10 X 5: ADVANCED GERMAN VOLUME TRAINING

Awesome program made by Charles Poliquin. It really takes good advantage of linnear progression. It
also provides the trainee with a good balance of strength and hypertrophy training.

Tempo: “For long range movements such as squats, dips, and chins, use a 40X0 tempo; this means you
would lower the weight in four seconds and immediately change direction and lift explosively for the
concentric portion. For movements such as curls and triceps extensions, use a 30X0 tempo.” – Charles
Poliquin

Starting Weight: Use 75% of your 10 RM for the ten sets exercise. So if you can squat 335 x 10 reps to
positive failure, you would start this program with 250 lbs.

Frequency: Make it work for YOU! If you're lifting a ton of weight, and/or have average to below average
recovery, you may need to just do a M, W, F schedule. If you do want greater frequency, especially for
those that can handle it, there are a few options:

A) 2 on, 1 off, 1 on, 2 off: Everything gets directly worked twice every 10 days

Monday: Chest/Back

Tuesday: Legs

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Arms

Friday: OFF

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: Chest/Back

B) 2 on, 1 off, 1 on, 1 off: Everything gets directly worked twice every 9 days (Poliquin’s original
template)
Monday: Chest/Back

Tuesday: Legs

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Arms

Friday: OFF

Saturday: Chest/Back

Sunday: Legs

All that being said, the only thing that will be extremely taxing (again IMHO) is doing chest/back and legs
back to back! So, probably a much better option would be to switch out chest/back day with arms day.
Example:

Monday: Arms

Tuesday: Legs

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Chest/Back

Friday: OFF

Progression

Workout 1

The goal of the Advanced German Volume Training method is to complete 10 sets of 5 reps with the
same weight for each exercise. You want to begin with a weight you could lift for 10 reps to failure
(10RM), if you had to push it. For most people, on most exercises, that would represent 75% of their 1
R.M. load. Therefore, if you can bench press 300 pounds for one rep, you would use 225 pounds for this
exercise.
Workout 2

Increase the weight by 6-7% and strive to do 10 sets of 4 reps with that weight. Now you're doing 235
lbs.

Workout 3

Increase weight of Workout 1 by 8-9% and strive to do 10 sets of 3 reps with that weight. Yes, you are
reading it correctly—8-9%, not 6-7%. Now you're using 255 lbs.

Workout 4

Use the weights you used in Workout 2 and go for 10 sets of 5, which you should do easily. 235 lbs.

Workout 5

Use the weights in workout 3 and go for 10 sets of 4, which again you should do easily. 255 lbs.

Workout 6

By now you should be able to do 10 sets of 3 at 275 pounds with no problem.

My Experience: I tried this program a few years back and had okay results. Hindsight being 20/20, I
wasn’t doing exactly what he recommended. For one, I used more weight than I should’ve, which in turn
sped up my tempo. Not good since the tempo is the one important thing you should preserve! The other
mistake I made was that I performed a textbook superset between the exercises... Which destroyed my
prescribed tempos. It's fine for those that could handle doing that, but it didn't work for me. Next time
it'll be easier to do one exercise (A-1), REST 90 seconds, then do the other exercise (A-2), rest 90
seconds. So I know the results could’ve been a hundred times better for me had I learned how to read
lol!
Day 1: Shoulders/Arms

A-1) Tricep Dips

10 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

A-2) Incline DB Curls

10 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-1) Bicep Cable Exercise

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

B-2) Hammer Curls

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

C-1) Side Laterals

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 45 seconds

Day 2: Legs

A-1) Back Squats

10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-1) Glute-Ham Raises

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

B-2) Calf Raises

3 sets of 10 on a 5-0-1 tempo, rest 60 seconds

Day 4: Chest/Back

A-1) Dumbbell Bench Press

10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

A-2) Wide Grip Pull-ups

10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-1) Weighted Dips

3 sets of 10 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

B-2) T-Bar Rows

3 sets of 10 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

Day 6: Shoulders/Arms

A-1) Seated Zottman Curls

10 sets of 5 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

A-2) Decline Closegrip Bench

10 sets of 5 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-1) Wide Cable Curls

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

B-2) Rope Pressdowns

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

C-1) DB Upright Rows

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 45 seconds

Day 7: Legs

A-1) Hack Squats

10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-2 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-1) Hamstring Press

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

B-2) Pullthroughs

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

Day 9: Chest/Back

A-1) Incline Barbell Press

10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

A-2) Supinated Grip Rack Chins

10 sets of 5 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-1) Decline DB Press

3 sets of 10 on a 4-0-0 tempo, rest 60 seconds

B-2) One Handed DB Rows

3 sets of 10 on a 3-0-0 tempo, rest 60 second