30 Seconds SummaryTraining Volume Landmarks for Muscle Growth
- Training volume is crucial for muscle growth, with more usually being beneficial up to a point before it becomes detrimental.
- Working sets should ideally be between 30% and 85% of one rep max (1RM), comprising 5 to 30 reps, and ending between 4 reps and failure.
- Volume and intensity need to be balanced to optimize both muscle growth and recuperation.
- Muscle group-specific exercises should be counted towards their primary muscle's volume, while secondary muscles indirectly involved get fewer 'sets worth' of volume.
- Volume landmarks like Minimum Volume (MV), Minimum Effective Volume (MEV), Maximum Adaptive Volume (MAV), and Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV) define different training intensities.
- MV represents the base level of training necessary to maintain muscle mass.
- MEV is the threshold volume for growth; consistently training above this volume is crucial for gains.
- MAV is the optimal range of training volume for progression and should ideally span from MEV to just below MRV.
- MRV is the ceiling of training volume a person can recover from; exceeding this typically leads to overtraining without additional benefits.
- Precise volume requirements can vary widely between individuals and should be adjusted based on personal recovery and progression feedback.
Renaissance Periodization
Dr. Mike Israetel, Chief Sport Scientist, Dr. James Hoffmann, Jared Feather, MS
