30 Seconds SummaryOptimizing Hypertrophy: The Case for Increasing Sets in Mesocycles
- Starting mesocycles at Minimum Effective Volume (MEV) allows for safer, lower-fatigue gains and provides valuable exercise practice time.
- Gradually progressing from MEV to Maximal Adaptive Volume (MAV) during the mesocycle helps maximize muscle growth while managing fatigue.
- Both work capacity and recovery abilities improve rapidly, supporting the feasibility of safely increasing volume week by week.
- Evidence suggests that weekly volume increases, rather than maintaining a fixed volume, can lead to better hypertrophic outcomes without significantly raising injury risk.
- Research and practice support the idea of not waiting for strength plateaus to increase volume; instead, autoregulating based on recovery and performance can guide adjustments.
- Functional overreaching, deliberately exceeding recovery capacity briefly at the end of mesocycles, can be beneficial for experienced lifters.
- As lifters become more advanced, the range between MEV and Maximal Recoverable Volume (MRV) narrows, potentially requiring more precise volume adjustments.
- The article argues against the common practice of only adjusting load or reps, advocating for integrating set increases as a primary method for progression.
Renaissance Periodization
Dr. Mike Israetel, Chief Sport Scientist / Jared Feather, MS, IPE & NFF PRO / Dr. James Hoffmann / Anshuman Radhakrishnan
