Sets and reps: how many to do for strength, muscle growth and endurance

How many sets and reps should you do?

A repetition (rep) is one lift of a weight. A set is a group of reps done without a rest. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans describe muscle strengthening as having three parts: intensity, frequency, and sets and repetitions.²

For a starting point, two federal sources agree. The Physical Activity Guidelines say that when resistance training is used to enhance strength, one set of 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise is effective, although 2 or 3 sets may be more effective.² The National Institute on Aging (NIA) gives the same sentence, and adds that each set should go to the point where another repetition would be difficult.³

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) position stand on resistance training adds a frame for novices. It recommends loads that correspond to an 8 to 12 repetition maximum (RM), 1 to 3 sets per exercise, and training 2 to 3 days a week.¹ The 8 to 12 RM load is the weight at which you can do 8 to 12 reps and no more.

Beyond that starting point, the right numbers depend on your goal, your experience and what you can recover from. The sections below give the ranges each source offers, say where the evidence is thin, and show how to count weekly volume. If you have not lifted before, read how to start strength training first.

Sets and reps by goal: what the sources give

The table lists only ranges that a source states. A blank cell means no source read for this page gives a figure.

For healthy older adults the NSCA position statement gives its own table: 1 to 3 sets per exercise, 8 to 12 or 10 to 15 repetitions, 2 to 3 non-consecutive days per muscle group, and 8 to 10 different exercises.¹⁰ For beginners it advises 1 set and lower relative resistance, progressing to 2 or 3 sets.¹⁰ It also suggests staying in a repetition range that avoids going to failure, to reduce joint stress.¹⁰

How heavy should the weight be? What the pooled studies found

Three meta-analyses address load. They differ in what they counted, so each is described separately.

• Lopez and colleagues pooled 28 studies with 747 healthy adults, all training to volitional failure. They defined low load as more than 15 RM, moderate as 9 to 15 RM and high as 8 RM or fewer. Muscle growth did not differ by load, while strength gains were larger with high and moderate loads than with low loads.⁴
• Schoenfeld and colleagues pooled 21 studies comparing low-load training (60% of 1RM or less) with high-load training (above 60% of 1RM), all sets to momentary failure. Gains in 1RM strength were larger with high loads, while muscle size changes were similar.⁹
• Currier and colleagues ran a network meta-analysis of 178 strength studies and 119 hypertrophy studies. Every prescription beat no exercise. Higher loads, above 80% of 1RM, maximized strength gains, and all prescriptions promoted muscle growth comparably. The highest-ranked prescription for growth was higher-load, multiset, twice weekly.⁵

Put plainly, if your goal is the heaviest single lift, the pooled data favor heavier loads. If your goal is muscle size, a wide range of loads worked, provided sets were hard.⁴⁹ Two cautions: the load reviews counted sets taken to or near failure, and all three covered healthy adults.

How many sets per week? Volume and frequency

Volume is the total work you do. This page counts it as sets per muscle group per week, which is also how the studies below count it.

Weekly sets

A meta-regression by Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger covered 15 studies and 34 treatment groups. Each additional weekly set per muscle was associated with an increase in effect size of 0.023, equal to 0.37% more muscle gain. Comparing higher with lower volumes within a study gave a difference of 3.9% in percentage gain.⁶

When they sorted groups into fewer than 5, 5 to 9 and 10 or more weekly sets per muscle, the result was only a trend (P = 0.074).⁶ The authors concluded that there is a graded dose-response relationship, in which more volume produces greater hypertrophy.⁶ These are comparisons across studies, not a test of what any one person should do.

How often to train each muscle

Two meta-analyses by overlapping authors reached different conclusions. A 2016 review in Sports Medicine, with 10 studies, concluded that training a muscle twice a week gave better growth than once a week when volume was equated, and that major muscle groups should be trained at least twice a week.⁷ A 2019 review of 25 studies found no significant difference between higher and lower frequencies on a volume-equated basis, and concluded that frequency per muscle can be chosen by preference.⁸

Both agree that total volume matters, and that how you split it across days is flexible. The federal guidelines already set a floor of 2 days a week for all major muscle groups.²

A sample program with weekly volume calculated

This is an arithmetic example, not a prescription. It uses seven exercises, one for each major muscle group named in the guidelines: legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms.² Each group gets one exercise, so sets per exercise equal sets per muscle group.

Per session, version A is 7 moves × 2 sets = 14 sets, or 140 reps. Version C is 7 × 3 = 21 sets, or 210 reps. Rest adds up too. Using the 1 to 2 minutes ACSM gives for muscle-growth work, 14 sets with a rest after each means 14 to 28 minutes of resting in version A.¹ In version C the same count for 21 sets is 21 to 42 minutes.

Counting the weight too

Some lifters track volume load, which is sets × reps × weight. This page uses that term for its own arithmetic only; none of the sources read use it. A row of 50 lb for 2 sets of 10 reps is 2 × 10 × 50 = 1,000 lb in a session. Done on 2 days that is 2,000 lb a week. If the weight rises by ACSM’s 2% to 10%, the weekly total rises from 2,000 lb to between 2,040 lb and 2,200 lb.¹

To build on this over months, see progressive overload. For equipment you can use at home, see strength training at home and cable machine vs free weights.

Reps and sets for specific exercises

Many searches ask for numbers for one lift: bench press, deadlift, leg press, abs or a split squat. No source read for this page gives exercise-specific ranges. The ACSM, NIA and NSCA figures apply to resistance exercise in general, and the load you can handle in one exercise differs from another.

A practical way to use the ranges is to choose a goal from the table, set a load that matches the repetition range, and check that the last reps are difficult. ACSM notes that for novices, moderate loading has been suggested at first, while you learn form.¹ The ACSM text also names the squat and bench press among core lifts that call for rests of at least 2 to 3 minutes when loaded heavily.¹

Abdominal work follows the same logic. The guidelines list planks among muscle-strengthening activities, and a plank is held for time rather than counted in reps.² If a source gave a time, this page would give it. None of those read did.

Safety and when to adjust

The Physical Activity Guidelines say healthy adults who increase activity gradually generally do not need to see a provider first, and that people with chronic conditions or symptoms should be under the care of a health care provider.² The risk of injury relates to the gap between your usual activity and a new level, so changes should be small.²

The same guidelines say a warm-up for muscle strengthening commonly involves lighter weight.² NIA adds that overdoing strength exercise can cause exhaustion, sore joints, muscle pain or injury, and advises breathing out during the effort.³ If a number in a program makes you uncomfortable, use a lower one and ask a professional.

Frequently asked questions