Intense Training at the Studio.

The last few weeks have been pretty ridiculous for me at All Canadian Fitness as I have been embarking on a new training adventure with a client of mine, Ivan.

We decided to start training together as we both are striving for the same goals at the moment which are to gain a few pounds while keeping as much fat off as possible. Which brings me to German Volume training. The one thing I have to say about this type of training is that it makes you constantly feel like you are 60 years old, as there is not one day that goes by that you are not sore from the muscle building (which goes away just in time for the next session) or just have no muscular endurance for even the most simple tasks.

GVT consists of 10 sets of 10 repititions for 2 muscle groups per day, the agonist and antagonist. And about a day of rest between workouts. So a typical week for us would look something like this:

Monday -Chest, Back 10 sets of 10 compound movements. Also, 3 sets of 10 for isolated chest and back movements.

Wed - Quad dominant, hip dominiant 10 sets of 10 compound movements. 3 sets of 10 calves and core.

Fri - Bicep, tricep 10 sets of 10. 3 sets of 10 for 2 deltoid exercises.

Sat - repeat.

We are now in the middle of week 4, and I think I have seen some gains already. We are supplementing with some BCAA's and whey protein, while taking in about 500 more calories/day on our workout days.

It is tough. But I really like it. The leg days I dread of course, but it's actually more fun that I thought it would be. It is supposed to be about a 2 month workout, the first four weeks being 10 sets of 10, with the last four more of a 10 sets of 5 sort of thing. We have both taken before picures and plan on taking some after ones as well.

Wait until you see Ivan's training. He started with me in April of '09, walking in the door at about 168, 9% body fat. We just weighed him before we started up the Volume training and he was already at 188. Now, 4 weeks in he is 193.

It is going to be ridiculous.

I know Rich has talked about this in his latest post, but we have recieved some new eco friendly stability balls from a company called "GreenLife" that I really enjoy using. They are a bit more firm than the old ones, and I find the surface texture to be a bit more comfortable than the older ones we were using. And hey, it doesn't hurt that they are good for the environment and PVC free as well. If you are looking for some new balls, let us know and we can get you in touch with the distributors.