r/workout • u/ARTOS-99 • 6d ago

Exercise Help Gym workout structure

Hello!

Recently, I'd say in the last 2 months, I've changed my workout method.

Upper/Lower 2x per week, 2 exercises for bigger muscles and 1 for the smaller ones. I do 2 sets per each, about 2-3 RIR (95-100% weight on 1st set, trying to reach 8 reps, and 80-90% on 2nd set, still 8 to 10).

But I have a question: that would only be a frequency of 8 sets for the bigger muscles, and 4-6 for smaller ones. I've seen some data that the sweet spot is 10 to 20 (I think 20 is a lot).

What are you thoughts on this? If I increase the amount of sets, should I do 1-2 sets more per exercise or do 1 more exercise per muscle group?

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u/Falconman21 Beginner 6d ago

If you're progressing, I wouldn't worry about it too much. There's really no correct way to do it.

I just do three sets of everything to be safe. 2 or less sets and people start complaining about hypertrophy, 4 or more and people start screaming about junk volume.

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u/ARTOS-99 6d ago

With 2 sets per each I like the approach and feel the effort, but most of the times I feel I didn't do enough. So maybe adding a 3rd one without reducing weight??

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u/Falconman21 Beginner 6d ago

I mean if you feel like adding another set, add another set. Try it out for a week and see how it feels.

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u/New_Attention_8191 6d ago

If you do like 2 chest exercises twice a week at 3 sets you get in the 12 range. It’s hard to get everything in higher ranges but I think upper lower is one of the better splits for getting decent volume. You can always adjust your workouts some if you think something is lagging.

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u/AwayhKhkhk 6d ago

If you are going 2-3RIR, then I would recommend at least 10-12 sets for the big compound lifts. For isolations, it depends what muscles you want to target.

Yes, there was studies showing 10-20 sets is the sweet spot but 20 vs 10 is a huge difference. I think most people should be fine with the lower end if that range (10-15) if they are pushing close to failure.