Bodybuilder Samson Dauda takes a simple, pragmatic approach to training, where effort dictates results. In a YouTube video from May 25, 2026, he explained why you don’t need to overcomplicate progress by counting set volume each week.
Set volume and training frequency are among the biggest challenges in bodybuilding. Competitors from the Men’s Open division are tasked with presenting detail and conditioning onstage without sacrificing muscularity and size.
In 2025, Samson Dauda was unable to defend his Mr. Olympia title successfully. While he presented a new level of conditioning, he lacked the mass needed to take out Derek Lunsford, Hadi Choopan, and Chinedu Andrew ‘Jacked’ Obiekea.
Dauda has kept training volume and intensity high, as evidenced in his recent arm workout with Larry Wheels. Before preparations for the 2026 Mr. Olympia, the former champion is breaking down why counting weekly set volume might not be necessary.
Bodybuilder Samson Dauda Says Stop Overcomplicating Weekly Training Volume
In the video, Dauda explained why bodybuilders don’t need to count set volume each week.
“How many sets per muscle group per week do you do? You really need to stop trying to make bodybuilding too complicated. It is very straightforward. If you have to think and you have to write down how many sets per muscle group you do in a week, then you ain’t ready for this because you don’t understand it.”
He emphasized that structuring training isn’t complicated and warned lifters against thinking too far ahead.
“It’s not that complicated. It’s hard in practice, but it’s not that hard in theory. You’re thinking that far and that much and putting numbers together when there’s so many variables to even determine that.
If you’re not taking that into account, honestly, I don’t think you’re ready to do this. You’re trying to find the right numbers that gives you just enough to get you there… that’s not how this works,” said Samson Dauda.
Dauda hasn’t been the only Mr. Olympia to discuss how progress is affected by weekly set volume. Former four-time champ, Jay Cutler, made it clear that he aims for 12 sets per muscle group throughout the week in retirement.
“Ideally, I try to do at least four movements now for a body part. If we do four movements, and we do three working sets each, that’s 12 total sets, plus a couple warm-ups, maybe adding one or two here. We end up with just enough, where I used to promote doing 20 sets a body part.”
While weekly set volume has merit, Dauda believes intuition can go further. Time will tell if his training approach produces results when he returns at the 2026 Mr. Olympia from September 24-27 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
