People told me l’m doing junk volume. I’ve never seen such fast gains though

@baker5 Here’s my bi/back day

1 arm lat pulldowns (alternating)

Pin 60lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps

Barbell peacher curl

55lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps

Reverse barbell preacher curl

55 lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps

Row plate machine (together)

4 plates. 3 sets, 10 reps

Superset 1:

Seated waiter curl

45lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps

Seated curl (together)

15lbs x2. 3 sets, 20 reps

Superset 2:

Seated curl (alternating)

40lbs x2. 3 sets, 10 reps

Seated zottman curl (together)

20lbs x2. 3 sets, 10 reps

Triple set:

Barbell row (3 overhand, 3 underhand)

Bar +2 plates. 6 sets, 10 reps

Standing 1 arm hold curl

30lbs x2. 3 sets, 10 reps

Standing inwards hammer curl

30lbs x2. 3 sets, 10 reps

End of triple set

Incline curl (together)

25lbs x2. 3 sets, 15 reps

Neutral grip lat pulldown

Pin 120lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps

Preacher curl machine

Pin 110lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps

Single arm row

80lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps

Single arm cable curl

Pin 15lbs. 3 sets, 20 reps

Superset 3:

Rope lat pulldown

Pin 50lbs, 3 sets, 10 reps

Rope curl

Pin 42.5lbs. 3 sets, 10 reps

Seated shrug rows

75lbs x2. 3 sets, 10 reps
 
@faetalesprincess Is it junk volume? Possibly/probably to a point. But at the same time, it’s obviously doing something, so I say keep it up! Everyone’s body is different, so if it works for you, go for it. That said, being an experienced lifter and gaining that much muscle that fast being natural is insane, so it’s likely mostly water/inflammation, BUT its also probably better muscle gains too.
 
@faetalesprincess Different strokes for different folks; be consistent and run a few 8-12 week programs while watching your stats; you’ll find what makes you grow.

For me it’s 3-5 sets @ 3-5 reps a couple times a week. Classic bodybuilding programs that are about progressively overloading high reps didn’t do as much for me.
 
@faetalesprincess We have a similar amount of volume per workout. I do 2.5 hours per day, 6 days per week of push pull legs. I’m jacked af compared to dudes I know even taking roids and test.

Every time I post it on Reddit I get downvoted, told I’m doing junk, and that it’s genetics. When I was your age I lifted 4 hours per week and was small af and thought the same thing, “bad genetics”. I’m 31 now and never been more jacked.

Wasn’t until the most jacked natty guy in my college who won competitions posted his routine which was 2 hours per day, 6 days per week, that I started to realize I wasn’t doing enough, and all the small dudes online are posting wrong info
 
@faetalesprincess In studies they always find high responders to high volume and high intensity. You seem to be in category 1, but also out of norm.

My question would be, why did you do it? Did you feel like it would be great?
 
@faetalesprincess Literally 9/9 natty jacked af guys I’ve known over the years lift at least 10 hours per week.

The first guy I learned from did the same as your gym bud. He posted his routine and lifted 12 hours per week. Couldn’t believe it for a while.
 
@faetalesprincess My theory is that once you lowered the weight and did 36 sets of biceps in a day, you are curling with lighter weights with good form and not cheating on bicep curls anymore. That's why your arms blew up. Yeah if you do enough volume with light weights, I guess you can grow that way too. It just might not be the most efficient use of your time.

36 sets of biceps (!!!) in one day is crazy though. I don't advise you do that. One time back in like 2012 when I was a complete n00b, I borrowed my sister's dumbbell set. And I did 10 lb dumbbell bicep curls for like 10 minutes straight practically with minimal breaks in between from what I recall. I have no clue how I didn't get tired. Because I didn't know that you're supposed to do sets. And when I woke up the next morning, my arms were fucked for a week.

Definitely go up at least 5 lbs on those dumbbells if you're able to do 36 sets in one day. lmfao.

My dumbbells at home only go up to 15 lbs. I recently decided to do 30 reps of 15 lb bicep curls (I remember when 15 lbs used to be challenging for me last year) and was nowhere close to failure so I was like fuck that. But when I do 35 lb dumbbell bicep curls, even 30 lbs at the gym, I start to really hate life trying to get to like 12 reps. And then when I stop curling, I notice the soreness is mostly in my forearms. Which makes me suspect that I cheat on bicep curls when I go that heavy. Or I might grip the dumbbell too much. Which might be a symptom that I curl too heavy.

You have to find the sweet spot between form vs. load. And also be mindful of time. Because it can just take forever to go to failure or near failure if the load is too light.
 
@asperd I do 18 biceps cause i get a ton of work from doing other pull exercises, but my workouts are 2.5 hours and I never dropped my weight.
 
@faetalesprincess do you go to my gym? because I've definitely had some guy do like 30 sets on one machine while I wait on my phone and/or some other guy doing 15 sets of 0 while I wait.

The serious answer is people are considering it junk volume because it is junk volume and you could likely get equivalent results in like 1/4 of the volume. In your case, maybe 1/10 (wtf). For that matter, biceps are slightly fast twitch dominant, so heavy weight, low reps might actually be better. The reason many people (rightfully so) do lighter weight is because form on bicep curls break down pretty quickly when overloaded.

Yes genetic variations yada yada, but nah dude, there's no way you're doing anywhere near 36 quality sets- you're trolling.
 
@faetalesprincess I used to do full-body 5-6 days a week, like the same exercises day after day. I used cable machines a lot, kept rest times to about 1 minute, never used heavy weight and focused on contraction, but went to failure. I did it for about 3 months and got amazing results.

My thinking going into it was to do what I did when I had an amazing 6-pack, which was exercise my abs to failure every day. I applied the same to every muscle. It worked.
 
Back
Top