How Many Exercises Do You Need To Maximize Muscle Growth?

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When it comes to how many exercises you should do per muscle group, generally there are 2 extremes. There are those who say all you need are the basics in a workout program; squats, bench, and deadlifts to build an impressive physique. Then, there are those who hit each muscle with every single exercise in the book during their exercise planning process. What approach is best to maximize growth? How many exercises should you do per muscle group, really? Research suggests that incorporating a variety of exercises can lead to better overall hypertrophy. Let’s learn why – and, in the process, discover just how many exercises to do per muscle group.

The first reason is due to what’s known as regional hypertrophy. For example, certain biceps exercises will favour growth in the short head whereas other biceps exercises will favour growth in the long head. Although it’s currently not crystal clear as to what specific exercises will favour specific regions of a muscle, this phenomenon does support the idea of using multiple exercises in a workout program.

The second reason you should include a variety of exercises during your exercise planning process is that each of your muscles have different biomechanical actions. A good example is the hamstrings, which have two main functions; to flex the knee and extend the hip. So if you were to leave all your hamstrings to deadlifts, you’d be missing out on one of the major functions of that muscle. Adding in a knee flexion movement ensures that all parts of the muscle can be grown to the greatest extent. Another benefit of varying your exercises is that it helps minimize wear and tear. If you do all of your volume for a muscle group with just one or two exercises, you’re stressing the same joints and same stabilizer muscles to the same stress all the time, which can eventually cause irritation and overuse injuries.

When deciding on how many exercises to do per muscle group, some people will take what I’ve mentioned and over-apply it into their training routines by hammering each muscle group with 6 or 7 exercises every workout. Don’t. If you do that, once your muscles get used to what you’re currently doing, you’ll have no leftover exercises to introduce it to in order to potentially stimulate more growth.

So, just how many exercises should you do per muscle group? An effective option is to pick about 2-4 exercises for each of your muscle groups that work very well for you and cover a good variety of movement patterns. Then, simply distribute these throughout the week as needed and feel free to repeat some of those exercises on multiple days if needed. But limit the number of exercises you use per muscle in each workout to 3 or 4 at most.

Here’s an example of how you could distribute 4 exercises per week for chest into 2 workouts per week:

4 Exercises:
- Flat bench press
- Cable flyes
- Incline dumbbell press
- Banded push-ups

Push Day 1:
- Flat bench press
- Cable flyes

Push Day 2:
- Incline dumbbell press
- Banded push-ups

Then simply throw in however many sets you need for each exercise in order to meet your weekly volume targets.

Push Day 1:
- Flat bench press: 3 sets
- Cable flyes: 3 sets

Push Day 2:
- Incline dumbbell press: 3 sets
- Banded push-ups: 3 sets

Total Weekly Chest Sets: 12 Sets

Here’s a step-by-step plan for how you could apply everything we covered on how many exercises you should do per muscle group:

Step 1: For each muscle group, pick about 2-4 exercises to perform per week. Use a good variety of exercises that not only work very well for you, but also cover different angles and muscle functions.

Step 2: After you pick your exercises, distribute them throughout the week. Avoid performing more than 3-4 exercises per muscle in one workout. Instead, split them up into multiple workouts.

Step 3: Allocate a number of sets for each exercise in order to hit your weekly volume targets for that muscle.

If you’re serious about designing your own program, then I’d highly suggest that you take the time to go through this step by step process, because it’s the little details like this that make all the difference if you want to maximize your efforts and results. And for those who are looking for a step-by-step program that takes care of all the guesswork for you and optimizes your weekly training and nutrition program based on science, so that you can truly transform your body as efficiently as possible, then take the analysis quiz to discover which science-based program would be best for you and where your body is currently at below:

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Is it just me or is Jeremy's vids always a 10/10 in every way

thelostpirate
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Consistency is key. Don't just watch an informative video and do nothing. Go and put in the work! Great video again boss! - Kushtrim

