German Volume Training to Make Gains?

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Dodge99x
Dodge99x Posts: 14 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
So I'm new to MFP and have been using it to track my Calories and Macros. I work out a lot, but sprained my wrist not too long ago and feel I'm finally ready to get back into lifting again (it's been about a month and a half :neutral:). I do a decent amount of cardio every weak because I have to keep my run time down to stay competitive in the Marine Officer Program. So my goal is about 3700 a day. I'm curtailing it based on my actual burn, which I'm still figuring out (but will now know soon thanks to MFP!).
The main point of this is I had planned on doing German Volume Training to gain the mass I want. Is bulking with it the right way to go? And has anyone had any success with it? If so what did you do for your GVT because there are so many different routines online, but it'd be nice to find someone who has had actual success with a routine.
I look forward to hearing from you guys!!!

Replies

  • scottdstrange1
    scottdstrange1 Posts: 2 Member
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    I did gvt for 6 weeks and had success with it. I did almost zero cardio and ate about 4,000 calories a day. I did a bench press day, bent over row day, military press day and squat day. Add in 3 accessory exercises per day and that was it. It will be harder to maximize gains if you're still doing lots of cardio. Be prepared that you will put on some fat in the process of bulking and gvt.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    GVT is a rough but solid program. I didn't bulk with it, but I did about 5 weeks of it until I had to take a break. But from everything I read, it's a very good platform to bulk.
  • Dodge99x
    Dodge99x Posts: 14 Member
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    scottdstrange1 wrote: »
    I did gvt for 6 weeks and had success with it. I did almost zero cardio and ate about 4,000 calories a day. I did a bench press day, bent over row day, military press day and squat day. Add in 3 accessory exercises per day and that was it. It will be harder to maximize gains if you're still doing lots of cardio. Be prepared that you will put on some fat in the process of bulking and gvt.

    That's awesome! yeah I don't mind the fat, that's just a part of bulking. And yeah I'll probably curb most of my cardio then. 4k calories is a crapload! Makes sense tho for what you put your body through with GVT. And when you say "accessory exercises" do you mean like 3 exercises that individual target the muscles in the muscle group youre working that day?
  • Dodge99x
    Dodge99x Posts: 14 Member
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    psulemon wrote: »
    GVT is a rough but solid program. I didn't bulk with it, but I did about 5 weeks of it until I had to take a break. But from everything I read, it's a very good platform to bulk.

    What did you use it for? What results did you see?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    Dodge99x wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    GVT is a rough but solid program. I didn't bulk with it, but I did about 5 weeks of it until I had to take a break. But from everything I read, it's a very good platform to bulk.

    What did you use it for? What results did you see?

    I used it as I needed a program to help me break through a plateau in strength gains. Since the program has a lot of volume, it has allowed me to see some progress. I am still cutting, but the increase in volume has helped my current program.
  • Dodge99x
    Dodge99x Posts: 14 Member
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    psulemon wrote: »
    Dodge99x wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    GVT is a rough but solid program. I didn't bulk with it, but I did about 5 weeks of it until I had to take a break. But from everything I read, it's a very good platform to bulk.

    What did you use it for? What results did you see?

    I used it as I needed a program to help me break through a plateau in strength gains. Since the program has a lot of volume, it has allowed me to see some progress. I am still cutting, but the increase in volume has helped my current program.

    Oh awesome! I'm glad to hear it, brother!
  • richln
    richln Posts: 809 Member
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    I use something very similar to Poliquin's split:
    http://muscleandbrawn.com/complete-guide-german-volume-training/
    Normally I am not a huge fan of antagonistic pairings, but it seems to work pretty well here. IMO this program works very well for hypertrophy and work capacity, but not so well for strength. I have never tried the higher phases since I prefer to move on to something more varied with more strength work after using this. I don't do a whole lot of cardio, so this program might be really brutal for you. I hope you like to eat a lot.

