How much is too much volume?

[Playmaker95]

How can I tell if my workouts are overtraining? Or what if they are not enough? I also feel that if I'm not sore the day after it wasn't good enough. This is my bicep workout:
Cable curls 3x10
I do 3 chinups between the sets
Barbell curls 3x10 with the chinups btwn
Then I do a superset where I hold a dumbell in each hand an hold it 90 degrees then curl 10 times. The superset involves 3 sets in one.
I finish it off with decline curls 3x10

Looking at this, seems like a lot but I use low weights and I don't struggle with my last reps.

[Farley1324]

It's too much when you cannot recover from it in a sufficiently short period of time.

I also feel that if I'm not sore the day after it wasn't good enough.

Stop doing this.

[-Michelangelo-]

How can I tell if my workouts are overtraining? Or what if they are not enough? I also feel that if I'm not sore the day after it wasn't good enough. This is my bicep workout:
Cable curls 3x10
I do 3 chinups between the sets
Barbell curls 3x10 with the chinups btwn
Then I do a superset where I hold a dumbell in each hand an hold it 90 degrees then curl 10 times. The superset involves 3 sets in one.
I finish it off with decline curls 3x10

Looking at this, seems like a lot but I use low weights and I don't struggle with my last reps.

Hey bro how goes it? well you've got a few issues that I can see and that can easily be corrected in order to help you gauge your volume level. First know that everybody is different. While guidelines are good for beginning, ultimately I believe in the individuality of bodybuilding. Volume for some can be 3 sets a week. Volume for others need to be three times that.

It looks like you're lifting primarily for size and secondarily for strength. It is important to know that strength and size are related but not as much as people think. They require two totally different approaches. Your first mistake is that you are not lifting heavy enough which is preventing you from reaching a point of failure at 10 reps. This is not good. It shouldn't take you more than 6 sets at 10reps to effectively work your biceps. And this is why you are confused as to how much volume you should be doing. If you keep lifting light you could essentially work your biceps EVERYDAY which is also not good. Lift Heavy.

Secondly, gauging your workout by how sore you are the day after is something that takes experience and is not entirely accurate, however, I do believe everyone has different recovery capabilities and soreness is one indicator. If you lift heavy enough you'll have to scale back the daily volume while increasing your intensity overall.

[cszczurowski]

Good advice from Michaelangelo there .

It is by its very nature an individual sport . Nobody is lifting the weights for you after all ....... Sometimes its hard getting good info because everyone is different . Make sure while you are learning you write down everything you do so you can reflect on it at a later day . Store in on an excel websheet for example. You can look back in three months and see what has worked and what didnt .

Lift heavy . If you want to get in any kind of shape diet is the most important thing along with rest . You spend probably 3-5% of your week working out . Its what you do in the other time that has a much bigger effect (assuming your workout is sound of course).

[Jam177]

Hey bro how goes it? well you've got a few issues that I can see and that can easily be corrected in order to help you gauge your volume level. First know that everybody is different. While guidelines are good for beginning, ultimately I believe in the individuality of bodybuilding. Volume for some can be 3 sets a week. Volume for others need to be three times that.

It looks like you're lifting primarily for size and secondarily for strength. It is important to know that strength and size are related but not as much as people think. They require two totally different approaches. Your first mistake is that you are not lifting heavy enough which is preventing you from reaching a point of failure at 10 reps. This is not good. It shouldn't take you more than 6 sets at 10reps to effectively work your biceps. And this is why you are confused as to how much volume you should be doing. If you keep lifting light you could essentially work your biceps EVERYDAY which is also not good. Lift Heavy.

Secondly, gauging your workout by how sore you are the day after is something that takes experience and is not entirely accurate, however, I do believe everyone has different recovery capabilities and soreness is one indicator. If you lift heavy enough you'll have to scale back the daily volume while increasing your intensity overall.

I know WHR play maker is coming from . Same happens to me as well. Usually in the last 2 sets or last set I struggle to do the last rep or two so I very slightly spot my self making sure that the working hand is doing like 99% of the work. I tried adding more volume by doing the 3 sets then eventually going lighter cuz I can no longer handle the weight doing 8 to 10 reps and yet I'm barely sore the next day. During the workout I muscles feel wiped and slightly sore. Same to all my muscles . I focus on strict form and mind muscle connection making sure the muscle is doing all the work. I also control the weight . I'm sure for me I need more volume but still not 100% I do cuz I'm still a newbie. Only been working out for just over a year and prob less than half was on a lean bulk.

[Jam177]

Hey bro how goes it? well you've got a few issues that I can see and that can easily be corrected in order to help you gauge your volume level. First know that everybody is different. While guidelines are good for beginning, ultimately I believe in the individuality of bodybuilding. Volume for some can be 3 sets a week. Volume for others need to be three times that.

It looks like you're lifting primarily for size and secondarily for strength. It is important to know that strength and size are related but not as much as people think. They require two totally different approaches. Your first mistake is that you are not lifting heavy enough which is preventing you from reaching a point of failure at 10 reps. This is not good. It shouldn't take you more than 6 sets at 10reps to effectively work your biceps. And this is why you are confused as to how much volume you should be doing. If you keep lifting light you could essentially work your biceps EVERYDAY which is also not good. Lift Heavy.

Secondly, gauging your workout by how sore you are the day after is something that takes experience and is not entirely accurate, however, I do believe everyone has different recovery capabilities and soreness is one indicator. If you lift heavy enough you'll have to scale back the daily volume while increasing your intensity overall.

I also swith up my exercise and rep ranges as well as rest periods but have not really tried pyramidding up or down. Going to try that again cuz it really does burn and exhaust the crap out of the muscle .

[kizzoboy]

So long as your nutrition is on point and you're getting enough sleep, I doubt the program you're on is over-training. You would notice over-training when you become fatigued than progressively more fatigued after each training day.

Do you work biceps on their own day or is your bicep routine part of a larger routing (ie: back and biceps or arms)?

[health4life24]

Forget the whole overtraining concept for a second. Chances are you aren't even close to being in an overtrained state. If you were to workout 6 days a week and do 40 plus sets each workout but you were making great gains and felt great, would that be considered overtraining? For some people maybe, but if you're making progress with it then no. My point here is that you need to find what volume works for you. People might tell you you're doing too much or you're gonna hinder your growth but only you know if what you're doing is working or not.

[Partyrocking]

He asked in 2011. I'm pretty sure it didn't take him 5 years to figure out if he was overtraining.