Category: Workouts

For years, I trained using the principles of High Intensity Training (HIT) — popularized by Mike Mentzer and further refined by Dorian Yates. The structure was simple: low volume, heavier weights, tightly controlled form, and one intense working set taken to failure.

And for a long time, it worked.

In my younger years, HIT gave me strength, size, and focus. It allowed me to train hard and efficiently. But as I got older, I began to notice that the same approach wasn’t producing the same results. Recovery took longer. My joints didn’t bounce back like they used to. And eventually, progress stalled.

That’s when I made the shift — not away from intensity, but toward higher volume.

What Changed

When I transitioned from HIT to a volume-based routine, I started seeing results that had eluded me for years:

• Veins returning in my biceps
• Improved muscular fullness and definition

The rest of my program stayed the same — my nutrition, my cardio, and my recovery habits. The only change was adding more structured volume into my training.

But more than anything else, the biggest breakthrough wasn’t just doing more work — it was applying progressive overload within that volume.

The Key: Progressive Overload

Whether you’re training with HIT or high-volume, progressive overload is the driver of change. More weight. More reps. Better control. A stronger connection to the working muscle.

I’ve learned that as long as you’re progressively challenging the muscle, your body will adapt. Volume isn’t an excuse to coast — it’s another path to overload, with more opportunities for stimulation and growth.

Daily Push-Up Challenge

To support my training, I also added a simple daily habit: 50 push-ups every day, broken into five sets of 10 throughout the day. After breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon, and dinner — just 10 controlled reps at a time.

This challenge helps with:

• Daily movement and consistency
• Blood flow to the upper body
• Reinforcing the habit of training even outside the gym

It’s not meant to replace gym sessions — it complements them.

HIT vs. Volume: Which Works Best?

Both styles of training have their strengths. HIT is efficient, time-saving, and still valuable when applied correctly. But it requires near-perfect recovery and precision, especially as you age.

What’s worked best for me at this stage of life is this:
A moderate to high volume approach — not just random extra sets, but structured, progressive training — has outperformed HIT in nearly every way for where I’m at now. I’m seeing better pumps, clearer muscle definition, and more consistent progress, without the joint stress and recovery issues that started showing up with pure HIT.

This doesn’t mean HIT doesn’t work. It means that for my body today, more sets and reps done with intent — and with progressive overload in mind — delivers better results than pushing one all-out set to failure.

My 4-Day High-Volume Muscle Building Routine

Each workout includes warm-up sets followed by 3 working sets per exercise, in the 10–18 rep range. Here’s my current split:

Day 1 – Push Focus

Incline Press
Warm-Up 1: 70 × 8
Warm-Up 2: 90 × 5
Working Sets: 135 × 10, 140 × 8, 140 × 8

Pec Fly
70 × 15, 70 × 13, 65 × 13

Side Laterals
Warm-Up: 15 × 15
Working Sets: 35 × 18, 35 × 15, 30 × 15

Cable Pushdown
Warm-Up: 60 × 12
Working Sets: 115 × 15, 115 × 13, 110 × 13

Leg Extension
130 × 15, 130 × 13, 125 × 13

Day 2 – Quads + Back Focus

Leg Press
Warm-Up 1: 120 × 8
Warm-Up 2: 160 × 5
Working Sets: 250 × 10, 260 × 8, 260 × 8

Leg Extension
130 × 15, 130 × 13, 125 × 13

Pullover
55 × 15, 55 × 13, 50 × 12

Pulldown
Warm-Up 1: 60 × 8
Working Sets: 125 × 10, 130 × 8, 130 × 8

Dumbbell Row
55 × 12, 60 × 10, 60 × 10

Seated Hamstring Curl
100 × 15, 100 × 13, 95 × 12

Standing Calf Raise
115 × 20, 115 × 18, 110 × 18

Day 4 – Back + Arms Focus

Pulldown
Warm-Up 1: 60 × 8
Warm-Up 2: 80 × 5
Working Sets: 125 × 10, 130 × 8, 130 × 8

Pullover
Warm-Up: 40 × 12
Working Sets: 55 × 15, 55 × 13, 50 × 12

Incline Press
Warm-Up 1: 70 × 8
Warm-Up 2: 90 × 5
Working Sets: 135 × 10, 140 × 8, 140 × 8

Side Laterals
Warm-Up: 15 × 15
Working Sets: 40 × 18, 40 × 15, 35 × 15

Concentration Curl
Warm-Up: 50 × 12
Working Sets: 90 × 12, 90 × 12, 85 × 10

Hamstring Curl
70 × 15, 70 × 13, 65 × 12

Day 5 – Volume + Isolation Legs

Leg Press
Warm-Up: 140 × 8
Working Sets: 200 × 15, 210 × 13, 210 × 13

Standing Calf Raise
90 × 25, 90 × 22, 90 × 20

Pec Fly
70 × 15, 70 × 13, 65 × 13

Cable Pushdown
100 × 15, 100 × 13, 95 × 13

Concentration Curl
100 × 15, 100 × 12, 90 × 10

Final Thoughts

Your training style doesn’t have to stay fixed. What worked in your 30s may need to evolve in your 50s. I still respect the principles of Mentzer and Yates — their discipline and focus on intensity shaped how I train today.

But for me, volume plus progressive overload is the formula that’s working now.

Build your program around effort. Be consistent. Challenge your body. And don’t be afraid to change what’s no longer working.