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Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Anna Bartter

Bye-bye, Arbitrary Workout Counts - This Is Exactly How Many Sets To Do to Build Muscle Effectively, According to a PT

A woman doing weights in a studio, lifting a dumbbell over her head.

Ever wondered how many sets are most effective to build muscle, aka how many sets you should be bashing out in the gym to boost your gains? Then you're in the right place. It's all too easy to go through the motions in your gym workouts, always repping the same moves and not really noticing any progress.

Sound familiar? Don't worry - you're far from alone. Our bodies are adept at responding to stimuli (in this case, working our muscles) and quickly return to their status quo, in a process known as homeostasis. And building muscle is no different: keep doing the same things, and your progress will halt.

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