Number of exercises per muscle group

Can't decide how many exercises to do for each muscle group? Check out this article to help you create the most productive training plan.

How many exercises should you do per muscle group?

A well-designed training program is one of the decisive factors influencing the final result. Everyone wants the maximum efficiency from their workouts, so when creating a training plan, the question usually arises about the number of exercises needed to train each muscle group.

Let's figure out how many exercises you need to do so that each muscle group is effectively worked.

Number of exercises per workout[edit | edit code]

Read the main article:
How to create a training program
The key factor in developing an effective training program is an appropriate selection of exercises. This applies to both the exercise plan for gaining weight and the program for losing weight. It is quite difficult for a particular person to determine the optimal number of exercises in training, because their number, firstly, depends on a dozen individual parameters, and secondly, it can vary from lesson to lesson. Therefore, some trainers, in their desire to develop as many muscle groups as possible, select too many exercises. As a result, the program becomes overloaded and tiring for the athlete. Instead of growing muscle mass, it leads to stagnation[1] and overwork. To prevent this, you should choose the number and types of exercises in accordance with the age, health status and level of training of the athlete, the requirements of the given sport and the stage of the training process. Well, and most importantly, exercise differs from exercise. A workout consisting of exercises on machines is one thing, but a workout consisting of squats, bench presses and deadlifts is quite another. Often, beginners in natural bodybuilding make the same mistake - they give preference to isolated exercises when there is a lack of basic ones.

This article is based on the recommendations of Christian Thibadeau, a long-time weightlifter and specialist in developing training programs.

You can train hard or for a long time. To get the most out of your training in terms of mass or strength, you must focus on quality over quantity and cut back on excess volume.

It is clear that you need a certain training volume to provide sufficient stimulation to your muscles, but more is not always better. Excessively long workouts from which you have no time to recover, and doing extra sets when you are so tired that the workout is no longer productive and even harmful, are a great way to stall progress.

When you work out to change your body for the better, emotions come into play a lot. You start to think that the more exercise you do, the better you will look. If you add just one exercise, or two, or three, you will work the muscle from all angles, and that will only help. In fact, this will only hinder you from achieving your goal. It's great when you strive for success, but if your training is driven by emotions, the results can suffer greatly.

Do only 4 to 6 exercises per workout. If you are working two muscle groups, do up to 3 exercises for each. If there are three, 1-2 exercises for each. If you are doing a full body workout, then do only one exercise for each muscle group. Simple arithmetic, right?

Sometimes you will need to do more than 6 exercises (circuit training, for example), sometimes you will have to limit yourself to only two or three. But 90% of workouts should contain 4-6 exercises.

When you're working on strength, do more sets of each exercise to improve neural adaptation. Conversely, as you bulk up, you need to do more exercises to add variety to your workout and balance out your muscle development[2].

Strength = Less exercises, More sets
Weight = More exercises, Fewer sets
For muscle hypertrophy, it is recommended to do 5 to 12 sets per muscle group. Read more:
How many approaches to do.
Choose from the following table a set of exercises to suit your training goals and split program. For example, if your goal is strength, and you are working on a push/pull split, loading three muscle groups in a workout, then you need to do 2 exercises per muscle, 4-6 approaches per exercise.

Target	6 muscle groups per workout (full body)	4 muscle groups in training (top or bottom)	3 muscle groups in training (presses or deadlifts)	2 muscle groups in training (antagonists, by type of exercise)	1 muscle group in training (split by body part)
Force	1 exercise per muscle, 4-6 approaches per exercise	1-2 exercises per muscle (no more than 6 exercises in total), 4-6 approaches per exercise	2 exercises per muscle, 4-6 approaches per exercise
Weight	2 exercises per muscle, 4-6 approaches per exercise	3 exercises per muscle, 3-4 sets per exercise	4 exercises per muscle, 2-3 sets per exercise

Total number of exercises per workout

both in terms of mass and strength is approximately six.
Read more:
Training Strategies

Number of approaches in different exercises

may vary, here are examples of training volume distribution:

2 exercises per muscle group, 10 approaches in total:

First exercise: 5 approaches
Second exercise: 5 sets

First exercise: 6 approaches
Second exercise: 4 sets

First exercise: 7 approaches
Second exercise: 3 sets

In the first exercise, which is the main one, there are the same or more

than in subsequent ones.

More or less - which is better?

If you think that the more you load a certain muscle group during training, the larger it will become, then you are mistaken. Forcing a muscle to work by doing countless exercises is extremely unwise. This approach will only lead to overtraining and excessive muscle fatigue.

Muscles grow through recovery, not through training in the gym.

In addition, such a situation will lead to emotional exhaustion and loss of spirit, because neither the muscles nor the nervous system will have time to recover.

Useful article: How not to lose motivation for strength training.

If you adhere to a more gentle regimen, the trained muscles may not feel the effect of the exercises due to too little of them. Consequently, the result will be minimal, because the body will not even notice that you were in training.

The “golden mean” method, unfortunately, does not work here, because each individual goal requires a fundamentally different approach.

