Volume is King

Turn up the Volume for More Size and Strength

     Okay.  Yeah.  I know.  If you’ve read even a smattering of my articles or essays, you’ve probably seen me say that squatting is king.  Well, it is.  If you give it your all on squats—whether it’s back squats or front squats, barbell squats, kettlebell squats, or just your bodyweight, really high-repetition squats or heavy-as-heck, low-rep squats—you will make gains.  In fact, if you’re not going to squat, you might as well hang it up as far as gains are concerned.  No squats.  No gains.  It’s that simple.  (Okay, I did write THIS article on how to make gains without squatting, but that aside…)  But let’s just go ahead and assume that squats are mandatory.  Because the truth is also this: You can squat and not make any gains if you’re on a crappy program where you train infrequently or just do random “whatever” workouts.

     If you want to make fantastic gains in the gym—whether it’s size, strength, a combination of both, or you’re one of those “I just want to look good nekkid” types—one component is king.  Volume.  Lots (and lots) of volume.  Now, this does not mean that simply heading to the gym right now and doing more is the answer to all of your mass-gaining conundrums.  (Though it very well could be.)  There is a method to the volume-inducing madness.  So, let’s discuss that here.  Apply the advice and prepare to transform your physique.  That ain’t hyperbole.  It’s the truth.

     What are the keys to making gains in the gym?  Well, if you haven’t asked that question to begin with, you’ve got problems.  Are you just “working out” but not giving any thought to the rhyme and reason behind the what that you are doing?  If you haven’t asked the question, do so now.  But I think most lifters do ponder the question.  And what is the answer?  I think the majority of lifters, even the thoughtful ones, believe the answer goes something like this: Train hard and then make sure that the muscle/lift trained has “recovered” enough before training again.  And, in order to facilitate growth/gains in the recovery phase, ensure that you’re eating enough “quality” food replete with plenty of protein and calories, and make sure that you’re resting enough and getting enough good sleep.  But I think that view is, at best, incomplete.  Rest, recovery, and proper nutrition are paramount.  Make no doubt about it and don’t think otherwise.  But I believe that the key to gains, especially long-term progress, is volume.  The more volume that you do, the better your results.

     Let’s say that you entered a competition where the person who gained the most muscle in 8 weeks won a million dollars.  To win that cool mill, would you train infrequently with only a couple of really hard sets for each muscle group?  I doubt it.  I bet you’d be in the gym almost every day of the week, doing as much as you could at each session.  When I was younger, I can tell you exactly what I would have done to win the cash.  I would have trained 6 days per week using a 2-way split where I trained each muscle 3 days per week.  I would have done a lot of sets per muscle group.  And, of course, I would have eaten as much food as possible from the time I woke up in the morning until my head hit the pillow at night for my growth-producing shut-eye.  Heck, I might have even set an alarm so that I got up in the middle of night to add one more meal to the dietary schedule.

     When it comes to getting big, it’s the total volume that matters, not necessarily the volume in a given workout.  It’s one of the reasons that I’m so fond of high-frequency training (HFT).  Do a little bit at each workout and repeat often.  That’s one of the ways to pump up the volume and make great gains.  But it’s not the only way.  There are various methods that you can utilize to properly increase the volume.  You also need to adhere to some principles that allow the high-volume (or high-frequency) of the workouts to work.  Let’s look at these next.  What follows might be a bit “random” in the sense that I’m simply writing what pops into my head as I write it.  But it should make for a cohesive whole by the end.

Do Less to Do More

     Some lifters come from the “train hard-as-hell then go home” camp.  They’re accustomed to training each muscle group or bodypart with a couple (maybe a few) really hard sets then packing it up and heading for the house.  They might then read an article like this, or one of my many other essays promoting plenty o’ volume, and decide that they’re going to give the high-volume route a go the next time they do a session.  However, after a couple of additional sets more than their typical workout, they decide they can’t handle the volume.  So, they might end up doing 5 sets instead of their typical 2 or 3, whereas they had planned on doing 8 to 10.  The problem?  They’re training too hard.  When you’re used to taking each set to failure, or really close, you have to learn to back off on the “intensity.”

     Usually, when I suggest doing something such as 8 to 10 sets on one exercise, I also recommend using a weight where you could get double the reps if you were just doing one incredibly hard, all-out set to the point of “momentary muscular failure.”  So, if you decide you’re going to start your workout with 8 sets of 6 reps on squats, use a weight where you could get 12 reps for a “failure” set.  This will ensure that you stay “fresh” enough to handle the volume.

     If you’re going to utilize workouts involving multiple exercises for each muscle group, stop each set a few reps shy of complete muscular failure.  Do 5 sets of 10 reps with a weight you would use for 15 reps to failure.  Something such as that.  When you move to your 2nd exercise, make sure you’re taking into account the fact that your muscles are already fatigued from the first movement.  Bottom line: when in doubt, use less weight, not more.

