Setvio guide
When to Increase Weight in the Gym, and by How Much
Increase the weight when you can do one or two more reps than your target at the effort you planned, for example when every set reaches the top of your rep range with reps still in reserve. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends adding 2 to 10% at that point (ACSM, 2009); in practice, the smallest step your equipment allows.
Three rules to decide when to add weight
1. The top of the rep range
Work within a rep range, such as 8 to 12. When every set reaches 12 with the RIR you planned, add weight and go back to 8. This is double progression; the progressive overload guide has a session-by-session example.
2. The 2-for-2 rule
A cautious rule of thumb taught to many coaches: if you do two or more reps over your target in the last set, in two sessions in a row, add weight next time. Waiting for the second session keeps one good day from raising the load too early.
3. Reps in reserve
If you log RIR, you can judge every set: a set planned at RIR 2 that ends with four reps left says the weight is too light. Adjusting the load to land on a target RIR led to greater strength gains over 12 weeks than fixed loads (Graham & Cleather, 2021).
More weight or more reps?
Both work. In trained lifters, adding reps with the same weight built as much muscle over 8 weeks as adding weight with the same reps, and strength differed little (Plotkin et al., 2022). Adding reps first is handy when the next weight is a big jump in percentage terms.
How much weight to add
A small step in kilos can be a large one in percentage terms:
| Exercise | From | To | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squat | 100 kg | 102.5 kg | 2.5% |
| Bench press | 60 kg | 62.5 kg | 4.2% |
| Dumbbell lateral raise | 8 kg | 10 kg | 25% |
That's why big barbell lifts can add weight often, while small dumbbell exercises usually progress through reps for several sessions before moving to the next dumbbell.
How to calculate your next weight
You can estimate it from your last session. The Epley formula estimates your one-rep max (1RM) from a set taken to failure as weight × (1 + reps ÷ 30). If the set wasn't taken to failure, add the reps you had left: a set of 5 at RIR 2 counts as a set of 7 reps to failure.
- Last session: 100 kg × 5 reps at RIR 2, so 7 reps to failure.
- Estimated 1RM: 100 × (1 + 7 ÷ 30) = 123.3 kg.
- Today's target: 5 reps at RIR 1, so 6 reps to failure.
- Load: 123.3 ÷ (1 + 6 ÷ 30) = 102.8 kg, which you round to 102.5 kg.
Treat the result as a starting point and adjust it with the RIR of your first working set.
How Setvio suggests your next weight
Setvio runs this calculation for you, with more data than a single set:
- On Home, in Next-session prediction, choose the exercise, the Target reps and the Target RIR.
- Setvio turns each valid set of that exercise into a strength estimate from its weight, reps and RIR, gives more weight to recent sessions and takes your trend and recent fatigue into account.
- It shows three loads, Conservative, Suggested and Aggressive, next to your estimated e1RM.
It needs at least three recent sessions of the exercise. With less history, Setvio shows no number rather than guess one. Everything is calculated on your phone, from your own log.
Published by Qjason Mobile, the developer of Setvio. Sources are listed below; app examples use demonstration data.
Sources
- American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708. doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181915670
- Graham T, Cleather DJ. Autoregulation by "Repetitions in Reserve" Leads to Greater Improvements in Strength Over a 12-Week Training Program Than Fixed Loading. J Strength Cond Res. 2021;35(9):2451-2456. doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003164
- Plotkin D, Coleman M, Van Every D, Maldonado J, Oberlin D, Israetel M, et al. Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or repetition progression on muscular adaptations. PeerJ. 2022;10:e14142. doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14142