by BigCanuk

We've all heard proponents of low volume, high intensity saying
that it's the only way to train. Yet we've all seen the mass
mongers who do 20 sets per body part getting the results we
want as well. So who's right? According to a recent study, two
groups were chosen to workout. One group did the regular 3 sets
of 3 different exercises per body part. The other group did
one set. At the end of 3 months, the group that did only one
set had better results! Unfortunately, this study only used
individuals who had no bodybuilding or serious lifting
experience and did not monitor critical elements such as protein
intake, rest levels, etc. It does however show us some very
interesting details concerning what the body responds to best.

On that note, we've known for a long time that human GH levels
go up at the start of a workout but quickly diminish after about 45
minutes. That's why it's always recommended to try to finish
your workout in under an hour. You can take advantage of your
bodies' own natural GH levels that way. This is definitely a
bonus round for enthusiasts of the low volume, high intensity
workout.

I recently tried the 10 sets of 10 workout at 60% of the maximum
lift for 2 weeks. I was very disappointed with MY results. I
incurred 2 injuries (very minor and short lived but an injury is
always something you can't enjoy.) The one was some serious
pain in my knee which showed up the day after the leg workout
and taking ibuprofen for 10 days was what got me through that.
The other was an elbow injury from doing triceps which also
went away after about 5 days. I can only assume these injuries
occurred from mass repetitions. Let's face it, 100 reps for one
exercise is a lot. The clincher is that I am one of those low
volume, high intensity workout guys and I believe this departure
was just too radical for my body to handle and it let me know
that by giving me the painful injuries I mentioned. Needless to
say, I went back to the low volume, high intensity again and
have been enjoying my gains once more.

There is a time and a place for everything and we have to be
the ones to be in tune with when and where that is so we don't
overtax ourselves and wind up being broken down wondering
what happened. So be in tune with what your body tells you. If
it likes and responds best to 3 sets of 3 different exercises,
keep with it. If it likes one set per body part, so be it.

Planned over and under training can take you a long way if you
plan them well. I've been doing it for years and still dabbling
with other styles as I feel the inclination to but keep coming
back to what works best for me. With all these points in mind,
you should be able to experiment and find what your body likes
best and fine tune your workout to see the results you want.