The Method N° 03 · How muscle grows

Volume

More hard sets build more muscle. Each extra set buys a little less.

Every study checked against the paper, . Each section carries its grade. Run the numbers in the app.

Count hard sets

Strong

A hard set is one taken to or near failure. Counting them is a valid way to measure training volume across sets of about 6 to 20 or more reps.1

More sets, more muscle

Settled

Each extra weekly set added about 0.37% to the gain in one meta-analysis,2 and the 2026 analysis of 67 studies agrees: size and strength both rise with weekly sets.3

Each extra set buys less

Strong

Four weekly sets was the smallest dose with detectable growth. Between 5 and 10 sets, about six more bought the next detectable step; between 19 and 29, it took about eleven.3 Few studies went past 25 sets, and most of their sets went to failure.

Indirect work counts, about half

Strong

Rows train your biceps too. Counting that kind of indirect set as half a set predicted growth best.3

Frequency matters little once sets match

Settled

Spread the same weekly sets over two days or four: with volume matched, growth came out the same across 25 studies.4

Past about 20 sets, it is unclear

Still open

In trained men, more than about 20 weekly sets has not clearly beaten 12 to 20, except for the triceps.5 Raising volume by 120% grew no more muscle than raising it by 20%.6

You are not the average

Settled

On one program, biceps growth ranged from −2% to +59% across 585 people.7 In a trial of 34 people, three sets beat one on average, 5.2% against 3.7%, but only 13 grew clearly more from the extra sets.8 That is why your own weeks are worth reading.

Landmarks are a map, not a measurement

Still open

MEV, MAV and MRV are the minimum effective, maximum adaptive and maximum recoverable volume: the weekly sets per muscle that hold it, grow it best, and outrun recovery. They come from a coaching framework,9 not from trials, and the research's smallest dose is a group average, not yours.3

How the Vanguard app runs this

The app counts your hard sets per muscle every week and keeps each one between its MEV and MRV. After each week, three answers per muscle add one or two sets, hold, cut two, or call a deload. It counts each exercise toward one muscle in full sets, because the landmarks were built that way.

The research

The research

The 9 sources this chapter stands on, with what each one actually found.

  1. Baz-Valle, Fontes-Villalba, Santos-Concejero, 2021 · J Strength Cond Res

    Systematic review · 14 trials

    Counting sets taken to or near failure is a valid measure of volume for sets of about 6 to 20 or more reps.

    Read the paper by Baz-Valle, Fontes-Villalba, Santos-Concejero, 2021 (opens in a new tab)

  2. Schoenfeld, Ogborn, Krieger, 2017 · J Sports Sci

    Meta-analysis

    Each extra weekly set added about 0.37% to the gain in muscle size.

    Read the paper by Schoenfeld, Ogborn, Krieger, 2017 (opens in a new tab)

  3. Pelland, Remmert, Robinson et al., 2026 · Sports Med

    Meta-regressions · 67 studies · 2,058 people

    Four weekly sets was the smallest dose with detectable growth; each further step took more sets (about 6 between 5 and 10 sets, about 10.75 between 19 and 29). Indirect sets counted as half fitted best. 78% of the growth data came from sets to failure.

    Read the paper by Pelland, Remmert, Robinson et al., 2026 (opens in a new tab)

  4. Schoenfeld, Grgic, Krieger, 2019 · J Sports Sci

    Meta-analysis · 25 studies

    With weekly volume matched, training a muscle more or less often made no significant difference to growth.

    Read the paper by Schoenfeld, Grgic, Krieger, 2019 (opens in a new tab)

  5. Baz-Valle, Balsalobre-Fernández, Alix-Fages et al., 2022 · J Hum Kinet

    Systematic review · 7 trials · trained men

    Moderate (12 to 20) against high (over 20) weekly sets: no difference for quadriceps or biceps; high was better for triceps.

    Read the paper by Baz-Valle, Balsalobre-Fernández, Alix-Fages et al., 2022 (opens in a new tab)

  6. Camargo, Bittencourt, Michel et al., 2026 · J Appl Physiol

    One leg each · n = 25 trained · 8 weeks

    Raising volume by 120% grew no more muscle than raising it by 20%.

    Read the paper by Camargo, Bittencourt, Michel et al., 2026 (opens in a new tab)

  7. Hubal, Gordish-Dressman, Thompson et al., 2005 · Med Sci Sports Exerc

    n = 585 · 12 weeks

    On the same program, biceps size changes ranged from −2% to +59%.

    Read the paper by Hubal, Gordish-Dressman, Thompson et al., 2005 (opens in a new tab)

  8. Hammarström, Øfsteng, Koll et al., 2020 · J Physiol

    One leg each · n = 34 untrained · 12 weeks

    Three sets grew muscle 5.2% against 3.7% for one, but only 13 of 34 people grew clearly more from the extra sets.

    Read the paper by Hammarström, Øfsteng, Koll et al., 2020 (opens in a new tab)

  9. Israetel, Hoffmann, Davis, Feather, 2021 · Renaissance Periodization

    Book · Scientific Principles of Hypertrophy Training

    Sets out MEV, MAV and MRV, and the block that builds from one toward the other and then steps back, as a coaching framework. Practice, not trial data.

    Book · ISBN 9798708998286

Research describes groups of people. Your coach will tell you how it applies to you.

Questions this chapter answers