Are You Doing Too Much In The Gym?

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Table of Contents

• Must Watch Video💡

• Parker’s Breakdown: Volume 🔑

• The Study 📖

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Must Watch Video💡

Junk Volume: Why You Must Avoid It For Max Muscle

Do you have too many sets in your workout routine?

Or maybe you are not pushing hard enough to cause enough stimulation for muscle growth?

Junk volume is a common setback that beginners find themselves doing. In this must watch video by Jeff Nippard, he discusses what is the right amount of volume and how hard you should be going in order to cause muscle growth.

• A comprehensive study found that performing more than 6 sets per workout for a single muscle group can lead to a plateau in muscle growth.

• Opting for a workout split that distributes sets for a muscle group across multiple days, rather than concentrating them in one session, may yield better results.

• Steering clear of extremely high-rep sets, such as 20-rep sets, tends to be beneficial for most individuals.

Parker’s Breakdown: Volume 🔑

When it comes to maximizing muscle growth, avoiding "Junk volume" is key. Junk volume refers to doing too many sets with suboptimal effort, leading to diminishing returns on muscle hypertrophy. Research shows that going beyond 6 sets per workout for a muscle group can cause a growth plateau. Instead, focus on hitting 10–20 effective weekly sets per muscle, distributed across your workouts.

Pushing your sets to near failure is crucial for muscle growth. Aim for an RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) of 8–10 on your final sets, where RPE 10 means you can’t do any more reps with good form, and RPE 8 means you have about 2 reps left in the tank. This ensures that you’re challenging your muscles enough to stimulate growth without overdoing it.

Rather than piling on volume, make each set count by progressively pushing your limits. By training with intensity and using proper RPE guidance, you’ll hit the sweet spot of training—enough volume to grow without unnecessary fatigue. For most people, 10-20 weekly sets per muscle group, done with the right intensity, will yield the best results in muscle hypertrophy and strength gains.

The Study 📖

Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The study aimed to systematically review existing literature to determine the effects of total weekly resistance training (RT) volume on muscle growth. Researchers conducted a meta-regression analysis based on 34 treatment groups from 15 different studies. They analyzed weekly sets both as a continuous variable and as categorical groups to understand the relationship between RT volume and changes in muscle mass. The analysis looked at muscle hypertrophy by comparing different volumes of weekly sets and their corresponding effects on muscle size.

Here is what the analysis found:

• There was a significant positive effect of RT volume on muscle growth, with each additional weekly set increasing the effect size (ES) by 0.023, corresponding to a 0.37% gain in muscle mass.

• Higher weekly set volumes were associated with significantly greater muscle size increases compared to lower volumes, with a difference in effect size of 0.241, translating to a 3.9% greater gain.

• When categorizing weekly sets into three levels (<5, 5-9, and 10+ sets per muscle), the study observed a trend toward increased hypertrophy with more sets, though this was not statistically significant.

• The findings suggest a graded dose-response relationship, where increases in weekly RT volume lead to progressively greater muscle hypertrophy.