How effective is volume periodization and how do you handle the time requirements of high volume?

[lupacexi]

For the last couple of months, I have been adopting the learnings from Mike Israetel on volume periodization. For those who aren't aware of his methods, the underlying idea is that you periodize volume over a 4-10 week period. He recommends starting with a low yet effective volume and effort, ramping up volume and effort every week until you reach a level that is difficult to recover from before deloading and repeating. For example, you could start with 8 sets of biceps / week with 3 reps in reserve and then increase that volume to 20 sets / week with 0-1 reps in reserve over that 4-10 week period.

How effective is this approach to training compared to an approach where you keep volume constant somewhere in betweeen the minimum effective volume and the maximum recoverable volume (e.g. around 15 sets / week for biceps)?

If there are benefits to periodizing volume, how do you handle high volume without spending a ton of time in the gym? I am now nearing the end of my first periodization and the volume for most muscle groups is around 15-20 sets per week. The issue is that I am now in the gym 6 days a week for about 2 hours per workout.

 

[krispablos]

@lupacexi What’s the goal with this training style? I think periodization has a place in strength training but not hypertrophy. Any program designed for hypertrophy that has deloads, reps in reserve, or volume periodization is not as effective as it could be.

 

[lupacexi]

@krispablos The goal is purely hypertrophy

 

[krispablos]

@lupacexi Then ditch all that shit and go back to the basics. Get 6-10 sets to failure per muscle per week. Follow a linear progressive overload scheme (keep reps the same and add weight each session). That’s all you ever need to do to get big.

 

[abramsailor]

@krispablos Only 6-10 sets? If i do chest twice a week i would do only 3 to 5 sets per workout then?

 

[krispablos]

@abramsailor Yup.

 

[mommajulesberry]

@lupacexi i love dr mike. i think lots of people put the cart before the horse and forget that the methods applied properly should still look like something you can recognize as progressive overload and adding a set when you feel like you need more stimulus

- ie while the RIR will change over a week, thinking of it more like w1-5: 100lbs, 105, 110, 115, 120, deload w6-10: 110,115,120,125,130 deload will keep your eye on the prize of getting stronger over time

- mike literally says you can probably get very close to your potential just sticking to middle of the lane volume, maybe taking a light session or two reactively. life also deloads for you if you are the sort of person who takes weeks off for valid reasons or just incidentally every few months.

- i went through a phase myself of just copying the general mev-mrv landmarks to a tee and ramping them from low to high over 6 weeks which was in retrospect probably not what mike would want either. i would probably go by the training volume landmarks article and look at the formula if you want to try something like this and basically try to make it a very intuitive process as in learn to eyeball your own perception of stimulus and probably add that extra set reactively. mike pretty much says that in practice you're pretty much just adding a set per muscle per week or even keeping the same if you feel like last week you got a great workout.

- the whole principle is to increase stimulus over time via more means than just weight x reps. if you physically would rather not spend 2 hours and would rather just apply these principles and try to get out of the gym a bit earlier you can just take some more sets to failure instead of adding more sets because it's the last week of the meso you're supposed to recover from whatever you throw at it.