Fatigue Ratings
Fatigue ratings are the input that drives HyperIron's volume auto-regulation. After each muscle group in a session, you rate how you feel, and the system adjusts your set count for next week.
The rating scale
| Rating | How you feel | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| +2 | No soreness from last session, no pump at all | +2 sets next week |
| +1 | No soreness from last session, but felt a pump | +1 set next week |
| 0 | Barely sore from last time, good pump, felt like enough | No change |
| -1 | Still notably sore from last session, felt like a lot | -1 set next week |
| -2 | Still very sore from last session, felt like overkill | -2 sets next week |
When you're prompted
HyperIron prompts for a fatigue rating after you complete all sets for a muscle group in a session. For example, if your Push day hits chest, triceps, and front delts, you'll get a rating prompt for each.
The rating is per muscle group per session, not per individual exercise. If you did bench press and incline press (both chest-dominant), you rate chest once after both exercises.
What the rating captures
Two things:
- Recovery from the last session — Are you still sore? If you trained chest 3 days ago and you're still sore walking in, that's a sign volume was too high.
- Stimulus from this session — Did you get a pump? Did it feel like enough work? If you barely felt anything, volume might be too low.
The combination tells HyperIron whether your current volume is appropriate.
How it adjusts volume
next week's sets = this week's sets + fatigue rating
Constrained to a minimum of 1 set and a maximum cap to prevent runaway volume.
Common questions
What if I'm not sure?
Rate 0. It means "about right" and keeps volume steady. You can always adjust next week.
Should I rate high to get more volume?
No — this defeats the purpose. If you rate +1 when you're actually sore, volume increases beyond what you can recover from, leading to worse performance and potential injury. The system works best with honest input.
What if I'm sore but still had a good session?
Focus on the soreness component. If you're notably sore from the last session, that matters more than whether today's session felt productive. Rate -1 or 0.
Do ratings carry across mesocycles?
Yes. Your final set counts carry forward as starting volume in the next mesocycle. Over multiple blocks, volume converges on what your body can handle — this is how you discover your personal volume landmarks.