If you want to get bigger, should you train more often—or just do more sets per session? Frequency and volume both matter, but they don’t work the same way.
Training volume refers to the total workload over time—usually measured in hard sets per muscle group per week. Research consistently shows that higher training volume (up to a point) leads to more muscle growth.
For most intermediate lifters, the sweet spot is 10–20 hard sets per muscle per week.
Frequency is how often you train a muscle per week. Hitting a muscle 2–3x per week is generally more effective than 1x per week—even with the same volume—because it improves quality and recovery between sets.
Volume is the primary driver of hypertrophy. But frequency helps you spread that volume more effectively, improving performance and reducing fatigue within each session.
If you’re doing 15+ sets in one workout for a muscle, the quality of those later sets drops off. You’d get more out of splitting them across multiple sessions.
Let’s say you train legs with 15 sets once per week. By set 10, your performance is tanking. But if you do 8 sets on Monday and 7 sets on Thursday, you’ll likely lift more weight with better technique—leading to more growth overall.
Use frequency to enhance volume—not replace it. Most lifters will benefit from:
Studies like the 2016 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld et al. show that when total weekly volume is matched, frequency makes less of a difference. But in practice, frequency can help lifters accumulate that optimal volume more easily.
In short: volume is king, but frequency is how you make it sustainable.
Want to go deeper on set quality? Read our guide on training to failure.
For volume reference ranges, check out this Stronger By Science article.