Add training volume only when progress stalls
This protocol is framed as a direct counter to the viral conclusion that women need more volume because they recover faster. Norton argues that recovery ability is not a mandate to train harder; it’s a buffer that allows adaptation. Training volume is a tool to overcome homeostasis, and if homeostasis is already being disrupted by current volume, adding more will not yield additional adaptation and may lead to overreaching. He points to research showing equal relative gains from equal set counts when both sexes train hard. Therefore, volume should be titrated based on measurable progress, not on biological markers of recovery capacity. The advice is universal but particularly relevant given the current social media narrative.
Muscle growth and strength improvements rely on disrupting homeostasis through mechanical tension and metabolic stress. When current training stress is sufficient, the anabolic and strength signalling pathways are maximally stimulated for that level of conditioning. Additional volume merely adds fatigue without further upregulating these pathways. Progress stalls when the current stress is no longer a novel stimulus; at that point, increasing volume becomes necessary.
if you are making progress strength-wise, muscle-wise, you don't need to add more. But if you have plateaued, if you've stagnated, then you can add more.