The Anatomy of Your Resistance Training Workout – Part 5

So we’re on to part five of the article series that is providing a more scientific breakdown and explanation of the variables that should be considered and how they should be considered when developing or modifying your resistance training program (Kerksick 2011; Spiering et al. 2008). The fifth consideration is a key variable that holds many practical implications as well as implications that impact how your body responds to the exercise stress being placed upon it. This variable is the volume of exercise you complete. Technically, volume in the resistance training world is calculated by multiplying together the numbers of sets, the number of reps and the amount of weight used for each exercise. Because of this, alterations to any one of these factors can change the amount of volume completed in a workout. Two major considerations exist regarding volume and that is the number of sets to complete and the number of reps to complete. Remember, we already covered how much load or weight should be used in the previous two articles of this series.