If you’ve ever found yourself scrolling through fitness content, confused by conflicting advice on “optimal” training, you aren’t alone. One influencer says you must squat every day; another says volume is the enemy. It’s analysis paralysis—and it stalls progress.

To cut through the noise, Dr. Milo Wolf sat down with Dr. Eric Helms—pro natural bodybuilder and author of The Muscle and Strength Pyramids—to outline a clear hierarchy of what actually matters for building muscle.

Whether you’re a busy professional in your 30s or a college student looking to add size, this guide breaks down the science of hypertrophy into actionable steps, ranked from most crucial to the fine details.

Level 1: Adherence (The Foundation)

Before you worry about “optimal,” you have to worry about “sustainable.” According to Dr. Helms, the base of the pyramid is Adherence.

You can have the scientifically perfect program, but if it requires 2 hours in the gym 6 days a week and you have a full-time job and two kids, you won’t stick to it. The “best” program is the one you can actually follow consistently over months and years.

Action Step: Be honest about your schedule. If you can only train 3 days a week for 45 minutes, find a program designed for that frequency rather than failing at a pro bodybuilder’s 6-day split. For more on maximizing results with limited time, check out our guide on the minimum effective dose for muscle growth.

Level 2: Volume, Intensity, and Frequency

Once you have a schedule you can stick to, you need to dial in the “stimulus”—the actual work that signals your body to grow.

Volume: The Sweet Spot

Volume is generally defined as the number of hard sets you do per muscle group per week.

• The Recommendation: Aim for 10 to 20 weekly sets per muscle group.
• How to split it: If you aim for 12 sets of back work, you could do 6 sets on Monday and 6 sets on Thursday.

SetsApart tracks your hard sets per muscle group automatically, so you always know if you’re hitting the 10-20 set sweet spot or leaving gains on the table.

Intensity: How Hard Should You Train?

You don’t need to train to absolute failure on every single set, but you must be close. This is measured by RIR (Reps In Reserve)—how many reps you could have done before failing.

• Heavy Compounds (Squats, Deadlifts): Leave 2–4 reps in the tank. Going to absolute failure on these causes massive fatigue and increases injury risk without significantly more growth.
• Isolation/Machine Exercises (Curls, Leg Extensions): Push harder. Aim for 0–1 reps in reserve.
• Note: If you are lifting very heavy (above 80% of your 1-rep max), proximity to failure matters slightly less because you are already recruiting maximum muscle fibers.

For a deeper dive into how close to failure you should train, see our article on RIR and training intensity.

Frequency: How Often?

Frequency is how you organize your volume.

• The Recommendation: Train each muscle group 2 to 3 times per week.
• The Rule of Thumb: For every 5–10 sets of volume, add a training day. If you do 15 sets of chest, spread it over 2 or 3 days rather than cramming it all into one “chest day,” which leads to junk volume.

Level 3: Progression

Many lifters think “progressive overload” means adding weight to the bar every single session. While that works for beginners, it stalls quickly.

Dr. Helms suggests focusing on Double Progression:

1. Pick a rep range (e.g., 8–12 reps).
2. Keep the weight the same and try to add reps each week.
3. Once you can hit the top of the rep range (12 reps) with good form and the correct RIR, then increase the weight.
4. The reps will drop back down (e.g., to 8), and you repeat the process.

Key Insight: Progression is a “diagnostic tool.” If you are adding reps or weight over time, your training is working. If you’ve been lifting the same weight for the same reps for 12 weeks, you aren’t building muscle.

SetsApart highlights when you beat your previous performance on an exercise, making it easy to see whether you’re progressing or stalling. For more on implementing progressive overload correctly, see our complete guide to progressive overload.

Level 4: Exercise Selection

Stop obsessing over the “magic” exercise. Instead, think in categories. A leg press can replace a squat; a dumbbell row can replace a barbell row.

When choosing exercises, look for these three factors:

1. Orthopedic Safety: It shouldn’t hurt your joints.
2. Loadability: You should be able to add weight or reps incrementally.
3. Length-Tension: Ideally, the exercise challenges the muscle at a long muscle length (the stretched position).

Level 5: Rest Periods & Tempo

These are the final tweaks. Don’t worry about these unless you have the first four levels handled.

• Rest Periods: Rest at least 2 minutes between sets. Short rest periods (30-60 seconds) reduce your performance and limit the mechanical tension you can place on the muscle. For more on rest intervals, see our article on how long to rest between sets.
• Tempo: Control the negative (eccentric) for 2–4 seconds. Explode up on the positive (concentric) as fast as you can. Do not intentionally move the weight slowly on the way up.

Summary Checklist for Growth

If you want to maximize muscle growth this year, audit your current routine against this checklist:

1. Is it sustainable? (Can you do this for the next year?)
2. Is the volume right? (10-20 sets per muscle/week)
3. Is the intensity high enough? (1-3 reps from failure on most sets)
4. Are you progressing? (Using double progression to add reps/weight)
5. Are you resting enough? (2+ minutes between sets)

Build your foundation first, and results will follow.

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Source

This article was inspired by and summarizes key insights from the following video. Check out the video for more detail and subscribe to the channel—it’s a great resource for evidence-based training.

Watch the full video: How to Train for Maximum Muscle Growth (ft. Dr. Eric Helms)