MentorMyLife
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My favourite words to hear: "...and another study shows..." Thank you for scholarly quality content; always well researched, informatively illustrated, and expertly produced high quality video. 👌 No false promises, no hype, no product advertising... You are a true father of the discipline! Blessings to you!

zakreineke
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I was doing full body lifts, 3-4 days a week and over the last 7 weeks I have been doing splits 6 days a week. I feel like the growth has been the same with both. The important thing is to just keep going and be consistent with whatever you go with.

rjtheoret
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Early in my fitness journey, someone told me doing back exercises like pull ups/rows was enough to maximize biceps growth. Same thing for bench/shoulder presses for triceps growth. Same for doing squats/deadlifts for abs. So, for years, I would barely work my arms/abs directly. That was the wrong decision and I'm glad the research from this video proves that. Unfortunately, I'm paying for these mistakes to this day. Overall takeaway: If there is a particular muscle you want to grow, you have to work it directly and find which exercise selection will target it (and use progressive overload, of course). Thanks for the research backing it up, Jeremy!

TimothyLeeMSOTCPT
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Maybe next video is science based calves workout

Eren-kvfy
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the most well articulated and informative man on fitness youtube. Absolute king

deezn
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The best fitness mentor...
Love from India...

lambo_gini
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The problem I have when it comes to needing a variety of exercise per muscle group is my limitation to equipment. I only workout at home and gyms are closed for the mean time. It's really frustrating.

j_a_dl
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I’m doing pull ups, overhead press, push ups, and squats. 8 weeks in I’m getting great gains so far. It’s slowing down, but I’m loving compound exercises.

ChicagoJ
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0:18 when I saw the background I immediately thought of that one shoulder intro a few weeks ago...LMAO 😂

aidansteller
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Hey Jeremy as a scientist myself I respect the work you do FULLY. Many people talk shit nowadays that is not backed by any research WHATSOEVER. In the future I will buy your program 100% . Good job man, Keep those videos coming :) MUCH RESPECT !!!!

geologist
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OMG! 😲 I was becoming the 2nd one!!! 6, 7 even 8 different excersises for each muscle/each workout! 😱 It was taking me so much time every day to train!!!! But I'm gonna optimize that thanks to you!! 👍👍👍 Thanks for all this science-based info!!! And btw, you explain great!!!👌👏👏

monicaceli
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Just smashing like to appreciate the time and effort that went into researching this! Always giving so much value for free!

SpartanAesthetix
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The newest expert opinion of the influencers is to "stop varying your workouts - it's why you don't see results" - often peddled by "fit queens" whose growth is meh and only in one area - the glutes. I have NEVER done the same exercises from workout to workout, week to week, certainly not month to month. I have my go-to movements, but I always approach the gym like a playground - lots of things to play with, but keep the focus on hitting different heads, regions, and angles of a muscle. That is what counts, not whether you're repeating the same thing every week. Changing up exercises, but hitting the right areas always worked for me. Some exercises are better/more fun/less painful on certain areas, you have to experiment for yourself. We need to ALL stop engaging with influencers, so they'll just go away. If I see gymshark tags, mid-calf nike socks, converse hi-tops, and glute tips galore, pump covers, preworkout scooping, oversized t-shirts, and the same advice as the last gym rat clone...I KEEP SCROLLING. Pay more attention to channels like this, please.

mdoyleproductions
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That haircut works really well for him, good-looking man!

jasonhaven
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Stick with it, you will not see big gains in a matter of a couple weeks. Take progress pictures every month or week if you like. This is huge in being able to see that what you are doing is working and a great way to stay motivated to keep going to the gym

jacobjurgens
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Why I love your videos is coz not only explain everything so damn well in words but you show it visually too. Also, your exercises are completely doable even at home. So here's a big Cheers and gratitude for you. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Tara-C
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This dude literally reads my mind when he uploads!

jazielcarballo
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I keep switching up my workouts every time you post lol

kelechimichael-uwakwe