10 X 5: ADVANCED GERMAN VOLUME TRAINING
Awesome program made by Charles Poliquin. It really takes good advantage of linnear progression. It also provides the trainee with a good balance of strength and hypertrophy training.
Tempo: “For long range movements such as squats, dips, and chins, use a 40X0 tempo; this means you would lower the weight in four seconds and immediately change direction and lift explosively for the concentric portion. For movements such as curls and triceps extensions, use a 30X0 tempo.” – Charles Poliquin
Starting Weight: Use 75% of your 10 RM for the ten sets exercise. So if you can squat 335 x 10 reps to positive failure, you would start this program with 250 lbs.
Frequency: Make it work for YOU! If you're lifting a ton of weight, and/or have average to below average recovery, you may need to just do a M, W, F schedule. If you do want greater frequency, especially for those that can handle it, there are a few options:
A) 2 on, 1 off, 1 on, 2 off: Everything gets directly worked twice every 10 days
Monday: Chest/Back
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Arms
Friday: OFF
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Chest/Back
B) 2 on, 1 off, 1 on, 1 off: Everything gets directly worked twice every 9 days (Poliquin’s original template)
Monday: Chest/Back
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Arms
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Chest/Back
Sunday: Legs
All that being said, the only thing that will be extremely taxing (again IMHO) is doing chest/back and legs back to back! So, probably a much better option would be to switch out chest/back day with arms day. Example:
Monday: Arms
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Chest/Back
Friday: OFF
Progression
Workout 1
The goal of the Advanced German Volume Training method is to complete 10 sets of 5 reps with the same weight for each exercise. You want to begin with a weight you could lift for 10 reps to failure (10RM), if you had to push it. For most people, on most exercises, that would represent 75% of their 1 R.M. load. Therefore, if you can bench press 300 pounds for one rep, you would use 225 pounds for this exercise.
Workout 2
Increase the weight by 6-7% and strive to do 10 sets of 4 reps with that weight. Now you're doing 235 lbs.
Workout 3
Increase weight of Workout 1 by 8-9% and strive to do 10 sets of 3 reps with that weight. Yes, you are reading it correctly—8-9%, not 6-7%. Now you're using 255 lbs.
Workout 4
Use the weights you used in Workout 2 and go for 10 sets of 5, which you should do easily. 235 lbs.
Workout 5
Use the weights in workout 3 and go for 10 sets of 4, which again you should do easily. 255 lbs.
Workout 6
By now you should be able to do 10 sets of 3 at 275 pounds with no problem.
My Experience: I tried this program a few years back and had okay results. Hindsight being 20/20, I wasn’t doing exactly what he recommended. For one, I used more weight than I should’ve, which in turn sped up my tempo. Not good since the tempo is the one important thing you should preserve! The other mistake I made was that I performed a textbook superset between the exercises... Which destroyed my prescribed tempos. It's fine for those that could handle doing that, but it didn't work for me. Next time it'll be easier to do one exercise (A-1), REST 90 seconds, then do the other exercise (A-2), rest 90 seconds. So I know the results could’ve been a hundred times better for me had I learned how to read lol!
Awesome program made by Charles Poliquin. It really takes good advantage of linnear progression. It also provides the trainee with a good balance of strength and hypertrophy training.
Tempo: “For long range movements such as squats, dips, and chins, use a 40X0 tempo; this means you would lower the weight in four seconds and immediately change direction and lift explosively for the concentric portion. For movements such as curls and triceps extensions, use a 30X0 tempo.” – Charles Poliquin
Starting Weight: Use 75% of your 10 RM for the ten sets exercise. So if you can squat 335 x 10 reps to positive failure, you would start this program with 250 lbs.
