December 5, 2013
Today I went to the gym and did an hour of cardio. I will do weights tomorrow.
I was then off for another NAET treatment for my allergies. I had a treatment for milk allergies last week, it will interesting to see if I can eat cream cheese, I have missed the occasional cheese cake.
Today's treatment was for vitamin C I can't eat anything with it in it for 25 hours. I have been feeling tired and my shoulder has been giving me some grief. Hoping for a call from the surgeon soon, I can't have any more cortisone.
Today's Quote:
More from the article:
What’s Next?
Now that
you know how many reps per set is most ideal for your goal, the next thing you
need to figure out is how many TOTAL reps, sets and exercises you should do per
workout, per week and per muscle group. Let’s find out…
Weight Training Volume –
How Many Sets, Reps & Exercises?
In weight
training, volume refers to the amount of work being done.
The
“work” will of course come in the form of the exercises you do and how many
sets and reps you do for each.
That
means volume can be measured in a lot of different ways, the most important of
which are:
- How much volume is being
done per muscle group/body part both per workout AND per week.
- How much volume is being
done per exercise.
- How much total volume is
being done per workout.
- How much total volume is
being done per week.
The
reason this information is so important is because volume is one of the key
factors influencing the effectiveness of your workout routine.
What I
mean is…
- If you do too much volume,
you run the risk of hindering (or completely destroying) your body’s
ability to repair and recover at an ideal rate. And if the repair/recovery
process isn’t happening at the ideal rate, the results you want probably
won’t be happening at all.
- If you do too little
volume, you run the risk of not providing enough of the training
stimulus required to signal your body to actually make the
changes/improvements you want it to make.
As you
can clearly see, the goal here is to find the amount of volume that is high
enough to provide the training stimulus needed to get the results you want, yet
low enough to avoid negatively affecting your ability to recover.
For the
best results possible, we need that optimal middle ground.
So, How Much Volume Is Best For Me?
Now, when
trying to figure out how much volume is best for you, some people think “just
tell me how many exercises I should do per muscle group/workout/week” and
taaadaaa, there’s your workout volume.
The thing
is, it’s a little more complicated than that. Here’s why…
Exercises Don’t Accurately Measure Volume
You see,
even if there is an exact number of exercises recommended, the total amount of
volume being done can still vary GREATLY.
For
example, let’s say I just said the best volume is 3 exercises per muscle group,
and three different people take my advice.
- Person A might do 2 sets for
each exercise, for a total of 6 sets altogether.
- Person B might do 3 sets for
each exercise, for a total of 9 sets altogether.
- Person C might do 4 sets for
each exercise, for a total of 12 sets altogether.
So right
there you have three clear examples of how doing the same number of exercises
per muscle group can still lead to very different amounts of volume being done.
For this
reason, trying to measure or prescribe volume using exercises is a pretty
horrible idea.
Sets Don’t Accurately Measure Volume, Either
The next
thought then is that sets should be used to measure and prescribe
volume. Then I could just say to do 6 sets for each muscle group per workout,
and you could divide those sets up over however many exercises you want.
Using 6
sets as the example, you could do 3 exercises for 2 sets each, 2 exercises for
3 sets each, 1 exercise for 4 sets and 1 exercise for 2 sets, and so on and so
on.
Unlike
before, the number of sets being done remains the same either way, which makes
sets a MUCH better way to measure/prescribe volume than exercises were
before.
However,
a very similar problem still exists: how many reps are you doing per set?
For
example, I said the 5-12 rep range is best for people looking to build muscle/get
toned/look good, which is probably most of the people reading this.
Using the
same 6-sets-per-muscle example from before…
- Person A might do 6 sets of
6 reps for a total of 36 reps per muscle group, per workout.
- Person B might do 6 sets of
10 reps for a total of 60 reps per muscle group, per workout.
As you
can see, that’s still a pretty significant difference even with the same ideal
rep range (5-12) being used.
For this
reason, measuring or prescribing volume in terms sets is still not the best
idea. It’s a million times better than exercises, but it’s still pretty flawed.
So then,
what’s left? Reps!
Reps Are The Most Accurate Measurement Of Volume
If you
recommend a certain amount of reps to do per muscle group or per workout or per
week, it can be divided up into 1000 different combinations of exercises and
sets.
But, in
the end… the number of reps being done always remains the same.
For this
reason, the best way to measure and prescribe weight training volume is by the
total amount of reps being done per muscle group, per workout, and per week.
So, What Total Amount Of Reps Is Best For Me?
Now that’s
the question we’re looking for. Let’s get down to the specifics and answer it…
The Optimal Volume Per
Muscle Group, Body Part, Workout & Week
As I’ve
previously explained, weight training volume (the amount of exercises,
sets and reps you do) is a key factor influencing the
effectiveness of your workout routine.
Meaning,
if you want to get the best results possible, you’re goal is to use an optimal
amount of volume for each body part and muscle group per workout and per week
total.
The thing
is, there is no exact amount of weight training volume that is absolutely
perfect for everyone.
Due to
individual differences like specific goals, training experience, genetics,
volume tolerance, work capacity, recovery capabilities, and more, it’s
impossible to make one recommendation that suits everyone.
However,
there is some good news.
There Is A Volume Range That Is Best For Most
People
After 10+
years of obsessive research, firsthand experience and observing a ton of real
world results, you start to notice that the most successful workout programs
tend to have certain things in common.
In this
case, I’m talking about volume. More specifically, the total amount of sets and
reps being prescribed per muscle group and body part per workout and per week.
