Volume, Frequency, and Intensity: Manipulating the 3 Training Variables

 

Manipulating the Three Variables to Achieve Your Physique Goals

Herman Goerner used the form of "high-frequency, high-intensity" programs outlined below in order to perform a one-hand deadlift with 730-pounds!

If you are not properly manipulating the three variables of volume, frequency, and intensity, you are not going to see results from your training.  I don't care if you are trying to win a powerlifting contest or a figure competition, whether you are trying to get as massive as possible, or lose as much body fat as you possibly can in a short amount of time; if you are not regulating and programming these 3 variables in your training, you will not achieve your goals.

I have remarked before, in paraphrasing the late, great "Iron Guru" Vince Gironda, "Are you on a training program or are you just working out?"  And to be on a training program proper is to ensure that you are regulating your volume, frequency, and intensity in the appropriate manner.  If you are just following a program written down in a magazine, or here on my blog, then you need to, at the very least, attempt to understand how these three variables are being manipulated.

There are essentially 4 ways in which these three variables should be regulated.  You need to always have two of the variables high, while one of them is low.  The other option is to utilize all three variables in moderation.  Here would be the 4 methods of regulating volume, frequency, and intensity.

1. High-volume, high-intensity, and low-frequency.

2. High-volume, high-frequency, and low-intensity.

3. High-intensity, high-frequency, and low-volume.

4. Moderate volume, moderate frequency, and moderate intensity.

I say that there are essentially these four ways, because there are outliers.  A highly-advanced competitive lifter (powerlifting, Olympic lifting, Crossfit) can get away with high everything at some point, but this is only after years and years of training, and the genetic capabilities to handle the amount of workload.  There are also times when you should only have one of the factors high, with the other two low, such as after a period of intense training—such as preparing for a competition—when it does the body some good to "de-load."  For instance, I'm not a fan of "HIT" training because it calls for "high intensity" but low volume and low frequency.  However, I admit that is often the best way to train when you're coming off of a period where all three variables were too high.  This is the reason that many find such success with it, after a period of overcompensation.

Let's look at each variation of the three-variable programming.  I'll discuss how you should train using each workout variation, and the benefits and drawbacks of each.

High Volume, High Intensity, Low Frequency

This is by far still the most popular way to train.  And I think that its shear popularity is, by and large, unfortunate since this is the variation that some people will get fantastic results with, while others will struggle to gain any appreciable amounts of either lean muscle mass or muscular strength.

I have said before—and I will again here—that I think the primary reason for its popularity is that it is the easiest to program.  You simply train with a lot of sets, train pretty damn hard, and then wait somewhere between 5 and 7 days to train again.  It's easy to program because it's really hard to do too much or train too heavy when you're only training a muscle group once-per-week.

For the average lifter, however, I think it's problem lies in the fact that you can end up both overtraining and undertraining at the same time.  You end up doing too much at each workout (overtraining) which then takes too long for you to recover (undertraining).

It's also the perfect way for "anabolic users" to train.  Its rise in popularity among bodybuilders coincided with a rise in the amount of anabolic steroids being used.  It may even be the perfect way for an anabolic steroid-using bodybuilder to train.  When you are on anabolics, you don't have to worry if you're waiting too long between workouts—you will stay in an anabolic state all the time when on "the juice," which allows you to train so infrequently.  It also, paradoxically, you may think, allows you to train harder since you can recover quicker.  This ensures that there is no chance of either "overtraining" or "undertraining" when on steroids, making it a great way for drug users to train.

It also can be good for the natural bodybuilder or strength athlete, as well.  I have known several natural strength athletes who got great results training in this manner, though they were typically "bigger" guys, so I'm still not sure if it's ideal for the "average" trainee.

If you are interested in this sort of training, here are Parts 1 and 2 that I did on "High Volume, High Intensity Power Training":

Part 1

Part 2

I like the programs that I recommended in the series above, I really do, but that form of training definitely doesn't fit the  Russian maxim that I'm rather fond of: "train as often as possible while being as fresh as possible" but our other training variations do fit that bill, so let's move on to them.

High Frequency, High Intensity, Low Volume

To paraphrase Russian powerlifting coach extraordinaire Boris Sheiko: "To squat more you have to squat more."  When I write that I believe high frequency training is the best way for the average lifter to train, it's this iteration that I have in mind.

Although I sometimes use both methods of definition interchangeably, when I discuss "intensity" I'm not (typically) referring to "momentary muscular effort" but to, simply, how close to your one-rep maximum you are training.  The heavier you train, simply put, the more "intense" is your training.  That's how the method is used here.

