Question re. volume

R

r_graz

New Member
I've seen various approaches to # of sets across the rep ranges, but the "vanilla" one I was planning to follow for my first cycle was 1x15, 2x10, and 3x5.  But when I do the math, the total amount of work done (weight x reps x sets) during the 10's is way more than the 5's.  Is this a good thing, bad thing...or does it not matter?

I guess I expected that the total workload would ramp up steadily over the 8 weeks, and end in another SD period.

Does it make any sense to make the total number of reps per exercise constant in each rep range (1 set of 15's, 1.5 sets of 10's, 3 sets of 5's), or am I completely overthinking this?  
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Thanks.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">during the 10's is way more than the 5's. Is this a good thing, bad thing...or does it not matter?</div>

It does not matter... if it is a big deal to you, then cut the 2nd work set of 10's in half.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I guess I expected that the total workload would ramp up steadily over the 8 weeks, and end in another SD period.

Does it make any sense to make the total number of reps per exercise constant in each rep range (1 set of 15's, 1.5 sets of 10's, 3 sets of 5's), or am I completely overthinking this?
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The total workload does ramp up steadily over the 8 weeks with an occasional zig-zag due to increasing load. Most likely, you would get burned out if you increased the volume as well as the load.
 
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(colby2152 @ Nov. 13 2006,15:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">It does not matter... if it is a big deal to you, then cut the 2nd work set of 10's in half.</div>
I guess that's all I really needed to know. I figured 1x15, 2x10, 3x5 approach must work since people have been successful with it, it just surprised me when I added it up and found that each day in the 10's had greater overall tonnage than the corresponding day in the 5's.
 
A lot of people say they grow more in the 10s than in the 5s, and I think this is why (that its more total workload). The worst thing is they disrepect the 5s because of it. I actually want to start recommending 2x8 (up to your 10RM) as it is closer to the 15 reps you are aiming for with the other rep ranges (16reps is close enough), and it is always 2 reps away from failure, even with your 10RM, so you can always do 2 full sets. I failed on the 17th rep (10+7 with a 45-60sec rest) with my 10RM weight when I last did it, and as we know failure is bad, so 2x8 is much safer. Then when I did 3x5, I found the reduction in work made it seem &quot;easy&quot;.

1.5x10 is fine too, but 2x8 seems a bit neater.
 
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(Peak_Power @ Nov. 13 2006,18:25)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">A lot of people say they grow more in the 10s than in the 5s, and I think this is why (that its more total workload). The worst thing is they disrepect the 5s because of it. I actually want to start recommending 2x8 (up to your 10RM) as it is closer the 15 reps you are aiming for with the other rep ranges (16reps is close enough), and it is always 2 reps away from failure, even with your 10RM, so you can always do 2 full sets. I could only do 17reps (10+7 with a 45-60sec rest) total with my 10RM when I last did it.</div>
I spent 4 months before I started HST doing a 5x5, so the 5's are the only thing that are going to feel &quot;normal&quot; to me
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2x8 sounds interesting, since I figure by the end of my 10's I won't be able to bang out 2 full sets without clustering reps anyway.
 
Waitaminnit, didn't we take a poll on here as to where people grew the most? I thought it was in the fives that had the most votes. For me, it's the tens where I start looking bigger. But that doesn't mean I've stopped increasing or rebounding in the fives.
 
Waitaminnit, didn't we take a poll on here as to where people grew the most? I thought it was in the fives that had the most votes. For me, it's the tens where I start looking bigger. But that doesn't mean I've stopped increasing or rebounding in the fives.

OOPTH!
 
I kinda feel that 8s are a little close to 5s and a little too far from 15s. I see no problem with 1.5 sets during 10s. I like it. It keeps fatigue low and keeps work done building over the entire cycle.

This cycle I am doing a total of 25 reps per exercise per w/o, so that's 1.66 x 15s, 2.5 x 10s and 5 x 5. I may drop down to 20 reps for the second week of 10s and 5s but try for 25 during the first week of each mesocycle. So far it's going great.
 
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(Lol @ Nov. 13 2006,20:42)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I kinda feel that 8s are a little close to 5s and a little too far from 15s. I see no problem with 1.5 sets during 10s. I like it. It keeps fatigue low and keeps work done building over the entire cycle.</div>
Yeah, the increasing workload over the cycle is what made sense to me.