While the
workout routines may be very different, the volume recommendations are always surprisingly
close and within a certain “range.”
As it
turns out, science appears to agree with this “range” too.
The
majority of the studies I’ve seen over the years that have looked at workout
volume (most notably one by Wernbom et al.) show that there is in fact an
amount of sets and reps per body part/muscle group that tends to work better
than everything else.
Combine
all of that with various other expert recommendations, and you get what I like
to call The Optimal Volume Range.
The Optimal Volume Range
In the
most simple and basic of terms, the optimal volume range for most people is:
- For each bigger muscle
group: about 60-120 total reps PER WEEK.
- For each smaller muscle
group: about 30-60 total reps PER WEEK.
In more
specific terms, this breaks down like this:
- Chest: 60-120 reps per week.
- Back: 60-120 reps per week.
- Quadriceps: 60-120 reps per week.
- Hamstrings: 60-120 reps per week.
- Shoulders: 30-60 reps per week.
- Biceps: 30-60 reps per week.
- Triceps: 30-60 reps per week.
- Calves: 30-60 reps per week.
- Abs: 30-60 reps per week.
And there
it is… my recommendations for the optimal volume range.
Can more
or less volume also work? Yeah, it’s certainly possible. However, this is once
again NOT about what can work. This is all about what works best.
And,
based on scientific research, real world results, 10+ years of firsthand
experience, expert recommendations and the most successful weight training
programs in existence, this appears to be the amount of volume that works
best for most people.
Applying The Optimal Volume Range To Your Training
Frequency
Now,
looking at these recommendations, the first question you probably have is:
Why is it “per week” instead of “per workout?”
Basically,
this is the optimal total weekly amount of volume you should use for
each muscle group and body part.
In order
to break it down in terms of what you need to do each workout, you must apply
this optimal volume range to your chosen weight training frequency.
Meaning,
the exact amount of sets and reps you should do each workout depends on whether
you will be training each muscle group/body part once, twice or 3 times per week.
Here’s
how that would break down…
Training each muscle group once per week.
If you
are training each muscle group/body part once-per-week, you would do:
- 60-120 reps for each big muscle
group per workout, with just 1 workout for each muscle group per
week.
- 30-60 reps for each small muscle
group per workout, with just 1 workout for each muscle group per
week.
With a
workout schedule that only trains each muscle group once per week, you would need to get that entire
weekly volume range in during your 1 weekly workout for each muscle
group.
(Note,
this is the frequency I least often recommend.)
Training each muscle group twice per week.
If you
are training each muscle group/body part (about) twice-per-week, you
would do:
- 30-60 reps for each big muscle
group per workout, with about 2 workouts for each muscle
group per week.
- 15-30 reps for each small muscle
group per workout, with about 2 workouts for each muscle
group per week.
With a
workout schedule that trains each muscle group about twice per week, you would need to divide that
weekly volume range by about 2 and split it up evenly over your 2 (or
so) weekly workouts for each muscle group.
(Note,
this is the frequency I recommend to most intermediate/advanced trainees.)
Training each muscle group 3 times per week.
If you
are training each muscle group three-times-per-week, you would do:
- 20-40 reps for each big muscle
group per workout, with 3 workouts for each muscle group per week.
- 10-20 reps for each small muscle
group per workout, with 3 workouts for each muscle group per week.
With a
workout schedule that trains each muscle group three times per week, you would need to divide that
weekly volume range by 3 and split it up evenly over your 3
weekly workouts for each muscle group.
(Note,
this is the frequency I recommend to all beginners.)
Should You Use The Low, Middle Or High End Of The
Volume Range?
The
second question you probably have about the optimal volume range is whether you
should use the low, middle or high end of it.
This
question goes back to what I mentioned earlier about there being no EXACT
amount of volume that is perfect for everyone because of various individual
differences.
Well,
it’s those individual differences that will answer this question.
In
general and in most cases, this is how it breaks down…
- If you are a beginner
with ANY goal (building muscle, increasing strength, losing fat,
etc.), then you will do best staying in the lowest end of the volume
range.
- If you are an intermediate
or advanced trainee with the primary goal of building muscle
(or anything “looks” related), you should most often stick to the
middle-higher end of the volume range. If you happen to have below average
genetics and/or a below average ability to recover, then you’d be best
served to stay in the lower end of optimal volume range.
- If you are an intermediate
or advanced trainee with the primary goal of increasing strength,
you should most often stick to low-middle end of the volume range.
- If you are a beginner,
intermediate or advanced trainee with the primary goal of losing
fat and maintaining muscle (and possibly building some)
while you lose that fat, then you would do best sticking to the lower end
of the volume range.
Why Is There Less Volume For Smaller Muscle Groups?
A third
question you might have about the optimal volume range is why there is less
recommended for smaller muscle groups than there is for bigger muscle groups.
This is
partly due to the fact that they are smaller and just don’t need/benefit from
as much volume as larger muscle groups.
However,
it’s mostly due to the fact that those smaller muscle groups already get
used pretty hard secondarily while training the bigger muscle groups. Meaning,
they already get a ton of indirect volume.
For
example, most chest exercises also hit the shoulders and triceps quite well,
most shoulder exercises also hit the triceps quite well, and most back
exercises also hit the biceps quite well.
There is
a very significant amount of overlap there, and it definitely needs to
be accounted for when planning your workout volume.
The
optimal volume recommendations already factor this in.
What’s Next?
