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Pretty Sure I Heard You Wrong... 10×10 Of What?
I’m going straight to the punchline here. This German Volume Training (GVT) method is ten sets of ten reps with sixty percent of your one-rep max. And just in case you’re more of a numbers-on-the-screen person: 10×10 with 60% of 1RM. Which, that’s not even the worst part… this is traditionally done with your main compound movement. At 90-120 second rests, and if you do choose to do it with a more isolation-type movement, that rest should drop down to 30-60 seconds.
I know what you’re thinking: “Heck, a bench press doesn’t sound too crazy; I’d even enjoy a good 10×10 of bent-over rows.” But did you forget about squats? How about those deadlifts? Maybe even some cleans? Yeah…
Okay, so maybe it’s not that bad. Until you hit about set seven or eight. By these sets, you’ll be feeling that sweet, sweet burn of lactate buildup after your measly 90-second rest that you just pushed to 120 seconds in an attempt not to humble yourself under that bar too soon.
Am I overexaggerating? Probably. Try it and let me know.
This is a demanding bodybuilding and strength protocol that was designed to push for quick muscle hypertrophy. It became popular through strength coach Charles Poliquin. The idea of the “10×10 method,” or GVT, is to force muscle growth by having the person use an extremely high volume of a given exercise, again, typically a compound movement.
You can place this in your volume-focused block, do it periodically, or structure it in one to three sessions a week for a bit. Its main focus is to build size, but muscle endurance is also a factor here.
“The athlete must train so intensely that his sweat and toil become his daily companions.”
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Utilize this when you want to push the growth a bit in an area or specific muscle group. Some extra hard volume for a few weeks could be exactly what you need!
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