General S&C 2 Volume Question

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hey guys,

I am currently starting the General S&C 2 template 3 day, because im also doing 2-3 days a week of running and cycling at a fairly taxing level.

Based off my (admittedly fairly basic) knowledge I thought 10-20 sets per muscle group per week was optimal. From looking at the program it seems like with 2 working sets on a lot of the movements you are going to be getting a good bit less than recommended. Is this because of the conditioning volume?

Also, when it says “4-6 reps @ RPE 6/4 RIR. Repeat weight for 2 sets of 4-6 reps.” does that mean 2 or 3 total working sets?

Thank you!

2

Mitch,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting.

For the total volume, each movement pattern (squat, hinge, row, push) and their subsequent muscle groups has between ~12 and 20 working sets per week. There are no movement patterns or muscle groups only getting 2 working sets.

To your question on the programming being 2 or 3 working sets, that’s an example of 3 working sets.

Hopefully that helps!

-Jordan

3

Thanks Jordan. I believe I meant 2 working sets per day, which looking back, isn’t really a fair generalization of the program. Looking back at it there are definitely more sets that I was originally thinking. I believe my misinterpretation of the wording played into that as well. Also, I am not used to combining vertical pressing and horizontal pressing into the same category.

Thanks!

4

This brings up an interesting question regarding volume, frequency, and time. Let me explain.

Some recommend 10 to 20 working sets per muscle group per week as you mention. Does frequency matter, e.g. 20 sets split up over 5 days (4 per day) vs 20 sets in 1 day, suggesting there’s an ideal daily volume? If no, is the training week really the ideal time interval to make volume recommendations? Muscles don’t really grow weekly or even every other week. Does it make sense to interpret a program’s muscle growth results after 4-6 weeks and then make recommendations from there, e.g. aim for 50 to 70 sets per muscle group per month?

My take:

  • Training frequency doesn’t really matter outside of fatigue management until volume gets much higher than ~10-15 sets per session
  • Monthly training volume targets would probably more accurate and useful for those with dynamic schedules. Less practical for people with consistent training weeks.
  • I think aiming for ~ 10-20 sets per muscle group per week is reasonable for most, but it’s such a wide range that it’s not very useful either.