Hey guys,

 

I started high volume training (dropsets and supersets) a little under two months ago. The results after the first three weeks were definitely noticable. I work each muscle twice a week and worked out 6 days a week. After one rest day the third week in, my muscles felt like they completely deflated and lost size. It was most noticable in my chest. I thought I was overtraining but I highly doubt it because my body is capable of training muscles twice a week. Now it is around 5 weeks later and I cannot get back to where I was after the first three weeks into high volume training. I feel like if high volume worked great the first few weeks, it should continue too, right?

 

I am convinced it isn't a nutrition issue. Although, it could possibly be a hydration issue. The only liquids I drink are skim milk and water (plus post workout whey protein). Not enough water to muscles?

 

My routine is usually:

Sunday: Back (with shrugs) & some biceps.

Monday: Chest & Abs

Tuesday: Legs

Wednesday: Biceps & Abs

Thursday: Shoulders & Traps

Friday: Chest & Abs

 

If anyone has any wise advice, I'd appreciate it!

 

Thanks

Ben,

 

If the muscles aren't still sore, you still have size and strength, and your nutrition is spot on it could be that you are losing body fat. Do the muscles look more defined? The other issue could be that even though you are eating enough your body is not storing enough glycogen from carbs in the muscle. A muscle looking flat usually occurs when protein is high but carbs are very low and/or glycogen stores have not been replenished. How much carbs are you eating each day? If you are doing moderate carbs (100 - 175grams), are you doing at least one re-feed day per week were you eat 200 - 250 grams?

 

John

Thanks for the reply John!

 

I eat approximately 80 grams of fat, 190 grams of protein and 275 grams of carbs daily. It ends up being around 2,600-2,700 calories. When I first started training high volume, I had definition so I haven't lost any noticable body fat. The deflation mostly happens in my chest - still. For instance, I could be sore the following day from a chest workout, but two or three days after, it feels as if the muscle deflated. The chest is large muscle so maybe when it deflates I feel like the rest of my upperbody does? I have always struggled with chest, so after the first three weeks of high volume, my chest was what I was most proud of because I saw the most results, so the deflation was frustrating.

Hey guys,

 

I started high volume training (dropsets and supersets) a little under two months ago. The results after the first three weeks were definitely noticable. I work each muscle twice a week and worked out 6 days a week. After one rest day the third week in, my muscles felt like they completely deflated and lost size. It was most noticable in my chest. I thought I was overtraining but I highly doubt it because my body is capable of training muscles twice a week. Now it is around 5 weeks later and I cannot get back to where I was after the first three weeks into high volume training. I feel like if high volume worked great the first few weeks, it should continue too, right?

 

I am convinced it isn't a nutrition issue. Although, it could possibly be a hydration issue. The only liquids I drink are skim milk and water (plus post workout whey protein). Not enough water to muscles?

 

My routine is usually:

Sunday: Back (with shrugs) & some biceps.

Monday: Chest & Abs

Tuesday: Legs

Wednesday: Biceps & Abs

Thursday: Shoulders & Traps

Friday: Chest & Abs

 

If anyone has any wise advice, I'd appreciate it!

 

Thanks

Thanks for the reply John!

 

I eat approximately 80 grams of fat, 190 grams of protein and 275 grams of carbs daily. It ends up being around 2,600-2,700 calories. When I first started training high volume, I had definition so I haven't lost any noticable body fat. The deflation mostly happens in my chest - still. For instance, I could be sore the following day from a chest workout, but two or three days after, it feels as if the muscle deflated. The chest is large muscle so maybe when it deflates I feel like the rest of my upperbody does? I have always struggled with chest, so after the first three weeks of high volume, my chest was what I was most proud of because I saw the most results, so the deflation was frustrating.

Like John said, it seems as if you are most likely burning body fat from all the high volume routines. The more volume that is present in your routines the more calories you burn thus the more body fat you burn. Another cause of this may be due to lack of carbohydrate/glcogen that is stored in your muscles. When you train, specially with high volume you burn lots of glycogen that is stored in the muscle tissue so its very important that you replenish those lost carbs immediately after each training session and all through out the day specially if your goal is to build muscle. Also you may not be drinking enough water and hydrating well enough. Its very important to drink lots of water all through out the day and during your training sessions as well. Water helps pull glycogen into your muscles which helps you maintain that pumped full look. I would suggest that you get a supplemental form of L-arginine. You can get it for like 4 dollars at dollar general. Its a nitric oxide booster that will help shove all those carbs and proteins into your muscles which not only keeps your muscles full but also helps you get greater pumps in the gym and promotes recovery from training.

 

Other than that it is possible that you may be over training and not giving your body enough time to recover in between training sessions. This would likely be due to how long youve been training, how well your meal plan is, and how much quality sleep you get each night. Now if you are taking lots of supplements and eating lots of calories and getting enough sleep each night then there really is no such thing as over training. Quality sleep is a very important factor here because its when your body is asleep that your muscles are actually building and being repaired. You should always shoot for 8 solid hours of sleep.

 

I personally train each muscle group twice per week as well with super high volume routines and I've found that this is what my body responds best to.

I realize every one is diffrent and there body responds differently, but for me I have found if I drink just over a galon of water threwout the day and a added ruffly 1/2 gallon during my workout seams to help keep me well hydrated and looking/ feeling of full mass and size.