Age and level of training[edit | edit code]

Source: "Training Programs"

, scientific ed.
Author:
Professor, Doctor of Science Tudor Bompa, 2016

One of the main goals of a training program for beginners or young athletes is to develop a strong anatomical or physiological base. For strength training, the trainer should select many exercises (nine to twelve) aimed at developing the main muscle groups. The duration of such a program can range from one year to three years, depending on the age of the athlete and the expected age at which the maximum level of performance will be achieved.

On the other hand, the main goal of training professional athletes is to achieve the highest possible result. Thus, the strength programs of these athletes should be specific, especially at the competitive stage, and only a few exercises should be aimed at developing the main driving muscles.

Features of weight loss programs

Is your goal to get rid of extra pounds, not gain muscle mass? Activities that work the whole body are suitable. They are based on a basic set of exercises for various muscle groups. The loads are quite moderate and evenly distributed.

A similar approach to physical activity will be relevant for people who want to make the relief of already developed muscles more expressive. You need to pump up your entire body so that all muscles are equally stressed.

Requirements of the sport[edit | edit code]

Strength exercises must meet the specific requirements of the chosen sport and use the main driving muscles that predominate in this sport, which is especially important for high-level athletes. For example, a high jumper may only need to perform three or four exercises to properly strengthen the prime mover muscles. On the other hand, a wrestler or American football player would need to perform six to nine exercises to achieve a similar goal. All sprinters should perform one hip flexion exercise with the knee straight (to develop the hamstrings), one hip flexion exercise with the knee bent (to develop the glutes), one knee flexion exercise (to develop quadriceps) and one plantar flexion exercise (to strengthen the calf muscles). Thus, the more prime mover muscles used in a sport, the greater the number of exercises that must be performed. However, the number of exercises performed can be reduced by using properly selected, quality multi-joint exercises.

Mass training program for men in the gym

Day 1 (Chest, biceps)

Dumbbell press on a horizontal bench 3 x 10-12.

Barbell press at a 45 degree angle 3 x 10-12.

Reduction of arms in a crossover at an angle of 30 degrees 3 x 10-12.

Biceps with a z-bar with a wide grip 3 x 10-12.

Seated arm curl with hammer dumbbells 3 x 10-12.

Press: crunches on an incline bench 3 x 15-20.

Press: leg raises on uneven bars 3 x 15-20.

Day 2 (Back, legs)

Wide grip pull-ups 3 x 10-12.

T-bar 3 x 10-12.

Horizontal thrust 3 x 10-12.

Hyperextension with weight 3 x 10-12.

Smith machine squats 3 x 10-12.

Seated leg extension 3 x 10-12.

Leg bending in the simulator 3 x 10-12.

Day 3 (Shoulders, triceps)

Bench press in Smith from behind the head 3 x 10-12.

Delta machine 3 x 10-12.

Shrugs with a barbell 3 x 10-12.

Dumbbell swings at an angle of 45 degrees (rear deltoid) 3 x 10-12.

Close grip barbell press 3 x 10-12.

French bench press 3 x 10-12.

Dumbbell extension from behind the head while sitting 3 x 10-12.

Press: repeat day 1.

Training stage[edit | edit code]

Once the transition phase is complete, laying the foundation for future training should occur during the new annual plan. It is desirable that anatomical adaptations in a general strength training program occur early in the preparatory phase. In order for this program to include the maximum number of muscle groups, it is necessary to select a large number of exercises (from nine to twelve), regardless of the specifics of the sport.

As the program progresses, the number of exercises decreases, while during the competitive stage the athlete performs a minimum number of exercises - from two to four special exercises that are important for a particular sport. For example, American football, hockey, basketball or volleyball players will likely perform nine or ten exercises during the preparatory phase, but during the season the number of exercises will drop to four to six. By choosing the right exercises, coaches can increase the effectiveness of the training process and reduce the overall fatigue of the athlete.

Strength training is carried out in addition to technical and tactical training. In short, there is an inverse relationship between the load applied during training and the number of exercises performed per training session. A decrease in the number of exercises indicates that the athlete is performing specific training. As the number of exercises increases, the number of approaches in the exercise also increases. Thus, the majority of the load is placed on the prime mover muscles for a particular sport in order to achieve optimal muscle strength and power for the athlete to compete. Once the competition season begins, adaptation takes a backseat and fewer exercises are used and the number of sets is increased moderately in order to maintain the existing level of physiological adaptation.

Even though some sports (such as soccer, many athletics, and cycling) use the upper body to a limited extent, many strength training programs emphasize exercises that specifically target the upper body. In addition, many physical trainers who fall under the influence of bodybuilding offer their clients too many exercises. In reality, athletes who perform a large number of exercises reduce the number of approaches aimed at developing each of the main driving muscles. This approach leads to a low level of adaptation, resulting in a very weak training effect.

The desired result - a high level of adaptation and improved performance - is only possible if athletes perform a large number of approaches that involve the selected kinetic chain. The trainer can distribute all the sets of fundamental exercises required to perform them over several training sessions throughout the microcycle or group these approaches to reduce the number of training sessions. When using the first option, the athlete performs shorter training sessions, which contain a larger number of auxiliary exercises, while when using the second option, the duration of the training sessions increases, and the number of auxiliary exercises decreases.