    If you are not used to volume training, do a warm-up cycle or two before you get to the full load or you will get a nasty visit from the DOMS fairy. I usually do 6 sets of 10 for my first warm-up cycle, then 8 sets of 10 for my second warm-up cycle. That takes most of the edge off of the pain in the beginning of the program for me.
  • Steve_PB
    Steve_PB Posts: 8 Member
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    GVT is a good solid program. I have run it a good few times and is decent for both adding size and loosing BF. It is brutal but once you get over the initial hurt it gets easier.
  • Dodge99x
    Dodge99x Posts: 14 Member
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    richln wrote: »
    I use something very similar to Poliquin's split:
    http://muscleandbrawn.com/complete-guide-german-volume-training/
    Normally I am not a huge fan of antagonistic pairings, but it seems to work pretty well here. IMO this program works very well for hypertrophy and work capacity, but not so well for strength. I have never tried the higher phases since I prefer to move on to something more varied with more strength work after using this. I don't do a whole lot of cardio, so this program might be really brutal for you. I hope you like to eat a lot.

    If you are not used to volume training, do a warm-up cycle or two before you get to the full load or you will get a nasty visit from the DOMS fairy. I usually do 6 sets of 10 for my first warm-up cycle, then 8 sets of 10 for my second warm-up cycle. That takes most of the edge off of the pain in the beginning of the program for me.

    :o THIS IS BEAUTIFUL. Super comprehensive! And the warm-up cycle sounds excellent. I know I've read how the first two weeks are brutal because it's like nothing your body has ever done before. I'm more of a functional fitness kind of guy so being able to push more total tonnage is preferable for me over straight strength. I will move to strength training in time though. I guess I will find out how brutal the hard way! And I'm working my meals up this week. Already hit 3200 yesterday, so I'm on track.
    Steve_PB wrote: »
    GVT is a good solid program. I have run it a good few times and is decent for both adding size and loosing BF. It is brutal but once you get over the initial hurt it gets easier.

    I'm glad to hear it worked for you! You guys all got me so freaking motivated right now! :D
  • scottdstrange1
    scottdstrange1 Posts: 2 Member
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    Dodge99x wrote: »
    scottdstrange1 wrote: »
    I did gvt for 6 weeks and had success with it. I did almost zero cardio and ate about 4,000 calories a day. I did a bench press day, bent over row day, military press day and squat day. Add in 3 accessory exercises per day and that was it. It will be harder to maximize gains if you're still doing lots of cardio. Be prepared that you will put on some fat in the process of bulking and gvt.

    That's awesome! yeah I don't mind the fat, that's just a part of bulking. And yeah I'll probably curb most of my cardio then. 4k calories is a crapload! Makes sense tho for what you put your body through with GVT. And when you say "accessory exercises" do you mean like 3 exercises that individual target the muscles in the muscle group youre working that day?

    Yep. That's exactly what I did for accessory. Ie: bench day, then dumb bell or cable Flys, something incline something decline.
    4 k sounds like a lot but the trick I found was to bump up every meal 100-200 calories (with protein perferably) so that it is spread put throughout the day. And it the first couple of weeks you will feel super hungry. You'll want to eat more. By the end of some days I felt a little bloated but in the end I can't argue with results.
    Having never done a bulk before I put on 8 lbs of muscle in six weeks. My dumbbell chest press went from 45lbs a side 5x10 to 60 lbs a side 5x8-10 reps. Like another poster said, it's great for breaking through plateaus.
  • sjohnson__1
    sjohnson__1 Posts: 405 Member
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    I just recently finished phase 1 of Poliquins GVT. I did two (antagonistic) excercises a day at 10x10 plus 3 accessory movements. It was a 5 day split, with rest day 2 and day 5. I had good results although I did not do before and after measurements (really should have). Throughout the 5 weeks I saw improvements on both the RPE in the middle sets and total volume increases. I will definitely come back to GVT eventually, but I switched to DUP as I wanted to work in some strength and power along with the hypertrophy training throughout my bulk.

    My guess is that you'll have some good results, man. Good luck!
  • Dodge99x
    Dodge99x Posts: 14 Member
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    @scottdstrange1 awesome. Thanks for all the info!

    @sjohnson__1 sounds great! Thanks much, brother!

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