Valeria Tools
Weekly Volume Tracker
Enter your weekly sets per muscle group. See instantly where you need more volume, where you are in the optimal range, and where you risk overreaching.
Enter how many working sets you do for each muscle group per week. The tool evaluates whether your volume falls within the research-backed hypertrophy range.
Understanding Training Volume
MEV — Minimum Effective Volume
The fewest sets per week needed to see progress. Below this, you are essentially maintaining rather than growing. Typically 4–8 sets per muscle per week.
MAV — Maximum Adaptive Volume
The sweet spot: the volume range where your body adapts best. Research (Schoenfeld, 2017) places this at roughly 10–20 working sets per muscle group per week for most people, varying by muscle.
MRV — Maximum Recoverable Volume
The upper limit of what you can recover from. Consistently exceeding MRV leads to overreaching, injury, and eventually overtraining syndrome. MRV is highly individual and increases with training age.
What counts as a "working set"?
A set taken close to muscular failure (within 1–4 reps of failure) at a challenging load. Warm-up sets and very light sets do not count. Compound exercises like squats and hip thrusts count toward multiple muscles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a hip thrust count toward both glutes and hamstrings?
Yes. Compound exercises work multiple muscles. A hip thrust counts primarily toward glutes and secondarily toward hamstrings. A Romanian deadlift counts primarily toward hamstrings and secondarily toward glutes. When tracking, you can count it as 1 set for the primary muscle and 0.5 sets for the secondary, or simply count it fully for both.
My schedule only allows 3 days/week. Can I still hit optimal volume?
Yes. Frequency and volume are separate variables. You can hit 15 glute sets per week across 3 sessions (5 sets each). Research shows that splitting volume across 2+ sessions per week is slightly superior to doing it all in one session, but the total weekly volume matters most.
I am a beginner. Should I aim for the full 10–20 range?
No. Start closer to MEV (6–10 sets per major muscle group). Beginners respond strongly to lower volumes and recover faster. Add sets gradually every 4–6 weeks. Jumping to high volumes as a beginner dramatically increases injury risk and often reduces results.
How often should I reassess my volume?
Every 4–6 weeks, or at the end of a training block. Volume should increase progressively over a mesocycle (typically 4–6 weeks), followed by a deload week where volume drops by 40–50% to allow full recovery before the next block.