How to build muscle with GVT: German Volume Training AKA Ten Sets Method / 10 Sets Routine

A guide to German Volume Training

2009-08-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome. This is an unofficial beginner's guide to German Volume Training, AKA the "Ten Sets Method", first introduced to the US by Charles Poliquin. As a routine for gaining weight, building mass and increasing strength-endurance, it's second to none.

NOTE: German Volume Training is for advanced lifters ONLY. If you do not have impeccable form for compound lifts, you will risk injury by attempting this routine. Do NOT compromise form in order to squeeze out extra reps.

2008-11-23T16:28:00.000-08:00

Here are the chapters of German Volume Training:

German Volume Training

Advanced German Volume Training

APPENDIX A: Suggested Exercises for German Volume Training

Suggested exercises for German Volume Training

2008-11-23T16:13:00.000-08:00

The following exercise are my suggestions for use with German Volume Training. NOTE: Do not do squats and deadlifts in the same cycle.

From: Bodybuilding Exercises

CHEST
barbell bench press
decline smith bench press
hammer strength press (incline and decline)
other good machine press
incline barbell bench press
decline barbell bench press
incline dumbbell press
flat dumbbell press
decline dumbbell press
weighted push ups

SHOULDERS
smith presses to front
smith presses to back of head
hammer strength press
other good machine press
barbell press to front
barbell press to back of head
dumbbell shoulder press
standing military press (to front of head)

TRICEPS
close grip bench
reverse grip bench
close grip incline bench
CG decline bench
CG dumbbell or smith bench
skullcrushers
dips (in upright position)
diamond pushups (weighted)

BACK
rack chins to front
rack chins to back of head
reverse grip rack chins (close grip)
assisted pullups
assisted chin-ups
pullups
chin-ups
hammer strength "pulldown" machines
other good "pulldown" machines
pulldowns to front
pulldowns to back of head
deadlift
rack deadlift
T-bar rows
smith rows
hammer strength rows
bent-over rows

CALVES
calves on a leg press
standing calf raises
calves in hack squat
seating calf raises
any calf machine with a good range of motion

HAMSTRINGS
seating leg curls
standing leg curls
lying leg curls
stiff leg deadlift
sumo presses

QUADS
squats
smith machine squats
hack squats (machine)
hack squats (barbell)
leg press
supine leg press
front squat
overhead squat

Intermediate German Volume Training

2008-11-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

"After six of those five-day cycles, I recommend you do a three-week phase where the average set is six to eight reps, and do only four to six sets per body part over a five-day cycle, or you can do any other split that suits your recovery pattern. After this three-week block, you can return to the German Volume Training method by doing the following ten sets of six reps routine. In the exercises that are prescribed for 10 sets, use a load you'd normally be able to do 12 repetitions with. The goal in this phase is to do ten sets of six with that load." ~Charles Poliquin

Monday: Chest & Back - one exercise for each and do 10 sets of 6 reps

Wednesday: Legs, calfs, and abs - 10 sets of 6 reps for legs - 3 sets of 15+ reps for calfs and abs

Friday: Shoulders, biceps, and triceps - 10 sets of 6 reps for shoulders - 3 sets of 12+ reps for biceps and triceps

Rest 90 seconds in between each main (10x6) exercise set, 60 seconds in between each smaller exercise set.

Advanced German Volume Training

2008-11-23T15:31:00.000-08:00

So now you've done German Volume Training. You've done it, you've gotten more strength endurance, and you've gained a nice load of weight. You wanna change it up a bit?

I've only seen one way that has been recommended by Charles Poliquin for the advanced trainee, to change it up a bit. How's that?

For an advanced trainee...

Continued:
Advanced German Volume Training

Advanced German Volume Training 2

2008-11-23T15:22:00.000-08:00

By Darkhorse

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!

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

German Volume Training for Beginners

2008-11-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

German Volume Training. The ten sets method. Whatever you wanna call it, this is an old-school routine that Charles Poliquin introduced to America, and hardcore bodybuilders and lifters soon adopted. It's not one of the easier routines out there. Au contraire, it's one of the most grueling.

What is it? Simple. Ten sets of ten reps. You start with 50-60 percent of your one rep max on any given lift, and do the same weight 100 total times. This means that if you squat 200 lbs, you do 10x10 using...

continued here: German Volume Training