GVT and HIIT
GVT and HIIT can be combined depending on your goals. Based on this pair GVT with a bulking diet first and HIIT with a cutting diet. If this does not get the desired results to move on to adding more exercise.
What are your goals
Why are you looking into combining German Volume Training and High-Intensity interval training? Do you want to get shredded? Do you want to bulk up? Maybe you want to do both at the same time? Whatever brought you here it is important that you know why you are training. When you have the world stressing you out your why will keep you going. When I started my why and goals were fussy. I observe that with my beginners on their fitness journey. Sharp goals get sharp results. Fussy goals get fussy results. Three are three main areas of interest in fitness:
- Health
- Performance
- Looks
If you are mainly interested in health you are all about balance. Stress will be eliminated wherever you can. You like Yoga, you try different diets and avoid extremes. This will keep you free of injury and away from pressure. The intensity in the gym will be moderate. You do things to enjoy them, not to beat others. With this approach, you will not make the front cover or be the greatest of all time in any hi be sport. You also don’t care so that’s fine.
Performance is all about trophies and personal records. You will choose your exercises to get better at your chosen sport. The intensity in the gym will be high. Your food is mainly fuel. You don’t care too much as long as it fulfills the purpose of keeping you on track. An injury is a well-known company and you train through it. The choices you make will not always be healthy. You also don’t care that much about how you look once you wave from the top spot to the people below.
Looks is probably the reasons why most people get into fitness unless they are told by their doctor. If you want to be ripped to land your next job, impress the other sex or run naked through the streets be prepared for a world of pain. You will be hungry, tired and exhausted. Saying no to sugar cravings, carbs, beer, and bread is no fun. That is why you don’t many ripped people. Unless you live in Beverly Hills but then your sample is biased. To stay at 10% body fat and below you will make decisions which are not always healthy. Being tired and depleted also does not help when you want to throw a punch.
As you are researching GVT and HIIT you are probably more interested in looks or performance. I would even bet you are more on the look Side of thing and wondering what the best way is to get ripped.
German Volume Training
German Volume Training is one of the most popular hypertrophy programs out there. Hypertrophy basically means muscle growth. As it is so popular there quite a few variations out there. My personal favorite is
- 10 repetitions for
- 10 sets at
- 60% of one repetition maximum with
- 30 seconds of rest between sets
With this template, I gained 2.5kg of muscle mass in one month. I used the
as the exercises to get there. If you do not like barbell exercises you can also use machines. The leg press, leg curl, lat pulldown, and dumbbells work too.
The main advantages of GVT are its simplicity and effectiveness. You do not have to learn a lot of movements. There are no complex calculations needed. Just bang out 100 reps of an exercise of your choice. I have yet to find a better program that makes my muscles grow.
The main disadvantages of German Volume Training are the time it takes and lack of clear progression. If you rest for two minutes between sets you have already spent 20 minutes in the gym doing nothing. This is why I like the thirty-second rest period. It also hard to keep track of progress as 100 reps can become quite a blur. Increasing weight leads to big jumps in overall volume with GVT as it gets multiplied by 100.
High-Intensity Interval Training
High-intensity interval training is at the heart of what started the Crossfit craze. When I was training for Judo there was never a question about intervals being high intensity, but that is a different topic altogether.
The idea of high-intensity Interval training is that you go all out on something, then take some rest and go at it again. It is very effective as you get the cardio effect of burning a lot of calories but in a shorter period of time. One very popular variation of HIIT is Tabata. Twenty-second sprints followed by 10 seconds of rest. The template we did in Judo was
2 minutes of throwing your partner
30 seconds rest
For five sets
After that, you were sweating like a pig. You can form your routines or look some up. The main thing is that you actually bring intensity to the table.
The main advantages of HIIT are that it is effective and exhilarating. You can get competitive and creative. 20 minutes of this and you are basically done. Add a proper warm up and cool down to the mix and you have 40 minutes which are ideally suited for busy people who want to develop all around fitness.
The main disadvantages of HIIT are that it is hard to regulate and stressful. Beginners can get frustrated very easily when they compete with themselves or with others. It is not uplifting to see that you suck compared to others. The other big mark against HIIT is that it only works if you are willing to push yourself to the limit. Otherwise, you might as well go for a walk in the park. A Russian spetznatz operative might help to shout at you, but that only will take you so far.
Can you combine GVT and HIIT
You can combine the two, however, I do think there are better combinations dwindling on your goal. Look to co vine HIIT or GVT with a proper diet plan first. If you want to bulk go with GVT and a high-calorie diet. If you want to cut to get ripped use HIIT in combination with a restricted diet. Forget the idea of building muscle and definition at the same time. You are either a pro to do this or have absolutely nothing else going on in your life.
If GVT and a bulking diet don’t work for you can look into supplements like creative and Whey protein. If HIIT and a restrictive diet don’t work you can look into supplements which take water out of your body. Always consult a doctor before attempting these more extreme measures. Calorie counting and more or less food combined with rigorous exercise usually do this trick. Most people are just not as rigorous in the gym and disciplined in the kitchen as they think they are.
Further reading
- Can you mix German Volume Training and Stronglifts 5x5
- German Volume training 4-week review
- German Volume Training vs Wendler 531
- German Volume Training vs Stronglifts 5x5
- German Volume Training for CrossFit
- How to prepare for German Volume Training
- Is German Volume Training better than Stronglifts 5x5
- Smolov vs German Volume Training
