More is More: Volume - Why the negative rep
Go back 40 or so years ago and you would see a completely different environment inside gym walls compared to today. The main difference not just being the questionable clothing attire, but also the way in which we train.
What is this difference in training? Volume/Frequency.
Perhaps the greatest champion of them all, a man who has been admired by numerous other bodybuilders, used the word and training meaning a great deal in his career, which has gone from bodybuilding, movies, straight through to politics. His hard work most certainly paid off (and I’m sure you all know of you I talk).Somewhere down the line, we have been scared off from the volume and onto a lower volume plan. The argument is that champions of past could work with higher volume because they may or may not have been using anabolic steroids.
This really holds no water.. Even if they did have certain anabolics, their training would still have had to been effective for them to achieve results.
Below, after researching and agreeing with Chris Aceto on such matters of volume training, I’m going to discuss a better approach to training.EFFECTIVE VOLUME TRAINING:
Effective training is all about knowing your body, how it responds and getting the most out of it. For that to happen, changes must constantly be adapted to training to help you keep growing/responding.
Low volume/brief training (a smaller number of sets) helps the body to recover and fill out - it rebounds and recovers quicker, giving the muscles more roundness and fullness. However, to notice these changes and effects, you must have been in a state of high volume 3-4 or so weeks previous to it.Here is the thing with volume: you grow and then you hit a plateau.. Your body no longer grows or responds to your training – this is where reducing the volume and switching up your training to low volume for a couple of weeks becomes effective!
You get the initial growth from your HIGH VOLUME training and then your recovery from your few weeks of LOW VOLUME training.
A smart man takes two successful things and combines them, making his wine out of the water!
Think of this as an example:
A lifter in the gym begins his training (we’ll call him Klaus). He does a lot of volume/set work… and after 5-6 weeks he keeps at it and notices he isn’t getting any more results from his training.
A fellow lifter in the gym (we’ll call him mountain man) shakes his head and tells him he is doing way too many sets and that he should cut back.
Bingo! Klaus cuts back the number of sets he does in the gym and he gets the initial results from HIT training.
The thing is, he is not really growing.. He is recovering. The reduced volume has allowed him to recover. His damaged muscle fibres (from the high volume training) have a chance to repair/GROW and he begins to look fuller, his muscles have more roundness to them.
Then.. disaster strikes! Klaus decides he likes these initial results in the way his muscles look and changes his program to follow purely this low volume route.
Bottom line being; Higher amounts of volume/sets per body part, a good diet that is high in protein and can support your training, and a good amount of sleep will give you great results.
When you feel your body begin to fail/stagnate, start the next week and the next few weeks after that under the low volume method for recovery. Volume should not be taboo.
I will spend the majority of my comeback from injury bulking cycle putting it into practice.
October 8, 2007 at 3:39 pm
This blog post is so true. So few people take the time to study anatomy and physiology to see how the body really works. This IS how the body works and recovers.
October 8, 2007 at 8:26 pm
This is exactly what my Gym Owner of Nautllus is preaching. I’ll admit though, I wasn’t really convinced in the concept of low volume lifting, but having done it over a month and half and gaining 5-10 lbs in weight weekly; well I must confess I’m a believer! My routine changes weekly too, he’s always talking about never letting the body get used to a certain pattern. Its definitely working! But I do have a long way to go
. Take care & Nice blog man, very cool videos too. BEST OF LIFE-JASON
October 8, 2007 at 11:05 pm
its funny that i came across this today. earlier i was thinking about how i feel like i have plateaud in the recent week or so. time for a change! thanks for posting this.
October 9, 2007 at 4:08 pm
I LOL’d pretty hard at "Klaus" and "Mountain man"…
I’m doing 5X5 right now, I’ll look at ^ when I need a new routine
October 10, 2007 at 6:33 am
Yes i think that´s true, but i have a question: do less volumen training, means higher reps and sets and less weight, but no reaching exhaustion level(doing all reps you can in each set), or you should lower the weight but reach the max reps you can in each set?
