How to never get overtrained training with high volume.

Muscle growth happens when you create a certain amount of damage to the muscle and let it recover. Then the muscles will grow.

This damage is caused by intensity, which you can get by training close to failure or to failure.

And if you do many sets that you bring to failure, the damage multiplies.

2 sets of biceps curls will create more damage than 1 set of biceps curls.

But here’s the thing…

If you do too many sets that create too much damage, your muscles can’t recover.

This is when overtraining happens.

But this is not the only cause of overtraining.

In fact…

I believe 90% of people who get overtrained are under-recovered.

They sleep less than 7 hours, eat a terrible diet, and then complain about getting overtrained.

And the thing they blame is simply “doing too many sets.”

So before saying you’re doing too many sets, look at your sleep and diet.

Now, the second cause is what we’ve been talking about… doing too many sets.

Too much is relative for each person.

Too much for Franco Columbu is training twice a day. But too much for Arnold is training three times a week.

You can know that you’re doing too much by listening to your body and reviewing your strength.

If you feel that your body is more sore than it used to be, then you’re doing too much.

And if you realize that you can’t get stronger after a month, you’re doing too much.

But here’s the thing…

Your “too much” volume changes depending on how long you’ve been training.

I mean…

A beginner will not recover if he does 20 sets per week in his first gym session.

But maybe an intermediate lifter can.

So what’s the deal here?

Increase your sets little by little.

I suggest increasing your weekly volume by 4–5 sets per month for your entire workout routine (remember, not for each body part).

After you increase your weekly volume, review whether you’re more sore than usual and whether you’re getting stronger after a month or two.

That’s it.

Kevin | BuildlikeArnold