Why volume CANNOT be king of muscle growth
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Carter debunks the myth that 'volume is king' in muscle training. He explains the physiological basis of muscle growth, focusing on motor unit recruitment and the impact of fatigue on training effectiveness. Emphasizing that mechanical tension, not volume, is key to muscle growth, he suggests that optimal volume for muscle growth plateaus around six sets per muscle group per session, or ten sets per week, and that excessive volume can be counterproductive, especially for advanced trainees. Carter encourages trainees to focus on activating underutilized muscle fibers and targeting specific regions for hypertrophy.
Takeaways
- 🍽️ Paul Carter discusses the concept of volume in training while eating his breakfast.
- 💪 When you first start training, there's a motor unit recruitment deficit, meaning you can't activate all muscle fibers initially.
- ⚡ As you train, you reduce this deficit and can activate larger muscle fibers, which grow larger but are more easily damaged.
- 🔋 Early in training, recovery is at its peak due to the oxidative nature of type one fibers.
- 🔄 With fatigue from each set, there's a reduction in motor unit recruitment, affecting the ability to continuously recruit large fibers.
- ⏲️ Studies show that longer rest periods between sets reduce fatigue interference, allowing better muscle growth with fewer sets.
- 🚫 Volume is not king; mechanical tension is key for muscle growth. High degrees of motor unit recruitment and contraction velocity are essential.
- 📊 Research indicates that around six sets per muscle group per session or ten sets per week are optimal for muscle growth, beyond which diminishing returns occur.
- 🧬 For advanced trainees, it's more about targeting specific muscle areas for regional hypertrophy and not just increasing volume.
- 🔍 Understanding the difference between studies on untrained and trained individuals is crucial for applying training principles effectively.
Q & A
What is the main topic discussed in the video script?
-The main topic discussed in the video script is the concept of volume in training and why it is not the key factor in muscle growth, contrary to popular belief.
What is a 'motor unit recruitment deficit'?
-A motor unit recruitment deficit refers to the inability of a beginner to activate all muscle fibers, particularly the high-threshold motor units, during training due to lack of experience and neuromuscular efficiency.
Why do type one muscle fibers grow rapidly when you first start training?
-Type one muscle fibers grow rapidly when you first start training because they are more oxidative with higher mitochondrial density, providing better protective mechanisms against muscle damage and allowing for faster recovery.
What happens to motor unit recruitment as fatigue occurs during a workout?
-As fatigue occurs during a workout, there is a reduction in motor unit recruitment, meaning not all muscle fibers, especially the largest ones, can be continuously activated as effectively as at the beginning of the workout.
Why does the video suggest that longer rest periods between sets are more beneficial for muscle growth?
-Longer rest periods are suggested to be more beneficial because they reduce fatigue interference, allowing for better motor unit recruitment and mechanical tension, which are key for muscle growth.
What is the role of mechanical tension in muscle growth according to the script?
-Mechanical tension is crucial for muscle growth as it activates muscle fibers and initiates the biological processes that lead to muscle hypertrophy.
What does the script suggest about the optimal volume of sets for muscle growth?
-The script suggests that around six sets per muscle group per session or about ten sets per week is where a plateau in muscle growth appears to begin, indicating diminishing returns beyond this point.
Why might doing more than the suggested volume of sets be counterproductive?
-Doing more than the suggested volume of sets can be counterproductive because it may lead to overtraining, increased fatigue, and hinder the activation and recovery of the largest muscle fibers, which are most important for growth.
What is the importance of focusing on motor unit recruitment as you become more advanced in training?
-As you become more advanced, focusing on motor unit recruitment is important to ensure that you are effectively stimulating the largest muscle fibers that have the greatest potential for growth, which may not be achieved with high volume alone.
What is the script's stance on the need for studies involving individuals using performance-enhancing drugs?
-The script argues that there is no need for studies involving individuals using performance-enhancing drugs for understanding the basic physiology of training and muscle growth, as these introduce a different level of complexity that is not necessary.
How does the script differentiate between the training needs of beginners, intermediates, and advanced trainees?
-The script differentiates by stating that beginners and intermediates can benefit from basic training and progressive overload for a long period, while advanced trainees need to focus on more granular aspects like regional hypertrophy and activating fibers that have not been used before.
