Am I doing too much/too much volume?

Training
1

I see all the time the amounts of sets that are optimal. Personally, I feel like I could read something new/different on this every single day. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m doing too much, but what is everyone’s thoughts? Does it seem like I have too much volume or I’m doing too much?

Monday

20:00 incline treadmill walk (HR 105-115bpm)

Biceps stretched curl variation 3x15-20

Triceps overhead extension variation 3x15-20

Front delt shoulder variation 3x15-20

Biceps brachi curl variation 3x15-20

Triceps extension variation 3x15-20

Side delt variation 3x15-20

Biceps variation 3x15-20

Triceps extension variation 3x15-20

Rear delt variation 3x15-20

Abs

10:00 stairmaster (HR 135-145bpm)

Tuesday

10:00 incline treadmill walk (HR 105-115bpm)

Single leg quad exercise 3x15-20

Singe leg hamstring exercise 3x15-20

Straight leg calf raises 3x15-20

RDL/SDL 3x15-20

Hack squat 3x15-20

Glute Bridges 3x15-20

Leg extension machine 3x15-20

Leg curl machine 3x15-20

Hip Abduction machine 3x15-20

Abs

Wednesday

Off

Foam roll

Walk just for daily steps

Thursday

20:00 incline treadmill walk (HR 105-115bpm)

DB incline chest press 3x15-20

DB flat chest press 3x15-20

Cable upper chest fly

Peck deck fly 3x15-20

Low Chest cable fly 3x15-20

High cable single arm lat row 3x15-20

Seated cable wide grip upper back row 3x15-20

Lat Pulldown 3x15-20

Abs

Friday (accessory day)

20:00 incline treadmill walk (HR 105-115bpm)

Seated Calf Raises 3x15-20

Donkey calf raises 3x15-20

Tib raises 3x15-20

Standing calf raises (stretch focused) 3x15-20

Seated DB shrugs 3x15-20

DB Y Raise 3x15-20

Kelso Shrugs

Cable glute pull-throughs 3x15-20

Abs

10:00 stairmaster (HR 135-145bpm)

Saturday

20:00 incline treadmill walk (HR 105-115bpm)

DB Reverse Glute focused lunge 3x15-20

Hip adduction machine 3x15-20

Hack squat 3x15-20

Standing calf raise 3x15-20

Single leg curl machine 3x15-20

Now I do an arm or chest/back after this

One of two:

Biceps stretched curl variation 3x15-20

Triceps overhead extension variation 3x15-20

Front delt shoulder variation 3x15-20

Biceps brachi curl variation 3x15-20

Triceps extension variation 3x15-20

Side delt variation 3x15-20

Biceps variation 3x15-20

Triceps extension variation 3x15-20

Rear delt variation 3x15-20

Or:

Upper chest press 3x15-20

Lower chest fly 3x15-20

Upper chest fly 3x15-20

Chest focused Dips 3x15-20

Single arm cable lat pull 3x15-20

T-bar upper back row 3x15-20

Rear delt fly 3x15-20

Seated cable v-bar row

Sunday

Off

1 Like
2

Are you growing/are you jacked? If yes to either of those, then you’re good to go. Keep killing it! If no, and you need advice on cleaning things up, that’s a different convo because I HATE the way you’ve structured this lol

6 Likes
3

If your actions align with your goals, and your results meet your expectations, no.

You’re in pretty damn good shape. Thats not easy. It takes what it takes.

1 Like
4

What do you suggest? I’d like to hear it, please.

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5

There is no way say from a paper if you’re doing too much.

If you’re progressing and aren’t constantly totally fatiqued or injured you’re fine.

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6

Well if you want to do a more reasonable high volume approach, I really love the Mountain Dog style layout for your workouts, so you would do 3-4 exercises per body part with 3-4 sets per exercise per session. The classic schedule layout would be like: Legs, Chest and Shoulders, Rest, Back, Arms and then an optional pump workout for a weak body part. The pump session would be mostly Machine and Dumbbell Focused in higher rep ranges, say 12-20 for about 3 sets for 3-4 exercises.

