welcome to the house of hypertrophy what happens if instead of training with the same number of sets every week you gradually increase your sets across weeks does it enhance muscle hypertrophy or is it just overdoing it and hurting your gains a brand new study is the first ever to compare performing the same number of sets every week to progressing set numbers across weeks it's caused quite a controversy online and you will see why shortly let us critically analyze this paper and then fit it into the overall scientific research to derive potential takeaways 31 trained men
were recruited all subjects trained the back squat leg press and leg extension twice per week for 12 weeks they trained with six to eight reps in the first session per week and 10 to 12 reps in the second session per week all sets were performed to two reps away from failure except the last set on each exercise which was performed to failure Progressive overload by increasing load was done throughout the study to ensure subjects kept reaching these proximities to failure in the rep ranges in the first week all subjects performed 22 weekly sets for the
quads split between the exercises a fixed group continued to perform 22 weekly sets for the quads for the remainder of the study a full set group added four sets for the quads every two weeks resulting in them performing 42 weekly sets for the quads split across the exercises in the final week a six set group added six sets for the quads every 2 weeks resulting in them performing 52 weekly sets for the quads split across the exercises in the final week all subjects rested at least 2 minutes between sets during the training sessions caloric and
macronutrient intake was not significantly different between the three groups and all of them consumed more than 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight hypertrophy was evaluated by measuring vastest lateralis cross-sectional area and thickness before and after the study and the four and six8 groups tended to see greater gains than the fix set group When comparing the four and six set groups the averages tend to favor the six set group however the confidence interval was wider for the six set group and overlaps a fair bit with the fouret group particularly with a cross-sectional area
measurement what on Earth does this mean indirectly this implies there was more variation in how well the subjects in the six set group grew compared to the other groups so we can't say with complete certainty that the six set group was superior to the fouret group the researchers also evaluated back squat one R max strength and increases were also Superior in the four and six set groups versus the fixed group in this case When comparing the four and six set groups the confidence intervals present a more convincing picture of the six set group seeing greater
gains in the future at the house of hypertrophy we'll have more videos surrounding strength gains as well as similarities and differences between training for strength and size the results of this new study are highly fascinating gradually increasing sets to seriously High numbers led to Greater gains and these were the average sets used as you can imagine the use of these seriously High volumes is the center of its controversy but before discussing this study more it is important we know what the rest of the scientific research surrounding set says we actually detailed this in our last
video but for those who didn't watch it and as a refresher for those who did let's speed through the key points there have been three studies also finding that very high set numbers of up to 30 to 45 weekly sets per musle group produced greater muscle hypertrophy however an important consideration is all three had subjects use short rest intervals between sets in training sessions why does this matter contrary to traditional belief short rest might make each set less effective for building muscle such that you have to perform more sets this study demonstrates this finding when
performing three sets on the leg press per session resting for 3 minutes between sets produced greater CAD gains than resting for 1 minute between sets but when performing five sets per session with 1 minute of rest between sets quad Gaines were similar to the three sets with 3 minutes of rest therefore it's possible if these three studies use longer rests not as many sets may be needed to optimize gains indeed in three studies that have used longer rest between sets in training sessions all of them found hyper fee was optimized in the 12 to 18
weekly sets per muscle group range with no clear benefit to performing more than 18 weekly sets per muscle these are the average results from the studies we have research indicating individual differences can exist some people may grow more from lower or higher set numbers and some may see similar gains between both now that we understand some of the key points from the scientific literature let us more critically review this new study and detail what its potential takeaways could [Music] be as noted there's controversy surrounding the seriously High volumes used in this study some individuals are
simply discarding this data entirely since they can't believe it and or it does not fit with their bias all in all though I feel it's crucial to view this data as analytically as possible there's no question that the four and six set groups were performing super high volumes even the fix set group was performing more than most people typically do but there are some things we must not forget this protocol was just done for the quads not other muscle groups most sets were not performed to failure recall they left two repetitions in the tank and
