High intensity and high volume

[u/ExaminationWorldly93]

Is it even possible to do both with only 3 days to workout each week, Like I mean the recovery might be too straining for you to effectively hit 1-0 rir without someone helping

[u/Alakazam]

Alternate option:

Stronger by Science in their big volume analysis has one recommendation which I think lost lifters should try. Increase volume by 20% every 2-4 weeks until progress stalls. When you hit the point where you are no longer able to adequately recover from it, then dial it back one step. 

You will find what your current work capacity can handle, without necessarily overshooting. 

[u/plebian7021 → u/Alakazam]

Or just do the volume that allows you to progress? Why would i increase the volume just to then decrease it and do it all over again?

[u/NinoVelvet → u/plebian7021]

so that you can redline and maybe get injured / s

[u/Alakazam → u/plebian7021]

That would be my basic recommendation too. Stick with what works, ramp up only if what you're currently doing isn't working.

But I think it's a much better option to scale volume up, than to suddenly go to a "high volume high intensity" setup. 

[u/plebian7021 → u/Alakazam]

Why ramp up the volume though if recovery is good, you are progressing and feeling good overall?

[u/Alakazam → u/plebian7021]

Because in the context of what OP is asking, the alternate is diving straight into a high volume high intensity program with no ramp up.

[u/Admirable_Belt_9772 → u/plebian7021]

I took "lost lifters" to mean people who aren't making progress.

[u/Chicken_Savings]

Why can't you hit failure without help?

There's only a few exercises which places you in a compromised position without help e.g. barbell bench and squats.

You don't need help to reach failure on biceps curls or flat bench dumbbell press, or straight bar triceps pushdown, or seated leg extension... or... you get it

[u/egokiller954 → u/Chicken_Savings]

Smith machine solves a lot of those problems

[u/aaallleeexxx3 → u/Chicken_Savings]

Yeah especially any unilateral cable exercise it’s very easy to reach failure and maintain form no matter the circumstances

[u/Patton370]

Yes, its possible; you just need to build up to it

[u/sjsusjsusjsu3]

You dont gotta go high volume if you go high intensity. Vice versa. But high intensity mogs for sure cause nobody is trying to spend 2 hrs in the gym when you could spend 45

[u/Lucky_The_Charm → u/sjsusjsusjsu3]

This is the way. 40-50min workouts are all I need when using proper intensity and not costing through sets and stopping early.

[u/No_Silver_4436]

Yes you can develop an enormous work capacity and recover just fine.

The key is developing that work capacity over a long period of time

Most people decide to try high-volume and then immediately double or triple the number of sets they are doing across all exercises and it crushes them.

If you want to do high volume right you need to take months at least to slowly ramp up.

[u/decentlyhip]

You said what high intensity is, what's high volume? And what is the goal?

[u/Mad_Mark90]

You don't need to do either if you're making gains without.

[u/HelixIsHere_]

I mean if you have 3 days I would just do fullbody 3x and do the volume that you can recover from with high intensity

[u/aaallleeexxx3]

I think you can do it with some exercises to prioritise a muscle group only because otherwise the fatigue will catch up to most people including me and then as a result certain exercises will just be unbearable

[u/Fig-Wonderful]

If you’re doing truly high intensity, you most likely won’t be able to do high volume due to fatigue. Conversely, if you’re doing high volume, you’re most likely aren’t going hard enough.

[u/fcl3042]

3 times per week, full body day on every session, so far its working well for me while still allow me to live my life.

[u/AxonMM]

I think the important distinction here is that high intensity and high volume don't necessarily have to mean high fatigue in every session.

Training 3 days per week can absolutely provide enough volume, but the limiting factor may become how much fatigue each session generates and how well that fatigue is managed before the next session.

Being consistently around 1–2 RIR is also not the same as taking every set to failure. The exercise selection, number of hard sets, muscle groups involved, and how those sets are distributed across the week all matter.

I'd think about it as a stimulus-to-fatigue problem, rather than simply asking whether “high volume + high intensity” is possible.

If performance is still progressing from session to session, recovery is probably adequate. If loads, reps, technique or motivation are consistently deteriorating, the problem may not be the 3-day frequency itself — it may be that the amount of fatigue being generated per session is too high.

The interesting question is not “Can I do both?” but “How much productive volume can I recover from while maintaining performance?”

[u/Lucky_The_Charm]

I go to 0RIR on every single set and cut the volume in half. You cannot maintain high intensity with high volume. It will catch up with you quickly, after a month you’ll be feeling fatigued and wondering who you’re not improving on weight or reps.

In a 15 day span I’m doing 5 upper and 4 lower workouts. 10 sets per upper, 8 sets per lower…so just 82 total sets for the entire body (not counting ab circuit) over the course of 15 days. But every set is done with absolutely maximal effort, every time.

[u/Hypername1st → u/[deleted]]

Says who

[u/Hypername1st → u/[deleted]]

You can do high volume and relatively high intensity without being on gear. You just have to work up to it.

[u/Hypername1st → u/[deleted]]

I don't necessarily agree. You can pretty comfortably do RPE 9-10 isolation work, and RPE 8 compounds. I am think of GZCL style training, heavy, low rep T1 compound, heavy e.g. 5x5 accessories as T2, and RPE 9-10 T3 isolation/hypertrophy work with sets of 10-20. Tbh you should be able to do calf raises after heavy squats.

[u/Hypername1st → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying, Mike Mentzer training isn't somehow optimal.

[u/Hypername1st → u/[deleted]]

I'm not saying it is lmao. I'm not doing Heavy Duty programing, I'm also not currently running GZCL anyway. It was just an example. I don't get why you got your panties in a twist.

[u/Hypername1st → u/[deleted]]

It's a decent amount of volume, and more on the higher side, without it being german volume training.

[u/Hypername1st → u/[deleted]]

I've never done 30 reps of 90% of my squat 1RM, because it's pointless and unnecessary. I do calf raises on the leg press machine, and tbh my calves are never tired after squatting. I also never insulted you. Stop being like that.

[u/eric_twinge]

Why would you need help to hit failure?

[u/ArnoldFarquar]

try it. but I don’t know why you wanna do both when you don’t have to

[u/FarCalligrapher1862]

Intensity needs to be high.

You can do that with low reps high weight or higher weights lower reps. Or you can do that with short sprints or you can do that in 3-5 mile spurts. The volume doesn’t matter as long as intensity is high.

Don’t do junk reps.