Here’s John himself to help you set it up:

5 Likes
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Exactly what I was going to say. You’re in fantastic shape @rgruntorad. I think you stand to lose more than gain by trying to “fix” a bunch of stuff.

That’s not necessarily about this point, specifically, and I certainly think you can back volume down if you’d like. I just mean you’ve had a handful of “am I doing this right?” posts… and you’re clearly doing it right.

4 Likes
8

I think another point to make is do you enjoy doing what you’re doing? That’s half the battle in my opinion. If you enjoy it, feel good and you’re clearly getting results, just keep at it

4 Likes
9

Your in great shape. If you like this split, your recovering properly and your making progress toward your goals then no need to change.
That being said, have you tried any other training styles?
@davemccright gave you some good info on Meadows training. I have seen some of my best results with this type of training.
Nothing wrong with switching it up for a training cycle and see how you like it.

3 Likes
10

Sometimes you gotta go out a limb, because that’s where the fruit is.

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11

Here’s my new split. Thoughts on it? I felt like I wasn’t hitting arms or chest and back on a given week enough times. So, I changed to this. Thoughts? Too much volume? I feel that I’m recovering alright.

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Couple of explanations on the calendar: SS on Monday’s and Friday stands for Split Support (how I get in extra work on arms or chest and back on a week where I only have one full chest & back or arms workout). Wednesday’s, I add a calf exercise and traps to help with my lagging areas. I do a second day of conditioning (10 minute incline treadmill walk keeping HR at 130 bpm) on either Monday or Friday, but never on a leg day.

Here’s my exact program:

Arms

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Legs A

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Chest & Back 1 or 2

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Arms B

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Legs B

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12

Feel like abs are being hit too much 6 months ago. And a whole day dedicated to arms seemed excessive. Newer split looks better. I bet just changing things up made a huge difference.

13

I still have a day dedicated to arms in this new split.

14

For arms SS, I do two sets each of a bicep, tricep and shoulder exercise. Then on chest and back SS days, I do 3 sets each of a press or fly, paired with a lat or upper back exercise.

15

I like the focus on arm training. Really, I think you doing the routine will give you a better idea of if it’s good than any feedback we may have. Especially because we all have our own opinions and biases that could steer you in different directions. Give this some time, obviously you’ll need a few months to really see how effective it is, but if you’re enjoying it, then I’d say it’s a good fit. This is your training, so it should be a reflection of you and what you want to improve and how you want to go about it.

1 Like
16

For sure! I just didn’t know if the total sets/volume per week was getting too high in some people’s opinions. I know total number of sets per week for a given muscle is so controversial.

17

Don’t worry about that unless you just aren’t recovering. I’ve been using a lot higher volume than this for most of 2025. The volume question is very much down to personal preference, recovery and if you’re in good enough shape to handle higher volumes. From my observations, you’re always in fantastic shape so no worries there.

2 Likes
18

Personally I would not do legs a/b in the same week. I would split this into a 2 week program and do A one week and B another. I did this with great results. I can dig up the exact exercise scheme if you’d like to see it. I would go super hard week1 and then easier on week2. Recovery would be fantastic this way and i’d be ready to smash it on week1 again.
This would also free up a day during the week for your additional arm/lagging work work.

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19

I just feel my legs are lagging behind and only one leg day per week would set me back even greater. Just my opinion, but I see what you’re saying, honestly!

20

Not sure that is true as your recovery would be better. That’s how you grow muscle. Too much work on a muscle group is not a good thing either. More does not mean more results.
You could always add in a ham/quad movement on your “lagging” day but two full days as you have it structured I believe is too much in one week.
As I said above my best results were splitting it up this way.
Legs are flexed in the pic but it’s not a leg day so no leg pump.

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2 Likes