Do you wonder why almost everyone working out in the gym goes for high volume bodypart splits? On Mondays in almost all gyms in America that means its the chest day. Tuesdays will be the back, Thursdays and Fridays will either be legs or arms day. There seems to be a lack of variety or rational thought. You could certainly ask yourself why there is need for all this training volume.

For decades, most forms of training have been passed on from generation to generation exclusive of rational thought. Sensible training programs deteriorated and became less and less prevalent when the use of anabolic steroids began to grow rapidly in the 60s. Those were the days when renowned trainers like Steve Reeves and Paul Anderson trained using more sensible, lower volume programs before they started to disappear. The first time that Arnold got to Goldi’s Gym in Venice, high volume bodypart splits were famously accepted as the best way for training to gain size and strength.

Deductive reasoning is not applied in this type of training, but it is simply based on the fact that everyone else is doing it. Those who advocate for these training methods will blindly tell you that you need higher volume training to gain those hypertrophies. This is a very questionable fact and researchers at the University of Chicago will not be wasting their time to examine the effects of Jay Cutleri’s marathon workouts. There is no proof indicating that you need 8 – 12 sets per bodypart to grow. But studies have shown that one set of workouts are as effective as three workout sets. Those who support this training maintain that higher volume training helps in the secretion of higher levels of the growth hormone. Unfortunately they will not disclose the fact that the level of the GH increase is very insignificant and makes not difference whatever. It is a common fact that the GH levels always increase when you become active. Even extreme temperatures will elevate your GH but that doesn’t mean that your biceps will grow after taking a shower. These secretions from training are so minimal that they would not make the slightest difference.

If you are not lucky enough to have muscle building genetics, and are not using any drug enhancers, this kind of training would be a huge mistake. This workout will drain your amino acid pool, dilapidate your glycogen store and even worse your recovery time between workouts will become enhanced. When you do 8 – 12 chest sets on a Monday you will need a longer recovery time so as to be able train again for the next seven days. This means that you would only get one growth stimulus per week or in a year that would be only fifty two. This can easily be avoided by reducing your volume to that point where you recover faster and more efficiently thus maintaining your amino acid pool and glycogen stores. In this way, you can train bodyparts twice in a week instead of only once.

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