Stop Overdoing It! How Many Sets Should You Really Be Doing?

Are You Doing Too Much Volume?

In this video, Dr. Mike Israel discusses the relationship between volume and muscle growth in training plans. He explores how to determine if you are doing too much volume and how to adjust your training plan for optimal results.

The Relationship Between Volume and Muscle Growth

• There is a certain number of reps or sets that you can do before it tires you out and taxes your recovery abilities.

• Many people have experimented with high volume programs and then went back to lower volume programs and got better gains.

• If you have experienced this, please share your story in the comments below.

• There is still room for gains even when doing less volume.

How to Determine if You're Doing Too Much Volume

• If you are hitting many PR's in reps or load, then you're good to go.

• Fundamentally, if you're making progress over time, then your volume is not fundamentally misaligned.

• Before concluding that you're doing too much, consider likely situations where every checklist item applies to you.

Likely Situations Where You May Be Doing Too Much Volume

• If you are objectively doing a higher end of volume compared to the studied population of athletes.

• If your performance has plateaued despite increasing volume.

• If your recovery abilities have decreased despite increasing volume.

• If your motivation has decreased due to excessive fatigue from high volumes.

How To Adjust Your Training Plan For Optimal Results

• Reduce the number of sets per exercise while maintaining the same intensity.

• Reduce the number of exercises per muscle group while maintaining the same volume.

• Increase rest periods between sets to allow for better recovery.

• Incorporate deload weeks into your training plan to allow for better recovery and prevent burnout.

How Much Volume is Too Much?

In this section, the speaker discusses how to determine if you are doing too much volume in your workouts.

Signs of Doing Too Much Volume

• If you consistently do more than 8 working sets per muscle group per week, it's unlikely that you're not doing enough volume.

• Performance plateaus every two to three weeks and feeling tired and unable to beat your match reps from last time may indicate that you're trying to do too much volume at a time.

• Feeling flat, tired, and empty muscles after training may indicate that you're carrying way more fatigue than you should be due to excessive volume.

• If your pump peaks early in the workout and then recedes during the rest of the workout, it's highly likely that those extra working sets are a bad thing.

Effects of Excessive Volume

• If you've trained with a certain amount of volume and got a good pump on average but now getting a worse pump on average per session after increasing the volume, it's possible that you're still making gains but not as many as you could because you're on an excessively high end of trading volume.

• If your muscles are chronically still sore before hitting them again, it's almost by definition doing too much volume.

Signs of Overtraining

In this section, the speaker discusses how to identify if you are doing too much chronic volume and overtraining.

Signs of Overtraining

• If you take mini deloads often, your mind-muscle connection starts to feel off, and your technique feels a little bit off.

• If you're having a hard time progressing with lower rep sets (5-10 or 10-15) with heavier weights, it's likely due to training with very high volumes. This causes muscle fibers to change from acting like faster twitch fibers to slower twitch fibers. Slow-twitch muscles adapt quickly for endurance but don't increase in size or strength as much.

• High reps (20-30) can still progress even with occasional rest periods. However, if you're struggling with adding load to sets of 5-10 reps, then you're probably doing too much volume.

• Doing too much volume can cause fiber type transitions into slower twitch muscles that prevent growth and make it difficult to add load.

How To Resensitize Your Muscles To Volume

In this section, the speaker explains how to resensitize your muscles after experiencing overtraining by taking a volume reset.

Volume Reset

• If you have signs of overtraining, finish your last mesocycle as written and then take an active rest phase consisting of one deload week followed by one week of doing nothing.

• After the active rest phase, train at maintenance volume for two to four weeks without increasing volume beyond what is necessary to maintain muscle size and strength. This will help resensitize your muscles while reducing fatigue.

Prepping the System for Growth

In this section, the speaker discusses how to prepare your body for growth after a period of rest.

Maintenance Volume

• Two to four weeks of maintenance volume is necessary to prep the system for growth.

• Maintenance volume is about one-third of your typical volume.

• For example, if you normally do 15 sets of quads per week, during maintenance volume you would only do five sets per week.

Deloading and Technique

• During maintenance volume, you should focus on technique and lifting heavier weights than normal.

• After two to four weeks of maintenance volume, there will be a deload week before starting real training again.

Constructing Your Program Back

In this section, the speaker discusses how to construct your program back after a period of rest.

Starting with Lower Volume

• Start with half the normal amount of sets when constructing your program back.

• This lower end of volume will slowly come up to see if you experience better growth with lower volumes.

Keeping Volume Same or Increasing Slightly

• Keep your volume the same unless there's a clear impetus for increasing it.

• If you choose to increase a set, add only one set at a time per session per week.

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Finding the Right Volume for Muscle Gain

In this section, Mike Israetel talks about how to find the right volume for muscle gain and why it's important to avoid sticking to one mesocycle.

High Volume vs. Low Volume

• High volume can lead to quick gains but can also cause fatigue and bad pumps.

• It's important to find your minimum effective to maximum recoverable window by experimenting with different volumes.

• Don't stick to just one mesocycle; try different volumes and see what works best for you.

The Goldilocks Zone

• There is a "just right" zone in terms of volume that will give you the best results overall.

• Too little or too much volume won't be as effective as finding the intermediate volume that works best for you.

Long-Term Planning

• Over time, your sensitivity will drop, so it's natural to raise your volumes.

• If you feel like you're doing too much, do a volume reset by lowering your volume and gradually working your way up again.

• A volume reset is great for injury healing, prevention, and long-term motivation.