Grow Muscle with as little as 5 sets a week per muscle! Is it really possible?

Join us for a Fun Fact Friday on the Lifting Lindsay podcast as we revisit the topic of optimal sets per muscle group per week for muscle growth. Lindsay explores the misconception that you need high volume and frequent training to see gains and discusses what studies reveal about achieving muscle growth even with fewer sets. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned lifter, Lindsay breaks down how you can maximize results while fitting training into your life, addressing the all-or-nothing mindset that often leads to unnecessary stress. Tune in to learn how to balance your fitness routine for the best outcomes while enjoying life's other priorities.

Studies cited

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Creators & Guests

Host

Lindsay

Wife and mother of three. I have a deep passion for learning and teaching. I also really love lifting weights and fitness.

What is LiftingLindsay's More Than Fitness?

Dive into the joy of fitness with Lindsay and other guests exploring how it goes well and beyond the gym floor, the number on the scale, the size of your waist or the calories you're counting.

Lindsay: Welcome.

Welcome to the Lifting Lindsay podcast.

Today we are gonna do a little fun fact
Friday, and we're going to revisit a

topic that I've talked about before,
which is how many sets per muscle group

per week do you need to build muscle?

Now you may be thinking, well,
we've already talked about this,

but we really haven't actually.

I mean, we have talked
about a portion of this.

We have TA had this conversation
somewhat, but the conversation that

we've had previously has been all
about how to optimize and squeeze out

every bit of muscle we possibly can.

Right?

So we've talked about high volume.

Training and high volume studies and how
they've collectively been showing more

volume does equate to more hypertrophy.

Today, though, I want you to think
about in terms of, you know, 0% to a

hundred percent of the total maximum
muscle gains that you can achieve in a.

Certain amount of time, I want
you to be thinking, well, how

many sets do I need to achieve?

Like 50% or 75% or 80%?

And I think that this is a
really, really important question.

One, because oftentimes we are very.

Obsessed and fixated with kind
of black or white thinking.

All or nothing thinking.

We think, well, I need to get, you
know, 20 sets per week on glutes

to grow muscle, and if I don't
get 20, then I'm not growing any.

Or if maybe you were doing
five times a week training.

And you really wanted to build delts
and your delts were getting, 18 to 20

sets during that time, or maybe even,
you know, 20, 25 during that time,

and you think, well, summer has come.

I can't keep going to the gym this much.

Uh, my children are home now.

They have tons of activities or are
taking more time, or we're traveling.

You fill in the blank.

You name it, you're now no longer able.

Or want to train five times a
week and you're down shifting

to something like three.

A lot of times people who are stuck
in that all or nothing mindset, they

freak out and they think, well now one,
I'm not going to put on any muscle.

Um, is it even worth going to the gym?

Because all or nothing mindset,
it's either five days and or none.

Right.

That's not true.

So I'm really excited to have this
discussion and lay out actually

what studies show us as far as what
percentage of muscle gain we can

see depending on, you know, how many
sets we do a week per muscle group.

So I think that this is a really good
conversation, like I said, to combat

that all or nothing mindset to help
people understand that there are times

when you can train four to five times
a week, and yes, you'll more than

likely squeeze out some more muscle
growth, but how much more, right?

And is the trade off worth it?

Because that means.

More time at the gym, less time
doing these other things that

maybe, uh, this season of your
life is kind of calling you to do.

Now, another reason why this, this
came to my mind and I thought it was

important to discuss is I recently started
a three times a week training group.

So I have a five times a week program
that's like a gluten dealt emphasis.

I have two, four times a week
program, one is tailored more

towards, you know, strength.

The other is tailored more
towards body recomp and muscle.

And there's these, these different,
you know, methods that we can

train towards different goals.

So now I'm starting this three times
a week program because I've had a lot

of my app clients reach out saying
some of us, our season of life is that

we want to train three times a week.

Maybe they have other goals.

Maybe they want the strength and muscle
that comes with lifting weights, but they

also want to run a marathon, wanna do
a triathlon, maybe want to, uh, do yoga

more, or Pilates or whatever it may be.

Fill in the blank.

Or maybe they just.

Are going through a time in their life
where stress is really high and sleep

is really low, and, and, and training
five times a week, even four times

for them is really impacting them
and they're not able to fully recover

from four or five times a week, but
three might be a sweet spot for them.

So this is why I started this program, but
I've been getting a lot of questions from

app users who are interested in switching.

Now, like I said, some of
them are worried, well, am

I gonna lose all my gains?

If I can't go four or five times
a week, then maybe I just should

take a break and not do anything.

Maybe summer's coming and I'm
just, I'm just not gonna go at all.

Well, you don't have to buy into that
all or nothing, but it is kind of

important to understand that although
we can make muscle and strength gains,

strength is kind of a different story.

Strength is actually, we can
oftentimes maximize that with.

Three training sessions, quality
training sessions a week.

