Common Questions: How Many Exercises Should I Do Per Week to Build Muscle?

Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced gymgoer, you’ve likely heard that strength training can benefit your health in many ways. But when you have specific goals, the questions pile up fast. How many workouts per muscle? How many exercises should you do in a workout?

The truth is, there’s no simple, one-size-fits-all answer to these questions. But don’t worry—this guide will help you understand how to build muscle based on specific fitness goals and level of experience.

Note: The exercises described in this article are intended for individuals in good health. Always consult your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

Understanding Muscle Building

Before we talk about exercises per muscle group, it’s important to understand how the body builds muscle. Knowing these processes can help individuals maximize gains and make informed decisions regarding workouts.

All you need to understand now are two processes: muscle hypertrophy and muscle recovery.

What is Muscle Hypertrophy?

The scientific definition of muscle hypertrophy is an increase in muscle mass. In the fitness community, this process is often called “bulking,” it occurs when you actively exercise to build muscle.

According to experts, muscles gain mass in response to strength training. Intense exercise causes little damage to muscle fibers. As the body repairs the damaged cells, they become thicker and stronger.

This process is the reason why you’re able to build muscle through regular physical activity.

The Science Behind Muscle Recovery

Think of muscle hypertrophy and muscle recovery as two sides of the same coin. Giving yourself time to recover is as important as giving your all during each workout.

During muscle recovery, the body rebuilds the muscle fibers damaged by the regimen. This process enables the muscles to handle heavier weights and perform more reps over time.

Without adequate recovery time, the body can’t complete the process of muscle hypertrophy.

How Many Workouts Per Muscle Group: Factors Influencing Workout Frequency

Now that you have a solid understanding of how the body responds to exercise, the next step is figuring out workout frequency.

It’s not so much about how many workouts per muscle group are best. To maximize results, it’s also important to focus on workout frequency. The entire regimen can end up making very little difference if this key element is overlooked. Specifically, one needs to keep three things in mind:

• Experience level
• Taking rest days for muscle recovery
• Workout intensity and volume

Let’s look at how these factors impact workout frequency and the ideal number of exercises per muscle group.

Experience Level

Research suggests that increasing the load, repetitions, or frequency during exercise results in a greater boost to muscle mass. However, your experience level is the most important factor to consider.

You’re a beginner if you’ve never regularly done strength training or if it’s been years since you’ve exercised. If you’re familiar with proper form and standard moves, consider yourself intermediate.

If you have deep knowledge and a few years of experience with weightlifting (or more), you’re likely at the advanced level.

Depending on your experience level, consider starting with these workout frequencies:

• Beginner – Two or three non-consecutive days per week
• Intermediate – Three or four days per week with at least two days in a row
• Advanced – Four to six days per week utilizing split routines

Muscle Recovery and Rest Days

Once you know how muscle recovery works, rest days make more sense, right? Studies have shown that without adequate rest, individuals are at risk of overtraining—which means a decline in performance, even with frequent workouts.

In other words, taking appropriate rest days can help individuals get stronger than training the same muscle groups every day.

When considering how many workouts per muscle to include, remember to plan time for muscle recovery. As you get more advanced, you can start alternating between different workouts to hit the gym more often.

Workout Intensity and Volume

The last factor in deciding workout frequency is intensity and weekly exercise volume. According to research by Mayo Clinic Staff, one single set of 12–15 reps with the right amount of weight can be just as beneficial as three sets with a lower weight.

If you don’t have much time to exercise, consider shorter gym sessions with heavier weights. However, remember that the more intense the workout, the more important the rest days will be.

As a beginner, it’s wise to start with a lower weight first.

General Guidelines for Workout Frequency

With all this information in mind, take a look at our coach-approved sample workouts for each skill level.

Beginners

As a beginner, knowing how many workouts per muscle group to do can help avoid injury and overtraining. Consider something like this:

• Monday: 1–2 exercises per muscle group / 10–12 reps / 3 sets.
• Tuesday: Rest.
• Wednesday: 1–2 exercises per muscle group / 10–12 reps / 3 sets.
• Thursday: Rest.
• Friday: 1–2 exercises per muscle group / 10–12 reps / 3 sets.
• Saturday and Sunday: Rest, light cardio, or flexibility training.

Intermediates

At the intermediate level, you need to step things up if you want to keep building muscle. Our trainers often recommend this routine:

• Monday: 5-7 exercises targeting legs / 10–12 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Tuesday: 5–7 exercises targeting arms and chest / 10–12 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Wednesday: Rest.
• Thursday: 5–7 exercises targeting arms and back / 10–12 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Friday: 5–7 exercises targeting core and traps / 10–15 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Saturday and Sunday: Rest, light cardio, or flexibility training.

