Show Notes
How many sets does a muscle need to grow, and how much does each extra set add? In this episode of Stronger With Time, I speak with Dr Jake Remmert about volume, frequency and effort, and what the research means for how you program for muscle growth. Jake is an exercise physiology professor at Illinois State University and a strength and physique coach. He did his PhD in Dr Mike Zourdos's Muscle Physiology Laboratory at Florida Atlantic University, is one of the primary authors of the recent meta regression on per session training volume, and co-authored the dose response analysis on weekly volume, frequency and proximity to failure with Josh Pelland and Zac Robinson. Throughout, Jake makes the case that the big rocks (effort, recoverable volume and consistency over time) matter more than the fine details.
Modern Hypertrophy, my four-week live course on programming for muscle growth, starts 9 November: https://go.tonyboutagy.com/modern-hypertrophy-course
In this episode: The eras of hypertrophy thinking, and why the language has moved from certainty to nuance
Per session volume, and the diminishing returns of each extra set
Why doubling your sets doesn't double your muscle growth
How many sets per session are productive for most people, and the minimum effective dose
Exercise variety and regional growth
What short, controlled studies can and cannot tell us
Whether training a muscle more often builds more muscle once weekly volume is matched
The point of undetectable outcome superiority, and the millimetre differences behind the debates
How close to failure you need to train, and whether that changes between heavy compound sets and isolation work
Overload techniques such as drop sets and supersets, and what they do and do not add
Periodisation for hypertrophy, and training for the area under the curve
Timestamps: 00:00 The eras of hypertrophy thinking 04:23 Per session volume, and why Jake looked at it 06:34 The diminishing returns of each set 10:47 Finding the productive range 12:17 How many sets to double your first set 15:19 Regional growth and exercise variety 17:47 What a ten-week study can and cannot tell you 25:06 Re-analysing the open data with Mark McKean 29:05 The minimum effective dose 31:25 The point of undetectable outcome superiority 37:26 The frequency debate 47:30 Proximity to failure 52:33 Overload techniques 58:05 Periodisation for hypertrophy 1:01:50 Rapid fire: overrated or underrated 1:04:25 Where to find Jake's work
Dr Jake Remmert: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jake.remmert.phd/ Website: https://jakeremmert.com/
Dr Tony Boutagy / Stronger With Time Modern Hypertrophy (starts 9 November): https://go.tonyboutagy.com/modern-hypertrophy-course Website: https://tonyboutagy.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyboutagy/
This episode is for general educational purposes only and is not intended as individualised exercise advice.
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