Of course I realize that I could do the same thing by just adding reps in the 1st and 3rd mesocycles, but I don't want to kill myself on my first HST run
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I'm going to see how I feel in the 10's, and maybe go with the 1.5 sets approach.

Thanks everyone.
 
When I did my first cycle I did everything by the book and it worked fine so I don't think you have much to worry about. I think exercise selection and calorie consumption will play more of a role in your progress than worrying about deviating from the basic HST game plan at this stage.

Once you have a few cycles under your belt you will be in a better position to know what works for you and be able to experiment accordingly.

All the best.
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Now that I've thought about it a bit more...your increments are not cast in stone either - some of us may do better at lowrep heavy than in the tens. If the fives feel 'light' to you, you could add weight in slightly larger increments to where your 5rm comes out higher, and thereby raise the total poundages of the workouts.

If you're a new lifter, and not yet in tune with your body, this could lead to an overage in weights from increasing too much or for too long. No problem. Just when you get to a set or two failing at, say, rep four, you just do that weight again next workout. Every time I do that I get it the next time, so the effect is the same: strength increases. Then you increase again.
 
My expierence:

15= joint repair...getting back into the swing of things, and endurance

10= GROWTH !!! and true bodybuilding volume feel to it !

5= strength...which we all need to lift more weight more times....which translates into lifting heavier weights in the 10's next cycle for more growth!

just my expierence.

If I had to pick one rep range for overall health...and cosmetics...it would be 3 sets of 12 reps !
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If I had to pick !
 
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(Joe.Muscle @ Nov. 14 2006,09:57)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">15= joint repair...getting back into the swing of things, and endurance

10= GROWTH !!! and true bodybuilding volume feel to it !

5= strength...which we all need to lift more weight more times....which translates into lifting heavier weights in the 10's next cycle for more growth!
If I had to pick !</div>
Well, I'm definitely experiencing the &quot;endurance&quot; aspect now. Heavy 5's for 4 months, and now 15's - quite a change.

I definitely got good strength gains from a 5x5, which gets kind of addictive after a while. Looking forward to trying to push my strength up a bit in the HST 5's, too.
 
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(Joe.Muscle @ Nov. 14 2006,14:57)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">My expierence:

15= joint repair...getting back into the swing of things, and endurance

10= GROWTH !!! and true bodybuilding volume feel to it !

5= strength...which we all need to lift more weight more times....which translates into lifting heavier weights in the 10's next cycle for more growth!

just my expierence.

If I had to pick one rep range for overall health...and cosmetics...it would be 3 sets of 12 reps !
biggrin.gif


If I had to pick !</div>
i agree with joe here,they all have there benefits thats why bryan goes from high to low reps.
doing 15 1set,10 2sets,5 3sets, is not that much difference its only 5reps more.
also i dont zigzag and when i go from 10s to 5s i actually increase the weight so i think that makes up for the drop in reps.
 
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(r_graz @ Nov. 13 2006,15:29)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I've seen various approaches to # of sets across the rep ranges, but the &quot;vanilla&quot; one I was planning to follow for my first cycle was 1x15, 2x10, and 3x5.  But when I do the math, the total amount of work done (weight x reps x sets) during the 10's is way more than the 5's.  Is this a good thing, bad thing...or does it not matter?

I guess I expected that the total workload would ramp up steadily over the 8 weeks, and end in another SD period.

Does it make any sense to make the total number of reps per exercise constant in each rep range (1 set of 15's, 1.5 sets of 10's, 3 sets of 5's), or am I completely overthinking this?  
smile.gif


Thanks.</div>
I don't pay any attention to total workload. Since I sit on my ass all day behind a computer, a construction worker who spends no time in the gym has WAY more total workload than I get by spending one hour at the gym, but does he look like a bber ? No


I'd keep the number of sets the same.
 
''I don't pay any attention to total workload. Since I sit on my ass all day behind a computer, a construction worker who spends no time in the gym has WAY more total workload than I get by spending one hour at the gym, but does he look like a bber ? No


I'd keep the number of sets the same.''

A real comparison would be if you increased the workload and kept everything else constant.
 
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