Volume landmarks classify how much hard training a muscle is getting each week against research-based bands, rather than a single set-count target. Kenso uses this to show whether a muscle is undertrained, in a productive range, or pushing toward more than it can recover from.

Where to find it

Stats → Muscle Balance (or the Muscle view inside Strength Score) shows every muscle colored by its current band. Tap a muscle to see its weekly bar chart and the exercises training it. See Exercise and muscle detail.

What counts

Kenso counts hard working sets per muscle per week: sets logged at a high enough effort to count as genuinely training that muscle. A set counts fully toward the muscle it primarily trains, and as half a set toward its main secondary muscles. Shoulders get only a fifth of a set from presses, rows and other compound lifts, since those train one of the three heads at most; direct shoulder work like overhead presses and lateral raises counts in full. Logging an effort rating (RPE) on your tougher sets makes the classification more accurate.

The bands

From lowest to highest weekly volume:

  • Very low: not enough to hold size.
  • Maintaining: enough to hold size, not much growth.
  • Growing: enough to build muscle.
  • Sweet spot: where most growth happens.
  • High: more sets add little, and recovery cost is rising.
  • Too much: past the upper limit; a lighter week is worth considering.

Where space is tight, charts use short forms: Grow (the minimum to grow), Ideal (the sweet spot) and Limit (the upper limit). Coaches sometimes call these landmarks MEV, MAV and MRV; Kenso uses plain names instead.

The ranges depend on your training experience, which you can change in Settings. For an intermediate lifter, growth starts around 4 hard sets a week, the sweet spot is 10 to 18, and past about 22 extra sets mostly cost recovery. Beginners grow on less; advanced lifters usually need more. These are starting estimates rather than fixed rules, and once Kenso has enough of your history it shows your own range instead. Treat them as guide rails, not a target to hit exactly every week.

Good to know

  • Bands reflect your most recent completed weeks, so a lighter week right after a break doesn't get judged the same as an established pattern of undertraining.
  • Volume landmarks are a Muscle-view feature inside Strength Score. See Strength Score for the other two views.