In complete honesty, I’ve struggled with my own training for the past couple of years.

When I first started weight training, the results were quick and the progress was good but over the years it has become harder to take my training and my body to the next level and the ‘maintenance phase’ seems to be here to stay!

With the exception of an occasional surge of dedicated training and eating, I’ve been the same strength and size for a number of years now.

Tony Robbins, a world famous motivator says - “The secret to happiness is progress”. This could explain why my training currently feels like a chore rather than something I look forward to.

With regards to my training, I would say that I’m disciplined but not motivated. I train because I feel I have to, definitely not because I really want to.

So after years of following my own plan or just doing whatever I fancy on the day, I decided to hit Google in search of a new lease of motivation.

There are lots of training plans out there but I came across an old classic that I’ve used in the past called German Volume Training or GVT for short.

It’s a tough routine, with lots of volume that the name may well suggest but it’s recognised as being one of the best muscle building protocols out there.

GVT gets its name from its German originations in the mid 70s where popularised by Rolf Feser and Vince Gironda.

According to Charles Poliquin, a world-renowned strength coach  – “The program works because it targets a group of motor units, exposing them to an extensive volume of repeated efforts, specifically, 10 sets of a single exercise. The body adapts to the extraordinary stress by hypertrophying the targeted fibres. To say this program adds muscle fast is probably an understatement. Gains of 10 pounds or more in six weeks are not uncommon, even in experienced lifters!”

As of this week, I am starting the German Volume Training Programme for 12 weeks.

The concept of GVT is to complete 10 sets of 10 reps with the same weight for each exercise. The conventional programme layout and the one I’m going to be following is:

• Day 1: Chest & Back
• Day 2: Rest
• Day 3: Legs & Abs
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Arms & Shoulders
• Day 6/7: Rest

The Rules

Weight. A lighter weight than conventional lifting is required due to the build up of volume on each muscle groups. The weight will therefore feel light to begin with but will become much more challenging towards the end of the routine.

Rest. Rest intervals will be 60 seconds between each set and tempo of 4-0-2, which means 4 seconds on the eccentric phase of the lift (lowering) and 2 seconds for the concentric (pushing/pulling) part of the lift

Exercises. There will only be one compound (multi-joint) exercise for each body part per session, with a three sets of an isolated (single-joint) exercise to finish off with.

Training Frequency. Due to the high volume, I am going to be starting with just three workouts per week, which is a considerable drop from my 5-6 workouts per week at the moment.

Overload. Once I’m able to do 10 sets of 10 with 60 seconds rest intervals, I will increase the weight by 5%.

Especially for this routine, I have created a new training log, which can be downloaded here – GVT Training Log Sheets for anyone else who fancies giving it go!

Happy lifting