prophet said:
realgains whats our def of "volume" here...if you go by the mags you are def going to over train without gear. my volumes work outs consist of 3 exercises for big muscles with 3 sets per exercise 9 total working sets not including warm ups....my HIT is pretty straight forward 1 warm up 1 set till failure (also use drop sets, rest pause, and increase weight till failure) usually 3-4 exercises and 3-4 total sets takes about 15-30 mins for HIT worksouts
A lot of men do not gain well doing ultra intensity very low volume training as it is simply too intense to allow for nervous system recupertaion so beware.
TRAINING WITHOUT STEROIDS
3-6 working sets per muscle group not counting warm ups.
3-4 for bi's for example and 5-6 for chest. Some hard gainers can't even do this amount of volume without over training.
Quads need only 3-4 due to the high effort and effectiveness of squats and deep leg presses.
Train infrequently like.... MON-WED and FRI on a three way split.
Take each set to the point were another good rep isn't possible even if I held a gun to your head. Forced reps used minimally or not at all.
Rest pause reps are okay from time to time...that is...after finishing a set put the weight down and rest 10 seconds then pick it up again and do more reps...do this 2 or 3 times. Works great for calves and biceps especially.
The focus should be on adding small to tiny amounts of weight to the bars weekly and NOT INTENSITY. Intensity will come along..the focus has to be correct and it should be micro loading weekly at all costs
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Get some small plates
www.fractionalplates.com
Some can gain well with more volume but they have good genetics.
ON GEAR with average genetics... 90% of the bro's and ALL ECTOMORPHS
Same type of routine but train every other day.
You can increase the working sets to 4-6 for small groups and 6-9 for larger groups except quads where less is needed.
This is pretty much Quadsweeps training volume while on steroids
ON GEAR with good genetics. 5-10% of bro's
Volume and training frequency can go up but I don't think it really helps most guys, although there are exceptions. These guys do need to at least reduce volume while off and it would be wise to reduce training frequncy too.
So one reduces training frequency and also reduces volume from lowish to low while off steroids. Also intensity needs to be reduced while off so be careful..no negatives for sure and no forced reps for most.
Dorian Yates and Mike Mentzer proved without a shadow of a doubt that high volume isn't necessary and can be counter productive for most men. You don't have to train with Yates's intensity in order to get quite big, and some can't train with that intensity level at all.....but volume training is NOT a good alternative for most.
Bodybuilders in general can learn from power lifters and Olympic lifters..some of which are VERY HUGE. They do much less volume even while on gear than most bodybuilders. It seems that Arnolds and his high volume had quite an impact on people even 30 years latter.
RG
