This Is How Many Exercises You Should Do Per Muscle Group

Maybe your like

HealthlineSubscribe

Fitness

Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS — Written by Nicole Davis, CPT on October 1, 2020

Short answer
Workout vs. week
Sets vs. reps
Volume vs. frequency
How to split
Maximize your results
Routine for size
Routine for strength
Routine for endurance
Takeaway

image of a person wearing a light blue t-shirt and heather gray leggings standing in their living room performing a bicep curl with a pink dumbbell — Rg Studio/Getty Images

How many exercises you should do per muscle group depends on several factors, including your fitness level and goals. Here are healthy tips.

We know that strength training is good for you — great, actually.

From increased muscle mass and stronger bones to better balance and weight management, incorporating strength training into your exercise routine is a no-brainer.

What’s infinitely more confusing is figuring out the logistics of it all. Is there a magic number of days per week you should work out? Should you split upper and lower body? How many reps and sets?

There’s a lot of information available and many ways to approach training. In this article, we’ll explore the topic of how many exercises you should do per muscle group.

What’s the short answer?

It varies depending on several factors, including your fitness level and goals.

For example, research is clear that the more weekly sets you perform, the more muscle hypertrophy — or size increase — you’ll see. But what about if you’re interested in gaining strength? Or muscular endurance?

In general, a range of 1 to 3 sets of an exercise can provide benefits based on your goals, and even just one exercise per muscle group can give you results.

To gain strength, it’s best to stick with a few foundational exercises and concentrate your reps and sets there. If size is your goal, you’ll want to vary your exercises more, spreading your reps and sets between them.

Per workout vs. per week

Should you think about exercises per muscle group in a weekly view, or per workout?

To understand this topic better, we should start with addressing training volume.

Training volume = reps x sets x weight.

The correct training volume for you will depend on several factors, including your fitness level and goals.

Training volume is best to approach as a weekly target, as it accounts for how many workouts per week you plan to train a specific muscle group.

Whether you’ll train each muscle group once per week or three times per week, your volume target will stay the same. You’ll just adjust your target number of reps and sets per workout.

Workout sets vs. reps

It’s also important to think about your workouts in sets versus reps.

When thinking about your weekly training volume, the more reps you complete, the fewer number of sets you’ll need to do. This likely means a lower weight load.

On the flip side, the fewer reps you complete — most likely at a heavier weight — the more sets you’ll need to do.

Your goals come into play here:
Lower rep ranges of 5 and under are best for strength gains.
Moderate rep ranges of 6 to 12 are best for a combination of both strength and muscle size (hypertrophy).
High rep ranges of 13 to 20 are most beneficial for muscular endurance.

Once you’ve identified your goals, you’ll know whether your workouts will be set-heavy or rep-heavy.

Weekly volume vs. frequency

Another important consideration: whether you want to knock out your weekly training volume in one workout or spread it out across several.

The frequency of your muscle group training — or the number of sessions per week — can make a difference in your results.

Utilizing three to four sessions per week to hit your training volume will likely provide better results than doing it all at once because of one key factor: recovery.

You’ll be less fatigued and your muscles will be allowed to rest, allowing for better performance even at the end of your sets.

Choosing your split

Instead of viewing all of your workouts through a “full body” lens, workout splits target individual muscle groups or regions during different workouts, looking at things from a weekly or even monthly perspective.

For instance, a very basic split routine would be upper body-lower body. Or you could even break it down further with a chest/triceps/abs day, a back/biceps day, a leg day, and a shoulder day each week.

The point of a workout split is to give specific muscle groups time to rest before challenging them again while still hitting the full body every week.

Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so these breaks are key.

Full body

A full-body split is just that: Your workout will hit all major muscle groups.

This approach is especially good for beginners or those who are strapped for time, as the training volume will be more manageable.

An example of a full-body split looks like this:

Monday: full body
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: full body
Thursday: rest
Friday: full body
Saturday: rest
Sunday: rest

Allowing your body at least 1 day to recover between each full-body workout is key, so three sessions per week is a good baseline to start with.

Within these workouts, you’ll choose one exercise for each muscle group — back, chest, shoulders, legs, core — and, as a beginner, aim for 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Body part

A body-part split workout routine targets major muscle groups individually throughout the week.

While this method will surely increase muscle size and strength, it will have you training at least 5 days a week, which is a big commitment.

If you do have the time to adopt a body-part split routine, here’s a sample schedule:

Monday: chest
Tuesday: legs
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: back
Friday: shoulders
Saturday: abs
Sunday: rest

For a body-part split — which is best for more advanced skill levels — you’ll concentrate on fewer reps and more sets. Choose five exercises per workout and utilize rep ranges of less than 12.

Upper-lower

In an upper body-lower body split, you’ll divide your workouts into upper and lower body days.

A 4-day weekly routine lends itself well here, with 2 upper body days and 2 lower body days.

Here’s an example:

Monday: upper body
Tuesday: lower body
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: upper body
Friday: lower body
Saturday: rest
Sunday: rest

To start, choose two exercises per muscle group, aiming for 3 sets and 10 to 12 reps as a beginner.

