How Many Sets Per Muscle Group Per Week? Finding YOUR Number, Not the Internet’s

The Problem With “10-20 Sets Per Week”

Open Google and search “how many sets per muscle group per week,” and you’ll get roughly the same answer from every fitness site: 10-20 sets.

It’s become the de facto standard. The safe answer. The one that won’t get you sued.

But here’s the problem: that number is almost meaningless without context.

20 sets per week for your quadriceps is a completely different stimulus than 20 sets per week for your biceps. Twenty sets of heavy back work creates a different recovery demand than twenty sets of isolation leg curls. The volume that transforms one person’s physique might leave another spinning their wheels.

If you’re following generic internet recommendations, you’re essentially guessing. And for most people, guessing means either doing too much (burnout, injury, plateaus) or too little (no progress, frustration, quitting).

The real answer to “how many sets?” isn’t a number. It’s a framework.

Introducing the Volume Landmarks: MEV, MAV, and MRV

Dr. Mike Israetel and the team at Renaissance Periodization revolutionized how we think about training volume. Instead of looking for a magic number, they created a three-tier framework that applies to every muscle group, every person, every phase of training.

Here’s how it works:

MEV: Minimum Effective Volume

The bare minimum volume needed to create progress.

This is the floor. Below MEV, you’re not providing enough stimulus for adaptation. You won’t get stronger, you won’t build muscle, nothing changes. But MEV is also surprisingly low—which is important for busy people or those recovering from injury.

MAV: Maximum Adaptive Volume

The volume “sweet spot” where most people see the best progress relative to effort.

This is where the magic happens. Between MEV and MAV, you’re in the goldilocks zone—hard enough to drive continuous progress, but not so much that you’re wasting sets on diminishing returns. For most people, most of the time, training in this range produces the best results.

MRV: Maximum Recoverable Volume

The upper limit of volume your body can actually recover from in a week.

Go above MRV, and you’re no longer limited by stimulus—you’re limited by recovery. Performance drops, soreness becomes chronic, sleep suffers, joints ache. You’re not training smarter; you’re just accumulating fatigue.

The key insight: everyone has a different MEV, MAV, and MRV. Training age, genetics, sleep, stress, nutrition, and even the specific exercises you choose all shift these numbers.

Per-Muscle-Group Starting Points (Using the Volume Landmarks)

While individual variation is huge, research and real-world data give us solid starting ranges for different muscle groups. Here’s a breakdown based on muscle size, recovery capacity, and typical training response:

Muscle Group	MEV	MAV	MRV	Notes
Quads	8-10	12-16	18-22	Large muscle, high recovery demand. Compound heavy work counts significantly.
Back (all)	8-10	14-18	20-24	Largest muscle group. Includes lats, upper back, lower back. High capacity for volume.
Chest	6-8	10-14	16-20	Medium-large. Responds well to a mix of compounds and isolation.
Shoulders (delts)	6-8	12-16	18-22	Medium. Front delts get indirect work from pressing; rear delts often undertrained.
Hamstrings	6-8	10-14	16-20	Medium. Often neglected. Responds well to both compound and isolation work.
Biceps	4-6	8-12	12-16	Small muscle. Indirect work from rows counts. Avoid excessive volume (CNS fatigue).
Triceps	4-6	8-12	12-16	Small-medium. Gets indirect work from pressing. Direct work is still essential.
Glutes	8-10	12-16	18-22	Large muscle. Responds exceptionally well to volume. High recovery capacity.
Calves	4-6	8-12	12-16	Small, dense muscle. Prone to overuse. Start conservative.
Rear Delts	4-6	8-12	12-16	Small. Often neglected. Responds quickly to dedicated work.

Important: These are starting points, not prescriptions. Your individual numbers depend on training experience, recovery capacity, and how you’re counting sets (see below).

The Set-Counting Trap: What Actually Counts?

This is where most people get confused—and where they either overestimate or underestimate their volume.

