How many exercises per muscle group should you do to get the best results in the gym? People assume that more is better, but that’s not necessarily true. If you’ve read my post on workout length, you’ll know that high intensity is more important than long workouts. The same principle applies here, doing more exercises won’t necessarily give you better results. When it comes to building muscle, the goal should be to progressively overload your muscles over time. That’s where the real growth happens.
The Key to Growth: Progressive Overload
If you take one thing from this post, let it be this: progressive overload is the key to results. This means consistently increasing the weight, reps, or intensity of your workouts so your muscles keep adapting and growing. Here’s how I personally approach it:
- I pick a weight that I can lift for 6-8 reps.
- Once I can consistently hit 8-10 reps, I increase the weight slightly.
- With the new, heavier weight, I might only get 4-6 reps at first.
- I keep working until I can do 8-10 reps again, then I increase the weight once more.
It might seem like small, slow progress, but trust me, these small increases add up fast and lead to huge results.
Why Too Many Exercises Can Slow You Down
A common mistake people make is trying to do too many exercises per muscle group in one session. If you’re doing 10 exercises for chest, for example, you won’t have the energy to progressively overload each one. Instead of focusing on pushing your muscles to their limit, you’ll just be going through the motions because you’re worried about saving energy for the rest of your workout. That’s why more isn’t always better, intensity matters more than volume.
If you’re training with high intensity, then fewer exercises with progressive overload will always give you better results than a bunch of mediocre sets spread across too many exercises.
How Many Exercises Per Muscle Group?
The ideal number of exercises depends on your personal goal and which muscles need more attention. You need to be honest with yourself about what areas are lagging and what areas are already strong. You need to focus more on the areas that are weak than strong.
Here’s a general rule of thumb that I’ve found works well for me:
- 3-5 exercises for larger muscle groups (chest, back, legs)
- 1-3 exercises for smaller muscle groups (biceps, triceps, shoulders, abs)
For example, if I’m doing a pull workout (back & biceps) and I know my back is lagging, I’ll do 4 exercises for back and only 1-2 exercises for biceps. On the other hand, if my biceps need more work, I might focus more on biceps for a period of time before evaluating myself again. The key here is adjusting your routine to focus on what you actually need, rather than blindly following a fixed workout plan.
How I Structure My Workouts
In my workout routine, I generally focus on 4 exercises for both chest and back and 4-5 excercises for legs, performing 2-3 sets for each (excluding the warm-up). I push myself to within one or two reps of failure on the first set, and then I go all out on the final set(s), reaching true muscle failure. To really maximize my effort, I incorporate partials, basically half-reps, at the point of failure to squeeze out every last bit of intensity from the set.
When it comes to biceps, I typically do one, sometimes two exercises. For triceps, I put a bit more emphasis, usually doing two exercises. After all, the triceps make up about 2/3 of the arm, so I give them the attention they deserve! For shoulders, I switch things up between 2 and 3 exercises, depending on the day. As for abs, I usually throw in one exercise here and there.
Now, here’s a game changing tip that I’ve personally found incredibly beneficial. I took a critical look at my physique and realized I needed to dedicate more attention to my legs. I decided to add just 3 sets of leg extensions to every workout, no matter the focus of the day. Whether it’s chest day or back day, I quickly squeeze in those 3 sets of leg extensions, and the results have been nothing short of amazing. This small change has had a profound impact on my overall leg development, and I highly recommend trying something like this.
Final Takeaways: Less is More
Remember, more isn’t always better. When it comes to your workouts, focus on high intensity, and that often means fewer exercises. For example, doing 3 sets to failure on chest will yield far better results than 5 sets of moderate-intensity work. The key is to be honest with yourself, be honest about what truly needs more attention and determine the right number of sets for each muscle group to progressively overload and push yourself to your limits in every set of every exercise.
At the end of the day, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the perfect number of exercises. However, I’ve shared some valuable principles here to help you find your own optimal routine. Based on my experience, I’ve given you a ballpark of where the best results tend to come from. Use these insights to refine your approach and find out how many excercises per muscle you should do.
