Volume vs Intensity for Muscle Growth

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:20 Definitions
02:18 Volume-Intensity Trade-Off
04:11 Volume & Hypertrophy
06:00 Intensity & Hypertrophy
07:41 Volume vs Intensity
09:10 Practical Recommendations

STUDIES

ONLINE COACHING & CONSULTING

BOOKS & TRAINING TEMPLATES

SOCIAL MEDIA

[reconteam]

I'm old school (47 yrs old) and since the pandemic started I was going by the old thought of Volume = SetsXRepsXWeight. I didn't want to do 4-5 sets or anything above 12 reps so I just bumped up the weights every other week. After two years of 5x a week exercises I experienced 2 thrown backs, decreased libido, lack of sleep despite increasing melatonin dosage and finally a whole week of weakness and fevers.
Despite deloads, the strain caught up with me after two years.

I took 10 days off and decreased all my lifts by 10-20lbs and begrudgingly took out deadlifts. Now I'm doing more sets or reps and not moving my weights for a month. The mind is willing to up the intensity, but the body is like "bro, college was in the 90s".

I keep rewatching your videos to remind myself of the right way to train. Keep it up!

[xfriddn]

I feel guilty for watching such a good vid for free

[lacasitokoreano]

Intensity over volume, 2-3 times per week, 2 basic exercises and 2-3 accessory exercises each workout, complet rests between sets, 2 sets each exercise.

[byrondouglasdean]

Your channel is awesome.
Informative detailed content that gets straight to the point in a manner that everyone can understand.
Great work.

[michaelAckerman]

Another absolutely fantastic video by Flow High Performance. Really great to see the exact research abstract to indicate that high "intensity" / training to failure is important for hypertrophy that often uses lighter weights (less than 70% 1RM). I would like to request for more information on "rest time" between sets, and the differences between hypertrophy and strength sets because personally, I think 'resting long enough' always better than resting specific period of time.

[jeffreywingham]

I never put on much muscle until I began HIT according to Mentzer, even using drugs. The change has been amazing.

[stevencaldwell]

Intensity and recovery… that’s it! At 53 and have been an athlete for most of my life ( surfer etc ) and nothing has been more effective with faster gains and strength than a HIT style of workout program. I used to spend 10-12 hours a week in the gym. Now, less than 3 hours a week with Incredible results!

[franklingomez]

Wow! This anwered so many questions i had about volume vs intensity. Very good video bro💪🏽

[andynonimuss]

Actually, "Volume Load" is supposed to be used as a relative measurement, not as a general metric. In other words, Volume Load is very useful when in the previous training session I did (4 sets, 10 reps, x50 = 2, 000) and in the next training session I did more reps (4 sets, 12 reps, x50 = 2, 400). Now I know based on a "relative number", that I improved my strength.

[doraertac]

It depends person to person. Everyone is different and genetics are different. Do what works best for you this is the key

[sn]

This to me, just reinforces all the better reasons not to ego lift 😄

Nice video mate!

[secondhandloversph]

thank you for this, very educational!

[Dante]

Your channel is brilliant. So glad to find it another day on youtube. Thanks for sharing your knowledge for free. Hola from Spain o

[RodMacNevin]

Splitting a daily workout into two equal AM and PM workouts (without changing loads or number of sets) will boost intensity without decreasing volume or increasing total workout time. It's easier to bear down for (say) two 30 minute sessions separated by several hours of rest than one 60 minute session.

[deem]

From what I know,
Lower reps & heavier weight are more strength-focused (More muscles with high strength lower endurance)
Higher reps & lighter weight are more hypotrophy focused (Nore muscles with lower strength but higher endurance)

Its something to consider base on what a person is training

[benjaman_OG]

If I sometimes do less intensity the mental effort to train again gets easier. So I am more willing to train more often and get much more volume in a week. I think in practice thats also a big bonus factor on why not always focus to much on intensity :)

[krassavcik]

If we training 80% 1rpm could we keep 2-3 rap in reserve compound movements. And isolation movement we could train to failure yes?

[therehastobesomethingmoore]

I’m 61 and am having success doing HIT. I started a month ago doing HIT.
Chest, shoulders, triceps….two days off.
Legs, back, biceps…two days off.
Repeat.
I would love to do a full body workout twice a week but right now both workouts take me about 45 minutes and when done I am close to vomiting. It’s an intense 45 minutes.
I’ll be doing this until year end, at least. Hoping this continues to work better than volume. I think Arthur Jones, Mike Mentzer, and Dorian Yates all had the right idea and I think the science backs it

[rorymahon]

Great video! However when you were talking about the trade off of intensity vs volume and the inversely proportional relationship between the two, generally doing less volume doesn't have to mean use a lower intensity. E.g if I decide to do a high volume session, that doesn't mean I have to take every set to an RIR 5/6 (if this is what is defined as low intensity). Since the most optimal hypertrophic response is between 0-3 RIR from relative failure, this should be a given in any hypertrophy training program anyway and it should mainly be volume that's manipulated (assuming your going from 0-3 RIR relative to your current fatigue per set).

[michaelmunoz]

Old school style as Arnold preached 15-20 reps the feel the pump feel the muscle contract get the blood flow going break the fibers that’s where it’s at