Dose-response of 1, 3, and 5 sets of resistance exercise on strength, local muscular endurance, and hypertrophy.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trial
PubMed 25546444 · doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000758
What was done
Forty-eight men with no weight training experience were randomly assigned to four groups: 1 set, 3 sets, 5 sets per exercise, or a control group. All training groups performed 3 resistance training sessions per week for 6 months. Assessed outcomes included 5 repetition maximum (RM) strength (bench press, front lat pull down, shoulder press, leg press), 20 RM endurance (bench press, leg press), muscle thickness of elbow flexors and extensors, body composition (percent body fat and fat-free mass), and vertical jump.
What was found
The abstract reports significance values (p ≤ 0.05) without raw numbers or effect sizes: - 5 RM strength increased across all training groups (p ≤ 0.05); increases in bench press and lat pull down were significantly greater in the 5-SET group than the other training groups (p ≤ 0.05). - Bench press 20 RM endurance increased significantly more with higher volume (5 SETS > 3 SETS > 1 SET, p ≤ 0.05). Leg press 20 RM increased in all training groups (p ≤ 0.05), with 5 SETS significantly greater than 1 SET (p ≤ 0.05). - Elbow flexor muscle thickness increased in the 3-SET and 5-SET groups, with 5 SETS significantly greater than the other groups (p ≤ 0.05). Elbow extensor muscle thickness increased significantly more in the 5-SET group than all other groups (p ≤ 0.05). - All training groups decreased percent body fat and increased fat-free mass and vertical jump (p ≤ 0.05), with no differences between groups.
Why it matters
This 6-month trial provides longitudinal evidence in untrained men for a clear dose-response relationship between set volume and gains in strength, local muscular endurance, and upper-arm hypertrophy, favoring 5 sets per exercise over lower volumes.
Limits
The sample size is relatively small (48 men across 4 groups, ~12 per group). The study was conducted entirely in untrained men, limiting generalizability to trained lifters, women, or older adults. Hypertrophy was measured only in upper-arm musculature, leaving lower-body hypertrophy unexamined, and the abstract omits exact numerical values, standard deviations, and effect sizes.