Here’s the critical question: If you do a barbell bench press, does it count as one set or two (chest AND triceps)?

The answer: it depends on the context and intensity.

The Set-Counting Rules:

• Heavy compounds (80%+ of 1RM): Count primarily for the prime movers. A heavy bench press counts as chest work, but the tricep involvement is secondary. The triceps aren’t reaching sufficient mechanical tension for reliable hypertrophy contribution.
• Moderate compounds (65-80% of 1RM): Count for both prime movers AND secondary muscles. A barbell bench at 75% can legitimately count as both a chest set AND a tricep set.
• Light isolation work (50-65% of 1RM): Count only for the target muscle. A dumbbell curl counts only for biceps; it doesn’t count as back volume.
• Sets close to failure count more—but less than you’d think: A set taken to RPE 8-9 is worth more than a set at RPE 6, because the last few reps before failure are where the highest-threshold motor units get recruited. But don’t overstate this. Refalo and colleagues (Sports Medicine, 2023) meta-analyzed 15 studies and found only a trivial advantage for training to failure over stopping short of it (effect size 0.19, with a confidence interval that touched zero). The practical read: a set at RPE 6 is a genuinely easier set that contributes less, but sets at RPE 8 and RPE 10 are close enough that grinding to failure isn’t buying you much—and it costs you a lot in recovery.
• Assistance on compounds counts less: Your third set of squats counts, but your fourth probably counts for less because fatigue is accumulating and mechanical tension is dropping.

The practical application: be honest about your set-counting. If you’re doing 20 sets of quads per week and half of them are the 4th and 5th set of the same exercise (when you’re already fried), you don’t actually have 20 effective sets. You probably have 12-14.

The Auto-Regulation Method: Finding YOUR MRV

Rather than guessing, here’s how to find your optimal volume through real-world testing:

Step 1: Start at the Low End (MEV)

For any muscle group, begin at the bottom of the MEV range. For quads, that’s 8-10 sets. For biceps, 4-6 sets. Don’t worry about leaving gains on the table—MEV still produces progress.

Step 2: Add 1-2 Sets Per Week

Every week, add 1-2 sets to that muscle group. Track this systematically. After 3-4 weeks, you’ll have accumulated 3-8 additional sets.

Step 3: Monitor Performance

Watch for these metrics each training session:

• Strength (reps, weight, or RPE for the same exercise)
• Pump and mind-muscle connection
• Recovery (soreness, sleep quality, mood)
• Motivation and how you feel walking into the gym

Step 4: Identify the Cliff (MRV)

Keep adding volume until performance stops improving or starts declining. This is your MRV—the point where you’ve crossed from “training hard” to “recovering hard.”

When it happens, you’ll notice:

• Strength plateaus or drops week-to-week
• Reps/weight stall despite effort
• Excessive soreness (beyond 48 hours)
• Sleep disruption or night sweats
• General fatigue and loss of motivation

Step 5: Back Off (Train at MAV)

Once you’ve found your MRV cliff, back off by 2-4 sets. This is your MAV—your sweet spot. This is where you’ll spend most of your training life.

Example: You start quads at 10 sets per week. You add 2 sets weekly. By week 5, you’re at 18 sets. Performance is still climbing. Week 6 (20 sets), you notice strength is flat and you’re constantly sore. Your MRV is around 20 sets. Back off to 16-18 sets (MAV), and you’ll find consistent progress with better recovery.

Signs You’re Below MEV (Too Little Volume)

If any of these apply, you need MORE volume:

• Never sore, even 24 hours post-workout
• Never challenged—sets feel easy
• No progressive overload happening (same weight, same reps, month after month)
• Muscle doesn’t feel “worked” after training
• You’re bored because it’s too easy

Signs You’re Above MRV (Too Much Volume)

If any of these apply, you need LESS volume:

• Strength drops week-to-week despite effort
• Persistent soreness beyond 48-72 hours
• Sleep quality declining, waking unrefreshed
• Frequent joint aches or nagging pain
• Loss of motivation—dreading training sessions
• Elevated resting heart rate or general fatigue
• Mood irritability (CNS fatigue)

A Practical Weekly Template (6-Day Push/Pull/Legs)

Here’s how you might structure volume across a week using the framework above. This is a 6-day push/pull/legs split—each day runs twice per week, which is what makes the weekly totals land in MAV territory. If you run PPL only once through (3 days), halve every weekly number below; most muscles will land at or just above MEV, which is a perfectly reasonable place to start.

