Should you add sets every week, or only when your lifts stop improving?

Eric HelmsPhD · strength and physique sport scientist, coach, competitor

Only when load or reps stop going up, and only if recovery is holding. Adding sets on a schedule progresses your ability to recover rather than your growth, and adding them too fast can slow hypertrophy.

What it rests onHypertrophy increases strength, which lets load or reps rise, which keeps each set in its effective range. So rising load and reps are the evidence that the current set volume is still working. He states four times in the same article that the question has no direct evidence behind it: 'it is not known when and if sets should increase to maintain the fastest rate of muscle growth possible', 'there aren't any studies that match for total volume', 'To my knowledge, there aren't any studies', 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence'.

Mike IsraetelPhD · exercise scientist

Yes, weekly. Start each mesocycle at your minimum effective volume and add sets every week toward the most you can recover from, then deload.

What it rests on'MEV serves as your starting point for each mesocycle. You'll begin around this volume and progress upward throughout the training block.' The stated mechanism is tolerance: 'Each training session increases your tolerance, requiring more volume to maintain optimal stimulus. This is why volume must increase throughout a mesocycle.' The guide gives a worked example: from an MEV of 12 sets to an MRV of 20, week 1 at 12 sets, then 14, 16, 18, 20, then a 6-set deload week.