Whats the perfect volume for all of upper body for YOU?

Total sets for whole upper body that is most effective for pure hypertrophy???

  • Less then 15 sets total per week for upper body(HIT and HST mentality), assuming %50+ are compound f

    Votes: 30 19.4%

  • 15-25 per week, assuming % 50+ compound free weight sets

    Votes: 52 33.5%

  • 26-35 per week, " "

    Votes: 28 18.1%

  • 36-50 per week, " "

    Votes: 23 14.8%

  • over 50

    Votes: 22 14.2%
  • Total voters
    155
you gots to remember that not everyone works off a 7 day split.
as for me, im switching my routine to a routine, you can find form arnolds book. im going to run a split thats pretty much equal to the level II split where you have chest/back/thighs on day 1 and shoulders/arms/calves on day 2 (i forget the exact split in the book). you run one/two/one/two/one/two/off however ill put an extra days rest in the middle of that split. Anyways, back to your quesiton, i would say on AVERAGE, i bang out 15-18 chest, 18 or so for back (includes lower back), 8-10 sets for tris/bis/traps, and just a couple for forearms. the new split im going with should range around the same # of sets but fewer per day with more frequency per week. Man, that was a long write for a simple answer. Sage
 
Thats quite a bit of volume.


I just want an idea of what people are finding the most effective. I don't believe in that HIT garbage but i know i can't do high volume either because ill overtrain very easily so just want to know whats everyone doing for the upper body sets.
 
I do mainly 20 sets. That is my goal and that is how I train right now. That is the plan so I stick with it. Later
 
"I just want an idea of what people are finding the most effective. I don't believe in that HIT garbage but i know i can't do high volume either because ill overtrain very easily so just want to know whats everyone doing for the upper body sets"

I should note that part of the adaptation to training is that you increase your capacity for volume/workload.

but if you think you CAN'T do high volume, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy

fwiw, before i started Olympic Lifting, I might have thought I couldn't get stronger squatting 4 times a week.

boy, was i wrong
 
fwiw, before i started Olympic Lifting, I might have thought I couldn't get stronger squatting 4 times a week.
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Out of curiousity, what's your leg routine like. I've read/heard about people training legs in this manner, but never really looked into it too much. Once a week seems like too much sometimes for me. Are you on gear when using this routine?
 
i also use the same split as sage, i find it give the best result although ive been leaning towards powerlifting lately still utilizing the same 1/2 combo from arnolds encyclopedia but less sets to build more strenght. so far bench has steadly increased as well as deadlift and squats. i don't know if theres enough stimulation happenning with this workout as ive allway trained with super high volume sets and reps but guys like dorion yates say its the only way. we'll see when it comes time to diet down next year if theres been any muscle gains, for now i remain skeptical of it.
 
JAS123, I am not currently on an OLer program, and I was never on gear. When I did OLing I did 3 squat workouts a week (4 workouts total. and every workout was a leg workout in the sense that it included the OLifts and Pulls)

each squat workout would be between 80-95% of max, 3-5 sets, reps from 1-5

-
 
I am doing ~75-80 sets for upper body a week at the moment, and I am growing like a weed. The key is not going to failure.
 
How much volume you can (optimally) do, depends on other training factors (intensity level, load, frequency, etc.) and non-training factors (genetics, how much sleep you get, diet, etc.).
 
meathead1987 said:
I am doing ~75-80 sets for upper body a week at the moment, and I am growing like a weed. The key is not going to failure.
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the "key" for you is not going to failure due to your growth plates not being closed yet.. :thumbsup:

for me if i am not living, breathing, eating, and sleeping under the bar, I have to go to utter failure to achieve anything,
hypertrophy, strength.


oh and LOAD is amount of weight, OMAR.

very old thread btw
 
OmarJackson said:
whats the difference between intensity and load?
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Depends on how you use the word intensity. Powerlifters use it to mean how close you come to using weight for your 1 RM, so in that sense, it is basically the same as load.

I use intensity in more of a bodybuilding sense -- how close you come to training to (or past) concentric failure.
 
