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Volume Training vs. Heavy Duty

© Matt Danielson

Back in the old days, there was a controversy between two gentlemen named Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mike Mentzer. The bottom line in their argument, was that Arnold advocated working out for hours every day, while Mike wanted people to spend as little time as possible in the gym. Instead, Mike said, bodybuilders should kill the muscles with as much weight and intensity as possible, and then get the hell out of the gym.
Arnold whipped Mike's butt in the competition (Mr. Olympia), both retired, and that's pretty much it.

Today, the question is still sortof lingering in mid-air. We have professional bodybuilders that advocate both schools of thought. Bodybuilders like Lee Priest and Markus Ruhl are known for doing up to 20 sets for the pecs alone. Dorian Yates, for one, believes in the "less-is-more"-principle.
Interestingly enough, this time the Heavy Duty-based thinking (Dorian) seem to score considerably better than Volume-Based bodybuilders (6 straight Mr.O victories vs. a 5:th or 6:th placing at best, I think).

What does this all boil down to? Obviously, just judging from contest results won't get you anywhere, so we'll have to look at it from a physiological perspective:
Question: What are we trying to achieve here?
Answer: Muscle growth.
Question: How do we accomplish that?
Answer: By convincing the muscle that it needs to grow.
Question: What is the best way of convincing the muscle?
Answer: Expose it to stress beyond what it can comfortably handle.

...This is where the two schools of thought differ. Volume-advocates reason that prolonged workouts with plenty of workload involved will sufficiently exhaust the muscles. Heavy Duty-advocates counter by the fact that the muscles need to be pushed beyond their comfort zone, and that brief workouts with extremely heavy weights is the only way to achieve it.

Both principles have drawbacks:
Volume Training: Obvious risk of overtraining, which will effectively put all progress to a screeching halt. There's also the risk that you're mentally preparing for the many sets to come, and neglect to go all-out in your first sets when you're at your strongest, in order to save strength for later. This mean you'd get a so-so workout all the way through, without any real stimulation.
Heavy Duty: Overwhelming risk of injury. If you're 100% sure about your form you'll probably get away with it, but if you're going max-max-max all the time, and cheat, you're doomed to injury. It's also not very friendly to new trainers, and bodybuilders with old injuries often find that this approach causes pain in knees, backs, shoulders, and other classic "injury-spots".

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