German Volume Training

While this is not a strength program, it is used by weightlifters trying to move up a weight class between seasons.

Most of you may have heard about it. I have used it with success on my clients. In fact, the guy that won my last comp, Chris, was one of the first guys to do it.

It works like this. You need to do 10 x 10 with a set weight, having only 60 seconds rest between sets. Pretty simple hey.

This only works with a few exercises obviously. Squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press. Dont bother with anything else, its not what its intended for.

Train 4 days a week, doing 2 of the movements each session. Squat and overhead press and deadlift with bench press.

The only variation I have found for those that are time poor is to superset the 2 movements, and have 2 minutes rest rather than 1.

Dont get too excited about the weight used, it will nearly always be too high.

This is not for everyone. If you cant use 60kg in the BP for 10 x 10, 100kg in the squat for 10 x 10, 140kg in the deadlift for 10 x 10 and 40kg in the overhead press, then its not for you.

You will be better off doing a total body workout 3 times a week until you get strong. If your using 40kg in the squat and 30kg in the bench, your going to look like a dick anyway.

You need to eating a surplus of calories as well. I suggest 4.5 times your bodyweight in KG. For a 100kg lifter, around 4,500 calories a day.

Remember, this program is for growth, that wont happen without food.

GVT has been around for awhile. The parameters I have described above work, I know through experience, not theory.

Good luck.

Subbed. I will be hitting a program like this early next year.

i need to get strong first lol

That's what I have to do first as well.

So you have to get strong before you do a strength program? lol that makes no sense


who cares if you look like a dcik doing a bp of 40kg doing 10 x 10, it's strength / powerlifting, not bodybuilding going for image

i'd like to ace all the beginner stuff first before i move onto the more advanced stuff, pretty sure i'll progress better that way than jumping straight into the harder stuff, failing then having to go back to beginner stuff where i should have been in the first place.

Spot on. You have to crawl before you walk.

PowerBuilder said:

So you have to get strong before you do a strength program? lol that makes no sense


who cares if you look like a dcik doing a bp of 40kg doing 10 x 10, it's strength / powerlifting, not bodybuilding going for image

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Powerbuilder, I'm saying this in the nicest possible way, but your starting to sound like a dick with your comments. Everytime someone mentions strength, you shoot them down. I know you tell everyone your pissweak, but cant others please be strong.

To illustrate how stupid your post that I quoted is, please read the first sentence of my original post.

It says " THIS IS NOT A STRENGTH PROGRAM", thats why you CANT get any benefit out of it if your weak. Get strong, THEN do it. No benefit for the weak, much better plans, you get WAY too defensive about your lack of strength, like when Nick posted the pick of the chick and you went off.

we get it, your not strong and you dont care, anyone that is has an ego, were all clear on that.

Move on.

i wasted time with a reply that at the time seemed somewhat appropriate. I'm better than that tho.

If a girl is warming up with my 1RM, good for her. That's fantastic. Saying I 'went off' is 100% incorrect.

i tell you what boss, from now on, i wont have an opinion, i wont have a point of view, i'll just sit down & act like a robot, that's clearly the kind of person you want me to be isn't it

It isnt a strength program how ****ing hard is that to comprehend?
20kg bench 10 x 10 isnt going to engauge any muscle fibres at all..

While your sitting there not having an opinion, work on your comprehension skills.

I'm keeping an eye on the thread and hoping it becomes more of a constructive discussion on German Volume training...

Okay, I've had some of my stronger clients try these last week.

Max, Fat Dave and Alen used 110kg x 10 x 10 in the deadlift. I can report that it has left them extremely sore and very wasted during the session. Also used 90kg in the squat.

I've found that I can get through 2 movements and 4 lifters going in 40 minutes, that leaves 20 minutes of chins and dips lol.

Nina and Amanda are also using it, they are the only 2 girls who total over 400kg.

Anyone interested in doing it, select 50% of your 1RM on your first session. If you can bench 100kg, use 50kg first time.

The most important part, the critical factor is the 60 sec rest. You must not exceed that.

Dave deadlifts 215kg, he used 110kg, Alen deadlifts 220kg, he used 110kg, Max deadlifts 180kg, he used 110kg. The reason Max used more is his 1RM on deadlifts is now much higher, we just havent tested it. On Wednesday he deadlifted 240kg from his knees in a rack pull. He also has better stamina than the other 2 boys. He did his reps much easier than both of them.

So feel free to have a go, you will be sore.

I've done german volume training, but I did it for quads only when I hit a plateau.
It is very tough. The 60 rest is the key in my opinion not the weight lifted. If you have the correct weight you should fail to get the 10 reps on the last 1 or 2 sets or you have used a weight that is too light.

Agreed. What I have found recently is when I have 2 lifters training together, initially they take around 30sec to complete their 10 reps. By the 7th set, they are taking close to the full minute, on squats and deads.

BP and MP is still around 25sec from first till last.

Marko's forgive my naivety but with this German Volume Traing you say it is not for strength but more so for growth, however you always say changes in your physique come from the dinner table. Would that not mean that the your diet while training plays a bigger role in the growth then training itself?

sorry if this has been explained before.

Read "pull the trigger"

You still need to instigate the trigger for muscle growth, and this definitely works.

Bluey said:

PTC NEWSLETTER, Issue #

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brother that's a great read. Thanks so much. Now i want to head over to the gym & do tomorrow's workout TODAY!! i was talking to a more experienced guy in the gym yesterday, saying that for too long (i believe) i wasted too much time directly training for size. Tho it happend, not as much as I hoped, as i didn't really pull the trigger hard enough.

Since working with my coach, always progressively overloading my muscles, with the more principal, size & strength are coming across nicely. If only i had done this 2 years ago!

p.s. what kind od douch is deadlifting the same weight for 4 years in a row. What duffa. Mind you, if you want to maintain size & strength...that's great...but if your wanting to grow....god...