Another allergy treatment today

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.
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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?

Granted, I’ve laid out the ideal number of reps you should do per set for your goal, but the total volume being done can still vary by quite a bit.

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?