15 years in the lifting game here.

Everybody has different needs. Personally, 5 days works best for me. Have a tendency to get fat around the midsection easily but also put on muscle and strength just as fast since I LOVE to eat and metabolism is slower. For the first 13 years of lifting it was 3-4 times a week maximum. Got strong and looked big, but 3 years ago I bumped it to 5-6 days and my strength and size really took off - almost night and day difference. Bumped my bench from 315 to 405 and all other lifts took a similar increase.

Again, it's different for everyone but for me to keep the fat down while getting muscle/strength increases I need to lift minimum 4 times per week.

I'd cut a little bit, then work on delts and back just to accentuate that v shape a bit more.

What are your lifts?

That's loser talk, but I wouldn't expect anything different from you. There is ALWAYS room for improvement, otherwise what's the point of lifting if not to better yourself?

It's hard to be 100% satisfied but at some point u should feel content

If you are looking at your physique after years thinking everything needs a lot of work, then that's not good. Not throwing ****s, just being srs

I've made better gains (strength and size) in the past 2 years than in the first 4 years I spent lifting combined. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what works best for you. Especially for those of us that are not naturally gifted in the size/strength department.If you're happy with your size then you can work on conditioning/strength/endurance/explosiveness. Improvement doesn't JUST mean bigger muscles. You would know this if you didn't train like a potato.

True. But it depends on your whole periodization. If you have recovery weeks regularly and you take a day off, thats enough

"The only volume that matters is progressive overload with mechanical tension increasing, tension being the key word." Thats exactly what I said. When you increase your volume, you are increasing your tonnage. In order to achieve the progressive overload, you need to increase the volume.

If I am working out 6 times a week and I suddenly start working out 3 times a week, my performance gonna be affected.

And btw, by Volume I mean weight * sets * reps ... so, the total of work you do per week.

yeah but the problem is weight is the thing that needs to be changing, sets should not be changing, and reps should move up and down. So by saying increasing volume increases hypertrophy really should only be increasing weight increases hypertrophy, I.e.

Doing bench press

week 1 2 sets of 225 for 8 reps
week 2 2 sets of 225 for 10 reps
week 3 2 sets of 235 for 10 reps
week 4 2 sets of 245 for 8 reps

The sets x reps doesnt keep increasing, its an up and down movement, while the weight increases. So increasing volume doesnt increase hypertrophy, increasing weight does.

the other , but less effective way, to stimulate HYPERTROPHY(not strength) is changing tempo, RoM, or angles. None of which increase reps or sets.

How are you supposed to increase your overload, if you don't increase your volume!?
Volume = Weight * Reps * Sets

In you example:

week 1 2 sets of 225 for 8 reps
week 2 2 sets of 225 for 10 reps
week 3 2 sets of 235 for 10 reps
week 4 2 sets of 245 for 8 reps

So,

week 1 = 2*225*8 ... Volume = 3600
week 2 = 2*225*10 ... Volume =4500
week 3 = 2*235*10 ... Volume =4700
week 4 = 2*245*8 ... Volume = 3920
...
week 5 = 2*245*10 ... Volume =4900
week 6 = 2*255*10 ... Volume =5100
week 7 = 2*255*8 ... Volume = 4080

Your volume in increasing (not linear, but still icreasing)


Not to mention that if you have some condition/injury or if you have a lot of experience (by experience I mean if you have been working out for a long period of time), you just can't keep increasing your weight forever. You gonna reach a plateau. So you need to change other variants in order to keep with the progressive overload.

higher volume def works for me for size, just like super low volume worked best for strength for me. Adding more high rep volume work blew up my chest pre covid, I'm not interested in increasing mechanical tension anymore because I'm old and have had too many injuries even with perfect form.

the nuance here is that higher volume is better done (for me) with higher rep ranges and 90% machine exercises vs using free weights where additional volume just wears me down

the current fad of high frequency is bullchit for me because I don't want any more tendinopathy, arthritis etc from my connective tissue recovery not being able to keep up with muscle recovery (that's also why I vary loading parameters and exercises every workout)

But I have a pump in that picture and it’s in the best lighting possible, if you saw a pic of me no pump and normal lighting you would not be impressed

While technically this is true, you are splitting hairs here. Typically when people refer to the volume of a program they are talking sets + reps, not total tonnage.

this stupid fukking site wont let me respond with the 5 paragraph response i made, wtf

keep getting "access denied" responseThats why you change the lift.

I said the variable thats really changing constantly is weight, by saying reps and sets increase hypertrophy that is false, because you go up in reps but also down in reps as you add weight, basically neutralizing reps and sets, the only variable long term that changes, is weight.

Just like you say with you cant increase weight forever, you also cant increase reps forever, and on top of that theres plenty of science showing reps beyond a certain point, usually about 20, fatigue starts taking over and you fail because of fatigue and NOT mechanical tension, so all you are doing is increasing muscle conditioning which does NOT increase muscle size or strength, all that does is allow you to do more reps.

Lets take it even a step further and talk about compound lifts. If you do a bench press for 10 reps, you are less likely to fail because of deltoid fatigue or tricep fatigue, where as if you do 15 or 20 reps it is possible your deltoids will fatigue out before your chest does and that limits the tension you can place on your chest for effective stimulating reps.

