Core Hypertrophy Concepts: MV, MEV, MAV, MRV, and Periodization

Overview

The understanding and application of the principles of hypertrophy training have significantly evolved. Key concepts include Maintenance Volume (MV), Minimum Effective Volume (MEV), Maximum Adaptive Volume (MAV), and Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV), which help us understand how to effectively periodize a hypertrophy training cycle.

Example Hypertrophy Mesocycle Periodization

Maintenance Volume (MV) is the amount of training needed to maintain current muscle size. This is less than the volume needed to make new gains, so it's a useful concept for times when you're unable to train at full intensity, such as during a deloading phase, recovery from injury, or busy life periods.

Minimum Effective Volume (MEV) refers to the lowest amount of work that can be done to produce a growth stimulus. Essentially, it's the minimum amount of exercise required to see measurable muscle growth. The MEV will vary depending on the individual's training status, genetics, and lifestyle factors. It serves as the baseline from which to start a hypertrophy-focused training cycle.

Maximum Adaptive Volume (MAV) is the volume range where the most significant hypertrophy occurs. It represents the 'sweet spot' between doing enough to stimulate growth and not doing so much that you can't recover effectively. Exceeding MAV might still result in muscle growth, but the ratio of gains to recovery becomes less efficient.

Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV) is the highest volume that a person can recover from within a given period. It's the boundary beyond which overtraining occurs. Pushing close to MRV can be useful for short periods (overreaching), but consistently exceeding MRV will lead to overtraining, where performance deteriorates, and the risk of injury increases.

These four concepts can be visualized as different points along a continuum of training volume, with MEV being the lowest, MV slightly higher, MAV higher still, and MRV at the highest end.

When periodizing a hypertrophy training mesocycle (a specific block of training aimed at developing muscle mass), one common approach is to start at or slightly above MEV, then progressively increase volume over the course of the mesocycle until reaching near MRV. This is a form of linear periodization. You can also use undulating periodization, where the volume varies within the mesocycle, moving between MEV and MRV.

The goal is to spend as much time as possible within your MAV, where you're doing enough work to maximize hypertrophy but not so much that you can't recover effectively. Towards the end of the mesocycle, you might push close to (or slightly exceed) your MRV to induce a state of functional overreaching. This is followed by a deloading phase (working at MV) to allow for recovery and supercompensation.

In terms of the macrocycle (the entire training year or season), you would typically structure it into several mesocycles, each with a specific focus (e.g., hypertrophy, strength, power). The principles of MEV, MV, MAV, and MRV still apply, but the specific volumes will vary depending on the focus of each mesocycle.

For example, during a strength or power mesocycle, the volumes would typically be lower (because intensity is higher), so MEV, MV, MAV, and MRV for these mesocycles would be lower than during a hypertrophy mesocycle. In a macrocycle, the mesocycles are typically organized to build upon one another. For instance, a hypertrophy phase to increase muscle size, followed by a strength phase to increase the strength of these bigger muscles, and then a power phase to increase the ability to express this.