When it comes to programming for the offseason I always feel it is a good idea to focus on a few things. Progressive overload training, getting as healthy as possible and finding a style of training you enjoy doing. I know the research tends to favor higher volume for muscle growth and that volume is the primary driver of hypertrophy. I agree that based on the science that is correct, but what I can't deny is that some of the strongest and biggest bodybuilders take a low volume and higher intensity approach. I will say this as you get stronger and if you push your sets to absolute failure your volume will have to go down tremendously. The debate would be well is that an optimal way to train and I would say yes it is as long as it meets the criteria above. I enjoy being able to push up to a top set and just seeing what I have for that day, the logbook will let me know if I am progressing and if my lifts go up then I know I am adding muscle. The less amount of volume I have to do the fresher my joints and body feel and like I said before I love this style of training and I look forward to it every day.
What I am trying to say here is there are so many ways to progress and you can look to science to guide you or you can look at what the successful people are doing to guide you or a mix of both. At the end of the day if you are not enjoying it and having some type of progressive overload you will not make progress and you will burn yourself out.
Training is going great and I have a meet picked out around mid-May to see if I can improve on my last performance which let's be honest won't be hard to do. I'll be posting my training now that I have solidified my approach and my rotations for this current offseason.