only went to failure on the final set of each exercise when defining failure the researchers detail two options one option is what I would consider true muscular failure and the other option was more so voluntary failure and not true muscular failure so some subjects may not have always been reaching true muscular failure on the final set either moreover as some of you are probably thinking it's even quite possible subjects were inaccurate in estimating two reps in the tank though we have research showing trained individuals can be fairly accurate in predicting their proximity to failure this
isn't always the case in accuracy tends to be worse with lower body exercises having said this subjects did train and progress in the 6 to 12 rep range and it's a whole lot easier to train closer to failure with this rep range compared to higher reps finally recool subjects also rested at least 2 minutes between sets which is a longer rest interval this would make the training easier to handle and presumably allow them to push harder on each set compared to using shorter rests none of this is to say what the four and six set
groups did was remotely close to easy it would have still been challenging for them in fact the authors noted some subjects reported excessive perceived fatigue in the final weeks which is where the four and six set groups were going Beyond 40 weekly sets for the quads so I don't believe we can safely and literally recommend everyone to exceed 40 weekly sets besides the duration of your training sessions like the present study would be very long too nonetheless I think there are some more General ways in which this study fits into the rest of of the
research strictly speaking we don't actually know if the greater gains for the four and 68 groups were because they performed more average sets or because it was the act of them progressively increasing the number of sets they performed by weekly of course both could have contributed simultaneously but if the average sets were contributing this is the first evidence that when using longer rests performing more than 20 weekly sets for a muscle could be beneficial for some trained individuals this doesn't mean every single trained person should start performing more than 20 weekly sets per muscle group
remember we still have three other studies failing to find a benefit to more than 20 weekly sets with longer wrists for now I would just use this study as potential evidence that it may be justifiable for some well-trained individuals to experiment in the territory of Performing more than 20 weekly sets for a muscle of course it may be most feasible to do this with just a few muscle groups perhaps ones that you feel to be lagging if the act of progressively increasing the number of sets performed a by by weekly was contributing to the greater
gains then this is the first evidence this could be a beneficial strategy if we use some more practical numbers perhaps gradually progressing from 10 to 20 weekly sets per muscle group across a training block could be superior to just performing a fixed number of 15 weekly sets per Master group intriguingly this method was detailed in the paper by Mike isrel a few years back after working up to 20 weekly sets you could then deload and then do it all over again or bump up the number slightly in the next training block but I believe more
studies are needed to validate this method and provide deeper insights but I think it can be fine for someone to experiment with this methodology if they desire if you're searching for further guidance about training our highquality partner the alpha progression app can help you create track and evolve your hypertrophy and strength training a custom workout generator can tailor make an evidence-based program to your needs in less than 2 minutes let it know the equipment you have how often and how long you want to train for whether whether you want to focus or neglect certain muscles
you can even periodize set numbers which is the method mentioned moments ago where set numbers increase across a training block with the touch of a few buttons you can edit things more to your liking search as changing set numbers if that's what you'd like to do the app generates graphs that can track your progress thereby saving you time during workouts it analyzes your past performance to provide Progressive overload recommendations to help you continue making gains there's also a massive exercise database with video and text tutorials on each Movement try the app free for 2 weeks
with a link in the comments and description and if you like it and decide to go beyond the link gives you 20% off a subscription the reviews speak to the app's unmatched [Music] quality as detailed in our previous video the data indicates provided longer rest between sets are used the 12 to 18 weekly set range optimized gains with no clear benefit to performing more sets however this new study is a fascinating addition to the literature finding that compared to performing a fixed number of 22 weekly sets for the quads adding sets bi-weekly to very high
weekly set quad numbers tended to produce greater muscle growth these findings might indicate for some well-trained individuals it could be justifiable to experiment in the territory of Performing more than 20 weekly sets for a muscle perhaps most feasibly with a few select muscle groups this new study might also suggest that progressively increasing the number of sets across a weeks could be a beneficial strategy so it's something that you could experiment with if you like it's still worth recognizing that individual differences likely exist we have data suggesting some people may grow more from lower or higher
volumes or even similarly between both so there truly is no one siiz fits all approach consider all the research as potential training suggestions and starting points and then you can adjust as you see fits thank you for watching feel free to check out the alpha progression app or our recent deep dive into building the LS
