German Volume Training is fucking insane — it’s not for everyone, but then again, everyone’s not made for German Volume Training.
It’s for people who are just as fucking insane.
German Volume Training (GVT) is for people who want to push themselves beyond all limits — to crush yourself, look at your watch, and get right back to crush yourself again.
When you’re almost at the end, you’ll start doubting yourself. “Maybe I should just finish here,” you’ll think. But then, just a few seconds later, you’re right back under the bar doing “just one more” set.
It’s for people who don’t mind looking like an idiot when walking down the stairs after your workout. It’s for people who don’t mind crippling soreness for days.
Most importantly, it’s for people who want to get big.
What Is German Volume Training (GVT)?
Popularized by one of my heros, Charles Poliquin — but by no means created by him — GVT is simple: subject your body with enough volume to make it quiver.
Ten sets of ten repetitions. Big barbell exercises. Slow, 4-second eccentrics. Limited rest. Rinse and repeat.
By throwing that much volume and time-under-tension to your muscles, you’ll create an unbelievable stimulus for muscle growth and repair. You’ll flood your muscles with blood to generate a superhuman pump.
Why I Did It?
Previously, my workouts were too one-dimensional: low reps, high weight. Anything about 6 reps killed me. Something had to change. So, like any guy with a mid-life crisis, I went to the extreme:
100 total reps of every exercise.
“Volume training” at it’s finest. My goal was to do it while going on a massive bulk.
How I Organized My GVT Program
I had one exception to the 10×10: my legs. When you do squats, for example, all of your leg muscles are working to varying degrees. And subjecting your leg muscles to 200 total repetitions would be overkill. Thus, I broke it up into 60 reps with one exercise (knee-dominant) and 60 with another (hip-dominant).
Here was my suicide note, I mean, “workout program:”
Monday:
1a) Prone Supported Dumbbell Row: 10 x 10
1b) Dumbbell Overhead Press with Neutral Grip: 10 x 10
Alternate between exercises with a 90 second break in between.
Tuesday:
1a) Front Squats: 10 x 6
2a) Single-leg Romanian Deadlifts: 10 x 6
Complete all sets of first exercise with 60 second rest in between before doing the second exercise.
Thursday:
1a) Dumbbell Bench Press: 10 x 10
1b) Lat Pulldown with Closed Grip: 10 x 10
Alternate between exercises with a 90 second break in between.
Friday:
1a) Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squat: 10 x 6
2a) SHELC: 10 x 6
Complete all sets of first exercise with 60 second rest in between before doing the second exercise.
(By far, my least favorite day.)
For six, fucking, weeks.
What It Felt Like
Hell.
You use every morsel of rest to suck wind and you feel a horrible burn with every second under the bar. (4-second eccentrics for 10 reps add up to almost minute-long sets.) After your set, you throw the weights off, slump in a corner, daze off, stalk the clock until 60 or 90 seconds elapse, and do it again.
At that time, I also did intermittent fasting, which meant I trained around 1pm on an empty stomach — believe it or not, once you get used to it, it doesn’t bother you.
Every time I finished my workout, I felt an uncontrollable urge to yell, laugh, jump up-and-down, and cry.
My Results
I didn’t gain much size or weight.
The science behind the program isn’t that great: although the volume was ridiculous and volume does drive intensity, size and strength gains won’t be optimal with weights around 60% or less of your one-rep max. In plain-English: there’s a huge burn, but there’s not a lot of weight lifted.
That’s not the reason, however, I didn’t see many results — there are many examples of people who saw great success. (I just want to point out a small fault with the science behind GVT before you try it.)
Either way, I didn’t care. I was just glad it was over. The victory to me was just completing the damned thing, doing every rep, and earning the satisfaction to know I could do something this crazy (and stupid). Yeah, maybe I should’ve ditched the fasting so I could’ve ate more each day, but oh well…
… I made up for it in boba.
My n***a. P.s. I can personally vouch for all the hysterical yelling and jumping around after each day of hell.
That’s what’s good, fam. I love that you tagged yourself as an all-caps “LAWRENCE,” by the way.
Just a couple suggestions, for the next time you try:
1. if you sum up the total volume for each muscle in your plan, you’ll realize it’s not so much (100 reps per week is not “high volume” at all, considered you’re using 60% of your one rep max)
2. GVT is to be considered a “mass” program in a traditional (linear) periodization – this means no restrictions in diet, and absolutely no fasting (please consider we’re talking about a popular ’90s method, and in those years bodybuilders ate religiously every 2-3 hours, sometimes even waking up in the middle of the night to eat)
With Intermittent Fasting, you could have set up an overtraining program. Keeping the total volume low, you ended with something strange that is not GVT (you defined it “stupid”, I wouldn’t be so harsh, let’s say “muscle maintenance”, that is exactly what happened 🙂 )
Haha, well said Dario! Thanks for the input. Next time, I need to eat, eat, and eat! 😉
Apparently, I have been volume training for years …
Two day split that averages 1.5 circuits per week for about 9 months a year, then tapers off toward the holidays. 30 total sets per day, 60-70% 1-rep max weights, with variance. Short rest. Under 60 seconds per.
I’m 45, 5’9″ and I’ve never weighed more than 185. During the summer I cut weight without thinking about it (165-170). Heavy cardio.
I know, I know. It’s a calorie issue. My training is a b*tch and most humans wouldn’t do it for a week. GVT and it’s makeshift equivalents can be done year-round. I mean, if you really think about it, it’s a maintenance routine.
Impressive. I hope that works well for you. 🙂