In this article, a general workout plan will be presented for the volume responsive hardgainer who responds well to a lot of sets and reps for each muscle group. I suggest reading the previous article in order to determine whether you fit the qualities of this type of hardgainer. The volume responsive hardgainer is not common and is fairly rare, but the workouts in this article may be exactly what some people need. The workouts are taken from chapter 8 from the book, Individualized Training Strategies For Hardgainers.
Chapter 8
Workouts For The Volume Responsive Hardgainer
The 12-10-8-6 Workout
There are several ways that high volume workouts can be implemented and I will provide a couple variations. The first one is the 12-10-8-6 workout which consists of doing four sets for each exercise. The first set is done for 12 reps, the second for 10 reps, the third for 8 reps, and the fourth and final set is done for 6 reps. This sequence is used for each exercise.
When doing the 12-10-8-6 workout, all reps for all sets should consist of strong reps. Strong reps are being done as long as you can maintain a steady even rep pace from one rep to the next. If you grow overly fatigued during a set, you will notice that your rep speed will start to slow down at the end of a set. These slower weaker reps are called weak reps. When doing this workout, do not push yourself to the point where you must do weak reps. If you use too much weight, you will end up grinding out slower weaker reps at the end of your sets. This will lead to overtraining when doing high volume workouts. Make sure to only stick with strong reps for every set, including the last set of six reps.
When considering the amount of intensity that should be applied to each set when using the 12-10-8-6 workout, the first set should be easy and each successive set should increase in difficulty. To be more specific:
The first set with 12 reps should be done with a weight that would allow you to do 25 to 30 reps if you pushed yourself, but you will only do 12 reps.
The second set with 10 reps should be done with a weight that would allow you to do about 15 to 18 strong reps if you pushed yourself, but you will only do 10 reps.
The third set with 8 reps should be done with a weight that would allow you to do 10 to 12 strong reps if you pushed yourself, but you will only do 8 reps.
The fourth set with 6 reps should be done with as much weight as you can handle for 6 strong reps. This means to use as much weight as you can without exceeding your ability to perform all 6 reps using a steady even rep pace. If you find yourself grinding out slow reps at the end of the set, you are using too much weight and will burn your muscles out when the real goal should be to build them up.
I know that if you are intensity minded, you may think that it is a complete waste of time to do the first three sets because the intensity is too low. However, the application of a significant amount of training volume can have a powerful effect on muscle growth in some people, even if the intensity is not high. Also remember that the intensity will be fairly high on the fourth set of each exercise, but don’t make the mistake of pushing for high intensity on every set as you will end up overtraining if you use high intensity for a high number of sets.
Start Out Easy and Add On
Beginners should just do one exercise for each muscle group when using the 12-10-8-6 training program. After two months, two exercises can be done for each muscle group. If you feel that you are recovering adequately when doing two exercises, you can do three exercises for each muscle group after four months of training. It’s at this point that you will know whether or not volume training is for you as you will either start to thrive on this type of training, or you will stagnate. Many hardgainers will actually start to go backwards and lose muscle mass.
The only way to know whether or not you will respond favorably to high volume training is to try it and see how your body responds. Even if you don’t have a slow metabolism, it is possible that high volume training will be the best training stimulus for triggering muscle growth. If so, do it.
Individual Differences
Not all volume responsive individuals are the same in regard to the precise amount of volume that is best for them. Some may do best with 12 sets per muscle group, and others may be at the high extreme and find that 16 or 20 sets work best. In contrast, there are those who may not be true high volume responsive individuals, nor are they responsive to low volume training. These individuals respond best to a medium amount of training volume and should only do two exercises for each muscle group instead of three. Once again, the high volume responsive hardgainer is the exception and isn’t really a hardgainer. They may appear to be a hardgainer without enough training volume, but when they apply the right amount of training volume, they become an easy gainer.