Outlines
🏋️♂️ The Myth of Volume as King in Muscle Training
In this paragraph, Paul Carter addresses the misconception that 'volume is king' in muscle training. He explains the physiological basis of muscle growth, starting with the concept of motor unit recruitment deficit for beginners. This deficit means that beginners can only activate a limited number of muscle fibers, particularly those with high-threshold motor units. As training progresses, individuals can activate larger muscle fibers, but these are more susceptible to damage and have longer recovery times. Carter emphasizes that mechanical tension, not volume, is the key to muscle growth, and that excessive volume can be counterproductive, especially for more advanced trainees.
📊 The Plateau of Muscle Growth and the Role of Mechanical Tension
This paragraph delves into the specifics of muscle growth and the role of mechanical tension. Carter discusses the importance of motor unit recruitment and the slowing of contraction velocity, which are critical for muscle stimulation. He cites studies suggesting that there is a plateau in muscle growth around six sets per muscle group per session, or about ten sets per week, beyond which additional volume may not yield further benefits. He also touches on the importance of individual training status, noting that advanced trainees may require different approaches, such as focusing on regional hypertrophy or activating underutilized muscle fibers, rather than simply increasing training volume.
🔍 Beyond Volume: Advanced Training Strategies for Growth
In the final paragraph, Carter shifts the focus from volume to more nuanced training strategies for advanced trainees. He argues that as individuals become more trained, the priority should shift from adding volume to increasing motor unit recruitment or targeting specific areas for regional hypertrophy. He provides an example of how training loaded hip flexion could lead to growth in the proximal part of the muscle due to its biomechanical role. Carter concludes by reiterating that volume is not the ultimate goal in muscle training and that a more sophisticated approach is necessary for continued growth and development.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Volume
💡Motor Unit Recruitment Deficit
💡Type 1 and Type 2 Fibers
💡Mechanical Tension
💡Fatigue Interference
💡Rest Periods
💡High-Threshold Motor Unit Pool
💡Myofiber Hypertrophy
💡Mechanotransduction
💡Regional Hypertrophy
💡Progressive Overload
Highlights
The video discusses the misconception that 'volume is king' in the context of training and muscle growth.
Explains the concept of motor unit recruitment deficit for beginners in training and its impact on muscle fiber activation.
Details the physiological differences between type one and type two muscle fibers in terms of oxidative capacity and recovery.
Clarifies that as training progresses, the ability to activate the largest muscle fibers increases, but they are also more susceptible to damage.
Discusses how fatigue during a workout affects motor unit recruitment and the subsequent impact on muscle fiber activation.
Argues that adequate rest between sets is crucial for reducing fatigue interference and maximizing muscle growth stimulus.
Contrasts the effects of long and short rest periods on the number of sets required for optimal muscle stimulation.
States that mechanical tension, not volume, is the key factor in muscle growth and provides examples of how it can be achieved.
Criticizes the oversimplification of volume as the sole determinant of muscle growth and emphasizes the importance of mechanical tension.
Presents research findings suggesting six sets per muscle group per session or ten sets per week as a plateau for muscle growth stimulus.
Advises that the optimal amount of volume may vary depending on the individual's training status and experience.
Highlights the need for studies on both untrained and trained individuals to better understand training adaptations.
Discourages the focus on studies involving the use of performance-enhancing drugs, as they add unnecessary complexity to training physiology.
Suggests that as trainees become more advanced, the focus should shift from volume to motor unit recruitment and regional hypertrophy.
Provides an example of targeting specific muscle regions for hypertrophy that have been previously neglected in training.
Concludes that volume is not the ultimate factor for muscle growth, and advanced trainees should focus on more nuanced training strategies.
Transcripts
all right what's up everybody Paul
Carter here I got my backwards hat on I
got my breakfast eating up so if you you
hear my oatmeal ding I am going to eat
my breakfast probably while I'm doing
this video if you don't like that if
you're one of those people has that
condition where hearing other people
chew food makees you you have a seizure
meltdown go ahead and exit out now the
topic for today is the never ending
topic centered around volume and one of
the most annoying phrases that I get to
hear from people that are volume pundits
are is volume is keing now I'm going to
take you guys through the actual
physiology to try to help you understand
why that statement is so completely
backwards and
wrong so let's start at the time when
you first start training when you first
start training you have what's called a
motor unit recruitment deficit which
means you can only activate fibers
that's my oat
mil so you can only activate
fibers up so far on the high threshold
motor unit recruitment uh pool that's
part of Hitman size principle
so there there'll be a mix of type one
and you'll get some type two fibers in
there of course because it's not we
don't know the exact ratio between fiber
types as you go up the motor unit
recruitment uh pool
but when you start training you do have
a deficit of course because you can't
get all the way up and recruit the
largest fibers that you could and will
eventually activate if you train long
enough so when you start training you're
really getting you're mechanically
loading fibers that have never
experienced mechanical tension um so
you're climbing high up on the high
threshold motor unit pool to activate
those fibers and so they grow pretty
rapidly because of the fact that that is
a brand new novel stimulus right the
other thing is your recovery ability is
going to be at your all-time high during
that time because of the fact that most
of those fibers are going to be type one
and type one fibers have they're more
oxidative so they have more
mitochondrial density so they're able to
have better protective mechanisms right
away against muscle damage than type two
fibers which are more glycolytic and
more easily
damaged okay so with that out of the way
what I help you understand is is that as
we are able to reduce that motor unit
recruitment deficit and we're able to
climb up that high threshold motor unit
pool and we're able to actually activate
the largest fibers that we have in our
body as I said those fibers will grow to
larger degrees but they're the most
easily damaged and then the second part
is as fatigue is occurred from each set
that we perform within the workout as
fatigue happens there's a reduction in
motor unit recruitment so if you think
about you know going up the the high
threshold motor how do I do this high
threshold motor your pool starting here
as we do the set we get all the way up
to here and we get the largest fiber
types that we have access to and then
the sub subsequent sets after that see
I'm using subsequent corre correctly
this morning I had enough coffee so as
we go up in those subsequent sets we
can't get quite as high up on the high
threshold motor unit scale so we're not
able to
continuously recruit the largest fibers
over and over and over and over again
this is why when you look at the volume
studies where there's adequate rest
because what adequate rest we reduce
some of the fatigue interference
mechanisms um we allow cardiorespiratory
demands kind of come back uh to normal
we allow metabolites to sub subside more
and when we do that we're able to reduce
the fatigue interference effects which
is why we consistently see that we can
kind of max out our gains with longer
rest period periods and it takes fewer
sets to do that whereas if we take
shorter rest periods it takes about
twice as many sets to get the same
amount of gross stimulus as we do with
longer rest periods so all of that
physiologically fits in perfectly so the
reason why volume can't and never was
King is because of the fact that as I
just noted as you get rid of that motor
unit recruitment deficit we can't even
get back up to mechanically load those
largest fibers that are controlled by
the top end of the high threshold old
motor unit pool so if the sciency stuff
you know if it's it's really really
nerdtastic and you don't like it I
understand that that's cool but I'm also
just trying to help help you understand
like why it is that volume can't be the
king the king is mechanical tension you
could do one set super far away from
failure and you could do one set to
failure and that one set two failure is
going to have some stimulating
repetitions in it that will help kind of
as my Mr says turn on the muscle
building mechanical Machinery or however
he says that I'm not doing the Min
impression two days in a row so if you
have one set to failure you actually can
grow from one set to failure if you
repeat it often enough that's a
completely different topic so but you
can perform a multitude of sets that are
really far away from failure and not get
very much gross stimulus and we've seen
that in a multitude of studies the Han
study was one uh there was another
velocity loss based study that showed
that they did more sets trying to make
up for not reaching the same degree of
velocity loss and they still didn't get
as much muscle growth meaning volume is
not King mechanical tension is king So
you need a sufficient amount of
mechanical tension in order to kind of
maximize the gross stimulus I'm not even
eating at this point guys so how
much that kind of establishes the fact
the volume's not ke so now we're getting
into the volume
stuff we're asking
the the question I always ask what is
the amount of volume so when we talk
about volume let's do this again the
only volume that
matters is the volume where there's a
high degree of motor unit Recruitment
and there and there's a slowing of
contraction velocity that's mechanical
tension so the only volume that matters
are steps that we're doing that are
either very close to failure or to
failure those are the only only ones
