How many sets PER WEEK/ Workout?

[small2big1]

Ok, so how many sets per muscle group should you do a week?

ie: chest=12?
back=12?
bis=8?

does that make sense? I know everyone is different but is there somewhat of a "standard" to go buy?

also, how many sets in an entire workout??? I heard not over 24?

[tom10]

Ok, so how many sets per muscle group should you do a week?

ie: chest=12?
back=12?
bis=8?

does that make sense? I know everyone is different but is there somewhat of a "standard" to go buy?

also, how many sets in an entire workout??? I heard not over 24?

Everyone is different and no one can tell you what you should do. I'd start at about half of that if you're new and work up. Find the range in which allows for a tough workout but will not overtrain/undernourish you.

I will say though, don't be afraid of overtraining. People are as scared of that **** as they are of herpes. If you're eating and sleeping properly, even the toughest workouts will not likely lead to overtraining unless you're constantly pounding the CNS.

[Wildtim]

My workouts have been anywhere from 20 sets including warm-ups to as many as 50. currently I am doing 24 sets a week per main body part and no specific sets for arms, in the past I have done more than 45 in a week for a body part and 20 in a week for each arm part alone.

12 sets a week for a single body part would be a starting point, not a maximum.

[tom10]

My workouts have been anywhere from 20 sets including warm-ups to as many as 50. currently I am doing 24 sets a week per main body part and no specific sets for arms, in the past I have done more than 45 in a week for a body part and 20 in a week for each arm part alone.

12 sets a week for a single body part would be a starting point, not a maximum.

I'll have to disagree with the last statement. I believe it is relative to anyone and is also dependent on how intensely a muscle is worked. I never succeed 12 sets per muscle a week and still progress. I use drop sets, negatives, etc. and these techniques tend to keep my volume semi-low. Sure I could probably do more and still see gains, but why mess with something that works?

[Wildtim]

So Tom you tend to use advanced set-extenders to make each single set larger than normal. I wouldn't say your volume is low, it is probably actually rather high, just the number of sets is low because each one is extended.

I will admit that you caught me in conventional thinking though, as in a beginners type of workout with sets across.

[tom10]

So Tom you tend to use advanced set-extenders to make each single set larger than normal. I wouldn't say your volume is low, it is probably actually rather high, just the number of sets is low because each one is extended.

I will admit that you caught me in conventional thinking though, as in a beginners type of workout with sets across.

Yes, but it kind of depends on your definition of volume I guess. I was just going by the sets x weight x reps approach. Adding the drop sets and such is what I call adding intensity as adding the in the sets x weight x reps approach is probably faulty since slow negatives and being already fatigued will lead to submaximal loads which is not the case in calculating volume in the "regular way." (holy hell that was a long sentence). By that last part I just mean that every set is usually after rest and therefore more weight can be used for the next set compared to not resting.

I just tend to say semi-low volume but high workload.

[Wildtim]

I was thinking high volume because I've seen guys do..... one "drop set" of curls at the dumbbell rack that would probably run into the hundreds of reps. But yea slow negatives would hurt the volume calculation.

Again though when doing sets across, 12 for one body art in a weeek is on the bottom side of average.

[tom10]

I was thinking high volume because I've seen guys do..... one "drop set" of curls at the dumbbell rack that would probably run into the hundreds of reps. But yea slow negatives would hurt the volume calculation.

Haha I love it.

Again though when doing sets across, 12 for one body art in a weeek is on the bottom side of average.

Agreed.