But typically people want come
to me asking for body recomp.

They want to see muscle growth,
muscle growth, and strength.

I've said this a few times, but
I just need to reiterate this.

Although there is crossover,
they are different.

Think of powerlifter as strength
training versus hypertrophy

versus bodybuilder who focuses on.

Purely hypertrophy.

So a bodybuilder isn't, they're, they're
excited about prs, but they're not hitting

the high prs that strength athletes are.

Because the training is
actually different now.

Like I said, there's some crossover and
I have that muscle and strength program

that allows us to do a little bit of
both to get the best of both worlds.

Um, but they are slightly different,
and that's important to understand.

So this conversation of sets is going to
be purely speaking about muscle growth.

So with that being said.

With these worries that people are like,
well, am I gonna lose all my progress?

Should I even keep going?

Well, some people are also like,
yeah, I wanna, I wanna work three

times a week and, and I want all
of the gains that come from five.

I'm like, what?

Well, yeah, you know what I want?

I wanted to like lose weight
without having, you know, to uh,

be, have any mindfulness about
my foods without tracking, with

eating, whatever, whenever I want.

Yeah, we all want these things, but
sometimes our wants are conflicting.

Right?

And then what happens?

We don't end up hitting our goals,
so it's better to kind of line up.

Our efforts and what we are willing and
wanting to do with appropriate outcomes,

and that's what we're gonna cover today.

So let's dive into what do
the studies actually say?

Because the studies show that
it's not like what people are

saying, that it's all or nothing.

You either optimize every tiny
little thing and you get all

the gains, or you don't do that
and you don't make any gains.

That's not what the studies are showing.

So I'm gonna break this, this
down, what the studies are

showing into two different groups.

One, I'm gonna show what studies
are saying about untrained

and beginners because this is
really important, untrained.

Lifters or beginning lifters who are in
that first year, year and a half, maybe

even two, depending on how on and off
or how dedicated they are, uh, how much

they're actually like training versus
just kind of going through the motions.

So what amount of sets do they need
versus trained and more experienced

lifters, because actually their
needs are a little different.

So with untrained or beginners,
you know what's fascinating?

If you're looking at that percentage
of muscle growth, you know, zero to a

hundred percent, a hundred percent is
just maximizing getting every single

gain, uh, genetically you possibly can.

Um, manipulating, you know,
training, making sure sleep,

nutrition, all that's on point.

Well, you can actually get up to
60% of your muscle growth capacity.

This is gonna blow your
mind, guys for this.

Remember, this is untrained beginners
with up to five sets a week.

A week as little as five sets
a week can get you up to 60%

of your capacity for
muscle, like muscle gains.

That's incredible.

That's incredible.

And then with untrained beginners,
80% hypertrophy gains with as

few as five to 10 sets a week.

That's That's absolutely amazing.

That's amazing.

Now with trained lifters.

It is different.

Okay.

It, it is different.

So we are seeing that 60% of your
hypertrophy gains are going to be, can

be gained five to 10 sets, and 10 to
20 it appears, is getting about 80% of.

Your hypertrophy and you can, even with
new studies that have come out with higher

volumes, they're looking at anywhere
between 15 and 30, really maximizing and

optimizing and leaning higher than 80%.

But what is it that you have to sacrifice?

Well, you have to make that trade off.

Is the time, the additional time
in the gym worth squeezing out

a little bit more hypertrophy, and
that's where a lot of people are

like, do you know what it may not be?

Why?

Because what are your
reasons for going to the gym?

And what's the timeframe?

Most of us are going to the gym
because we want to be strong.

Yes, we want results.

We want muscle, we wanna be
healthy, we want to be agile.

We want to age well.

And guess what We're, we're not in
it for a three months transformation,

although that would be wonderful.

But the reality is that majority
of us don't experience that.

Majority of us are
actually in this for life.

For life.

So think about that.

If I'm in it for life, I'm going to
be lifting for the rest of my life.

do I really need to spend
more time in the gym?

To edge out another 10% of hypertrophy or
would my time better serve me elsewhere?

And that's the thing, nobody else can
answer this question except for you.

But the great thing about it is
that if you need to lower your

amount of time you spend in the gym,

I want you to shift your mindset
that it is not all or nothing.

You can lower your five times a
week training to three times a week

and still experience good gains.

So let's just say, let's, let's
give a little context to this.

Let's just say you're a newbie lifter.

Maybe you've been lifting
for a year, I would say

you're still relatively new and
you've been able to really put a

lot of time into, you know, weight
loss and setting up and establishing

this routine of going to the gym.

But life has kind of shifted, and
now you need to lower maybe your four

or five times a week to three times.

Well, three times a week.

We can still easily get around
10 sets per muscle group a week.

So that means you are still getting about
80% of your muscle gains capacity, 80%.

You're still achieving that.

That's a big deal.

That's awesome.

And maybe you lost like, you
know, 10, that doesn't matter.