This assumes an intermediate lifter with decent recovery.

PUSH DAY (performed twice per week)

• Chest: 6 sets (3 sets bench press, 3 sets incline DB press)
• Shoulders: 6 sets (3 sets overhead press, 3 sets lateral raises)
• Triceps: 4 sets (2 sets close-grip bench, 2 sets cable pushdowns)

Weekly totals: Chest 12 · Shoulders 12 · Triceps 8 direct (plus meaningful indirect tricep work from the pressing—which is exactly why 8 direct sets is enough)

PULL DAY (performed twice per week)

• Back: 8 sets (3 sets weighted pull-ups, 3 sets barbell rows, 2 sets lat pulldowns)
• Rear Delts: 4 sets (3 sets face pulls, 1 set reverse pec deck)
• Biceps: 5 sets (3 sets barbell curls, 2 sets incline DB curls)

Weekly totals: Back 16 · Rear Delts 8 · Biceps 10 direct (plus indirect bicep work from every row and pull-up)

LEGS DAY (performed twice per week)

• Quads: 7 sets (3 sets squats, 2 sets leg press, 2 sets leg extensions)
• Hamstrings: 6 sets (3 sets Romanian deadlifts, 3 sets leg curls)
• Glutes: 6 sets (3 sets hip thrusts, plus credited work from squats and RDLs)
• Calves: 5 sets (3 sets standing raises, 2 sets seated raises)

Weekly totals: Quads 14 · Hamstrings 12 · Glutes 12 · Calves 10

Check those weekly totals against the table earlier in this post. Every single muscle group lands inside its MAV range—not at MEV, not scraping MRV. That’s what a well-constructed week actually looks like, and it’s why the “just do 20 sets” advice fails: 20 sets is above MRV for biceps and calves while sitting below MAV for back.

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What Does the Research Say?

Everything above is a framework for individualizing. But frameworks should be anchored to evidence, so here’s what the actual literature shows—including where it disagrees with the popular version of these ideas.

Volume drives hypertrophy, and the relationship is graded

The foundational work here is Schoenfeld, Ogborn, and Krieger (2017), published in the Journal of Sports Sciences. They pooled 34 treatment groups from 15 studies and found a significant, graded dose-response relationship between weekly set volume and muscle growth.

The specific numbers are worth knowing:

• Each additional weekly set was associated with an effect size increase of 0.023—roughly 0.37% additional muscle gain per set
• Comparing higher- versus lower-volume conditions within studies produced a 3.9% difference in percentage gain
• The authors suggested a threshold at approximately 10 weekly sets per muscle group for near-maximal hypertrophy

That 10-set threshold is where the internet’s “10-20 sets” advice originally came from. Notice what it actually says, though: 10 sets gets you near-maximal results. It doesn’t say 10 sets is optimal for everyone, and it certainly doesn’t say more is always better.

More recent, larger analyses confirm the direction—and the diminishing returns

The most comprehensive analysis to date is Pelland and colleagues (2026) in Sports Medicine, a series of meta-regressions covering 67 studies and 2,058 participants.

Their findings sharpen the picture considerably:

• Both muscle size and strength continue to increase as weekly volume increases—there’s no hard ceiling where added sets stop working entirely
• But both outcomes show clear diminishing returns at higher volumes
• Critically, strength shows considerably more pronounced diminishing returns than hypertrophy does

That last point is the practical one, and it’s frequently missed. If your goal is strength, you need far less volume than if your goal is size. A lifter chasing a bigger squat can get most of the available benefit from a modest number of hard sets. A lifter chasing quad size will keep getting returns—smaller ones, but real ones—well past that point.