Take Your Time

     One of the methods that you can use—it’s a sneaky way to turn up the volume—is ramps.  It manages fatigue and allows you to get in a lot more work without really seeming as if you are doing more.  Let’s say that you are going to work up to a heavy set of 5 reps on your bench press.  Instead of starting with higher-repetition sets and decreasing reps as you increase the weight—the pyramid method of training—you just start with 5 reps on your first set and continue to do 5-rep sets as the weights increase.

     Let’s say that you have a 5-rep max on your bench press that is 225 pounds.  Most lifters will do 2 (maybe 3) warm-up sets with a lighter weight, then load 225 on the bar and “blast” out a couple of max-effort sets.  They might get 5 reps on the first set, then 4 reps on the 2nd, and 3 reps if they do a 3rd set.  Or something like that.  Counting the warm-ups, they end up with, perhaps, around 20 reps total for the lift, maybe less.

     A better method would be to do a set of 5 reps with the empty Olympic bar, then do a set of 5 with, say, 95 pounds followed by sets of 5 with 135, 155, 175, 195, 205, and then 225 pounds.  Do 2 sets with the 225-pound weight then drop back down to 205 and do another 2 to 3 sets.  You now have done around 50 reps for the lift.  That volume adds up.  Not just in the workout itself but across multiple sessions.

     Because you’re managing fatigue, you will also be capable of training more often.  If you did the above session on Monday and Thursday, that’s probably a good bit more volume than what you’re accustomed to.

     You can use it for more than one lift per muscle, as well.  Do the above on bench presses and then do something similar on incline benches, weighted dips, or some kind of dumbbell bench (flat, incline, or decline).  Now, you’re at 100 reps per muscle.

     All of your reps will be quality repetitions, too.  That’s important.  More important, in fact, than most lifters realize.  Every rep of every set—with the exception, perhaps, of a couple of your “top end” sets—will be strong and powerful.  Your nervous system will be “primed” for power, not to mention more muscle growth.

Take Advantage of “Light” Workouts

     Every workout session doesn’t have to be incredibly hard.  In fact, that’s another problem with the modern training mentality.  If it’s not hard then the modern lifter, too many times, doesn’t think that it’s “good,” either.  If you love really hard workouts, that’s fine.  Do one per week for each muscle.  But then do another 1 or 2 sessions where you do the same workout but with weights that are only 80 to 90% of what you used at your hard session.

     Let’s say that you do a workout of 8 sets of 5 reps on Monday with 275 pounds.  On Wednesday, return to the gym and do 5 sets of 5 reps with 225 (roughly 80%).  And on Friday, return again for a workout of 6x5 with 250 pounds (roughly 90%).  Another advantage to this approach is that you will stop getting as sore after your heavy session.  The more you adapt, the more you will be capable of doing at the heavy workout and you will be less sore after the heavy session despite the increase in workload.  It’s a “win/win” in my book.

     You can also train even more frequently by doing all (or close to it) of your workouts “light.”  A great example of the benefits of this approach is “Big” Jim Williams, the first man to bench press 300kg (661 pounds) in competition.  Williams trained his bench press 4 to 5 times per week, but never did more than 21 reps total at each session.  He would do a set of 5 reps.  Add weight and do another set of 5.  Add more weight and start doing triples.  And then add more weight and do some heavy singles.  Once he reached 21 reps (or thereabout) for the lift, he stopped.  Each workout was “easy” but the volume for the week, and then for the training cycle, ended up being quite a bit.  In recent years, so-called “easy strength” training has become more popular.  I have really pushed it, along with Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline, but it’s nothing new.  Big Jim was doing easy strength before it was a “thing.”  It just goes to show that there really is nothing new under the sun, strength-training methods included.  This kind of training is often thought to be good for strength but not size, but Williams wasn’t called “Big” for nothing!  So, if you’re after size above all else, don’t discount the total volume that an easy strength program can produce.

Get a Pump, Repeat Often

     Most lifters, especially readers of my material, are after a combination of size and strength.  But if you’re only after size—if strength is nothing more than an afterthought of which you’re not really concerned with—you can simply train until you attain a full and “complete” pump and then stop the session.  Then repeat as often as possible.  That is exactly what many of the golden-era bodybuilding legends did to attain their stellar physiques.  It was the approach, for example, of Serge Nubret, who often trained a muscle group for 20 sets of 20 reps 2 to 3 days per week.  It worked then and it will work now.

