Effect of resistance training set volume on upper-body muscle hypertrophy: are more sets really better than less?

Cauê V La Scala Teixeira, Yuri Motoyama, Paulo Henrique Silva Marques de Azevedo, Danilo Sales Bocalini, James Steele

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background Resistance training (RT) for upper body muscle hypertrophy (UBMH) typically entails high volumes of sets per muscle group per training session. The majority of RT regimens does not discriminate between upper and lower body muscle groups, while these groups may respond differently to RT set volumes in terms of maximum skeletal muscle mass gain. Recent studies have examined the effect of different set volumes on the extent of UBMH to formulate optimal RT regimens and to make RT programmes more time‐efficient. Objective To analyse the effect of the number of RT sets on the extent of UBMH on the basis of recent literature. Results and conclusion The analysis suggests that, statistically, high set volumes (≥3) are not significantly better than low set volumes (<3) in regard to UBMH in untrained subjects. For trained subjects, the literature is lacking in well‐designed studies comparing low and high training volumes, as well as analysing upper and lower body muscles separately. Therefore, it is not possible to conclude that high volume of sets offers better results than low volume of sets for UBMH, and vice versa.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)727-732
JournalClinical Physiology and Functional Imaging
Volume38
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Oct 2017

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effect of resistance training set volume on upper-body muscle hypertrophy: are more sets really better than less?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this