HYPERTROPHY TRAINING VOLUME LANDMARKS PER MUSCLE GROUP

Ahhh my sweet sweet Training Volume, my favorite topic EVER!

Aside from deadlifts, OF COURSE!

So in this one, we'll analyze training volume through the lens of HYPERTROPHY WORK, building MASSIVE muscles, repetitions are up to your choosing and preference, the weight will be according to your strength level, what we will discuss today, is how many EFFECTIVE SETS we need to maintain (MV), grow a little (MEV), grow a lot (MAV), and grow MAXIMALY (MRV).

For this, we'll use a super elegant concept designed by Dr. Mike Israetel from Renassaince Periodization (check him out on youtube to learn more) that determines the thresholds in which your stimulus-to-fatigue ratio (SFR) starts to dip towards more harm than good.

Before we thread further let me make it real clear for those of you that just woke up— what I mean with EFFECTIVE SETS, effective sets go near failure, not necessarily TO FAILURE, but near, if you're working between 4-10 repetitions, an effective set is one where the velocity of the movement started to get reduced dramatically, if you're working above 10 repetitions, an effective set is one where you experienced the muscle burning, a great pump, or you simply could FEEL the muscle working, THAT MIND MUSCLE CONNECTION!

Also, please, understand this, very important message:

GROWING EVERYTHING AT ONCE AT HIGH TO MAX VOLUME IS IMPOSSIBLE!

You need to be strategic, and most importantly, apply your own discretion so you can use the concept as a north star, not a rule set in stone.

Oh, and the numbers presented here are sets a WEEK gentlemen, sets a week.

• MINIMUM VOLUME (MV)

Is the amount of effective sets required to keep your size and performance at the level that you're currently.

Keeping what you already have requires just a little effort, a little volume, here you're working at something close to a 20-40% work capacity and you'll hardly experience any fatigue whatsoever.

Notice that triceps require 0–6 sets, because if you’re doing a good job with your chest work, you’re probably stimulating triceps as well hence no direct work is required, this idea applies to other muscles in the images.

• MINIMUM EFFECTIVE VOLUME (MEV)

Is the amount of sets required to gain a little bit of size, nothing to write home about but it's gainz nevertheless.

Here you're working at something close to a 40-70% work capacity, the higher the percentage, the more gains, and you'll start to experience some fatigue, maybe a little loss of performance between workouts that emphasize the same systems in a row, but still super low fatigue work hence you can probably work every single one of your muscles at this volume.

• MAXIMUM ADAPTIVE VOLUME (MAV)

Is the amount of sets required to optimally gain size, your best gains are done in this threshold, and here you're going to be strategic about your workouts because now you're scoring high on the fatigue side of the equation.

Here you're working anywhere from 70-85% work capacity, the threshold in which significant gains are made, fatigue ramps up drastically and a structured approach to training, dieting, and sleep will be required for the fatigue side of the scale don't screw your efforts.

• MAXIMUM RECOVERABLE VOLUME (MRV)

Is the amount of sets required to PEAK your size at a given time, you're milking every single little drop of gainz that you can, and you're doing so on the verge of the zone where you're doing more harm than good.

Here you're working anywhere from 85-99% work capacity, this is something that should only be applied a the very end of a structured accumulation phase with proper periodization and only for a couple of muscle groups at a time, you'll experience INSANE fatigue, crippling soreness, and cap off your potential for the current version of yourself.

Anything above MRV, and only anything above MRV, is the dreaded OVERTRAINING, the point in which you’re probably doing more harm than good, another hypothesis is that you didn’t pay attention to when I mentioned EFFECTIVE REPS in the beginning, you’re thinking you’re above MRV but actually, you’re introducing JUNK VOLUME.

And if you're not PRAISING BRODIN, seriously, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?

HEIL THE ALLSPOTTER ALMIGHTY BRODIN!

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