October 10, 2007 at 7:18 am
Sorry man, but I must say that what you are saying is opinion, but not fact..as little is in body-building. Recovery does not occur during HIT as opposed to high volume due to the lower volume, but due to the increased rest periods. HIT causes as much, if not more systemic stress than volume training, and it is this that results in growth ‘if’ recovery is allowed to occur. Thus, it is the addition of reduced frequency ‘not’ volume that is the variable in the scenario you give. I am all for everyone having individual opinions but I think it must be acknowledged that that is what it is. In terms of stress physiology, growth and recovery the body does not know the difference between volume or weight, it just responds to a given stressor and the period of time taken to recover from such. Interesting topic though.
October 11, 2007 at 7:27 pm
man you are an inspiration to us little guys keep up the advice the puds at the "local Y"
are always lookin at the smaller guy with that look in there eye like "wow he has no clue what he’s doing" screw them and thanks man
October 15, 2007 at 5:45 am
Hi JJay! What you say makes sence, but im doing it the other way around. Lifting low reps untill i hit a plateu, Then i cut back one set and one rep on my program, or switch, take away a whole exersise, or simply add another that hits the same some of the same musclesgroups
so each time i plateu, change an exersice or do lower reps so that i can lift heavier and continue my progression.
But again, this is not so much muscle fibers that need a brake to grow back, in my case its the cns that needs to get tricked a little.
October 19, 2007 at 5:59 pm
i think there is a happy medium in what you are saying. what has worked best for me is using higher volume (not nearly as much as Arnold) and only hitting my weak body parts twice in one week (as opposed to Arnold hitting his entire body 2-3 times per week). and from the HIT program using some of their intensity techniques (negatives, partials, forced reps, static holds ect.) but i also agree with Renaissance68, he is right on point. the key thing you pointed out was how bodybuilders should experiment with volume and techniques to see what works best for THEM personally. keep up the hard work.
October 20, 2007 at 7:54 am
I’m not sure how I feel about it but I’m sure glad you brought up the topic. I don’t recall ever experiencing a growth phase during a lower volume cycle. Conversely, I’ve seen some people explode during a high volume experiment. I certainly can’t argue your philosophy. And I sure as sh*t can’t deny your results. I just happen to be one of those guys who can’t walk after a high-volume leg session. I also shrink into nonexistence with higher rep training. Maybe I’m f&cked.
October 21, 2007 at 2:51 am
I think doing the same thing day in/day out can work for some,but for many of us it would bring so much bordem than as soon as we hit plateau we would probably be one of the many that "used to lift weights".
The important thing if you ask me is to keep changing your routine, adding sets/reps, reducing sets and reps, changing excersizes and basically anything else you can think of.
weight training works because your body treats muscle workouts almost like it attacks a virus, it tries to find a way to prevent damage to your muscles in the future. It is almost as if by resting/changing you are teaching your body what it has done (building bigger muscles) is working, and to do more in the future. It is as if when you fail to change your body almost gives up trying and decides to fight your weight training attempts in some other fashion.
October 21, 2007 at 6:39 am
Hi stud,
Im Cory in So CA…
Sorry to bother…i just couldnt resist…lol.
Hope it isnt too weird…
but lve always secretly admired guys like u - w/ big, RIPPED, muscles!
Well, im new to this but recently met a serious lifter - lifting since a teen - freaky big, ripped, muscles - honestly, alot like urs…lol. His biceps were so huge-said he was blessed w/ big biceps! Even w/ his t-shirt on, just bending his arms made his biceps bulge . But when he lifted his sleeve & flexed his biceps, i totally freaked out! …lol
I now realize my lust for huge ripped biceps-lol. I cant get enough…seeing, flexing, n feeling them…love it
Keep pumping…never too big stud!!
November 9, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Obviously volume training works for many I won’t argue that and I don’t know enough about steroids to try and claim people like Arnold or Cutler who swear by it need the roids to respond to it.
However, it seems from your post that you imply that low volume routines will not directly build mass and that you will only build mass on low volume if you are recovering from volume training.
