Feature · Plates Pro

Muscle volume, mapped to MEV and MRV

Progress isn't just about one lift getting heavier. It's about training each muscle enough to grow without digging a hole you can't recover from. Plates counts your weekly sets per muscle group and shows them against science-based volume landmarks, so you can see at a glance what's undertrained, what's dialed in, and what's tipping into too much.

Muscle Balance screen with a full-body muscle map colored by weekly volume status and recommendations to add sets to undertrained muscle groups

Minimum effective and maximum recoverable volume

MEV (minimum effective volume) is roughly the least weekly volume that still drives growth for a muscle. Below it, you're maintaining at best.

MRV (maximum recoverable volume) is roughly the most weekly volume you can recover from. Above it, fatigue outruns adaptation.

Plates uses per-muscle MEV and MRV bands drawn from published training-volume research as the default target range for each muscle group.

What you see

Body map - an anatomical view colored by how each muscle is doing this week
Per-muscle rows - weekly sets for each group with a status against its MEV/MRV band
7-day status and 30-day distribution - short-term load plus a longer view of how sets are spread
Indirectly worked - credit for muscles hit as secondary movers, not just the primary target
Drill-down - tap a muscle to see the workouts that built its volume

Status at a glance

Below - under the MEV band; this muscle is likely undertrained

Optimal - inside the productive band between MEV and MRV

Above - over the MRV band; recovery may not keep up

Ignored - a muscle you've chosen not to score

Custom targets for how you actually train

The science-based defaults are a great starting point, but your priorities shift. Set a per-muscle or per-group emphasis and Plates adjusts the band it holds you to:

Prioritize

Raise the target band so Plates nudges you toward more volume on a muscle you want to grow.

Maintain

Keep the science-based default band. The out-of-the-box behavior.

Minimize

Lower the band toward maintenance, useful during a cut or for a muscle you're resting.

Ignore

Stop scoring and nudging a muscle entirely.

Custom targets change the Muscle Balance display only. They don't alter the fatigue and deload thresholds that protect you elsewhere in the app.

Try Plates free

Muscle volume analysis and custom targets are part of Plates Pro: $2.99/month or $19.99/year, with a 14-day free trial.