The workout templates for the 12-10-8-6 routine are shown in the next section. Three separate workouts are used in order to allow different muscle groups to be trained in different workouts. These three workouts are show below:
1st Workout: Chest and Back on Monday and Thursaday
The 12-10-8-6 High Volume Routine
Exercise Selection
You can use the exercises shown below or substitute exercises of your choice for the given muscle group that you are training.
Number of Sets = 4 per exercise
Do 4 sets for each exercise and three exercises for each muscle group for a total of 12 sets for each muscle group. You may do two, four, or five exercises if it works better than three.
Number of Reps — Intensity — Rest Between Sets:
1st set = 12 reps: Use a weight that allows 25 to 30 reps. Rest 30 seconds
2nd set = 10 reps: Use a weight that allows 15 to 18 strong reps. Rest 60 seconds
3rd set = 8 reps: Use a weight that allows 10 to 12 strong reps. Rest 2 minutes
4th set = 6 reps: Use the maximum weight possible for 6 strong reps. Don’t grind.
Order of Exercises
Do four sets for chest followed by four sets for back. Keep doing four sets in a row for each muscle group and alternate back and forth between chest and back every four sets.
Options
You may choose to work each muscle group three times per week. If so, simply add the triceps and biceps exercises to the first workout listed and do it Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and add shoulder exercises to the third workout listed and do it Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
2nd Workout: Shoulder and Arms on Tuesday and Friday
The 12-10-8-6 High Volume Routine
Exercise Selection
You can use the exercises shown below or substitute exercises of your choice for the given muscle group that you are training.
Number of Sets = 4 per exercise
Do 4 sets for each exercise and three exercises for shoulders for a total of 12 sets. However, only do two exercises for biceps and two exercises for triceps, which amounts to 8 sets for biceps and 8 sets for triceps.
Number of Reps — Intensity — Rest Between Sets:
1st set = 12 reps — Use a weight that allows 25 to 30 reps — Rest 30 seconds
2nd set = 10 reps — Use a weight that allows 15 to 18 strong reps — Rest 60 seconds
3rd set = 8 reps — Use a weight that allows 10 to 12 strong reps — Rest 2 minutes
4th set = 6 reps — Use the maximum weight possible for 6 strong reps. Don’t grind.
After doing 4 sets, rest at least 3 minutes before doing another group of 12-10-8-6 for the same muscle group.
3rd Workout: Legs and Abs on Wendesay and Saturday
The 12-10-8-6 High Volume Routine
Exercise Selection
You can use the exercises shown below or substitute exercises of your choice for the given muscle group that you are training.
Number of Sets = 4 per exercise
Do 4 sets for each exercise and three exercises for each muscle group for a total of 12 sets for upper legs. Do two exercises for calves for a total of 8 sets, and do 1 to 2 sets of one ab exercise.
Number of Reps — Intensity — Rest Between Sets:
1st set = 12 reps — Use a weight that allows 25 to 30 reps — Rest 30 seconds
2nd set = 10 reps — Use a weight that allows 15 to 18 strong reps — Rest 60 seconds
3rd set = 8 reps — Use a weight that allows 10 to 12 strong reps — Rest 2 minutes
4th set = 6 reps — Use the maximum weight possible for 6 strong reps. Don’t grind.
After doing 4 sets, rest at least 3 minutes before doing another group of 12-10-8-6 for the same muscle group.
Do 30 reps for each set of crunches for abs.
Options
You may choose to work each muscle group three times per week. If so, simply add the triceps and biceps exercises to the first workout listed and do it Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and add shoulder exercises to the third workout listed and do it Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
In the next article, another variation of high volume training will be provided for the volume responsive hardgainer. Best of training to you.
Note:
Refer back to the previous five articles if you want to read the series of chapters from Individual Training Strategies For Hardgainers that are lead up articles to this article.
Hardgainers Part 1: Four Types
Hardgainers Part 2: Physiological Characteristics
Hardgainers Part 3: Conditional Hardgainers
Hardgainers Part 4: Intensity Responsive
Hardgainers Part 5: Volume Responsive
