What is My Ideal Set Range?

Not every person engaging in a bodybuilding routine should execute the same number of sets in their workouts. This is because there are several genetic and lifestyle factors which determine what the ideal set range is for each individual.

The information on this page is extremely important and must be taken into consideration when forming your custom routine. Also, it is important to note that the sample routines for each body-part on this site consist of workouts involving about an average of 16 sets, which is kind of on the high side for a certain percentage of the population.

If upon reading this page, you realize that you should be doing less than that, please lower the amount of sets for each sample exercise to your ideal rep range  if you would still like to follow the sample routines, as this will still work out perfectly for you. Also keep in mind that the content of this page consists of merely guidelines. Ultimately, you have to experiment with set ranges to figure out what works best for you. The following factors help determine your ideal set range for all of your individual body workouts:

Age- Simply put, the older a person gets, the less sets they should be performing in their workouts. There is no way a 35 or 40 year old should be performing the same amount of sets prescribed in the sample routines on this site. Doing so may increase the risk of injury and will certainly fatigue your body in a negative way.

Bodybuilding Experience- This is an extremely significant factor and the set range capacity fluctuations attributed with bodybuilding experience is fairly consistent. An individual who has never touched a weight in their life may only be capable of executing only a few sets per body-part, but right after this brief time period comes their peak months and years in terms of muscle growth and set range capacities. Then overtime (several months to a couple years for most people), the individual’s body cannot bear the same amount of sets per workout, and their muscle growth rate either levels completely or significantly diminishes depending upon how they proceed with their efforts at the gym. To give you an idea about this process, I began engaging in a bodybuilding routine and diet at the age of 20, and during the 1st year of my experience, I executed 25-30 sets a body-part. And during the first 5-6 months of this, I gained 30lbs of muscle, steroid free. I began at a lean 175 lbs and ended up at an even leaner 205 during that first half-year. Since then my weight hasn’t gone up too much more than then that. The highest its ever been is 215, and again, this is all without the use of anabolic drugs

Diet- If you do not consume a proper bodybuilding diet, you should and must forget about engaging in a bodybuilding routine due to the likelyhood of injury derived from insufficient muscle recovery in such a case. A sufficient diet consists of at least 4 meals (preferably more and eating new meal every 3 hours or so) with 20-40 grams of protein in each meal and a substantial portion of complex carbohydrates in each of these meals. The influence of a bodybuilding diet accounts for the difference of an individuals ideal set range being from 20 all the way down to 7 or from 12 to 4.

Mentality- The mind follows the body. New research is indicating that this is a scientific fact, and in no other venue is the influence of the mind more apparent than in the world of bodybuilding. If you are unmotivated, paranoid about the prospect of over-training, and not enjoying your time at the gym, your mind will confine your body to only having the capacity to perform fewer sets than you would have if your mentality was positive.

Genetics- Even if all of the factors listed above are identical for two distinct individuals, one may possess an ideal rep range higher than the other due to their genetics. People are born differently. This is not something I have to explain much more.