Many people love high-volume training – but many people hate it. At some time or another, most bodybuilders give it a shot. After all, it worked for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Wouldn’t that be enough of an endorsement? However, for many reasons, high-volume training doesn’t work. We’ll look at these reasons now!

Am I eating enough food?

If you are spending 75 to 90 minutes per day in the gym training each body part, you’re going to be burning up a lot of calories. Throw in some cardiovascular training and you’re suddenly looking at a situation where you may need 800 to 1200 more calories each day, just to maintain your existing muscle base. This involves way more additional calories than an extra chicken breast and potato can add. We’re talking about a major adjustment to 2 to 4 of your daily meals to spike your calories in a meaningful manner requisite for new muscle growth.

Are you dieting?

The dieting phase before a show is certainly not the time to begin high volume training. If you have been using it all year, you may continue using it with success when you start cutting calories, since you will already know your daily caloric requirements and will be able to succinctly estimate the total number of calories you will need.

Do I wait long enough between sets?

If you’re only spending 30 to 45 seconds resting between sets, you probably aren’t completing high-volume correctly. Your sets should be heavy and long enough that you will need 90 to 120 seconds of rest between sets. This will mean you’ll be training about an hour and a half, but that is the cost of high volume training!

How heavy am I training?

Many bodybuilders actually sabotage their own high-volume training by going too heavy with the weights. When you train with very heavy weights (well, heavy for you!) which require fewer reps and longer rest periods, it’s almost impossible to use 20 sets per workout. If you with to use high volume training, stick with moderate-to-heavy weights.

How much do you sleep each night?

If you have a busy life and only average 6 or 7 hours of sleep per night, you shouldn’t expect to grow much from high volume training. This style of lifting is very tough on the muscle groups of the body as well as the central nervous system, and will increase your daily rest requirements. You probably should be averaging 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep per night, with a 45 to 75 minute daily nap whenever possible. Anything less and your body isn’t getting the time it need to repair – and grow.

In the same vein, most bodybuilders attempt low-volume training at some point. If it worked for Dorian Yates, why wouldn’t it work for you? The reality is that many more bodybuilders find success with high-volume than low volume training, because there is much more room for error. Finding peak intensity (along with achievement of all other factors for growth) in just 1 to 2 sets can be very tough. High volume training allows you may more chances for targeted stimulus for growth, just so long as you don’t sabotage yourself!

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