Volume Training – the final push

I’m just over four weeks into the volume training deal. Everything I heard about it was exciting–that this was (what sounded like at the time) an easy way to get hyoooge.

In my case, not so much. I know guys who can just stick to the 10 rep range for a bit, eat a bunch of carbs, and explode. But the modest gains I have scrounged so far haven’t come easily.

Like I mentioned before, eating enough is a struggle. And it’s frustrating even trying to communicate this fact to others, because they hear what I’m doing and think it’s fun and pleasurable and gives you free reign to eat everything you want. They get offended, even. They think I’m full of hubris and trying to make them feel bad.

I’m not!

There’s a reason why I’ve read that you keep your goals to yourself, I guess. Literally the only people who get it are simply other people who do the same thing. Everyone else just gets defensive for some reason. And I mean everyone.

Anyway, almost near the end of this 6-week cycle, I’m starting to feel a little bit burned out. I’m not sore or anything. My joints and tendons are handling high volume very well. But I’m noticing sleep disruption and some other signs of stressed adrenals. Also, I picked up a weird cold-ish thing that almost lasted 2 weeks, which never happens to me. Don’t get me wrong . . . I won’t say anythng about “overtraining,” because I like CT Fletcher’s philosophy that there ain’t no motherfuckin’ such thing as over-fuckin-training. But I’ll be glad to switch to some big lifts and high intensity training soon.

I had an initial goal that now I know is ridiculously unrealistic for me unless I have the luxury of making it a fulltime job. Putting on 20lbs of lean muscle is TOUGH. At the end of this, I’ll be lucky to come away with 10. I can definitely see how guys get lured into steroids now. But a little reading about what certain frames are able to support without them does make you feel better. It would be pretty ridiculous for someone with my wrist size and height to be as big as I’d originally planned.

It’s not much, but I’m happy with it. This is something that takes a lot of time and failure, and as long as I’ve become stronger, it’ll have been a success.