| term | abbr. | definition |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance Volume | MV | How much volume you need to maintain your gains. |
| Minimum Effective Volume | MEV | The least amount of volume needed to make gains. |
| Maximum Adaptive Volume | MAV | The range of volumes in which you make your best gains. MAV is more of a range than the other volume landmarks because it changes more from week to week. |
| . | ||
| Session Maximum Adaptive Volume | MAV for 1 training session. Beyond session MAV you may expect diminishing returns or even negative returns. | |
| Maximum Recoverable Volume | MRV | The total amount of volume above which you start impeding your progress. (i.e. above which you get negative return on sets.) |
| . | ||
| Maximum Adaptive Volume (Primary Priority) | MAV*P | The volume that leads to your best long term hypertrophy for a muscle if you prioritize its training and reduce the training for other muscles substantially, benefiting the primarily prioritized muscle more. |
| Maximum Recoverable Volume (Primary Priority) | MRV*P | The volume that you regularly train with and can just barely recover from if you prioritize its training and reduce the training for other muscles substantially, giving the primarily prioritized muscle more resources to recover and benefit from more training. Doing more than this causes worse results. |
The landmarkt volumes are measured in workings sets.
A set typically counts as a working set when it is:
- Between 30% and 85% of 1RM
- Between 5 reps and 30 reps per set
- Between 0 reps and 4 reps away from concentric failure (0 to 4 RIR, i.o.w. RPE 6-10)
These volume landmarks are for intermediate and advanced lifters who have been training these muscle groups for ≥ 3-7 years.
| Body Part Links | MV [1] |
MEV | MAV | MRV [2] |
MAV*P | MRV*P | Freq/week | Suggested reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traps | 0-4 | 0-4 | 4-12 | 20/30/35+ | 16-24 | 24-32+ | 2-6 | 10-20 |
| Front Delts | 0-2 | 0-2 | 4-8 | 12/16+ | 12-16 | 16-20+ | 1-2 | 6-10 |
| Side Delts | 2-6 | 6-8 | 8-24 | 25/30/35/40+ | 24-30 | 30-40+ | 2-6 | 10-12 |
| Rear Delts | 0-4 | 0-4 | 4-12 | 18/25/30/35+ | 24-30 | 30-40+ | 2-6 | 10-30 |
| Chest | 2-4 | 4-6 | 6-16 | 20/25/30/35+ | 16-24 | 24-32+ | 1.5-3 | 8-12 |
| Back | 2-6 | 6-8 | 8-20 | 20/25/30/35+ | 20-26 | 26-34+ | 2-4 | 6-20 |
| Biceps | 0-4 | 4-8 | 8-20 | 20/25/30/35+ [3] |
20-26 | 26-34+ | 2-6 | 8-15 |
| Triceps | 0-4 | 4-6 | 6-16 | 16/20/25/30+ [4] |
16-20 | 20-26+ | 2-4 | 6-15 (presses), 10-20 (extensions) |
| Forearms | 0-4 | 0-8 | 8-24 | 15/20/25+ | 24-30 | 24-30+ | 2-5 | 5-30 |
| Abs | 0-4 | 0-4 [5] |
4-12 | 10/20/25+ | 16-24 | 24-32+ | 3-5 | 8-20 |
| Glutes | 2-6 | 6-8 | 8-24 | 12/18/25/30+ [6] |
24-30 | 30-40+ | 2-3 | 8-12 |
| Quads | 2-4 | 4-6 | 6-14 | 18/22/26/30+ [7] |
10-18 | 18-24+ | 1.5-3 | 8-15 |
| Hamstrings | 2-4 | 4-6 | 6-12 | 12/16/18+ [6] |
12-16 | 16-20+ | 2-3 | 5-10 (hinge), 10-20 (leg curls) |
| Calves [8] |
2-4 | 4-6 | 6-16 | 16/20/25/30+ | 16-24 | 24-32+ | 2-4 | 10-30 |
Notes:
[1] When maintenance volume (MV) is 0 sets, it is assumed you still hit these muscle groups with non-direct compound work, e.g.:
- traps in deadlift
- front delts in bench press
- rear delts with bent over row
- triceps in overhead press
- forearms with pull ups
- glutes in squats
[2] Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV) for 2 training days per week/ 3 training days per week / etc. (with last value being maximum weekly MRV at highest weekly frequency).
[3] Bicep MRV will be lower if you already do lots of taxing pulling work.
[4] Tricep MRV will be lower if you already do lots of 'indirect' tricep work (dips, BP, OHP).
[5] 0 sets if you go for a flat abs. 2 sets if you haven't trained abs before and you want your rectus abdominus to 'pop out' (advantage: you'll see your abs at higher body fat percentage. Disadvantage: increased waist size, especially when seen from the side). 4 sets for those who have trained abs a lot before.
[6] Glute and hamstring MRV will be lower if you do heavy hip hinge variants.
[7] Quad MRV will be lower if you do heavy squat variants.
[8] Anecdotally(!), pausing in the stretched position stimulates calve hypertrophy. The suggested(!) mechanism is a reduction in achilles tendon elastic strain energy such that the calve muscles have to do more mechanical work.
Session MAV is typically around 5-12 working sets for most muscle groups. Beyond this volume you are more likely to see diminishing and even negative returns. As a rule of thumb, limit your volume per body part to 10 direct sets per training session.