Moderate evidence

When adding up a muscle's weekly sets, work that hits it indirectly is best counted as half a set.

In practice

A bench press is real work for your triceps, but not the same as a triceps exercise. Counting it as a full triceps set overstates what they're getting; ignoring it understates it. Half is the count that best matched real results across the research, and it's how this app adds up your week.

What it doesn't say

This is the counting method that best predicted outcomes across 67 studies, not a direct test of any one exercise or muscle. The participants averaged 25 years old and were mostly men.

Source

• Pelland JC, Remmert JF, Robinson ZP, Hinson SR, Zourdos MC (2026). The resistance training dose response: meta-regressions exploring the effects of weekly volume and frequency on muscle hypertrophy and strength gains. Sports Medicine, 56(2):481–505. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-025-02344-w