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The Top Sets blog
Guides, deep dives and short answers for lifters who log their training, from the first double progression to reading a stalled lift, with the numbers worked out rather than asserted.
Topics
Progressive overload and logging
How to add weight, reps and sets over time: logging that keeps your numbers honest, the seven progression schemes, double progression, and what to do when a lift stalls.
8 posts
Programming: splits, blocks and deloads
Building a program that fits your week: splits, training blocks, deloads, repeating weeks, and honest reviews of the methods lifters run most.
7 posts
Weekly sets, recovery and frequency
How many weekly sets a muscle needs, how long it takes to recover, and how to read soreness and fatigue without a spreadsheet.
4 posts
RPE, RIR and your estimated 1RM
Rating effort honestly, turning a set into an estimated one-rep max, reading rep-max ladders, and testing strength without wrecking a week.
4 posts
Top sets, back-offs and every other kind of set
Warm-up ramps, top sets, back-off sets, drop sets, myo-reps, rest-pause, clusters and AMRAPs: what each one is for and how to log it so it counts right.
1 post
Exercise guides for lifters who log
One lift at a time: the muscles it trains, how to log it, how to program and progress it, warm-up ramps and rep-max ladders worked out from real numbers, and what to swap in when you can't do it.
10 posts
Nutrition for lifters
Maintenance, cutting and bulking with numbers you can check: protein, rates of change, weigh-ins, measurements and when to switch phases.
3 posts
Tracking your training, and the tools for it
Notebooks, spreadsheets and apps compared fairly, moving your history between them, and what a log has to capture for the numbers to mean anything.
1 post
Latest posts
Should you add weight or reps first when a set gets easier?
Add reps first. Hold the load until every working set reaches the top of its rep range, then take the smallest step and start again at the bottom. Two cases change that order.
Answer · 5 min · November 5, 2026
Incline dumbbell press: logging, progression and the ladder
Log one dumbbell, not the pair. Here is what 32 kg for ten at RPE 8 is worth, the rep ladder it implies, and why a 2 kg jump on a 32 kg dumbbell needs a rep range to absorb it.
Deep dive · 8 min · November 5, 2026
Muscle recovery time: what the 48 and 72 hour windows mean
Four sets of deadlifts put four muscles on the recovery clock. Four sets of lateral raises put one. Here is how the app reads recovery from 48 and 72 hour windows, and how to plan the next session around them.
Guide · 10 min · November 5, 2026
Leg press for hypertrophy: how to log and progress it
Log the plates you loaded, not the number on the sled. Here is what 160 kg for twelve at RPE 8 is worth, the ramp before it, and the reps that earn the next 2.5 kg on a 10 to 15 range.
Deep dive · 9 min · November 4, 2026
How to pick a training split for 3, 4, 5 or 6 days a week
Pick the training split your week can actually hold, then count what it gives each muscle. Seven templates run through the app's weekly volume rules show where each one comes up short.
Guide · 10 min · November 4, 2026
Hip thrust progression: loading, logging and rep ranges
The hip thrust takes load faster than almost anything else in the session, which makes it easy to add plates and stop counting reps. Here is what 140 kg for ten is worth, the ramp before it and the reps that earn the next 2.5 kg.
Deep dive · 9 min · November 3, 2026
Linear progression: how far it goes and what comes after
Adding 2.5 kg a session takes a 60 kg squat to 100 kg in 16 sessions. Here is how to tell from the log when the run is over, and how to hand the lift to double progression without losing a week.
Guide · 9 min · November 3, 2026
How much weight should you add each week to keep progressing?
Add the smallest step your equipment allows, and only after a session where every set hit its reps. On a trained bench press, 2.5 kg every single week runs out of road within two months.
Answer · 6 min · November 3, 2026
How to choose a progression scheme for every lift you log
Seven progression schemes, and three facts that choose between them: how wide the rep range is, how big the smallest step is, and whether you rate your sets. Here is the match for each lift, with a worked squat.
Guide · 12 min · November 2, 2026
Pull-up progression: log the total, not just the belt
An 82 kg lifter with 20 kg on a dip belt is pulling 102 kg. Log that total and the estimated 1RM, the back-off and the next weight all work exactly as they do on a barbell.
Deep dive · 8 min · November 2, 2026
Barbell row: how to log it honestly and progress the load
Eight clean reps at 80 kg and RPE 8 are worth an estimated 108.3 kg. Ten ground out at RPE 10 are worth exactly the same. Here is how to log the barbell row so the next weight means something.
Deep dive · 8 min · November 1, 2026
Can you build muscle on a cut, and how long does it last?
Yes, if the deficit stays small and protein stays high. Trials of four to about eight weeks show lean mass rising on a cut. Here is what keeps it going, what ends it, and how to see it in your log.
Answer · 5 min · November 1, 2026
When a lift stalls: a decision tree for lifters who log
Three sessions at the same load is only a stall when the estimated 1RM has stopped moving too. Read the log first: reps, RPE, weekly sets and days off each point to a different fix.
Guide · 9 min · November 1, 2026
How fast should you lose weight on a cut without losing muscle
An 85 kg lifter cutting at 0.5 to 1 per cent of body weight a week loses 0.425 to 0.85 kg on a deficit of 470 to 930 kcal a day. Here is how to pick a pace inside that range and check it against the scale.
Guide · 9 min · October 31, 2026
Overhead press progression when 2.5 kg jumps are too big
One more rep at 60 kg is worth almost as much as the next 2.5 kg plate pair. Here is how to progress the overhead press with reps, effort or a smaller step, and what each set is worth.
Deep dive · 9 min · October 31, 2026
Protein for lifters: how much per kg, per day and per meal
A 100 kg lifter needs about 160 to 220 g of protein a day while gaining or maintaining, and more on a cut. Here is where each number comes from, how to split it across meals, and what the research does not settle.
Guide · 10 min · October 30, 2026
How many reps in reserve for hypertrophy should you keep?
Most hypertrophy sets belong one to three reps short of failure, closer as a block goes on. Here is what the research supports, and where a set stops counting at all.
Answer · 5 min · October 30, 2026
Romanian deadlift: how to log it, load it and progress it
Three sets of 8 to 12 at RPE 8, 2.5 kg at a time, and a history the deadlift never touches. Here is what 90 kg for ten is worth, the ramp before it, and the exact reps that move the bar.
Deep dive · 9 min · October 30, 2026
Strong vs Hevy for logging detail: set types, RPE and export
Strong and Hevy record almost the same things per set. The differences show up in where RPE lives, how notes stick, and what survives the CSV when you leave.
Deep dive · 6 min · October 29, 2026
Top set and back-off sets: how to program the drop and the reps
A squat of 120 kg for five at RPE 8 gives back-off sets at 105 kg, which is 88 per cent of the top set. Here is how many to do, how many reps to take, and how both move when the top set does.
Guide · 9 min · October 29, 2026
Every number in these posts is computed with the app’s own formulas or cited to a primary source. Corrections to founder@topsets.app.