Want Muscle & Strength? Its all about the VOLUME

“A recent paper that SBS Academy lecturer, Dr. Mike Zourdos contributed to. 

The study looked at the effects of high and low repetitions during a daily undulating periodized (DUP) had on muscle strength and hypertrophy. 

The authors found, in support of previous research, that in a volume equated situation that there are no significant differences in either maximal strength or muscle hypertrophy. 

While this study supports that there are no specific repetition ranges for muscle growth or strength, it’s important to know that the study participants were fairly well-trained prior to testing. All subjects had at least 2 consecutive years experience. Average squat 1RM was 1.70 x body mass and average bench press 1RM was 1.43 x body mass. This was about a 140kg squat at the start and 120kg bench on average at the start.

Progression was effectively autoregulated throughout the intervention, as it was based upon the subject’s performance in the previous week. 

Results of this magnitude may not hold true in more advanced lifters, especially in the area of maximal strength. Moving near maximal loads still requires a high skill component and more advanced lifters will still need to practice that skill with lower repetitions. 

General populations and recreational lifters may see much more benefit when applying the results of this paper.” 
– Lawrence Judd