Push-pull

In a push-pull workout split, you’ll focus on the “push” muscles in one workout — chest, triceps, shoulders, quads, and calves — and the “pull” muscles — back, biceps, and hamstrings — in another.

Four days per week also works well for a push-pull split, allowing for two push and two pull workouts.

A sample schedule could look like this:

Monday: push
Tuesday: pull
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: push
Friday: rest
Saturday: pull
Sunday: rest

To start, choose one to two exercises per muscle group, aiming for 3 sets and 10 to 12 reps as a beginner.

How to maximize your routine

No matter which routine you adopt, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Rest periods

In general, a good rule of thumb is the more you’re lifting, the longer rest you should take between sets.

In lower rep ranges, aim for at least 2 minutes between sets. In higher rep ranges, aim for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Weight

Low-, moderate-, and high-rep ranges are predicated on the fact that you’re challenging yourself to the very last rep.

If the last rep isn’t hard to get through, you’re not lifting enough weight.

Recovery

Recovery doesn’t just refer to spacing workouts so you’ll have time to rest. Components like nutrition and sleep are important, too.

Make sure the whole package is there, including a well-balanced diet and plenty of Zzz’s to ensure you’re maximizing your results.

Sample routine for size

Although there are many ways to build muscle size, an upper-lower body split is a foolproof way to start.

Aim for a schedule of 4 days per week. Stick in the moderate rep range of 6 to 12 reps for 3 sets.

A sample routine could look like this:

Monday: Upper body

bench press
lat pulldown
overhead shoulder press
bent-over row
tricep extensions

Tuesday: Lower body

squat
deadlift
split squat
bridge
lateral lunge

Wednesday: Rest

Remember: Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so breaks like this are key.

Thursday: Upper body

single-arm dumbbell row
incline chest press
bicep curls
pushups
lateral raise

Friday: Lower body

squat (or leg press)
deadlift
Bulgarian split squat
leg curl
standing calf raises

Saturday and Sunday: Rest

Remember: Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so breaks like this are key.

Sample routine for strength

To build strength, stick in the range of 1 to 5 reps and 4 to 5 sets. Truly challenge yourself with the load. If you feel as though you could continue, add some more weight in the next set.

A simple, no-frills approach is the best to build strength. Stick with these foundational exercises over 3 days per week to keep the concentration and effort on your load and form.

A sample routine could look like this:

Monday:

squat
bench press
row

Tuesday: Rest

Remember: Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so breaks like this are key.

Wednesday:

squat
overhead press
deadlift

Thursday: Rest

Remember: Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so breaks like this are key.

Friday:

hip thrust
row
goblet squat

Saturday and Sunday: Rest

Remember: Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so breaks like this are key.

Sample routine for endurance

A full-body approach is great to build muscular endurance.

Scheduling three sessions a week and sticking in the high rep range in 3 sets will have you feeling like a superhero.

A sample routine could look like this:

Monday:

squat
bench press
walking lunges
pullups
single-leg deadlift
lateral raise

Tuesday: Rest

Remember: Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so breaks like this are key.

Wednesday:

deadlift
pushups
goblet squat
row
lateral lunge
tricep extension

Thursday: Rest

Remember: Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so breaks like this are key.

Friday:

squat
lat pulldown
Bulgarian split squat
pushups
dead bug
plank

Saturday and Sunday: Rest

Remember: Recovery is an important part of seeing results — especially as your training volume increases — so breaks like this are key.

The bottom line

Analyzing your fitness goals is the first step in figuring out how many exercises you should do per muscle group.

It doesn’t have to get complicated, however. Research shows that even fewer than 5 sets per exercise per week can grow muscle. So get moving and fine-tune your approach as you go!

Nicole Davis is a writer based in Madison, Wisconsin, a personal trainer, and a group fitness instructor whose goal is to help women live stronger, healthier, happier lives. When she’s not working out with her husband or chasing around her young daughter, she’s watching crime TV shows or making sourdough bread from scratch. Find her on Instagram for fitness tidbits, #momlife, and more.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Ralston GW, et al. (2017). The effect of weekly set volume on strength gain: A meta-analysis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5684266/
Schoenfeld BJ, et al. (2019). Resistance training volume enhances muscle hypertrophy but not strength in trained men.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6303131/

Share this article

Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS — Written by Nicole Davis, CPT on October 1, 2020

Health Conditions

Condition Spotlight

Wellness Topics

Product Reviews

Featured Programs

Featured

Lessons

Newsletters

Lifestyle Quizzes

Health News

This Just In

Top Reads

Video Series

Find Your Bezzy Community

Follow us on social media

Fitness

What’s the short answer?

Per workout vs. per week

Workout sets vs. reps

Weekly volume vs. frequency

Choosing your split

Full body

Body part

Upper-lower

Push-pull

How to maximize your routine

Rest periods

Weight

Recovery

Sample routine for size

Monday: Upper body

Tuesday: Lower body

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Upper body

Friday: Lower body

Saturday and Sunday: Rest

Sample routine for strength

Monday:

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday:

Thursday: Rest

Friday:

Saturday and Sunday: Rest

Sample routine for endurance

Monday:

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday:

Thursday: Rest

Friday:

Saturday and Sunday: Rest

The bottom line

How we reviewed this article:

Read this next

Contact