The short answer
| Session | Exercises | Sets per exercise | Hard sets in the session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full body (2–3 days a week) | 5 to 6 | 2 to 3 | 10 to 18 |
| Upper or lower day | 5 to 7 | 3 | 15 to 21 |
| Push, pull or legs day | 5 to 6 | 3 | 15 to 18 |
| One or two muscle groups a day | 4 to 5 | 3 to 4 | 12 to 20 |
| 30 minutes, short on time | 3 to 4 | 3 | 9 to 12 |
These are working sets, after your warm-up.
How many sets per muscle group per week
Muscle growth follows the number of hard sets each muscle gets per week [1], so start from sets, not exercises, and work backwards:
- Pick a weekly target for each muscle: about 10 to 20 hard sets. Start near 10 if you are new.
- Divide it by the number of sessions that train that muscle.
- Split each session's share over one or two exercises.
Example: on an upper lower split, chest is trained twice a week. Twelve sets a week makes six a session: say 3 sets of bench press and 3 of incline dumbbell press. Give your back the same six sets over two exercises, add one exercise each for shoulders and arms, and an upper day lands at about 6 exercises and 18 sets. If you have not picked a split yet, the best workout split for muscle gain matches one to the days you have.
How many sets per exercise
- 2 to 4 hard sets per exercise works for most people.
- Give the first and biggest lift of the day more: 3 to 5 sets.
- If an exercise needs a fifth or sixth set to reach your target, add a second exercise for that muscle instead. A fresh exercise is often easier to do well than a fifth tired set.
How many exercises by goal
- Strength: 3 to 5 exercises. Most of the session goes to one or two main lifts, with more sets of fewer reps and longer rest between sets.
- Muscle: 4 to 7. Big lifts first, then smaller exercises for the muscles you want to grow.
- General fitness, or short on time: 3 to 5, full body. Pair two exercises for different muscles and alternate them to save time.
How many exercises by experience
- In your first months: 4 to 6, mostly big lifts. You are learning the movements, and a few exercises done often teach them fastest.
- After a year or more: 5 to 8. You need more sets per muscle, and more than one exercise for some muscles, but the session still starts with a big lift.
Signs you have too many, or too few
Too many:
- Your sessions run past about 90 minutes.
- The last few exercises feel like going through the motions.
- Your main lifts stall while the list keeps growing.
Too few:
- A muscle you care about gets fewer than about 10 hard sets a week.
- You finish in 30 minutes with plenty left, week after week.
- A muscle you want to grow never gets trained directly.
How to order your exercises
- The biggest, most technical lift first, while you are fresh: a squat, deadlift, bench press or overhead press.
- Then the other compound exercises, the lifts that use several joints: rows, pulldowns, lunges and presses.
- Then single-joint exercises: curls, raises, extensions and calf raises.
- If one muscle matters most to you right now, train it early in the session.
Put it into practice
The ready-made plans in Gym Commitment already have the exercises, sets and reps worked out, for 2 to 6 days a week. To write your own, use the workout plan template. Either way, the app puts last time's numbers in every set, so each exercise has a target to beat.
How many exercises per workout FAQ
Is 3 exercises per workout enough?
It can be, if they are big lifts and you do enough sets: 3 exercises at 4 sets each is 12 hard sets, plenty for a short full body session.
Is 10 exercises per workout too many?
Usually, yes. By the eighth or ninth exercise most people are too tired to push hard, and the session drags past 90 minutes. Cut the exercises that overlap.
How many exercises per muscle group?
One or two per session is enough for most people. Spread a muscle's weekly sets over two or more sessions rather than piling them into one.
Should I change exercises every week?
No. Keep your main exercises for at least 6 to 8 weeks so you can see them improve. Swap an exercise when it stops progressing or causes pain.
Sources
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2017;35(11):1073–1082. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1210197
