The weekly check-in
Every week your coach looks at two things for each muscle you train: how sore you were and how the sessions went. That decides next week's sets. Try it below.
13 sets
The block from here
Volume climbs from where you are toward your limit, then a deload week resets it. The dashed line is maintenance, about 6 sets.
Rules and landmarks from RP Strength, Training Volume Landmarks for Muscle Growth. A set here is a hard working set: 5–30 reps, stopping 0–4 reps short of failure. Your own numbers will differ, which is the point of checking in.
Four numbers worth knowing
Sets per muscle per week. They're starting points; your coach finds yours by watching how you respond.
About 6 hard sets a week keeps the muscle you have. Useful in a busy month or a fat-loss phase.
The least that still builds muscle. Each training block starts here.
The range between MEV and MRV where you make your best progress, climbing week by week.
The most you can recover from. Past it, performance drops; that's the cue to deload.
| Soreness | Performance | Next week |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · none | 1 · beat the targets | Add 2–3 sets |
| 1–2 | 1–2 | Add 1 set |
| 3–4 | 3 · struggled | Hold the same volume |
| Any | 4 · couldn't match last week | Recovery session or deload |
Adapted from RP Strength's weekly set progression. A real check-in also looks at sleep, stress and how life went, because a bad week at work looks a lot like overtraining.