So, how many sets per week to build a big chest? It’s a good question. Jeff from Athlean X has us all covered and will help you lift the right amount of volume and weight to optimise your gains.
How Many Sets Per Week to Build a Big Chest?
“If you want to build a big chest then you need to know how many sets per week is best to get the job done. In this video, I’m going to show you how to get the answer to a very individual question by asking yourself 7 specific things. The fastest way to a bigger chest is knowing where to start and then making the changes up or down to your weekly set totals.”
Source: CrossFit Games / Depositphotos“Science can be quite confusing when it comes to answering this dilemma. The general consensus is somewhere between 8 and 32 sets per week for a given muscle group (like the chest muscles) is what is required to create gains in muscle size and strength. This is not a very specific answer and is too broad to be helpful on its own.”
“So, the question of “how many sets per week for a bigger chest” is maybe not the right question to be asked, at least not the only one.”
“Instead, you have to first go through these other considerations.”
Natural or PEDs?
“First, you must decide whether you are trying to do this naturally or enhanced. We all know that the number one advantage of PED’s is their ability to dramatically improve your muscle recovery time. This allows you to train harder for longer without exceeding your body’s ability to come back from the damage that was done in the workout you just did. While it will take more time and more adherence to all aspects of your training to do it naturally, I can tell you that it is certainly the most rewarding and safest to your long-term health.”
Level of Training Experience
“Second, you need to consider your level of training experience. The novice is best advised to start near the lower portion of that range and simply add additional sets as they assess their ability to recover from the workload.”
“The more seasoned lifter is going to usually require more sets to get an adequate stimulus for gains due to their body becoming accustomed to the stresses of training. That said, it the strength levels get considerably high or the techniques get strenuous enough, the amount of volume required may actually need to come down.”
How Many Sets Per Week to Build a Big Chest? – Training Goals
“Third, you have to know your training goals. If it is strength, then the job of determining how many sets per week to build the strength on the bench press for instance is much easier actually. This is because the volume is dictated by your output, which is based on your goal of training for strength. If you can no longer complete sets of 3-6 of adequate intensity (80-85% of your 1RM) given sufficient rest between sets, then you do not need to do any more sets for that exercise or muscle group in that workout.”
Hypertrophy and Subjective Effort Measurement
“Fourth, when it comes to hypertrophy training, the measurement of this effort is a bit more subjective. Some will use tools like RPE or RIR however I feel many people do not have a good enough handle of what this actually translates to in a real world setting. They often underestimate their effort levels which can cause these numbers to be misleading. The bottom line is, the closer you train to max effort and failure the fewer sets per week you will need to stimulate growth. The further below that threshold you train, the more volume will be needed to create change in that muscle.”
How Many Sets Per Week to Build a Big Chest? – Age and Injury History
“Fifth, your age and injury history matters here too. Many make the mistake of thinking that load is the element of training that makes you most susceptible to injury. It is the number of times that load is lifted that leads most often to the chronic inflammatory conditions most associated with training. Provided the warmup is sufficient, lower volumes (in both set and rep counts) over the course of the week will be better received by your body than higher ones.”
How Many Sets Per Week to Build a Big Chest? – Have you Recovered?
“Which relates to the sixth most important point and that is, are you recovered from your last workout. The number one goal is to be ready for your next workout. Every “next” workout. If your strength is lagging or your gains stop coming, you need to revisit your current volumes and make adjustments down to reignite them again.”
“Finally, the exercises you do matters as well. Big compound movements are going to be more taxing on your body than small single joint exercises. This has much to do with the loading that the exercise enables. Add in the presence or absence of intensity techniques and you will have to play with the amount of sets you are doing to accommodate for you fatigue.”
“There are some examples of how this would break down in terms of your chest workouts and the best way to build a bigger chest in the video.”
Video – How Many Sets Per Week to Build a Big Chest?
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The chest is a broad, flat muscle that makes up the front of the human torso. The chest muscles are well developed in humans, and this allows us to move our arms and hands freely.
Pectoralis Major (Muscle)
The pectoralis major is the most superficial of the three muscles that make up your chest. It originates from your clavicle and sternum and inserts into your upper arm via your humerus. The pectoralis major draws the humerus forward, as well as downward toward the midline of your body (if you’re standing).
In addition to its primary action, this muscle also helps stabilize your shoulder joint when you do things like lift heavy objects or move around in a way that requires great arm strength.
Your pecs are important for everyday life because they help keep you upright when walking, running or jumping—activities we all perform on a regular basis!
Clavicular Head of Pectoralis Major Muscle
The clavicular head of the pectoralis major muscle is located in the upper chest. It originates from the clavicle and sternum, and inserts into the upper arm. This muscle can be used for moving your arms up and out, like when you’re doing a push-up or swimming butterfly stroke.
Sternal Head of Pectoralis Major Muscle
The sternal head of the pectoralis major muscle is a fan-shaped muscle that covers the front of the chest. It originates from the sternum, ribs, and cartilage of the first 7 ribs and inserts into the upper portion of your humerus.
This muscle functions in two different ways:
- When you inhale through your nose or mouth, it increases chest cavity size which allows more oxygen to be drawn into your lungs. This helps with breathing as well as speaking clearly when you’re talking loudly or singing loudly.
- When you use this muscle to move objects away from your body (push), it helps prevent injuries to soft tissues such as tendons due to too much pressure being placed on them by other muscles such as those found in our arms/hands/wrists etc…
Costal Head of Pectoralis Major Muscle
The costal head of pectoralis major muscle, also known as the subclavius, is the most superficial of the three heads. It originates on ribs 3 to 6 and inserts via its tendon into the crest of the linea alba (the midline abdominal muscles that lie between your diaphragm and pubic bone). The thoracodorsal nerve innervates this muscle.
The subclavius pulls your clavicle upward and forward when you lift something over your head; it also helps to stabilize your shoulder during arm movements.
How Many Sets Per Week to Build a Big Chest? Pectoralis Minor (Muscle)
The pectoralis minor attaches to the ribs, and its tendon becomes a part of the rotator cuff. It acts to pull the arm across the chest. If you want to be a firefighter or stuntman and need big pecs, this is not going to help. Instead, this muscle helps stabilize your shoulder joint when you are doing push-ups or other exercises that require pulling your arms back over your head.
How Many Sets Per Week to Build a Big Chest? Serratus Anterior (Muscle)
The serratus anterior muscle is a flat, triangular muscle that runs along the upper sides of the rib cage. It originates at several points along the sides of ribs 1 through 7 and inserts on to a point just below the collarbone (the clavicle).
Serratus anterior helps you move your arms and shoulders upward, rotate them forward and inward, and protract them (pull them away from you). An injury to this muscle can result in pain when attempting to reach for objects above shoulder height or perform other activities requiring strength in those motions.
Treatment for serratus anterior injuries usually consists of stretching exercises that stabilize your chest muscles during movement activities such as lifting heavy objects or reaching overhead. For more severe injuries, physical therapy may be necessary to rebuild strength in these muscles before returning to full activity levels.
Image Sources
- Chest-muscles-james-newbury: CrossFit Games / Depositphotos
- chest: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc
