I’m currently cutting down for summer, (another 6-8 weeks) and have been researching a program to bulk on. Checked out German volume training (GVT) which as the name entails, has high volume. Over the last 7 months i have been keeping to a 5x5 program, and at the moment i 'm on a sort of HIT type workout.
I thought the extra volume would make a total change and shock to my muscles (hypertrophy is my main goal). Howver, the results for GVT is totally mixed. Some getting outstanding results and others wishing they have never done it!
Could any shed their experience of GVT? - Or make recommendations for me?
To reiterate My goal is size, I have gained alot of strength through 5x5 and would like to bring up some size to match!
[quote]JT111 wrote:
I’m currently cutting down for summer, (another 6-8 weeks) and have been researching a program to bulk on. Checked out German volume training (GVT) which as the name entails, has high volume. Over the last 7 months i have been keeping to a 5x5 program, and at the moment i 'm on a sort of HIT type workout. I thought the extra volume would make a total change and shock to my muscles (hypertrophy is my main goal). Howver, the results for GVT is totally mixed. Some getting outstanding results and others wishing they have never done it!
Could any shed their experience of GVT? - Or make recommendations for me?
To reiterate My goal is size, I have gained alot of strength through 5x5 and would like to bring up some size to match!
Thank you for your support, and feedback!!![/quote]
It’s a love hate relationship! I’ve been doing a high volume approach recently with some great results. It’s designed by a Poliquin practitioner and is 8 sets of 8 reps, 8 exercises per session, 4 sessions a week.
The exercises that I’ve been doing probably wouldn’t be appropriate for most, given that there is some remedial work in there to sort out latent muscle imbalances but overall I’m very pleased with the results. In the 4 weeks so fart, I’ve cut fat and gained lean mass (demonstrated by a 10 site bf test every 2 weeks). I’ve put on about 3lbs of mass and cut the same in fat. I imagine that if you eat a lot and eat well, GVT would do good things. Recovery is the only issue that I’ve encountered - you need to be spot on with your PWO nutrition otherwise you’re going to be uncomfortably sore!
Thanks for your reply Indy! - I have some USN muscle fuel anabolic! - around 500-600 cals for post nutrition and will be trying to eat around 4k cals (BMR is 2800) so it should be a nice excess! Do you think it will benefit me? I have never really done high rep / volume before, I 'm pretty good at lifting heavy, i thought it would be a massive shock for new growth.
[quote]JT111 wrote:
Thanks for your reply Indy! - I have some USN muscle fuel anabolic! - around 500-600 cals for post nutrition and will be trying to eat around 4k cals (BMR is 2800) so it should be a nice excess! Do you think it will benefit me? I have never really done high rep / volume before, I 'm pretty good at lifting heavy, i thought it would be a massive shock for new growth.
Thanks again for your reply :)[/quote]
I am probably not experienced enough to tell you precisely whether you’ll benefit, though eating lots of good food and training with intensity should see most people make progress. I forgot to mention that my rest periods were 20-30 seconds between sets - its pretty tough. Largely speaking, you’ll need to take a ego check when you walk in the door. The high volume and multiple exercises make fatigue a real problem, so the weights that you can lift will be limited short of heavy lifting. I know that the first week that I did it, I was at about 50% of my 1RM for most lifts. Take a look at Poliquins site and on here for a couple of links about GVT.
on multiple forums people have posted at how tough this program is!