3 different high volume routines that I all recommend

If you are a regular reader here at Penandbarbell.com you will have noticed my love for high volume training.

In a recent blog post I wrote about how I once more turned back to a high volume approach, after having had a few weeks where I prioritized heavier weights and fewer reps. As I concluded in that blog post of mine I always come back to high volume simply because I like it. It's not all about what "works" and "doesn't work" - it's also about what you like and what makes you come back to the gym again and again.

I'm absolutely convinced you can build a great physique through intense low volume training. I just happen to like high volume better myself. It suits me. I like the fight of it. I like to be taken out of breath when training. I like to keep intensity high, with short intervals of rest.

My routine could be said to be a mixture of the different high volume philosophies listed below. I recommend them all, not only for the rewarding results but because I find them all to be a lot of fun. I'll give you a typical pecs workout session for each approach, in order to illustrate the differences and underline the general outlines of the philosophy in question.

1. The mass-building 6-12 reps/set approach utilized by Schwarzenegger and the other bodybuilding legends of the 70s (often called, in my opinion for very good reasons, the Golden Era of Bodybuilding).

A pecs workout session in accordance to this approach:

Bench press, barbell, 6x6-10

Inclined Bench press, barbell, 4x6-10

Flyes, 4x8-12

Dips, 4xmax

2. The Nubret pump method (6x12 being the typical set and reps range for each exercise).

A pecs workout session in accordance to this approach (brace yourself: Nubret's approach was all about extremely high volume...)

Bench press, barbell, 8x12

Inclined Bench press, 6x12

Flyes, 6x12

Inclined flyes, 6x12

3. GVT (German Volume Training, also known as 10x10).