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GVT vs 5x5 for mass [Article]

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Sep 21, 2018 9:30:00 AM

GVT vs 5x5 for mass

GVT vs 5x5 for mass

Diet is the main factor in building mass. If you have no meal plan yet cover this first. After that GVT will yield better results to build muscle than 5x5.

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What are your goals 

 

Why do you compare GVT and 5x5 for mass? Do you have no one to ask? Are you unsure about what to do? Do the personal trainers in your gym not even know what GVT stands for? The answers can be many and the questions can be even more. When I talk to beginners the most important thing is to get your priorities straight. I see three main areas of interest:

 

  • Looks
  • Performance 
  • Health 

 

If you are mainly about looks you probably define your goals by what you see on the television and in magazines. Be prepared to be very disciplined about your diet to achieve this goal. Avoid alcohol, sugar, and bread. The goal is to get below 10% body fat and that is a full-time job. This battle is mainly decided in the kitchen, not in the gym. Of course, exercise helps. Ultimately you can look like a model by starving yourself. There is a reason why eating disorders are so common in this profession. 

 

If you are mainly about performance you care about results. Putting numbers on the board in your relevant field. Find the exercises with the most carryover and do them. Mix it up from time to time to minimize mental and physical exhaustion. Diet will fuel your ambition but not be the deciding factor to success. In the end, you need enough energy to perform well on competition day. Nobody will care how you looked when you have won unless it’s part of the performance. 

 

The last group is mainly interested in health. If you belong to this group you will avoid risks. The main goal is to be happy. The stress of extreme diets and exercise regimes bugs you. At the same time, you know that awareness and healthy eating will help you. You will be interested in yoga, Pilates, and several diets. The results are less important than how you feel about them.

 

As you are researching mass you probably want to build muscle. Deke ding on age and experience in your sport you are either a beginner or an expert who is looking into a change in weight class and/or position on the team. Health is probably not your main concern. Prioritising these three areas for fitness always helps to find the right program. 

 

German Volume Training

 

GVT is short for German Volume Training. The basic idea is that you do ten sets of ten repetitions of an exercise. As it is simple to understand and perform it has gotten quite popular over the years. 

 

There are different versions of this program and I will describe the one I have used the most in the past 

 

  • 10 sets
  • 10 repetitions 
  • 30 seconds Rest between sets
  • 60% of your one repetition maximum
  • Scale 2.5 kg week to week per exercise 
  • One chest, back, leg, arms day a week

 

This is a simple but brutal template. You can apply it to machine or barbell exercises alike. 

 

The biggest advantages of German Volume Training are its simplicity and effectiveness. You do not need to do a lot of calculations with this one. Within one month using the barbell squat, bench press and deadlift I gained 2.5kg of muscle mass. The best bulking program I have done so far. 

 

The biggest disadvantages of the program are how to pick the weight and amount of time it takes. Especially beginners run the risk to pick weights which are not challenging enough or too challenging. It takes some experience to get your ten repetitions just right. If you are not sweating like on an intense run you are doing it wrong. To pick the right weight to start slow. Once you have a trend like 

 

  • 10 
  • 10
  • 10 
  • 10 
  • 10
  • 10
  • 9
  • 7
  • 6

 

Stick with that weight until you can finish  10x10. The other downside is the time. To get ten sets in takes a lot of time. Especially if your rest between sets is 2-3 minutes. That is why I like the 30 seconds rest approach. 

 

Stronglifts 5x5

 

Stronglifts is one of the most popular beginner programs out there. You will train three times a week and have four days off. The exercises you will perform are 

 

 

For five sets of five repetitions. The only exception is the deadlift which is programmed for 1x5. If you complete the workload you increase the weight next week. If you fail you can reattempt two times. After that you deload. 

 

With this approach Stronglifts positions itself right in the middle of commonly accepted strength theory. Sets of five balance between building muscle and strength. This makes it an excellent option for beginners. 

 

The biggest advantages of Stronglifts are its simplicity and low entry point. You will always know whether you are performing well or not on any given day. Starting with the empty barbell avoids that you have to do a one repetition maximum test. 

 

The biggest disadvantages of Stronglifts are its lack of specificity and marketing. Stronglifts treats everyone the same. The further away from average, you are the worse this is. If you are very small you will overtrain. If you are very big you will not live up to your full potential. The Stronglifts marketing also makes you believe that you will be super muscly and strong just by doing Stronglifts. That is overstated at best and might leave you disappointed.

 

Is GVT or 5x5 better for mass? 

 

First and furthermost diet is the determining factor for building mass. If this is your main goal spent more time on learning how to cook. Master your kitchen skills and gain some muscle.

 

Once this is out of the way you can look into exercising. GVT is definitely the better program for mass. Based on my personal experience this is where I gained the most in the shortest amount of time. If you want to train with machine train away on GVT. If you want to use the barbell start with Stronglifts 5x5 to get used to the complex movements. Then switch to GVT. 

 

Further reading 

 

 

Topics: Lift stronger, Stronglifts 5x5, German Volume Training, Fitness, Strength, Diet