If I do (for example) 10 squats 5 times over the space of the day, is that just as good as going 50 squats once a day? Why or why not?
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Your body is very clever. When it notices that a muscle has been damaged by intensive usage, it doesn’t just repair it, but also makes it a little bit stronger so it doesn’t get damaged again in the future. The idea of working out is to “damage” your muscles a little bit, so your body is going to work on it.
This needs basically two things:
First, you need to actually go far enough to cause some damage. You feel this when your muscles tire or get sore doing something. If you don’t feel this, it means your muscles are still fine and your body has no reason to do anything.
Second, you need to rest so your body can repair. That’s why many workout programs don’t target all the same muscles every day: you would just be damaging them more and more without getting them fully repaired again. If at some point there is too much damage, you have an actual injury.
Looking at these things, you can get your answer. If you use your muscles enough with the smaller sets, then it’s fine for growth. But as your muscles grow it will get easier and easier, so the amount of “damage” decreases, exactly as your body intended. To keep growing, you either have to go to longer sets so there isn’t time for your body to rest in between, or increase the intensity so it gets damaged quicker.
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