Are you looking at the gap or
are you looking at the gain?

What I've gained is time, and
I'm still gaining about 80%

of max hypertrophy that I can.

That in my book, along with
many others, is a big win.

That's a big win.

So a lot of these conversations that
are had on Instagram, keep in mind when

people are like, well, you, you have
to be getting, you know, 15, 20 sets.

You have to be, uh, spending five
days in the gym lifting to get

those 20 sets in to maximize hyper.

These people are speaking
in terms of optimization.

They're also speaking in terms of almost,
that, you know, you have the time, you

have the energy, you have the want,
and maybe you don't and that's okay.

That's okay.

So that's actually why I started
this fitness minimalist group is

for people who are like, you know.

I have maybe other goals, whether
that's other fitness goals or

other family goals, relationship
goals, career goals, whatever.

There have been times, uh, with my
business that I've had to go from lifting

five times a week to lifting three times.

I don't beat myself up.

I don't say, oh, I'm just, I'm
just losing all of my gains.

No, you, you just need to practice
that flexibility and pivot.

You pivot because life is
throwing a curve ball at you.

Or maybe it's not even
throwing a curve ball.

You pivot because you're like, right now
I choose something else that will actually

be a better return on my time for what
I really want out of life right now.

Okay.

Let me walk you through
one other scenario.

Let's say that somebody who
I had a woman write to me and

she's like, I'm really nervous.

I'm doing your train with me.

My train with me group, that's my
personal program is five times a week.

And she says, now I, I've gotta
switch to the three times.

I'm really nervous and scared that
I'm gonna lose all my progress.

Well, what did we just barely
learn from these studies?

And if you're interested in
reading 'em, I'm gonna include

'em in the, in the show notes.

But what did we just
barely learn from this?

Even those, and, and I'm going to,
make the assumption because this

woman has been doing this for two
and a half years, I believe she said.

This is a trained lifter, and she's going
from putting anywhere between 15 to 25.

I've, I've had some.

Specialization programs where we
even pushed glutes for a short

period to, you know, 30 sets, a week.

She's going from that high volume
to now probably 10, 12 sets.

Well, what have we learned between
10 and 20 for even advanced?

You're getting somewhere around 80%.

So what she's doing is
she is making a trade off.

She's trading off a little potential,
losing out a, a little bit on some

muscle growth, but she's still
getting a good, you know, around 80%

I'd, I'd, I'd say around 70, 80%.

So she's still coming out on top.

As far as muscle growth, but now she
has a little bit more time to spend

elsewhere on what makes more sense
right now for her season in life.

Sometimes when I hear trainers
talk and they're, they throw out

the, you have to, you know, be
training five times a week to.

Maximize hypertrophy.

Well, that, that may be true.

It's just one piece of the equation
of hypertrophy, by the way, but

at what cost to the individual
and is that even what they want?

We're just kind of making the
assumption that they want that right.

Maybe they can't.

I mean, that's actually why I changed
a bunch of things recently in my app

because I had a program a four times a
week program that people were saying, is

there any way we can have a four times
a week full body build program where

instead of, you know, training 75 minutes,
'cause sometimes towards the tail end of.

Uh, the, the training when we had
increased sets or rest time or

whatever, training was moving and
getting closer to like 75 minutes.

They're like, well, I, I don't have that.

Is there any way we can change it so
that we can be training no more than,

you know, 45 minutes, four times a week?

And I'm like, yeah, yeah, we can do that.

You are gonna miss out on a little volume.

But do you know what?

That's actually okay because
the trade off is worth it.

You're still gonna be getting
majority, 80% is huge.

You're still gonna be getting majority
of the hypertrophy you can, and like I

said, the trade off will be worth it.

So hopefully this, uh, fun
fact Friday of different sets,

per, you know, untrained or
trained individuals, how much

hypertrophy can we glean?

I hope one, it has helped combat
that all or nothing mindset and

allowed you to kind of maybe release
these ideas that you have to train

a certain amount of times per week.

Because really.

Learning to be flexible with our
training allows us to be more

consistent over time, right?

There's this balance of somebody
who's constantly saying, well,

I'm being flexible by saying
no to the gym every day, right?

There's that versus
somebody who is so rigid.

To their five times a week, six times
a week training that they break right.

Neither one will achieve
life long results.

The people who get results
and maintain results.

We want to maintain results are those
that are flexible and learn to pivot.

So hopefully this learning a little
bit about sets per week, per individual

per goal, how much muscle gain we can
get from it has really relieved you of

a lot of those negative guilt, shame
thoughts and help and will help you

make better choices going forward.

You guys are awesome.

Thank you so much for listening today.

I'm always open to answer questions.

You guys can send me Ds
lifting Lindsey on Instagram.

Come and join our training program.

Go to be strong dot lifting lindsey.com.

Join the training, join our community.

We would love to see you there.

You guys have a wonderful week.