Knowledge base/How Mitta decides
How we count weekly sets
In short
Mitta counts a finished work set as 1 set for the main muscle of the exercise and half a set for each helping muscle. Warm-up sets and sets you did not finish are not counted. So 3 sets of bench press give chest 3 sets, triceps 1.5 and shoulders 1.5.
Cody de LeeuwLast checked 27 October 2026 · 5 min read
Why not just count every set once?
A bench press trains your chest. It also works your triceps and the front of your shoulders. A row trains your back and your biceps. If each set counted once for every muscle involved, one hard bench session would look like a big week for three muscles.
If it counted only for the main muscle, your triceps would look neglected even after many pressing sets. Neither is true to life. Mitta uses a middle rule: 1 for the main muscle, 0.5 for each helping muscle.
What exactly does Mitta count?
Every exercise in the library has one main muscle and, if it fits, a list of helping muscles. When you log a set:
- The main muscle gets 1 set.
- Each helping muscle gets 0.5 set.
- Warm-up sets do not count.
- Sets you did not finish do not count. A set only counts once it is completed.
- Everything else counts: normal work sets, drop sets, AMRAP sets and sets to failure.
- Only finished workouts count.
What counts as a work set is explained in What counts as a hard set?
What does a week look like, with numbers?
Three exercises in one session: bench press (3 sets), overhead press (3 sets) and triceps pushdown (3 sets). In Mitta, bench press has chest as the main muscle with triceps and shoulders helping. Overhead press has shoulders as the main muscle with triceps and core helping. Triceps pushdown is triceps only.
| Muscle | From bench press | From overhead press | From pushdown | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chest | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Shoulders | 1.5 | 3 | 0 | 4.5 |
| Triceps | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3 | 6 |
| Core | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 1.5 |
Nine sets were done, but no muscle shows 9. Triceps shows 6: 3 direct sets and 3 from helping on the presses. If you also did warm-up sets with an empty bar, none of them are in this table.
Why half?
More weekly sets for a muscle go with more growth, up to a point. A meta-analysis of 15 studies found a graded relationship between weekly sets per muscle and muscle growth, and it only had data up to about 10 sets per muscle per week.1 That is why Mitta tracks sets per muscle at all.
A later meta-regression compared ways of counting sets that only help a muscle. It tried counting them as a full set, as nothing, and as half. Half fitted the data best.2 That paper is a preprint, so it has not been through peer review yet. Treat 0.5 as a good working rule, not a measured constant: a helping muscle will do more work in some exercises and less in others.
Where do you see these numbers?
- Progress, strength tab. Sets per muscle per week for the last 6 full weeks plus the current one. Weeks run Monday to Sunday. It only shows once you have at least 2 full weeks with strength training. A note under the chart says helping muscles count as half a set.
- The weekly tip. If a muscle is under half of the recommended weekly sets for your level, over the last 7 days and also counting what is still planned this week, Mitta suggests adding 2 to 3 sets in your next workout. Trapezius, forearms and adductors are left out of this tip, because they already get work from other exercises.
- Plan building. When Mitta builds a plan, it uses the same half-set rule to check that each muscle gets enough work.
How many sets per week is a good number is covered in How many sets per muscle per week?
Moderate evidence
Dose-response between weekly sets and muscle growth is supported by a meta-analysis. Counting helping muscles as half comes from a meta-regression that is still a preprint (not yet peer reviewed). Which exercise trains which muscle is Mitta's own classification. How we rate evidence
How Mitta does it
One rule, the same everywhere.
Your progress charts, the weekly tip and your plan all count sets the same way: 1 for the main muscle, half for helping muscles.
- Finished work sets onlyWarm-ups and unfinished sets are left out.
- Half a set for helpersA press set adds 1 to chest or shoulders and 0.5 to triceps.
- Week by weekSets per muscle for the last 6 full weeks, Monday to Sunday.
- Small muscles handled gentlyTrapezius, forearms and adductors get no target band and no low-volume tip.
Know what your week adds up to.
Mitta counts your sets per muscle and shows them week by week. Free to start, in the web app for invited testers.
Questions about
How we count weekly sets
Why does my triceps show sets when I did no triceps exercise?
Presses use the triceps as a helping muscle. Each press set adds half a set to your triceps.
Do warm-up sets count?
No. Only finished sets that are not marked as warm-up count.
Why are some numbers like 4.5?
Half sets add up. Three sets of a press give 1.5 sets to each helping muscle.
Can I change which muscles an exercise counts for?
Not for the exercises in the library. If you add your own exercise it gets a main muscle you choose and no helping muscles.
Sources
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2017; 35(11): 1073–1082. doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1210197
- Pelland JC, Remmert JF, Robinson ZP, Hinson SR, Zourdos MC. The resistance training dose-response: meta-regressions exploring the effects of weekly volume and frequency on muscle hypertrophy and strength gain. SportRxiv preprint, 2024 (not peer reviewed). doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.460
Written by Cody de Leeuw. First published 27 October 2026, last checked 27 October 2026. This article is general information, not medical advice. Spotted a mistake? Tell me