Specialists › Training › Brad Schoenfeld

SpecialistStrength

Brad Schoenfeld

PhD, CSCS · Professor of exercise science, Lehman College, Bronx, New York · author of Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy

Go-to expert for: the science of muscle growth

Who and why

Brad Schoenfeld is a professor of exercise science at Lehman College in New York and one of the most published researchers on how muscles grow. He has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed papers, and his meta-analyses on training volume, load and frequency are widely used to set practical guidelines for building muscle.

Why it matters after 50: Muscle mass and strength fall with age, which raises the risk of frailty, falls and loss of independence. Knowing how much and how hard to train helps older adults build muscle without wasting time or overloading their joints.

What Schoenfeld recommends

  • More weekly sets build more muscle, up to a point. In his pooled analysis, each extra hard set per muscle per week added a little more growth, with a trend toward the best results at 10 or more sets a week.Strong evidence
  • Light and heavy weights build similar amounts of muscle, as long as the sets are hard. Heavier weights build more maximal strength.Strong evidence
  • Effort matters more than the exact weight. Most sets should end close to failure, roughly 1 to 3 reps short. Going all the way to failure on every set is not needed, especially for non-athletes.Some evidence
  • How often you train each muscle matters little if the total weekly sets are the same. Splitting the work over two or more sessions a week is simply an easy way to fit in enough sets.Strong evidence
  • If heavy loads hurt your joints, lighter weights with more reps (even 20 to 30) are a valid way to grow muscle, provided the last reps feel hard.Note

Signature: Volume–effort dose-response for muscle growth

His best-known work pools many small training studies to show a graded link between weekly training volume and muscle growth, and that a wide range of loads works when effort is high. He led a 2021 expert position stand on training for muscle growth.

In your plan

Choose him for strength in Build my mix: sessions are built around weekly hard sets per muscle, taken close to failure.

Build my mix

Research and honest caveats

Weekly training volume and muscle growth

Across 15 studies, each extra weekly set was linked to slightly more muscle growth, showing a graded dose-response; the advantage of 10 or more sets a week was a trend rather than a firm result.

Schoenfeld, Ogborn & Krieger, Journal of Sports Sciences, 2017

Light versus heavy loads

When sets were taken to muscle failure, light and heavy loads gave similar muscle growth, but heavy loads gave greater strength gains.

Schoenfeld, Grgic, Ogborn & Krieger, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2017

  • Much of the evidence comes from small, short studies in younger adults, often trained men, and the volume finding weakens when one influential study is removed. He has disclosed that he formerly served on the scientific advisory board of Tonal, a maker of home fitness equipment.

Career highlights

  1. 2016Received the Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award from the United States Sports Academy
  2. 2018Named NSCA Young Investigator of the Year
  3. 2021Lead author of the IUSCA position stand on training to maximise muscle growth
  4. 2021Published the second edition of Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy

Sources