How much is too much volume?

[spatch]

Is this too much volume for each bodypart?

Most people would say it is. However, keep in mind that I only take 1-2 sets to failure per day, a lot less than most folks. Also, I'm 17 so I can handle more workload then, say, a 40 year old.

I hit everything 1x a week, except calves/abs 2x each.

Thanks for any help.


Body part
Sets
Sets to failure
Chest
11
1
Side delts
6
0
Back
14
2
Bi’s (not done with back)
10
1
Tri’s (not done with chest/Delts
11
1
Quads
12
1
Hams (done with quads)
7
0
Calfs
6 Monday 4 Friday
0
Abs
6 Tuesday 4 Friday
0

[glenihan]

IMO you'd make even better progress with less sets

i never do more than 3 sets a bodypart however i hit each body part 3 times every 11 days

[CDB]

The only way to judge volume is to just do it and see what you can handle. I know some people that can do ridiculously high levels of volume with a decent to high intensity fairly frequently and not hurt themselves. They also make great gains too.

What you have to watch out for is making sure you're calculating it right. For example, bench presses hit the shoulders, especially inclines. If your doing two sets of chest plus two sets of shoulders your shoulders could actually seeing double the volume you think they are if you don't account for that. Watch out for things like that, and then just see how far you can go. with any maxing out though, be careful. The intensity more than the volume is what fries your CNS and leads to overtraining.

[spatch]

What you have to watch out for is making sure you're calculating it right. For example, bench presses hit the shoulders, especially inclines. If your doing two sets of chest plus two sets of shoulders your shoulders could actually seeing double the volume you think they are if you don't account for that. Watch out for things like that, and then just see how far you can go. with any maxing out though, be careful. The intensity more than the volume is what fries your CNS and leads to overtraining.

I dont hit the front delt directly, I usually just do side delt work, so not much of a problem there.

Again, my intensity isnt too high because I only take 1 set to failure, all others are to about 80-90% failure at most.

[spatch]

How is this for HYPERTROPHY. Strength isnt my main goal, mass is.

I removed all failure and cut a few sets for each bp from the previous plan.

Note- Taking NO, 0, sets to failure. Each hit once a week.

Tri's- 9
Bi's- 9
Chest- 10
Delts(no front work directly, just presses and side laterals)- 6
Back- 12
Quads-10
Hams- 6
Calves(2x a week) 10 total sets


Thanks for all help.


I started this plan this week. Today, only doing 10 sets for chest, and taking none to failure, made me feel like a grade A BITCH. Guess its a mental thing.

[glenihan]

well as i've said in the past i don't do more than 3 sets per bodypart per workout .. and each part is hit three times every 11 days .. IMHO this is best fairly frequent hitting of each part but hitting it HARD and fast when i do hit it

[bitmask]

IMO you'd make even better progress with less sets

i never do more than 3 sets a bodypart however i hit each body part 3 times every 11 days

glenihan, your pic in the avatar looks great. I'm curious about your split with that hit 3 times per 11-days. Also, do you take sets to absolute failure in each workout or every other workout, etc?

[julius kelp]

yeah glen, i think your pic speaks for itself!

[jasonschaffin]

i hit each body part 3 times every 11 days
and each part is hit once every 11 days

which is it glenihan? I'm a little confused. Not trying to be an ass at all, as was stated your body speaks for itself and I was just wondering. What does your split look like?

[glenihan]

that was a typo sorry

i hit each body part 3 times every 11 days

my workout program looks like this

(i use explosive positives and 5-7 second negatives for everything except deads and squats for obvious reasons)

workout A
each body part gets 2 warm up sets then 3 working sets of 8-12, 4-6, and 2-4 reps with the same weight each set and not a very long time between sets
chest - either incline hammer strength or flat db press
back thickness - deadlifts, rack deads, or rows
back width - reverse grip close grip pulldowns or wide grip pull ups
shoulders - hammer strength machine or db presses
tris - skulls or seated overhead exts

workout B
bis - straight bar curls or preacher curls same sets as "A"
quads - squats or hack squats lots of warm ups and 2 sets of 10-12
hams - SLDL or lying curls same sets as "A"
calves - still trying to find something that works haha

i train monday wed and fri and alternate workouts A and B

i go to failure on every working set and every 5-6 weeks i take an entire week off to let my body recoup

this is similar to DC and Ironman and definitely not the only way to grow ... but it DOES work VERY VERY well and i'm only in the gym 3 hours a week

[bigpetefox]

I only do 3 exercises 5 sets each, so 15 sets or less per training session..

[jasonschaffin]

Damn these two huge guys and they dont even work out that much. Wish I could get it through my head that more isnt always better. I usually go 4 times a week and 18-21 sets each workout. Still gaining though so I guess I'll keep it up till I plateau. Big Pete, I think I read before that you don't really follow a set split but kinda do whatever feels right that day?

[glenihan]

jason i guarantee you'll grow a lot more if you follow the workout i do .. assuming your diet is correct of course .. seriously try it for 6 weeks with a solid diet

[jasonschaffin]

jason i guarantee you'll grow a lot more if you follow the workout i do .. assuming your diet is correct of course .. seriously try it for 6 weeks with a solid diet

While diet is not "perfect" it is extremely solid. Trying to get my weight up (180, bout 12%) before trying the H-50 and Meo-Trn I got. I probably will switch to a workout like yours. Question though, how many days apart do you space your deadlifts and squats. I always feel that if I do them to close together one seems to suffer. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way though.

[glenihan]

well like i said i alternate between deads, rack deads, and rows so just talking about quads and back width would be like this

mon - deads

wed - hack squats

fri - rows

mon - squats

wed - rack deads


it will take probably a little bit of time to get used to everything .. ESPECIALLY the slow negs and forcing yourself to throw everythign in the tank into each set and not save yourself

[jasonschaffin]

well like i said i alternate between deads, rack deads, and rows so just talking about quads and back width would be like this

mon - deads

wed - hack squats

fri - rows

mon - squats

wed - rack deads


it will take probably a little bit of time to get used to everything .. ESPECIALLY the slow negs and forcing yourself to throw everythign in the tank into each set and not save yourself

Yeah, thats something along how I was thinking about it (cept I love front squats so I'll switch out hacks for em). Probably start this after thanksgiving, it was time to switch something up anyways most likely. I dont have a prob with throwing everything in the tank everytime, but your right that the negs are gonna suck. Thanks for the info man, reps to ya if I could.

[glenihan]

if you could man keep us posted like every week or so just with how gains are coming along

and i have no idea about your diet but that's the be all and end all of gains .. so keep that in mind and good luck brotha!

[jasonschaffin]

if you could man keep us posted like every week or so just with how gains are coming along

and i have no idea about your diet but that's the be all and end all of gains .. so keep that in mind and good luck brotha!

Diet just keeps getting better the more I learn and the more I put into it. Now off to eat again!

[spatch]

I think the #1 thing we have to learn is to listen to your body first, then take advice second. Different people grow in different ways.

[bigpetefox]

Big Pete, I think I read before that you don't really follow a set split but kinda do whatever feels right that day?

This is true.. IMO, working on a set routine you'll have to change it up constantly to avoid burn-out.. I hardly ever overtrain, been maybe 6 years since the last time I did, and I've been at it for 16yrs..