     My advice here is to not really worry so much about exact sets and reps.  Let’s say you’re going to train your chest.  Perhaps you start with dips.  Do a set of dips but stop several reps shy of muscular failure.  Rest somewhere between 30 seconds and 1 minute, and do another set, again stopping a few reps shy of failure.  Continue until your chest is pumped to the fullest.  You might get this in 6 sets, 8 sets, or 15 sets—whatever.  Once the pump is achieved, stop!  Don’t train past a complete pump.  After 48 to 72 hours, do the same workout.  If you train 3 days weekly, don’t worry, either, if you can’t do as much in the 2nd workout.  You might, for instance, do 10 sets on Monday and then just 6 sets on Wednesday.  Or you might do the same number of sets on Wednesday as Monday but do less reps on every set for the Wednesday workout.  Come Friday, repeat again.  That session might be somewhere in between the Monday or Wednesday session or it might be the same as either the Monday or Wednesday session.  Heck, it might be more.

     For this training to work, you do have to be a bit more advanced or a naturally intuitive, “instinctive” lifter.  As you adapt to the workouts, however, you will find that you can, slowly, do more even during the “light” workouts, and eventually your light sessions will be heavier than your “heavy” workouts when you first started.

The Full Body Way

     Some lifters will say that they can’t train with so much volume because they are short on time.  I understand.  When you have a full-time job—especially one that involves manual labor—along with a spouse, kids, and other responsibilities, it can be hard to get to the gym 5 to 6 days per week and train for an extended period of time at each session.  My answer to this conundrum is the full-body workout.

     If you can only make it to the gym 3 days a week, then use full-body training sessions.  Do at least a handful of lifts.  A squatting movement, a couple of pressing movements (such as bench and overhead presses), a lower body pull (deadlifts of any type or one of the quick lifts), an upper body pull (rows or chins), and 1 or 2 arm movements (curls and pushdowns of some sort, for example) are all you need.  Start your workouts with around 3 sets per lift.  The reps you utilize will depend upon your goals.  You can train with 5s, triples, doubles, or singles or you can train with sets in the 6-12 rep range or you can even train with high reps (15 to 25).  Stop each set a couple reps (or more) shy of muscular failure.  When you leave the gym, you should feel good.  As if you could have done more if you wanted.  You should leave the gym, in fact, full of energy and you should have a hearty appetite about an hour afterwards.  As you adapt to the training, start adding more sets.  Eventually, you should be doing 6 to 8 sets per lift and have no problem recovering.  It might seem “basic” but it works.

     Conversely, some lifters have no trouble getting to the gym 5 to 6 days a week, but they don’t have the luxury of spending a long time in the gym.  Not a problem.  You can train your entire body 5 to 6 days weekly and spend no more than 20 to 30 minutes at each workout.  In fact, for some lifters, this kind of workout is exactly what they need to gain muscle.  It actually works better for them than anything else they could do!

     I’ve known several lifters who thought they were “hardgainers” because they tried long, voluminous workouts and didn’t gain any muscle.  Then, they tried short, infrequent, but brutally hard sessions and also couldn’t make any gains.  At this point, they (and their fellow gym-goers and personal trainers) labeled them “hardgainers.”  But then when they switched over to ultra high-frequency, full-body workouts, the hardgainer moniker became a thing of the past.  I call them “the other kinds of hardgainers.”  So, this could be just what you need in order to make the best gains of your life.  In fact, bodybuilding coach Scott Abel’s “The Hardgainer Solution” program is based on exactly this kind of training.

The Hybrid Approach

     Another option for anyone who has trouble making it to the gym is to use a “hybrid” system of gym workouts and home training.  Even if you can only make it to the gym 2 days a week, you can still train 4 to 6 days weekly by doing the remainder of your workouts at home.  You might train at the gym on Monday and Friday—Monday for upper body and Friday for lower body.  Then train at home on Tuesdays and Thursdays—Tuesday for lower body and Thursday for upper body.  Or anything similar.

     You could also train on a 2-way split, working each muscle group 3 days weekly for 6 workouts per week and simply go to the gym whenever you feel like it.  At home, do bodyweight squats, Hindu squats, walking lunges, or one-legged squats for your lower body and push-ups, chins, Hindu push-ups, or anything similar for your upper body.  At each session, just set a rep total for your movements, anywhere between 50 and 100 reps works well.

     I’ve just touched the surface, probably, on some of the ways that you can use high-volume training—whether it’s a single session or throughout a week or even a training cycle—for more mass, strength, or to build an aesthetic physique.  The main thing to remember is this: volume is king.  And it always will be.

     Got questions?  Leave them in the “comments” section below or send me an email if you prefer private correspondence.

     If you want more muscle-gaining, strength-building workout programs and routines, consider purchasing one of my books.  Click HERE for information on all of my books currently available for purchase!