How many exercises should I do per workout?

Muscle growth follows the number of hard sets each muscle gets in a week. A meta-analysis found 10 or more weekly sets per muscle beat fewer, and a later review suggests 12 to 20 for trained lifters. Pick the exercises that deliver those sets; the count follows. This page is about the whole session; for how many different exercises to use for one muscle, see how many exercises per muscle group.

Three exercises can be a complete workout if they cover the muscles you’re training and each gets enough sets. Eight exercises of one set each are usually less useful than four done properly.

Do the big multi-joint lifts first, while you’re fresh, then the single-joint exercises. That’s the order the American College of Sports Medicine’s position stand recommends, because the heaviest, most technical lifts suffer most when you’re tired.

For how many exercises each muscle needs over the week, see how many exercises per muscle group.

Ask Spot for a workout with the number of exercises you want, the time you have and the equipment you can use, and it creates it in your GymStreak plan. If a workout has too few or too many moves, ask it to add or remove an exercise or change the sets.