Effort isn't the gap. Almost nobody can say what they did last week, so almost nobody can add to it.
A 2026 meta-analysis across 2,058 participants found muscle and strength gains rise with weekly sets, with diminishing returns as volume climbs. Frequency mattered far less than the total.
Pelland et al. (2026), Sports Medicine — dose-response meta-regression.First name. It stays on this phone — nothing gets sent anywhere.
This is the whole of it. Everything else you'll be told is a variation on these, or a distraction from them.
The clearest dose-response in the literature: more hard sets per muscle per week means more growth, with the returns flattening as you climb. Around ten sets a week per muscle group is where the evidence is strongest for someone not already advanced.
Pelland et al. (2026), Sports Medicine — 67 studies, 2,058 participants.Volume only works if it climbs. Same weight, same reps, same everything for six months is maintenance wearing a training programme's clothes. You cannot add to a number you never wrote down — which is the entire reason this tool exists.
Progressive overload: the mechanism behind every programme that works.This one contradicts most gym floors. Training every set to the point where you physically cannot do another rep shows no hypertrophy advantage over stopping a rep or two short — and it costs far more recovery, which means fewer quality sets across the week.
Refalo et al. — meta-analysis on proximity to failure and hypertrophy.What this tool doesn't do. No calories, no macros, no weight targets, no body measurements. Those aren't the lever here, and turning training into a number you're failing at every morning is how people quit.
Tick what you trained and put in the number of hard sets. Working sets only — warm-ups don't count.
Everything here is tagged by how strong the research behind it actually is. Nothing on this list is here because it's popular, and two of the popular ones are on it because they're working against you.
Read this first. Everything below is general information drawn from published research, and every claim names the study behind it so you can check it yourself. It is not medical advice and it doesn’t know anything about you. Your situation, any condition you have and anything you already take can change all of it — so talk to a doctor before acting on any of this.
On supplements generally: they're the smallest lever on this page. Sets, progression and sleep decide almost everything. If any of this interacts with a medical condition or medication you take, ask a doctor first — that isn't a formality.