Hypertrophy, Strength And Toning

The Three Goals

Meso Gym is a strength training app. It doesn’t plan diets, fat loss, cardio or general wellbeing.

Glossary

The training words you’ll see in Meso Gym, in plain English.

Meso (Mesocycle)

A training block of 4 to 6 working weeks followed by a deload week. Effort and volume build week by week, then the deload lets you recover before the next block.

Deload

An easier week at the end of a meso: fewer sets and lighter weights, well short of failure. Fatigue drops so you start the next block fresh. In Meso Gym the deload is shown as 5 RIR.

RIR (Reps In Reserve)

How many more good reps you could have done when you stopped. 2 RIR means about two reps short of failure; 0 RIR means you could not have done another clean rep. In a 5-week block Meso Gym targets 3, 2, 2, 1 then 0 RIR, then the deload.

Set

One run of reps without stopping, for example 10 reps of bench press. A working set counts towards your volume; warm-up sets don’t.

Rep Range

The number of reps to aim for in each set, for example 8 to 12. When you reach the top of the range at the target RIR, the weight goes up.

Volume

How much work a muscle gets, counted as hard sets per muscle per week. Meso Gym starts each muscle near the low end and adds sets when your feedback says you’re recovering well.

MEV And MRV

Minimum effective volume (the fewest weekly sets that still drive progress) and maximum recoverable volume (the most you can recover from). In the app they show as Start and Max for each muscle.

Progressive Overload

Doing a little more over time: a bit more weight, another rep or another set. It’s the signal that makes muscles and strength keep adapting, and Meso Gym suggests each step for you.

Hypertrophy

Muscle growth. Training for hypertrophy means enough hard sets, close to failure, in moderate rep ranges, with volume rising through the block.

Strength

How much weight you can lift for a few reps. Strength work uses heavier loads, lower reps and longer rests, mostly on big compound lifts like squats, presses and rows.

Power

Strength produced fast: jumping, throwing or moving a weight explosively. Some coaches specialise in it; it’s listed as its own coaching speciality.

Toning

Building a little muscle and keeping body fat low so your shape shows. In the gym it’s the same hard training as hypertrophy, often with moderate weights and higher reps; how lean you look also depends on what you eat, which Meso Gym doesn’t cover.

Pump

The full, tight feeling in a muscle during and just after training. You rate it after each workout and it helps set next week’s sets.

Myorep

A set taken close to failure, then short mini-sets after a few breaths’ rest. It packs a lot of hard reps into little time; Meso Gym counts it as one set for volume.

Drop Set

A set to near failure, then straight away the weight is lowered and you carry on for more reps.

E1RM (Estimated One-Rep Max)

The most you could probably lift once, worked out from a heavier set you did for several reps. It’s how Meso Gym tracks strength without you testing a true max.

More detail in the Training Guide and the FAQ.