Wednesday Workout -- Sometimes You Just Gotta Shoot for Volume

A weekly feature authored by the LTR to help you get in better shape. And it's late today because of me -- the LTR gave this to me last week. I had other things distracting me today, so I apologize to everyone dying to go to the gym and to try today's fitness tip. Here's the LTR:


I can hear the wheels in your heads spinning frantically as you try to predict what this column is going to be about. Sorry, it’s not about sex, and it’s not about dating. It’s about enhancing your current routine, and improving your pump, by introducing the concept of volume into your workout.

Volume in the weightlifting world is using the concept of dropping the weight you’re currently using – by fifty percent of more – and doubling, or tripling the amount of reps you are accustomed to doing. This has immediate and longer term benefits.

The immediate benefit is that the high volume work gorges the targeted muscle with lots of blood, causing an impressive, albeit short-lived pump. The longer term benefit is that the sudden change from what you are used to doing (you know, the same, tired, routine, week after week) to a high volume approach will both shock – and stimulate – your muscles, and force new growth.

The volume approach is epitomized by a routine called 100’s. 100’s can be applied to any muscle group, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s say that you’ve been doing the bicep/triceps routine posted last week, and are ready to shake things up a bit with some volume work. (Particularly if you’re looking to catch some glances later that day.)

At the end of your bicep/triceps workout, grab some very light dumbbells (about ½ the weight you are used to working with) and begin doing standing (or seated) bicep curls. The goal is to do as many simultaneous curls – keeping the nice round figure of 100 in mind – as possible when you have reached the point of exhaustion, how ever many reps you are short of 100 reps is the number of seconds’ rest you get before finishing off the set.

For example, if you get 65 reps, you get a 35 second break, and then you pump out 35 more reps. When you are done, rest a bit and then pick your favorite triceps exercise and do the same routine to them. Each muscle just gets the “100s treatment” once, and then you are finished.

And don’t forget to wear a short sleeve shirt so you can display your impressive pipes!