Last time I took a look at the concept of training volume, what it is, what it represents along with some of the different ways it can be defined, tracked or measured (along with their often major limitations). Among other topics, I described how one research group suggested that sets per workout or per week can be a valid way of tracking volume but “…only if those sets are taken to the point of muscular failure.”
Previously I have written about training intensity and frequency and, in that vein, I want to talk about training volume. I’ll be focusing on the weight room and, as much as anything, this is hopefully a background article for something longer I might actually eventually write. As with my article on intensity, what I will primarily be doing is looking at some of the different definitions of volume that are out there along with pros and cons of their use.
In the realm of exercise, one of the oldest used descriptions of training is usually called The FITT equation (I believe it’s been expanded in recent years). … Keep Reading
While I’m trying to muster the energy to do an update to my training volume series (which is not and will never be called a Bible because…well….pretentious much?), I figured I’d address a related topic: training frequency. Now I’ve written about training frequency before, mainly looking at different “popular” approaches for hypertrophy training. Here I want to address a current idea in the fitness industry and ask the question “Does training frequency matter?” For the most part, I’ll focus on growth although I might switch and talk about strength a little bit too.
… Keep Reading
Quite some time back I did an article called Dumb Shit Fitness Professionals Say (DSFPS) where I looked at a bit of a grab bag of dumb shit fitness professionals say. Well it’s time for #2 in the series but I want to keep it more targeted to one topic: squats. Specifically I want to start with the idea that you must squat along with other dumb shit fitness professionals say bout the topic. Welcome to DSFPS #2: Squat Edition
… Keep ReadingFor literally decades, the idea that the hormonal response to squats is important for overall growth has been around. It came up again recently in my Facebook group and I wanted to address (and ultimately dismiss it) yet again. First, Consider the following two statements:
I’ve seen the same person make both statements without realizing that they inherently contradict one another. If you need to train legs to get big overall, you can’t have guys with big upper bodies who don’t train legs. It’s not difficult to see why this is wrong. And yet many continue to repeat both statements.
