Volume is possibly the one concept of the fitness world that i have the most trouble understanding. How much is enough? too little? too much? How do you determine adequate volume for you?
For example, do you need to do 5 sets of 5 reps to have ample volume, or would 3 or 4 sets be sufficient? Why or why not?
How do you determine rest periods and factor them into total volume within a workout? Different rest periods for different goals, right?
Any light that can be shed on the topic would be great, thanks!
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i also have a question: how do you find out the volume??? i'm guessing from reading stuff here that it's the total number of reps in a workout, am i right? like 3 sets of 6 reps would have a total volume of 18.
please...someone please shed some light on this...i'd really like to know the answers to these questions. btw...great questions sharkbait
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Well here is a response from a newbie, wait I am a member now? sweet! Anyway, check this article out by TC, its allllll about volume, its pretty interesting. http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459292
As you already know, people just use sets, reps, rest periods, etc to adjust their training goals and to prevent adaptation is what I so far understand. And also they adjust it according to how many times they are working a body part a week, if that muscle group is lagging, etc. I think the rest of the whole volume business is pretty basic instinct, when you are training, then you come to a point when you are like, man, im dog gone worn out, thats when the guy quits, its kinda like your body telling you to cut it out. Just my thoughts. ~ Rev
Originally posted by sharkbait31: Volume is possibly the one concept of the fitness world that i have the most trouble understanding. How much is enough? too little? too much? How do you determine adequate volume for you?
For example, do you need to do 5 sets of 5 reps to have ample volume, or would 3 or 4 sets be sufficient? Why or why not?
How do you determine rest periods and factor them into total volume within a workout? Different rest periods for different goals, right?
Any light that can be shed on the topic would be great, thanks!
Its dependent on the goal. But assuming mass, its still dependent on work capacity, training age, etc. And its the planning of volume (periodization) that makes volume so effective. I mean you could 3 sets of 10 forever but youre going to stall.
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In reading CT's article, I drew the following conclusion (and it's related to me personally):
A person with predominatly fast-twitch muscle fibers who does 3 total body workouts a week can do 3 sets of 4 or 5 reps and that would be considered ample volume.
I'm assuming that's correct? I only wish the article mentioned rest periods in there as well...
And determining the appropriate number of reps... now that's a whole 'nother thread!
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BTW: Another CT article, "The Easy-Hard Gainer," seems to imply that lower volume more-frequently would be the best way to train for my body type as well. Here's the article:
Sorry guys, I know i've been a post-whore the last couple of days, but I just thought of something while I was walking home from the gym.
My goal is over all better physical health. I'm pretty skinny, so putting on a little weight is something I'd like to do, but I'm not overly concerned about hypertrophy. I would definately like to get stronger, and I'd also like to have better physical conditioning and over all endurance.
Keeping that in mind, what is more important:
1. Total volume within a given time frame (say 45 minutes) of a workout, or...
2. Total weight within that same time frame
In other words, is it more important to do more sets or do lift more weight? I know there's a happy medium in there somewhere, but I'm not really sure where it lies.
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well if your primary goal is strength you hang around high sets low reps with really heavy poundage. The opposite if you want hypertrophy...thats a really simplistic way of thinking about it there is a lot more detail involved. I gained a lot of strength taking my 3 rep max in my squat and doing five sets of it, it made it go up really fast to where in two weeks i was doing 5 reps of it 5 times. That may be due to the fact that I have been using a pyramidding scheme for 3 years straight, heh.
If you want to find out what type of muscle fiber you have, check out the Easy-Hardgainer article I linked. CT gives some guides to figure out which you have.
As for the strength thing, I know low sets and heavy weight lead to strength, but is it neccessary to do a high number of sets if you don't care about hypertrophy? I was under the impression that high volume was what gave you size growth.
I've heard (anecdotally) that powerlifters trying to stay within a weight bracket will use a low number of sets. I've also seen workouts designed for people who DON'T want to get bigger that incorporate a low number of sets with low reps and high weight.
I'm under the impression that the reason why lower sets are typical of hypertrophy routines is because they typically use higher reps (more time under tension per a set, which ='s more lactic acid and more hypertrophy stimulus), so a higher number of sets is not neccessary.
Anywho, sorry this was so long-winded. Thanks again! [img]smile.gif[/img]
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That sounds good to me. I am no expert but from articles and books I have read volume is really the key hypertrophy. And from what some veterans of the threads around here have told me, ten sets of 3 reps is going to create a hypertrophic response just as 3 sets of 10 will but the 10 sets of 3 is going to have a higher work load obviously, moving more tonage... I don't really know what all that means hopefully one of the vet's can read this thread and clear this stuff up for us. And thanks for the link! ~ Rev
hey shark, i was just reading this article by chad waterbury and found this little section that I thought might help us out. "Generally speaking, he prescribes many sets of low reps. So instead of recommending three sets of eight reps, he flips it and prescribes eight sets of three, twelve sets of four, etc. You go heavy, but not to failure, and you keep the rest periods fairly short. Multiple sets of heavy load training targets the Type IIB fibers that have the greatest potential for growth. "Performing three sets of three won't do much for growth, but ten sets of three definitely will!" he told the crowd." ~ chad waterbury, its in this article http://t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=461449 , little less than halfway down the page.
Thanks a ton for all your input and help on this subject. I'd read a lot of Chad's work before, and more or less agree with and love his principles. The only thing I struggle with is the volume he prescribes.
While my muscles don't fail me before I finnish the prescribed sets, I just feel completely wiped out and unhealthy (esp with his shorter rest periods), and find myself rather unmotivated to work out after that. Kinda like burnout?
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