Progressive Volume Workout Plan

You’ve heard of the concept of progressive overload. That’s where you gradually increase how much weight you lift in resistance training workouts to continue getting stronger over time.

Well, adding more weight is only one example of progressive overload. You can also make workouts more challenging by reducing rest periods or adding more exercises/sets.

The latter is an example of increasing training volume. Specifically, volume is the total number of sets a muscle group performs in a workout or within a week.

As you gain experience, adding more sets to a chest workout, for example, is one way to stimulate more growth. However, there is a point of diminishing returns where doing too many sets prevents you from recovering and making new gains.

Therefore, it’s necessary to have a strategic plan regarding how many sets you perform for each muscle group. And just like with adding weight, it’s best to take an incremental approach and provide breaks periodically.

For example, I’ve put together a progressive volume workout plan that I will use in the coming weeks. First, I divided my body into different muscle groups and combined them into individual workouts.

Here is my six-day training split.

Day	Workout
Monday	Biceps & Triceps
Tuesday	Chest & Side Delts
Wednesday	Back & Rear Delts
Thursday	Quads & Abs
Friday	Biceps & Triceps
Saturday	Hamstrings & Calves
Sunday	Rest

The first thing to point out is that I’ve included two arm days. I did this because the arms generally recover faster than other muscle groups, plus I want to give them more volume as I think they are a weak point for me.

You might also notice that I’ve separated some muscles generally considered one group. For example, instead of a “leg day,” I have a quad day and a hamstring day.

Additionally, I’ve separated the shoulder into individual deltoid heads. Then I paired side delts with chest and rear delts with back since they are complimentary muscle groups.

I left out the front delts because they get plenty of work on chest day. Likewise, glutes get ample stimulation on quad and hamstring days, plus I’m not trying to make my butt bigger.

Next, I developed a plan to add sets weekly to increase training volume incrementally. I will start with the minimum effective volume (MEV) and ramp up to the maximum recoverable volume (MRV).

MEV is considered the lowest volume that will stimulate muscle growth. On the other end of the spectrum, MRV is the highest volume from which you can still recover and grow.

Current research suggests that MEV is 10-14 sets per muscle group per week, while MRV is 16-20. Here’s how I will increase workout volume each week.

Week	Sets per Muscle Group
1	10 (MEV)
2	12
3	14
4	16 (MRV)
5	6 (deload)

After reaching maximum training volume, I will have a deload week where I back way off on volume to let my body rest and recover for another round of the same progression.

If you add up all the sets for every muscle group, the total volume starts at 110 weekly sets and goes up to 192. Before this program, I averaged 126 sets per week, so I will push the volume higher than I’m used to.

Additionally, my arms will get double the volume (up to 32 sets) since I have two weekly workouts. I’m hoping this will stimulate some growth for my stubborn biceps.

I will write down the weights lifted and the number of reps completed in a log book. This way, I can see if and when I reach a point where I’m not recovering between workouts, indicating too much volume.

Based on this information, I will adjust the workout split or volume in the next phase to ensure I push the envelope on volume without falling off a recovery cliff.