By Ep. #795: Is Volume or Intensity More Important for Building Muscle?
Is intensity or volume more important for building muscle? That’s this podcast’s topic and it’s been a matter of ongoing controversy and debate.
If you asked a panel of fitness experts about intensity versus volume, you’d hear a lot of squabbling.
Some would say you should mostly train heavy and focus on using weights as heavy as possible. Others would say the weight you’re using doesn’t matter as much as simply training a lot and putting in the reps.
Both arguments can sound convincing, so which method should you apply?
While you can’t neglect volume or intensity, one of the two is slightly more important than the other. You’re going to learn why in this podcast!
Lastly, if you want to support the show, please drop a quick review of it over on iTunes. It really helps!
Timestamps:
5:17 – How do you calculate volume? What is volume load?
10:34 – What’s the best way to track volume?
11:36 – What is intensity?
14:28 – How close should you get to failure during a set?
15:33 – Should you use a percentage of your one-rep max (1RM)?
16:32 – Is volume or intensity better for muscle growth?
24:31 – Do you have to keep getting stronger to gain muscle?
27:00 – How heavy should you lift?
30:17 – How do you get stronger?
31:59 – Why do we have to keep adding weight to the bar over time? Why is strength gain correlated with building muscle?
33:58 – Should you do very high-rep sets? Do high-rep sets increase muscle tension?
38:39 – How should you program your training?
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