Programme Volume Planner
Written for building a block rather than auditing one: set a starting volume and a weekly increment, and see where the block actually lands.
Your results
Volume recommendations come from group averages. A client's tolerance depends on sleep, food, life stress and training history — the plan is a starting point to adjust against their actual logged sessions.
Building volume across a block
The productive range for weekly hard sets per muscle is broadly 10–20, with returns flattening above that. A block that starts near the bottom of that range and accumulates gives you somewhere to progress to, and a deload to reset from.
- Add one or two sets a week. Faster than that and you are adding fatigue rather than stimulus.
- Deload every six to ten weeks. Roughly half the sets, weights near normal, well short of failure. Scheduled beats reactive.
- Peak above about 22 sets is worth questioning — check that progress is still moving rather than fatigue accumulating.
- Count hard sets only. Warm-ups do not count, and neither do sets stopped well short of a challenge. Coaches who count everything routinely over-estimate their clients' volume.
Progressing volume versus progressing load
Volume progression and load progression are different tools and they interact.
Adding sets raises the stimulus and the fatigue together. Adding weight at constant volume raises the stimulus with much less fatigue cost — which is why, for most clients most of the time, load progression should be the primary driver and volume progression the occasional adjustment.
Practically: run a block at a stable volume, progress the weights, and raise volume only when load progression has genuinely stalled and you have ruled out sleep, food, stress and accumulated fatigue first. A client whose weights are still climbing does not need more sets.
Common questions
How many sets per muscle per week should I programme?
10–20 hard sets covers most clients. Beginners progress on fewer.
How fast should I add volume?
One or two sets per muscle per week, then hold and observe.
How long should a block be?
Eight to twelve weeks, ending in a deload. Long enough for progression to be measurable.
Should every client's volume progress?
No. Many clients do better at a stable volume with load progression. Add sets when load progression has genuinely stalled.
Related calculators
Track the numbers, not just calculate them
MyFitsy stores your weight, measurements and every session, so the figures above become a trend instead of a one-off.