I counted all my External rotations and stuff, so I get to 40 sets. on mass cycles I get much more. my lowest volume per week will be 15-20 reps fro just maintaining strength
 
Just to chime in here - for bodybuilding I use something similar to a hardgainer style routine, 2-3 exercises push 2-3 pull no more than 5-8 sets total for each, with warm up sets working into my exercise sets (adding 20lbs to the bar at a time till I fail to reach my desired rep target, then rest pausing another set or doing a drop set). Sometimes I'll just go for a certain rep range, and do 3-4 sets at that rep range not to failure for an exercise.

This is of course done within the structure of my westside style training, saturday/sunday max effort for bench/squat, tuesday/thursday dynamic effort for bench/squat, with back work and assistance work for the bench on bench days and posterior chain work and squat work on squat days.

I used to do more volume, but with the heavier weights and dieting down to look better, my body can't handle it anymore. I'll probably work back up to it eventually.
 
pjorstad said:
Thats quite a bit of volume.


I just want an idea of what people are finding the most effective. I don't believe in that HIT garbage but i know i can't do high volume either because ill overtrain very easily so just want to know whats everyone doing for the upper body sets.
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HIT is garbage LOL

Ok whatever
 
ROFL Crowler you went for flamebait that is several years old!!! ROFL

not to mention but the guy was banned a long time ago
 
there is no perfect system,just keep this in mind,everything works but nothing works forever, you need to constantly change things to keep the body off guard.
 
For me its generally:
Chest, Back, Delts: 5-6 work sets each. (excluding warm ups)
Bi & Tri: 2-4 work sets each. (excluding warm ups)
Traps: 1-2 work sets.

I NEVER do any single joint exercises for Chest, Back or Triceps..

Stroy
 
Bean said:
ROFL Crowler you went for flamebait that is several years old!!! ROFL

not to mention but the guy was banned a long time ago
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Ahhhhhhhhhhhh yea I know. I even talked about him being banned in another thread that was posted end of last year numbnuts :icon_lol:
 
CROWLER said:
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh yea I know. I even talked about him being banned in another thread that was posted end of last year numbnuts :icon_lol:
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I unbanned you numbnuts :D
 
lol, old thread, but neway

For me, for the last past 6 weeks it's been basically like this...3 days a week...:::not counting any warm up sets, usually i get in about 3-4*

Done twice a week, on monday and friday
Bench
3-4 x 5-6 reps (max rep)
Cable Cross
3 x 6-8 reps

Triceps
6 x 10-12 reps (3 exercises)

Biceps
9 x 10-12 reps (3 exercises)

Shoulders(done on leg day with back)

9 x 10-12 reps (3 exercises)

Note: im trying a strength builder/(semi)hypertrophy split.
I.E. for 8 weeks my chest and legs get lower reps 80-95% of my max, while my back, shoulders, and arms get 70-75% of my max but with higher reps and less rest periods. Then in 2 weeks i'll switch and put the legs/chest to a higher volume and vice versa with arms/shoulders/back.

im only hitting legs, back, and shoulders once a week ... yet my leg strength is going up consistently since 6 weeks ago...and shoulder size. Oddly enough, my chest has gotten stronger and arms are getting much more defined also. So i guess the strength/(semi)hyper split is working, lol, until i hit the wall i suppose....
 
i might have mistyped, but im in my 6th week of the 8 week phase, so in two weeks im going to switch what gets the strength routines, and what gets the (semi)bbler routine.
 
I use approximately 60 sets, all to failure.

12 sets pecs
12 sets delts
15 sets back
18 sets biceps*
9 sets triceps

*I work my biceps twice every split.

I'm not very strong for my bodyweight but for someone who has never touched androgens, surprisingly big.
 
IMO, "upper body" is to vague. Try breaking it down by BP


For me...
Chest- 9 sets/week
Back- 10 sets/week
Traps- 3 sets/week with delts
Delts- 9 sets/week
Triceps- 6-7 sets week
Biceps- 6 sets/week


Keep in mind I rarely go to failure (at most 1 set per BP a week to failure)
 
I don't know why but high set volume works well for me and by high set volume i mean this 2x every 7 - 10 days

Chest: 30 sets
Back: 35 sets
Triceps: 16 sets
Biceps: 16 sets
Shoulders: 30 sets
Forearms: 12 sets
 
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