Question about training split and volume

[PARASXOS]

Hello all. I hope you are all good.

My current training routine follows a bro split: back, chest, legs, shoulders, and arms. I really enjoy training chest, so on chest day, I do 10 sets (2 sets per exercise). I also add chest exercises on shoulder day, where I do 6 additional sets (2 sets per exercise).

However, I feel like those extra chest exercises on shoulder day might just be junk volume. I don’t enjoy training too many muscles together, so push-pull splits don’t really work for me.

Could anyone suggest a better split that would let me train chest effectively without sacrificing other muscle groups like shoulders?

Also, what’s the best training volume and number of exercises per muscle group? I usually do 2 sets per exercise, aiming to reach failure, especially on the last set.

 

[Halfnattyman44]

I used to do what you do and loved it. Eventually it didn’t “work”. Muscle Protein Synthesis is spiked for 48-72 hours post workout. So if you only hit a muscle group once per week you’re limiting yourself.

I then did 1) chest/back 2) legs 3) shoulders/arms then either repeat or do upper/lower for 2 more days or full body if I only have 4 days.

Then I tried upper/lower. Then I tried full body 3 times per week.

All of these are an adjustment because of less sets for say chest in the workout. But the sets you do are more effective. If I’m only doing 5 sets for chest it’s all big movers and I do it twice per week so 10 effective sets. If I do 10 in one workout by sets 6-10 you’re probably doing less effective exercises. That’s where I would use the term junk volume.

So there’s no perfect split, but consider trying something else and giving it a chance for 4-6 weeks.

 

[SweetLou321]

Research is not clear as to what the optimal number of exercises is per muscle group per week or session, nor how much volume is too much or where the exact line for effective sets is for junk volume. So there is no way for any one here to provide you with exact answers.

The research suggests that maybe 10-20 effective sets will be about right for most, but there is more and more emerging data suggesting higher amounts in specific contexts can lead to more growth as well.

It may be better to try to hit each muscle at least twice a week.

If you are getting stronger (adding weight and reps) and are recovering between sessions, then your current volume amount of effective sets is good for you for now. This is the best proxy for progress.

I would always lean back on what you enjoy most first before trying to optimize, because doing what you enjoy, as long as it is close enough to optimal, will likely have you give more effort, which is gonna be a big driver of results. Once a week can work for most, even if not likely "optimal."

Some researchers suggest that doing 2-3 sets per exercise and as many exercises as you can to fill in your volume goals may be ideal, because:

-The more sets of a single movement you do per muscle the less stimulus per each additional set. This may be circumvented by a new move, it might not, but maybe worth a try.
-Different exercises can emphasize different regions and lead to different regional growth, so a variety of movements is likely ideal to optimize whole muscle growth.