Justin_M
Level 6 Valued Member
When it comes to training volume load, how much is too much and how little is too little?
For strength training I have tried to align with Intensity Number of Lifts (INOL) to choose appropriate intensity and volume and have found certain ranges for different lifts. Attached is a paper on it. The gist is to sum the number of lifts divided by the inverse intensity to get a value. There are guidelines for what is too little volume, what's good for overloading, and what is too much. Those guidelines exist for both individual sessions and weekly cumulative values. It has been a good way to ensure my lifts are in an appropriate range to cause "good" adaptation. Here are the rough guidelines from the paper:
I think it is important to consider that between MAV and MRV is a place that seems to be "wasted" in my experience. I am able to recover from it but I've still maxed out the adaptation and it just requires me to get more volume later on to meet the MAV. It's that area where more isn't better, it's just more.
Conditioning on the other hand is more elusive to me for identifying the appropriate individual training session volume load and the cumulative weekly training volume load. Other than anecdotal experience and recommendations provided by experienced coaches, I don't know if there is a better way to choose a training volume load for conditioning. Perhaps, there is a similar method of using the minutes of effort with the intensity of heart rate.
I am curious to learn of the methods others use for determining MED, MAV, and MRV for conditioning.
For strength training I have tried to align with Intensity Number of Lifts (INOL) to choose appropriate intensity and volume and have found certain ranges for different lifts. Attached is a paper on it. The gist is to sum the number of lifts divided by the inverse intensity to get a value. There are guidelines for what is too little volume, what's good for overloading, and what is too much. Those guidelines exist for both individual sessions and weekly cumulative values. It has been a good way to ensure my lifts are in an appropriate range to cause "good" adaptation. Here are the rough guidelines from the paper:
Individual Session | Weekly | |
Minimum Effective Dose (MED) | 0.4 | ? |
Maximum Adaptable Volume (MAV) | 1.0 | 3.0 |
Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV) | 2.0 | 4.0 |
Conditioning on the other hand is more elusive to me for identifying the appropriate individual training session volume load and the cumulative weekly training volume load. Other than anecdotal experience and recommendations provided by experienced coaches, I don't know if there is a better way to choose a training volume load for conditioning. Perhaps, there is a similar method of using the minutes of effort with the intensity of heart rate.
I am curious to learn of the methods others use for determining MED, MAV, and MRV for conditioning.