So no, I do not agree volume is the measure that increases hypertrophy. I believe a certain volume is ideal, and a certain range of reps and sets is ideal, but its the mechanical tension you can place on the muscle, progressively, that will create the most hypertrophy.

I am of course basing this not only on anecdotes personally, but anecdotes of top level olympia bodybuilders and top level scientists like Brad Schoenfield and Chris Beardsley.

Some person saying " well this is what works for me and grew my chest" holds 0 weight in proving anything, theres way too many other variables as to "why that works for you" than more resp = more growth.

Make sure you're eating properly to accommodate any extra training bro. If you eat correctly (right foods, timing, macros, proper digestion) you can train as much as you'd like

I 100% agree with everything you posted.


I guess the misunderstanding here was the fact that I said "volume" and not "tonnage". Didn't know you separate the concepts, because here, like I said, it means EXACTLY the same (so, weight*reps*set and not just reps*sets).

So what I meant with "volume plays the key role in hypertrophy" was actually "tonnage plays a key role in hypetrophy".

It was probably a language barrier.


This being said, yeah, sets and reps doesn't mean **** by itself.

Because I really like burgers and trash food and beer but I also don't wanna be a fatty

This, overtraining is systemic, not localized fatigue. If you've been redlining it for too long you'll know it for sure. Body and mind starts breaking down if you then don't take your foot off the accelerator.

Intensity seems to be the main culprit, not in as % of 1RM but as in level of exertion.

Just lmao at the jk202 name dropping lately. I go to the gym 5x a week you salty kunts.

Of course that nonce silence speaks is sucking hard OP dik here, shes getting worse than the trolling golf gallery that follows my post

Get a life losers, wasting your time in the gym 5x a week is way less pathetic than talking **** on internet forums 3 hrs a day

Even my mediocre avi at high bodyfat mogs you dorks talking **** on people in the gym..prove me wrong

Silence is the real deal, she's provided good info ITT.

Sorry bro but you are a gymcel, the first step is admitting it. I still lift and make alts in my free downtime.

And no you don't mog me, even though you aren't natty anymore I still mog you.

jakes on you i only get on these forums at work so im getting payed to misc

You've made itI get paid by word count in my posts

Post a back pic, no face . Avi updated (black shorts) at 210 lbs . It's one of my worst bodyparts and I guarantee you don't touch it Lmao

Edit: didn't update

https://imgur.com/a/imMnAuP

2020 miscers who don't lift: "lol at being 210 lbs @ 5'8, DYEL bro??? "

feel better

I eat like that because it's easy for me to do that. I don't brag about it.

You're not even natty, I expected better. Let me see what I have in my files. Not taking a pic because I didn't lift during quarantine and haven't lifted much even after lockdown

Can't spend one day in my shoes
Don't do fraud full price for loubs
Sixteen shots when the gang came through
Still pissed that I burned that Canada Goose, trust, look
Only if you knew what I'd do
For a decent house and a plate of food
Better pray I don't make the news (That's real)

Look
Pack going up north like Pogba
Kev just stepped out of rehab last week
Still tryna score like Didier Drogba
Dan just looks like Harry Potter
Told the cats they should call him Oscar
Hit the M-Way with two phones up (Uh-Huh)
Now I'm tryna come back with guala
Violate bro, ah, no
I'm a family guy like Stewie
But I still gotta do it like Max from Shotta
I was on the island like Nelson Mandela
Left on the wing, like Sonia
I never saw sunlight for nearly two years
I felt like Michael, I'm changin' colour
I, I feel like I been here like a thousand times
Remember '09 Christmas day on the strip
I was doing up drills on a bike
I see mum cry tears of joy that night
When I told her I don't sell white
(Feds asked me if I'm the man in question)
Of course, I lied
Show you my strip, get in my whip, let's go on a drive
Things that I did on these backroads
Can't put on no Insta Live
Of course I can't
Last year I was looking at life
Got nicked by Scotland Yard
Would've thought I was in Glasgow doing up crime
Trust, only if you knew what I do for the guys
Of course you don't
Mum said, "Son don't ruin your life" (ahh)
Put on this mask, things gon' change like Jekyll and Hyde
Way before waps and bricks of white
It was push bikes and kitchen knives (ahh)
Get round there broad day and get round there at night (ahh)
Burn this drip if I have to
I done did that countless times (yeah)
I don't know what you know bout the bando
Bro got rich off the county line (Yeah)
The plug don't do consign
But I still come back with like two at a time
Look, like I ain't sick of this ****
Every day I'm taking risks
Got a big .38 when I step in the 5th
'Cause on the regular *****s get pitched
T got touched one time and he died
Rimz got touched nine times and he lived
Road diversion, tape off strips
Yo, them times we was just kids
Trust, look, only if you knew what I did
Cut through like K and ruin the drip
This wap cost more than two and a bit
Would've thought I was legally blind
The way I came through waving a stick
Don't know why they aim and then miss
That won't pay for this

Ahnold did 6 days a week

Yeah man. I like the structure. I like the routine. It keeps me on track. Gym time and Walk time are scheduled daily. I never miss. I use my OCD to my advantage.