This form of training is exactly how early turn-of-the-century strongmen from the late 19th and early 20th centuries trained.  This is the form of training that allowed Herman Goerner to do a 730-pound one-arm deadlift, George Hackenschmidt to overhead press 276-pounds with one hand (oh, and he could lift a small horse off the ground), and apparently allowed Louis Cyr to lift a 4,337-pound platform with his back strength.  All of these old-time strongmen developed their strength through daily "practice" with weights.  They would train heavy, working up to near-maxes on an almost daily basis, but without using much repetitions.  This kept the frequency and intensity "high" while keeping volume pretty-darn low.

If you want to start training in this manner, I recommend either Dan John's 40-Day Program—which you should be able to, quite easily, find by just doing a search such as "Dan John 40 day program"—or my own 30-Rep Program.  Here's a link to my program (also there's a link to John's 40-Day Program embedded):

The 30-Rep Program

High Frequency, High Volume, Low Intensity

This other form of high-frequency training is probably used the most often by those who do use HFT, even if they don't know it, or call it by this name.  Take, for example, anyone who does a lot of bodyweight-only workouts.  If someone takes up a daily regimen of push-ups and bodyweight squats, for instance, this is exactly the methodology that is being used.  When you hear about the effectiveness of "prison workouts," this is the methodology being used.  If you don't have much weight (intensity) then you are forced to train as often as you possibly can with a fairly high amount of volume.

Here are some "random thoughts" I had about bodyweight-centric training more than 13 years ago in a post titled "Random Thoughts of Bodyweight Training":

• This kind of training should be done frequently. There's no reason that—if bodyweight training is going to be your only form of resistance training—you shouldn't train six-days-per-week for 1 (beginners) to 2 hours (intermediate to advanced) per session.
• You recover fast from this sort of training. This is good—and bad, I suppose. Not only should you train more frequently, you really need to train more frequently.
• This stuff is great for conditioning—and getting you in shape fast. As Paul Chek has said, the key to being in great shape is to perform anaerobic exercise until it becomes aerobic. Bodyweight training can easily fit the bill here.
• Bodyweight-only training is excellent for the athlete who wants to be ageless. You want to live to a ripe old age, and be able to look half your age, have sex like you were half your age, and out train guys half your age? Then these kind of workouts should be the staple of your training.
• This kind of training is great for mixed martial artists. If you are into MMA, I would advise that you lift weights 2 days per week (HEAVY) and the other 4 days a week should be comprised of bodyweight-only strength training.
• When performing bodyweight squats, don't count reps during a set, count the time of your sets. You should work up to 5 to 10 minute sets of squats. Then you will be in very good shape.
• This kind of training teaches you to eat well. You can't do these workouts and eat like a super-heavyweight powerlifting competitor—you'd be winded within 5 minutes of starting your workout. You need lots of lean protein, and plenty of complex and fibrous carbohydrates.
• Everyone should do this kind of training at least once per week. (Yes, that even goes for your super-heavy powerlifters I was talking about.)
• These workouts are great as "extra workouts" in your powerlifting arsenal, especially if your workouts in the gym are mainly comprised of "maximal effort" training and "dynamic effort" training.
• You will not lose your muscle mass if you switch over from typical bodybuilding training to bodyweight-only training. Don't believe me? Try doing 100 push-ups, 50 chins, and 500 bodyweight squats six days per week for the next month. You'll be absolutely friggin' sold.

Even though I wrote those tips that long ago, I pretty much still agree with what I wrote, so if you do want to try some high-frequency and high-volume workouts, those are definitely some of the benefits.

Moderate Volume, Moderate Frequency, Moderate Intensity

Lastly, we come to the 4th way of programming.  For many years, this was often the way that bodybuilders trained.  And it's still one of the best ways for anyone to train, especially if you're starting out in the iron game.  For instance, most 3-days-per-week, full-body programs utilize this method.  I would categorize the full-body programs that I often recommend—such as Bill Starr-style heavy/light/medium training—as this methodology.

To give you an understanding of how this method can be used to gain muscle mass, here is a link to a post I wrote over 14 years ago, which gives you a good idea of how this methodology should be programmed:

Heavy-Light-Medium Training: Gaining Mass

In Conclusion

If you take your time to read the different programs I have included in the links, along with this short essay, then you shouldn't have any problems deciding which methodology to begin using.  Just remember: "Are you on a training program or are you just working out?"  Most of the "herd" just goes to the gym and "works out."  Don't let that be you!