Frequency: Make it work for YOU! If you're lifting a ton of weight, and/or have average to below average recovery, you may need to just do a M, W, F schedule. If you do want greater frequency, especially for those that can handle it, there are a few options:
A) 2 on, 1 off, 1 on, 2 off: Everything gets directly worked twice every 10 days
Monday: Chest/Back
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Arms
Friday: OFF
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Chest/Back
B) 2 on, 1 off, 1 on, 1 off: Everything gets directly worked twice every 9 days (Poliquin’s original template)
Monday: Chest/Back
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Arms
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Chest/Back
Sunday: Legs
All that being said, the only thing that will be extremely taxing (again IMHO) is doing chest/back and legs back to back! So, probably a much better option would be to switch out chest/back day with arms day. Example:
Monday: Arms
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Chest/Back
Friday: OFF
Progression
Workout 1
The goal of the Advanced German Volume Training method is to complete 10 sets of 5 reps with the same weight for each exercise. You want to begin with a weight you could lift for 10 reps to failure (10RM), if you had to push it. For most people, on most exercises, that would represent 75% of their 1 R.M. load. Therefore, if you can bench press 300 pounds for one rep, you would use 225 pounds for this exercise.
Workout 2
Increase the weight by 6-7% and strive to do 10 sets of 4 reps with that weight. Now you're doing 235 lbs.
Workout 3
Increase weight of Workout 1 by 8-9% and strive to do 10 sets of 3 reps with that weight. Yes, you are reading it correctly—8-9%, not 6-7%. Now you're using 255 lbs.
Workout 4
Use the weights you used in Workout 2 and go for 10 sets of 5, which you should do easily. 235 lbs.
Workout 5
Use the weights in workout 3 and go for 10 sets of 4, which again you should do easily. 255 lbs.
Workout 6
By now you should be able to do 10 sets of 3 at 275 pounds with no problem.
My Experience: I tried this program a few years back and had okay results. Hindsight being 20/20, I wasn’t doing exactly what he recommended. For one, I used more weight than I should’ve, which in turn sped up my tempo. Not good since the tempo is the one important thing you should preserve! The other mistake I made was that I performed a textbook superset between the exercises... Which destroyed my prescribed tempos. It's fine for those that could handle doing that, but it didn't work for me. Next time it'll be easier to do one exercise (A-1), REST 90 seconds, then do the other exercise (A-2), rest 90 seconds. So I know the results could’ve been a hundred times better for me had I learned how to read lol!
Here's an example that I prefer to follow. Not drastically different, but there are differences.
Monday: Arms
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Chest/Back
Friday: OFF
This is the example layout I will use. It will be much easier to walk into an intense leg day after only working out your arms vs. blasting your chest and back! I think everyone can agree on that point.
Sample Routine: You’ll notice a few different things in there that wasn’t part of the original AGVT template.
1) Squats does not have a superset.
2) Supplementals are 3 x 10.
3) Shorter rest between sets.
4) Added a shoulder isolation on arms day.
Day 1: Shoulders/Arms
A-1) Closegrip Bench
10 sets of 5 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
A-2) Incline DB Curls
10 sets of 5 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
B-1) Skullcrushers
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
B-2) Hammer Curls
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
C-1) Side Laterals
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 45 seconds
Day 2: Legs
A-1) Back Squats
10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
B-1) Glute-Ham Raises
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
B-2) Calf Raises
3 sets of 10 on a 5-0-1 tempo, rest 60 seconds
Day 4: Chest/Back
A-1) Dumbbell Bench Press
10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
A-2) Wide Grip Pull-ups
10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
B-1) Weighted Dips
3 sets of 10 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
B-2) T-Bar Rows
3 sets of 10 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
Day 6: Shoulders/Arms
A-1) Seated Zottman Curls
10 sets of 5 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
A-2) Decline Closegrip Bench
10 sets of 5 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
B-1) Wide Cable Curls
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
B-2) Rope Pressdowns
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
C-1) DB Upright Rows
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 45 seconds
Day 7: Legs
A-1) Hack Squats
10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-2 tempo, rest 90 seconds
B-1) Hamstring Press
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
B-2) Pullthroughs
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
Day 9: Chest/Back
A-1) Incline Barbell Press
10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
A-2) Supinated Grip Rack Chins
10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds
B-1) Decline DB Press
3 sets of 10 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
B-2) One Handed DB Rows
3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds
