The Best Way to Track Volume for Hypertrophy

Summary

The video script delves into the concept of volume in the context of muscle hypertrophy, emphasizing the non-linear relationship between the two. It critiques the traditional method of tracking volume load (sets x reps x load), highlighting its limitations, particularly for hypertrophy goals. The discussion points out that changes in sets, reps, or load can distort volume load comparisons. It contrasts the volume load of two hypothetical world champion powerlifters with different body weights but similar rep and set counts, illustrating the disparity in load that doesn't necessarily correlate with stimulus or fatigue. The script advocates for tracking volume by counting working sets performed at a high rate of perceived exertion (RPE) or low repetitions in reserve (RIR), as research supports this approach for hypertrophy. It suggests a rep range of approximately 5 to 20 or 25 for optimal hypertrophy stimulus without excessive metabolic fatigue. The summary concludes with a recommendation to perform between 6 to 20 reps per set for hypertrophy, adjusting the number of sets based on the rep range to ensure an adequate stimulus for muscle fibers.

Takeaways

• 📈 **Volume and Hypertrophy Relationship**: Volume is related to muscle hypertrophy but not in a linear fashion.
• 🔢 **Tracking Volume**: It's important to track volume as it indicates the stimulus and fatigue experienced during training.
• 🏋️‍♂️ **Volume Load Calculation**: Traditionally, volume load is calculated by multiplying sets, reps, and load.
• ⚖️ **Issues with Volume Load**: Changes in sets, reps, or load can make volume load comparisons less intuitive, especially across different strength levels.
• 🏅 **World Champions Comparison**: Even if world champions in different weight classes perform the same number of sets and reps, their volume load can differ significantly due to the load they lift.
• 🚫 **Avoiding Strength Dictation**: One's strength level should not solely dictate the quantification of their training volume, especially when focusing on hypertrophy.
• 🔁 **Rep Range for Hypertrophy**: The ideal rep range for hypertrophy is broad, typically between 5 to 20 or 25-30 reps, to ensure sufficient tension without causing cardiometabolic fatigue.
• 📉 **Volume Load Misrepresentation**: High rep sets (e.g., 3x15) can show a higher volume load than lower rep sets (e.g., 3x6), but do not necessarily translate to twice the stimulus or fatigue.
• ✅ **Reps as a Proxy**: Counting just reps can be misleading as it neglects the load, similar to volume load issues.
• 🛠️ **Recommended Method**: Tracking the number of working sets at a high RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) or low RIR (Repetitions in Reserve) is a simple and intuitive method supported by literature for hypertrophy.
• 📚 **Literature Support**: Systematic reviews, such as the one by Bazval in 2021, support that the number of sets is a good proxy for the amount of hypertrophy when training at a high RPE.

Q & A

What is the relationship between volume and hypertrophy?

Volume has a relationship with hypertrophy, but it's not linear. It's important to track volume as it provides an indication of the stimulus and fatigue experienced during workouts.

What is volume load in the context of strength training?

Volume load is a calculation that multiplies sets, reps, and load. It was a common method to compare different levels of volume in lifting and coaching.

Why might volume load not be the best method for tracking hypertrophy?

Volume load can be misleading because changes to sets, reps, or load can make comparisons less intuitive. It doesn't account for differences in individual strength levels, which can lead to significant disparities in volume load even when the number of sets and reps are the same.

What is the recommended rep range for hypertrophy training?

The recommended rep range for hypertrophy is broad, typically between 5 to 20, or possibly up to 25 or 30 reps. This ensures a long enough tension stimulus for muscle growth without causing excessive metabolic fatigue.

How does the number of reps per set affect the stimulus for hypertrophy?

The number of reps per set within a reasonable range has less impact on hypertrophy than the proximity to failure and the total number of sets performed. As long as the sets are challenging and close to failure, similar hypertrophy outcomes can be expected.

What is the issue with counting just reps as a method for tracking volume?

Counting just reps, or multiplying sets by reps, can amplify the problem of volume load by not considering the load. This method can lead to a misrepresentation of the actual fatigue or stimulus experienced during a workout.

What is the recommended method for tracking volume in hypertrophy training?

The recommended method for tracking volume in hypertrophy training is by counting the number of working sets performed at a reasonably high RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) or low RIR (Repetitions in Reserve).

What does the systematic review by Bazval (2021) suggest about training for hypertrophy?

The systematic review by Bazval (2021) suggests that as long as individuals train with a reasonable proximity to failure, the number of sets is a good proxy for the amount of hypertrophy that occurs.

What is the significance of RPE in hypertrophy training?

RPE is significant in hypertrophy training because it helps ensure that the individual is training hard enough to stimulate muscle growth. Training at a high RPE ensures that the sets are challenging and provide an adequate stimulus for hypertrophy.

Why is it important to consider the number of reps per set in hypertrophy training?

It's important to consider the number of reps per set because too few reps may not provide enough stimulus for all muscle fibers, and too many reps can lead to cardiometabolic fatigue, which can interfere with the ability to push muscles to failure for optimal hypertrophy.

What is a good rule of thumb for the number of reps per set in hypertrophy training?

A good rule of thumb is to perform at least roughly five to six reps per set and to stop somewhere in the range of 20 to 30 reps, depending on the exercise chosen.

How does the number of working sets help in tracking hypertrophy volume?

The number of working sets helps in tracking hypertrophy volume by providing an intuitive method to compare the overall volume of training without being skewed by the load or the number of repetitions. It focuses on the total sets performed at an intensity that is close to failure, which is key for hypertrophy.

Outlines

00:00

🏋️‍♂️ The Relationship Between Volume and Hypertrophy

This paragraph discusses the non-linear relationship between exercise volume and muscle hypertrophy. It explains that while volume is important for tracking stimulus and fatigue, it's not the only factor. The traditional method of tracking volume, known as volume load (sets x reps x load), is critiqued for its limitations, particularly in the context of hypertrophy. The paragraph highlights that changes in sets, reps, or load can make volume load comparisons less intuitive. It also points out the significant difference in volume load between individuals of different strengths and body weights, even when they perform the same number of sets and reps. The focus is on the need for a more accurate method to gauge the stimulus and fatigue experienced during hypertrophy-focused training.

05:03

📊 Rethinking Volume Tracking for Hypertrophy

The second paragraph addresses the limitations of using volume load and rep count as methods for tracking exercise volume, especially in the context of hypertrophy training. It emphasizes that the number of reps per set and the load on the bar are less critical than the proximity to failure and the total number of sets performed. The paragraph references a meta-analysis by Lopez (2021) that found equivalent hypertrophy outcomes across a range of rep numbers, provided the sets are performed to near failure. The recommended approach is to focus on the number of working sets performed at a high level of effort (RPE), which is supported by a systematic review by Bazval (2021). The optimal rep range for hypertrophy is suggested to be between 5 to 20 or 25 reps per set, avoiding both too low a rep count, which might not provide enough stimulus, and too high a rep count, which could lead to cardiometabolic fatigue and less effective muscle stimulation.

Keywords

💡Volume

Volume in the context of the video refers to the total amount of work done during a workout, which is often associated with muscle hypertrophy. It is measured in terms of sets, repetitions, and load. The video discusses the non-linear relationship between volume and hypertrophy, emphasizing the importance of tracking volume to understand the stimulus and fatigue experienced during training.

💡Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy is the increase in muscle cell size and is the primary goal of bodybuilding and certain types of strength training. The video explores how different training volumes can impact hypertrophy, highlighting that while volume is important, it's not the only factor to consider for achieving muscle growth.

💡Volume Load

Volume load is a specific calculation used to quantify the total volume of a workout by multiplying sets, repetitions, and load (weight). The video points out that while volume load has been a traditional way to compare workout intensities, it has limitations, particularly when considering different body weights and strength levels of individuals.

💡Rep Range

Rep range refers to the number of repetitions performed in a set. The video discusses an optimal rep range for hypertrophy, suggesting that it is broad and ideally falls between 5 to 20 or even 25 to 30 reps per set, depending on the individual and the exercise.

💡RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion)

RPE is a subjective measure of how hard an individual feels they are working during a training session. The video mentions RPE in the context of ensuring that sets are challenging enough to stimulate muscle growth without becoming so easy that they lead to cardiometabolic fatigue.

💡Stimulus

In the context of the video, stimulus refers to the physiological response provoked by a workout that leads to muscle growth or adaptation. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding the stimulus provided by different volumes of training to effectively induce hypertrophy.

💡Fatigue

Fatigue is the feeling of tiredness or exhaustion that can occur during and after exercise. The video discusses how tracking volume can give an indication of the fatigue one might experience, which is important for recovery and planning subsequent training sessions.

💡Working Sets

Working sets are the sets performed at a high level of effort with the intention of causing muscle fatigue and promoting growth. The video recommends tracking the number of working sets as a more intuitive method for hypertrophy training, rather than relying on volume load or raw rep counts.

💡Proximity to Failure

Proximity to failure refers to how close a set of repetitions is performed to the point of muscle failure, where the individual can no longer complete another repetition with proper form. The video suggests that this factor, along with the number of total sets, is more critical for hypertrophy than the specific number of repetitions per set.

💡Cardiometabolic Fatigue

Cardiometabolic fatigue is a state of exhaustion that involves the cardiovascular and metabolic systems, which can interfere with the muscle's ability to continue resistance training. The video cautions against high-rep sets with very low loads as they might lead to this type of fatigue, which is less conducive to hypertrophy.

💡RIR (Repetitions In Reserve)

RIR is the number of additional repetitions an individual could have performed after completing a set, had they not stopped. The video discusses RIR in relation to the intensity of the workout, suggesting that training with a low RIR (close to failure) is beneficial for hypertrophy.

Highlights

Volume has a relationship with hypertrophy, but it is not linear.

Volume load is calculated by multiplying sets, reps, and load.

Different factors such as sets, reps, or load can affect the intuitiveness of volume load comparisons.

Strength level can significantly impact volume load even with the same number of sets and reps.

Hypertrophy goals have minor issues when tracking volume load due to differences in strength levels.

Hypertrophy rep range should be broad, avoiding too high a rep count that could lead to cardio metabolic fatigue.

The number of working sets and reps at a high RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) is a good proxy for tracking hypertrophy volume.

Meta-analysis by Lopez 2021 shows equivalent hypertrophy across different rep ranges when RPE is held constant.

Counting just reps can cause the same problem as volume load by amplifying the issue.

The industry has moved away from counting just reps due to the limitations of this method.

Recommended method for tracking volume for hypertrophy is the number of working sets performed at a high RPE.

Bazval's systematic review supports that the number of sets is a good proxy for the amount of hypertrophy.

For hypertrophy, it's recommended to perform between 6 to 20 reps at a high RPE.

Too few or too many reps per set can affect the stimulus for hypertrophy.

A rule of thumb is to do at least 5-6 reps per set, stopping around 20-30 reps, depending on the exercise.

The number of working sets is the preferred method for counting hypertrophy volume in this course.

Transcripts

foreign

videos we discussed the diminishing

returns nature of volume so volume does

have a relationship with hypertrophy

however it's not linear but we do need

to track it because volume does give us

some indication as to the stimulus and

the fatigue we're going to experience

now in the research and also in practice

there have been different ways of

tracking volume over time probably the

most dominant one for a long time until

perhaps the last five or six years was

what's called tonnage or volume load

volume load is simply a calculation of

multiplying sets times reps times load

so you get a pretty large number and you

can compare that against other people

yourself between lifts Etc and this was

something that a lot of lifters did a

lot of coaches did and you'll often see

in the research to compare different

levels of volume now with that said for

the specific goal of hypertrophy there

are some minor issues with tracking

volume load let's first just discuss

this broadly change to any of those

three factors sets reps or load can make

volume load comparisons a little less

intuitive than you might think let's

take it out of the context of

hypertrophy and think about the volume

load the two World Champion powerlifters

might be producing if they're doing the

same number of reps and the same number

of sets at the same rpe or proximity to

failure except one is a male 120 plus

kilo lifter a super heavy weight and one

is a lightweight female a 52 kilo lifter

now they're both world champions uh they

both maybe have similar requirements for

volume maybe maybe not but their

strength is going to be very different

if you're a world champion in the 52

kilo class your squad might be somewhere

in the 150 to 160 kilo range however if

you're a world champion and the 120 plus

kilo range it's going to be over 400

kilos that means that you can expect a

two and a half to three fold difference

in volume load even if you do the same

number of reps the same number of sets

at the same rir and the question begs

would we expect those to be different

stimuli for these two people we expect

them to have different recovery demands

perhaps but I think you can see my point

that you shouldn't let someone's

strength necessarily dictate the

quantification of their volume if you're

interested in knowing that the fatigue

or the stimulus they're experiencing but

more importantly since this is

bodybuilding program design and we're

focused on hypertrophy we're tracking

volume because we want to get a rough

idea of both the stimulus and the

fatigue that we're experiencing so for

that reason we're going to use a

different method but let's explain

really in depth how tracking volume load

even for the purposes of hypertrophy can

throw you off a bit consider that the

hypertrophy rep range is pretty broad

ultimately and I'll talk about this more

in a second we want to make sure that

sets last long enough to produce a long

enough tension stimulus for all of our

muscle but we also don't want them to be

so long and be very very very high rep

so that the load on the bar is so low

that the start generating cardio

metabolic fatigue and actually

interfering with the stimulus we can get

from that set for a hypertrophy

perspective so ultimately we want to be

somewhere in the range of say 5 to 20

maybe 25 or 30 reps and that is probably

going to be equivalent on a set by set

basis if the rir or rpe proxy native

failure is similar now that's just for

hypertrophy but let's give you an

example we'll take two different

workouts that are on the end of these

two extremes a relatively low rep

bodybuilding set and a relatively High

rip bottle Building Set let's say we've

got someone with 165 kilogram one rep

max for the Americans that's roughly 365

pounds now let's say the plan is to do 3

by 15 and make those sets pretty hard

that's about sixty percent of one RM for

most people that's going to be pretty

close to failure but perhaps not there

until the final set assuming you rest

enough between sets now if we were to do

this we would get a volume load

multiplying 3 by 15 by 100 kilograms of

4 500 Kilograms that's a lot of volume

right however if we did three by six

times 140 kilograms or 85 percent of 1

RM which would also be hard also be

reasonably close to failure it would

only be 2

520 kilograms of volume that's nearly a

two-fold difference but would we expect

there to be twice the stimulus doing

3x15 would we expect there to be twice

the fatigue maybe immediately because 15

reps is pretty challenging in a higher

IR but when we think about there being

more muscle damage or fatigue that we

accumulate and bleed over into

subsequent sessions probably not

in fact the data broadly supports that

when you have a set even within a

similar rep range or even a quite

Divergent rep range something like 6 and

15. for the outcome of hypertrophy not

strength you get the similar outcome so

long as rirs held constant a number of

sets are held constant for example check

out Lopez 2021 this is a meta-analysis

of 28 studies with 747 subjects all of

which in these very different studies

are training to failure but just with

different loads and comparing a similar

number of sets and while you do see

higher strength gains for those doing

sets with lower reps you see equivalent

hypertrophy across the board

so as I've said when it comes to

hypertrophy specifically it has much

more to do about proximity to failure

and number of total sets than it does

the actual number of reps per set within

a reasonable range or the load on the

bar and that's why one of the other

methods of tracking a volume just

counting reps is something that most of

the industry has stepped away from I

actually advise counting just reps in

the first edition of the muscle and

strength pyramids and also in the

original videos that those books were

based upon and that's because back in

that era 10 years ago we had limited

data and there was only one systematic

review that kind of looked at the

relationships between number of reps as

a rough proxy for volume but now that we

have more data we can step away from

that because discounting reps actually

causes the same problem as volume load

and just amplifies it if you think about

that same example counting reps is just

multiplying sets times reps and taking

load out of it so if we did a 3x15

compared to 3x6 we're looking at 45

versus 18 reps that's nearly a

three-fold diff difference but we

absolutely wouldn't expect three times

the fatigue or were three times the

stimulus doing three by fifteen versus

three by six based upon the data we have

so what do we recommend well it's

actually quite simple and it makes

tracking very intuitive and that's the

number of working sets and we are going

to be performing working sets at a

reasonably high rpe or low rir because

the goal is hypertrophy and that's

important and in fact not only do we

believe that that's the best way to do

it in the trenches the literature

supports that in fact check out the

systematic review by bazval that came

out in 2021 where they looked at a bunch

of different studies that looked at

hypertrophy and found that indeed so

long as there was a reasonable proximity

to failure or the individuals were

training quote unquote hard enough the

number of sets was a good proxy for the

amount of hypertrophy that occurred so

their final recommendation was to

perform somewhere between roughly 6 to

20 reps at a reasonably high rpe and

that's exactly what we recommend now

just to consider once again that we do

have to think about the Reps per set if

we perform too few reps per set even if

that is pretty close to failure meaning

we're training heavy we're doing say

doubles or triples or fours that's great

that is going to be a very high stimulus

per rep but the total number of reps per

set is so low that we might not get

enough of attention stimulus for all

fibers and indeed there are data showing

that when you're doing two lower reps

per set you can't count sets and compare

them on a one-to-one basis you have to

do more sets to make up for those higher

rep sets that they're being compared to

and likewise if you do really high rep

sets using very low loads there does

seem to be a point somewhere in around

the range of doing say more than 30 or

40 reps per set where even if you go to

failure you might get a lower stimulus

for hypertrophy that could be due to the

cardiometabolic fatigue actually

interfering with your ability to gauge

failure or actually push your muscles to

the point of failure to get that

stimulus and it may be a little more

like cardio than others lifting weights

but a decent rule of thumb is to do at

least roughly five to six reps per set

and probably stop somewhere in the range

of 20 to 30 and that is dependent upon

the exercise you choose so to summarize

the number of working sets is the way

we're going to be counting our

hypertrophy volume for the purposes of

this course