What this means for the landmarks

Put the two together and the MEV/MAV/MRV model holds up well as a practical tool, with one honest caveat: the research shows a smooth curve of diminishing returns, not three crisp thresholds. There is no biological line where set 13 is “MAV” and set 19 is “MRV.”

The landmarks are useful precisely because they’re simplified. They give you a vocabulary for “not enough,” “about right,” and “more than I can recover from,” and they push you to actually test where those points are for you instead of copying a number off a spreadsheet. Use them that way—as a structure for self-experimentation, not as physiological law.

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Your Actual Next Step

Stop looking for the number. There isn’t one. Here’s what to do this week instead:

1. Count your current volume honestly. Open your log. For each muscle group, count the hard sets you did last week using the counting rules above—not the sets you wrote down, the ones that actually qualified. Most people discover they’re doing 30-40% less effective volume than they thought.

2. Compare it to the table. Are you below MEV on anything? That’s your fastest available win. Rear delts and hamstrings are the two I find under-trained most often.

3. Pick one muscle group and run the auto-regulation protocol. Just one. Start at its MEV, add 2 sets per week, and track strength and recovery until performance flattens. That’s your MRV. Back off 2-4 sets and you’ve found your MAV—an actual number, derived from your body, not from a blog post.

4. Repeat with the next muscle group next mesocycle. You’ll have a personalized volume map for your whole body within a few months, and it will be worth more than every “optimal sets per week” article you’ll ever read.

The 10-20 set recommendation isn’t wrong. It’s just a starting line that someone else drew. Now you know how to find your own.

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References

• Schoenfeld, B.J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J.W. (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(11), 1073-1082.
• Pelland, J.C., Remmert, J.F., Robinson, Z.P., Hinson, S.R., & Zourdos, M.C. (2026). The resistance training dose response: Meta-regressions exploring the effects of weekly volume and frequency on muscle hypertrophy and strength gains. Sports Medicine, 56(2), 481-505.
• Refalo, M.C., Helms, E.R., Trexler, E.T., Hamilton, D.L., & Fyfe, J.J. (2023). Influence of resistance training proximity-to-failure on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 53(3), 649-665.

Muscle Group	MEV (sets/week)	MAV (sets/week)	MRV (sets/week)
Quads	8–10	12–16	18–22
Back (all)	8–10	14–18	20–24
Chest	6–8	10–14	16–20
Shoulders (delts)	6–8	12–16	18–22
Hamstrings	6–8	10–14	16–20
Biceps	4–6	8–12	12–16
Triceps	4–6	8–12	12–16
Glutes	8–10	12–16	18–22
Calves	4–6	8–12	12–16
Rear Delts	4–6	8–12	12–16

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between MEV MAV and MRV?

MEV is the minimum effective volume needed for progress. MAV is the sweet spot where most people see the best results. MRV is the upper limit your body can recover from in a week. Above MRV, fatigue accumulates and performance drops, so you’re limited by recovery instead of stimulus.

How many sets per week should I do for biceps?

Biceps starting points are 4-6 sets MEV, 8-12 sets MAV, and 12-16 sets MRV. Biceps are a small muscle and prone to CNS fatigue, so avoid excessive volume. Indirect work from rows and pull-ups counts toward your total.

Does a heavy bench press count as triceps volume?

A heavy bench press (80%+ of 1RM) counts primarily as chest work. The tricep involvement is secondary because triceps don’t reach sufficient mechanical tension for reliable hypertrophy contribution at that intensity.

How do I find my actual maximum recoverable volume?

Start at MEV for a muscle group, then add 1-2 sets weekly. Monitor strength, pump, and recovery for 3-4 weeks. When strength plateaus, soreness exceeds 48-72 hours, or sleep suffers, you’ve found MRV. Back off by 2-4 sets to find your MAV.