Advanced

Once you’ve advanced this far, you want to push your body to the limit—without sacrificing any gains. A push-pull-legs (PPL) split might be just what you’ve been looking for:

• Monday: 6–7 Push exercises / up to 15 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Tuesday: 6–7 Pull exercises / up to 15 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Wednesday: 6–7 exercises targeting legs / up to 15 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Thursday: 6–7 Push exercises / up to 15 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Friday: 6–7 Pull exercises / up to 15 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Saturday: 6–7 exercises targeting legs / up to 15 reps / 3–4 sets.
• Sunday: Rest.

Common Questions and Answers

We also have short-and-sweet answers to some of the questions we often hear about building muscle.

How Many Exercises Per Muscle Group?

The quickest answer to this, according to studies, is 12 to 20 weekly sets per muscle group. But this can vary depending on factors like gender, age, experience level, and available training time.

Remember to consult your physician before starting any new workout plan.

How Many Exercises Should You Do in a Workout?

In a single workout session, research has shown the number of exercises per workout depends on experience level:

• Beginners – Three to six exercises
• Intermediate – Six or seven exercises
• Advanced – Up to eight exercises

How Do You Adjust Workout Frequency for Different Goals?

Here are some tips on how to focus on different goals by adjusting workout frequency:

To build muscle – Train each muscle group with 4 to 12 different exercises weekly.

To train for competing – Focus on competition lifts two or three times per week, then add two to four additional exercises for each muscle group.

Sample Workout Plans

Even with all these tips on deciding how many workouts per muscle, building a workout plan can still be challenging. Check the sample workout plans below for inspiration.

Beginner Workout Plan

Using the schedule laid out above, beginners can start working out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Try this full-body workout plan to start building muscle:

• Warm-up (5–10 minutes of light cardio)
• Squats
• Bench press
• Bent-over rows
• Overhead press
• Deadlifts
• Plank

For every exercise except planks, aim for 10–12 reps / 3 sets / 1–2 minutes of rest between sets. Try to hold each plank for 30–60 seconds, resting in between.

Intermediate Workout Plan

At the intermediate level, muscle groups are targeted more specifically during each gym session. As with the beginner workout plan, always start with a warm-up before training.

Legs day:

• Barbell squats
• Leg press
• Romanian deadlifts
• Leg extensions
• Leg curls
• Calf raises

Aim for 10–12 reps / 3–4 sets / 1–2 minutes of rest between sets for every exercise.

Arms and chest day:

• Barbell bench press
• Dumbbell flys
• Incline dumbbell press
• Tricep dips
• Bicep curls
• Tricep pushdowns

Aim for 10–12 reps / 3–4 sets / 1–2 minutes of rest between sets for every exercise.

Arms and back day:

• Pull-ups
• Bent-over barbell rows
• Seated cable rows
• Face pulls
• Hammer curls
• Lat pulldowns

Aim for 10–12 reps / 3–4 sets / 1–2 minutes of rest between sets for every exercise.

Core and traps day:

• Plank
• Russian twists
• Hanging leg raises
• Cable crunches
• Dumbbell shrugs
• Farmer’s carry

Aim for 10–15 reps / 3–4 sets / 1–2 minutes of rest between sets for every exercise.

Advanced Workout Plan

Here are the details for the advanced push-pull-split (PPL) workout plan we mentioned earlier. Remember you still have to warm up, even at this level!

Push day:

• Barbell bench press
• Incline dumbbell press
• Overhead press
• Dumbbell lateral raises
• Tricep dips
• Cable flys
• Tricep pushdowns

Aim for 15 reps / 3–4 sets / 1–2 minutes of rest between sets for every exercise.

Pull day:

• Pull-ups
• Bent-over barbell rows
• Seated cable rows
• Face pulls
• Lat pulldowns
• Barbell shrugs

Aim for 15 reps / 3–4 sets / 1–2 minutes of rest between sets for every exercise.

Legs day:

• Squats
• Leg press
• Romanian deadlifts
• Leg extensions
• Leg curls
• Calf raises
• Lunges

Aim for 15 reps / 3–4 sets / 1–2 minutes of rest between sets for every exercise.

Conclusion

Like most things regarding fitness, the best exercises and workout frequency vary from person to person.

Think about fitness goals, experience level, and available time when designing an effective workout regimen. Always consult a doctor before starting a new exercise program.

Still got a few questions about how many workouts per muscle would be ideal for you? Stop by your local Gold’s Gym today to speak with one of our dedicated physical trainers. We’re here to help you forge the physique you’ve always imagined!