that matter volume was King could just
still a whole bunch of
sets and you would grow and it doesn't
work that way you got to have mechanical
tension that gets converted via mechano
transduction that gets converted into a
biological process which causes us to
have muscle growth by way of myop fial
uh uh
um um not sarir Genesis myi Genesis took
me a
minute
so how much volume does it look like in
the data that we need to maximize growth
I get misquoted of this consistently so
if you're using longer rest periods what
it appears is that somewhere around six
sets there's a plateau and that's for a
muscle group and a training session for
the week there was an umbrella review
which means they basically did a review
of all the MAA analysis and said they
couldn't find anything collectively that
look like more than 10 sets for a muscle
group in a week um was needed so so they
found that a weekly Plateau kind of
occurred around 10 sets those kind of
match right so if you're looking at
around six sets for a muscle in a
session or 10 total sets in a week
that's close enough where you can get an
idea that more than
likely to get to that where there's a
point of diminishing returns because
there's a nonlinear relationship of the
dose response right volume to grow
stimulus so if you're getting getting to
a point where there is the diminishing
returns for muscle group in in a session
appears to be somewhere around six sets
and again this always comes back to
people misquoting me and they'll say why
aren't you doing six sets for a muscle
group in a session or why are you not
programming six sets for a muscle group
in a session nobody said that was the
optimal amount what they said was that's
kind of where the plateau appears to
start and then somebody will twist those
words and say well wouldn't you want to
work all the way up to the plateau you
could but if you go back to my original
part there where I said The more
Advanced you become the higher up on the
motor unit pool that you can climb the
larger fibers that you can activate
which are the mo damag the most easily
and also take the longer to recover even
though they have the greatest potential
for growth means that you may not need
six sets or that six sets could be
detrimental to you it all depends on
your training status so you have to
remember sometimes that the studies are
collective right so when we look at
these and say it's nine studies and they
all fa in the same thing but it's a
collective this so sometimes there's
trained and sometimes there's untrained
and I think sometimes people do not
understand the difference we need
studies on untrained people and we need
studies on trained people and then we
can kind of look at the magnitude of
specific adaptations that are occurring
from certain kinds of training so we
need untrain and train studies we don't
need studies on dudes on gear we don't
and I've heard that from people on
YouTube I've heard it online whatever
like we don't even have training studies
on people on gear that HS a whole
different level of complexity that we
know nothing about and that we don't
even need we want to understand the
physiology we don't need to understand
androgens unless somebody wants to go
out and start studying that but it's not
going to tell us anything that we need
to know about training we do understand
100% you can take steroids and just sit
at home and grow so most likely from
what it appears to me is you get a
stimulus from training and a stimulus
from the steroids and there you go
there's your total stimulus like your
total growth effect there could be more
to it but the truth is I really don't
care because I've been off for a long
time
so back to the is volume King as you get
more trained volume unequivocally cannot
be king because of the mechanisms that
we just talked about you're going to be
able to recruit larger high threshold
motor units which control the largest of
your fibers you're going to be able to
get to which are the most easily damaged
and they're going to be the first ones
that are going to be reduced for you to
recruit once fatigue does set in so
doing enormous amounts of volume as you
can get more trained is completely
counterproductive to the goal of
continuing to grow what becomes more
Paramount as you continue to grow is to
learn and develop the ability to
basically get to higher degrees of motor
unit Improvement or to get maybe
potentially some Regional hypertrophy in
certain areas that you haven't been
training for example this is one that
came up in a discussion I had the other
day let's say you've never really
trained loaded hip flexion really this
part here so the proximal part of the
fim grows better because that's what it
does it crosses at the Joint at the hip
crosses the hip it's going to grow
proximal due to that hip flexion so if
you're like hey I've never done that I
want to get some of that wck fil growth
in there in that proximal portion let's
say you're a really Advanced body
builder and that's kind of an area
you're lacking in you could do some hip
loaded hip flexion rather than just
continuing with leg extensions so what
you need to do is as you become more
well trained and I'm talking about well
Tred people I think beginners and
intermediates can can in fact do a lot
of basic stuff and progressively
overload those for a very long period of
time and max out a lot of gains but as
you become more trained now you're
literally getting down to a very
granular level of I'm going to get some
hypertrophy here in this region and here
in this region here in this region and
then it becomes a lot more of a focusing
on how do I actually get some activation
out of fibers I have not been using so I
hope that explains the reasoning why
volume cannot be keen and that at a
certain point it's not about adding more
volume it's about increasing motor unit
recruitment or potentially getting some
Regional hypertrophy in places that you
just have not been trained that's my
YouTube for the day hope you guys
enjoyed it have a blessed day
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