A Functional Approach to the German Volume Training Program

The German Volume Training program, popularized by Charles Poliquin, has stood the test of time, however not without its share of faults.

The primary fault with this program is the imbalanced movement patterns. The program (see “train movements not muscles” article)

You can find samples of this program all over the internet, some have attempted to modify it or improve it and some have simply butchered it. My goal however is to not to change the fundamentals of the program but rather to apply a more scientific and logic approach.

Let’s take a look at a sample program

Workout A: Chest & Back

Workout B: Legs & Abs

Workout C: Arms

Now let’s break down the movement patterns

I don’t know about you but I see some potential for some muscle imbalances to occur following this program to the ‘T’. Take a look at the Horizontal movement plane, 13 sets of push with only 3 sets of pull, this will no doubt create a structural imbalance in the glenohumeral joint, give you the typical rounded forward shoulder posture and increase stress through the stabilizing mechanism of the glenohumeral joint.  This stress can produce myofascial trigger points throughout the stressed tissue further weakening this musculature.

This will also possibly result scapular “winging”. The scapular winging will create compensation in the surrounding structures including the thoracic spine. Without proper mobility in the thoracic spine the lumbar spine will be forced to compensate resulting in a number of potential syndromes.

As you can see without a balanced approach to training you may be setting yourself up for serious injury in the future.

Other serious imbalances can be seen in the vertical plane with 10 sets of vertical pull while 3 sets of vertical push (lat raises not really being a complete vertical push movement), this may cause disruption in the scapulohumeral rhythm that could result in a number of shoulder and spinal related injuries.

As you can see in the lower body training there are 10 sets quad dominant movements and 0 sets of hip dominant movements are performed. 10 sets of knee flexion are performed compared to 0 sets of knee extension.

10 sets of quad dominant movement compared to 0 sets of hip dominant will produce what we call a “quad dominant” individual. This will create an imbalance between the anterior chain and posterior chain of the body. This can create a number of postural distortions and potential injuries related to the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex.

The list goes on.... but now that you can see the number of problems associated with this type of training I better give you a solution rather than just pointing out the faults.

Workout A: Horizontal Push, Horizontal Pull

Workout B: Lower Body

Workout C: Vertical Push, Vertical Pull

Give it a try but beware this workout can be brutal so make sure your nutrition supports your training.

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