I have to disagree. For a current example look at DC training and people like David Henry who placed 10th this year in Olympia and he does nothing but low volume/high intensity DC training (only one working set per muscle group and maybe a widow maker). I’ve put on 8lbs of muscle this month from nothing but DC training (only one working set and two warm up sets). I haven’t done volume training in over 3 months now so it can’t be just that I’m still recovering from my volume training in July.
I agree with the main principle you are advocating here though (cycling resting phases with hardcore phases). In DC training we call it "blasting" and "cruising."
January 4, 2008 at 1:24 pm
hey man, i have a question for you?
and whats your routine ? 
when a was skinny my abs were great but now that gain some weight (10 kg) they are not so great:P i see that you are well ripped
what do you don’t eat ?
pls send my a mail whit the response if you want . Thanx
You have a great body.Good Joob
January 7, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Hi Jamer,
Well, obviously opinions vary…don’t they always. Lol
Reading all the comments and seeing a few in disagreement with you is par for the course. While I’m not the most supreme bodybuilder on the block, I have been around the gym block, and your point of high volume (tear down), followed by low volume (repair & grow) is a basic fundamental strategy that is time tested and proven. Sure, there are variations used, but just as you pointed out, the individual needs to explore what variations work best for them. The fact is though, you can’t stray too far away from the (tear-down)/ (build back) method and have as good of results. Notice I didn’t say you wouldn’t have results, just not as good results. That’s just the way the body, and more specifically the muscle fibers work. Using them to the point of breaking them down is naturally detected by that area of the body, causing its natural healing/repairing process to kick in (if you’ll allow it!). Plus, the muscle fiber tends to repair AND ENHANCE as a natural way of responding to what it sees as an attack, so as better to handle future stresses placed on it. The body is simply adapting the best it can to the outside stresses placed on it, and it will do it as often as it needs to…BUT…it must be allowed a TIME to do it, which is the time you give it with lower volume, and perhaps lower poundage’s.
Where people need to focus individually is; just what is their personal threshold for tearing the muscle down in high volume lifting. Over-doing it can cause more damage than necessary, and delay the recuperation process period needlessly. Anyways, once you get just the right mix, the payoffs tend to be a glorious thing to watch.
Jamer, you’ve got it going on dude. I like watching your progress…your intensity!
April 21, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Many people have traiined like Arnold’s so called ‘High Volume" Training, and they get no where.
What people forget is that, Arnold did much fewer sets with heavier weight in his early days while he was building his mass. He also concentrated on basic lifts like Deadlifts, Squats, and BenchPresses.
He changed to a higher volume in later years as (ro him) it helped refine his already massive musculature. I doubt very much he would have built his early mass if he had concentrated on 20 sets per body part. Arnold and Mentzer were not nearly that far apart in training philoosophy as many like to make out. You simply can not train to, or near failure, on every set if you are doing multiple 20 set per body part training. Well you cold, but you would end up looking like a string bean. It is impossible. What you are basically doing is 3 or 4 warmup sets then "going for it" on your last 2 or 3 sets.
Heavy Duty cuts out all the uncessary warmpus sets (of course you DO need some sort of a general warm-iup) and lts you use your precious energy for the one or 2 sets that count. Then let your meuslces recuperate. Don’t train them again unitl full recovered, which can take jup to 7 days or more! Very simple. This is how to grow, and grow fast.
April 21, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Sorry about typos lads. Need a spell check on here!
November 15, 2008 at 9:16 pm
this is just another argument for the "volume" camp. You mention that training in decades past was different. You are right, it surely was. Look at the physiques and training habits of the likes of George Eiferman, Reg Park, Clancy Ross etc (the guys who inspired Arnold) and you will find much basic, low volume training.
The bottom line is find what works for YOUR body through rational experimentation, maintain excellent recovery and nutritional habits and never forget that the bottom line with sucessful bodybuilding is PROGRESS, not reps, sets and gym hours per se.
Thanks for taking the time.