, it is worth mentioning that if we focus more often on lowerhigher repetitions with heavier loads, in addition to muscle growth.growth, our strength will increase more, and on the contrary, if we train mainly highrepetitions with lighter loads, our endurance will improve more.

Therefore, although it is not possible to divide the number of repetitions in such a clear way, for maximum muscle growth it isit is still generally recommended to perform 6 to 12 repetitions with a corresponding load. A lower number of repetitions with a load close to your maximum would as well as a higher number of repetitions could have a negative effect on your technique. In addition to making the exercise less effective, it could also increase the risk of injury or overtraining. Therefore, 6 to 12 repetitions seems to be the ideal choice, which, in addition to providing you with sufficientThis is why, in order to provide a sufficient stimulus for muscle growth, it should also be safer and more effective.

What are the advice and tips from professional bodybuilders?

Today there is a huge amount of similar research or studies, which, in most cases, come to completely different conclusions. Thus, it is practically impossible to follow them all. Since even the studies have not helped us much in finding clear answers, we need to look elsewhere. So let's leave the scientific studies aside and look at how this issue is being addressed by people much more vocational than I am. So here are some training tips and advice from professional bodybuilders Greg Doucette and John Meadows. Of course, these tips and advice are based on their years of experience, so we, in my opinionmy opinion, they can help us in our search for answers much more than many scientific studies or surveys.

The first piece of advice is very simple, but often sadly neglected. We must not underestimate the importance of warm-up series. For the first exercise, we are advised to do at least 2 to 3 warm-up sets.the number of repetitions should gradually decrease and the load should increase. For the next exercises, we can then do fewer of these sets.as we should be sufficiently warmed up and warmed up. However, all these series should be very light and only serve as a kind of preparation for the working series. The warm-up series should not, of course, be counted in the total number of work series performed on a given muscle part.

Another very important piece of advice is that we should try to work out each work series as if it were our last. Closely related to this, however, is another piece of advice that a large number of sets can be rather counterproductive. And how is this actually related? Simply put, if we keep thinking that we still have 10 or even 20 sets to go, we won't be able to get in everyevery single series because we'll be trying to conserve enough strength and energy to do the remaining series. However, this approach renders all the sets performed ineffective and insufficient for maximum muscle stimulus. Thus, we should perform each work series with as much effort as possible. It is as if there is no more series for us.

The next piece of advice I'm going to go back a bit to scientific studies. Greg and John both say that sticking strictly to the results of a scientific of a study can often have the opposite of the desired effect. So above all, we should focus on making each set worthwhile and try to take each workout a little further. One thing no studies or surveys can tell us is that exercise should first of all should be about pushing yourself, pushing yourself, pushing yourself, pushing yourself hard and pushing yourself hard. Only by doing this are we then able to constantly shock our muscles and force them to get bigger and stronger.

This advice goes hand in hand with training to failure. Both of these bodybuilders agree that we should train to failure. Thus, the last set from each exercise should be to complete failure. And what do they mean by failure? They mean the point at which we are no longer able to do the next repetition with perfectly executed technique.

Technique is another very important thing that we should all keep in mind at all times. We must not try to improve in every workout at the expense of the technique of the exercise being performed. So let's always try to do as many repetitions as possible with as manywith the heaviest possible load and maintain the best possible technique.

In relation to proper technique, I would like to mention here at the end of this paragraph one more, very important, but also quite neglected piece of advice. We must try to train hard and smart at the same time. I see many people in the gym every day who train hard but not smart. They're trying to lift as much weight as they can and do as many reps as they can. But they don't think at all about technique, warm-up or feeling the muscles they want to exercise. On the other hand, there are often people who work out smartly but don't work out enough. They try to execute perfect technique, to exercise slowly and with feeling, but se...they end the session before they even get close to muscle failure.

So how do professional bodybuilders train?

Since I've personally been watching these two professional bodybuilders for a very long time, I canI can safely say that they are true experts at what they do. So how do they actually train and approximately how many sets and reps do they perform and recommend?

1. John Meadows

In his workouts, John regularly performs about 6 to 15 reps, and for the basic, more complex exercises, he sticks toHe tends to do a lower number of repetitions, while for more isolated exercises he does a higher number. As a result, he is able to sufficiently stimulate and damage all types of muscle fibres.

In general, then, he recommends performing roughly 10 to 12 sets for large muscle groups and 6 to 8 sets for smaller muscle groups. However, he always counts only the few, in his opinion, really good and intense series in his training to total failure.

According to John, as more advanced exercisers, we should also pay attention to the difficulty, quality and intensity of each set over time rather than the number of sets. John then, like Greg, recommends working each muscle part twice a week.

He also stresses that as a complete beginner, the most important thing is to persevere and learn to exercise regularly and correctly. Because if we are beginners, our body is not used to a load like exercise at all. So it will respond quite well to basically any number of sets or repetitions.

2. Greg Doucette

In many ways, his methods and recommendations are quite similar to John's. However, unlike John, Greg sticks primarily to high repetitions such as 10 to 15, and he tries to complete each set with maximum effort and perfect technique.

He also often includes "drop sets". Which means that if he can't do the planned 10 to 15 reps in a set, but for example, he can't do the same set. He simply takes the weight off and performs a few more technically correct reps.

The number of sets is never too extreme for him, which is not surprising given his training methods. I've tried his training methodology and believe me, if you perform exercises with a relatively high number of repstechnically correct and to failure, you won't be able to do too many sets.

However, these recommendations and procedures are, in his own words, more for more advanced exercisers. In fact, like John, he says that for beginners, the first thing is to persevere and learn how to exercise correctly.

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Conclusion

So, as I've mentioned several times in this article, there is simply no one-size-fits-all approach. Despite my best efforts, I still haven't been able to answer this vexing question for you. Still, I hope this article has at least made you think a little bit about your training or inspired you to try new techniques and methods.

I would also like to point out that all the recommendations I have discussed here are still recommendations. So it's possible that you may have completely different opinions on the subject, which is of course perfectly fine. These are all just hints and tips that may or may not help you in building muscle mass.

So in conclusion, I would like to recommend you to follow these two professional bodybuilders. Because they are total experts in this field. So if you don't have any problem with English, definitely watch their videos, believe me you won't regret it. So hope you enjoyed this article and if you have any questions, definitely don't be afraid to ask in the comments.

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