Sticking points are bad news for any bodybuilder, and unfortunately, the majority of us will experience them at one time or another. More often than not, the best course of action is to shock the hell out of your muscles by introducing a new hard-hitting training routine. The question is which one?

From Germany...with intensity

Over the years bodybuilders have used many creative training techniques to push past halted muscle growth. Unfortunately, many of these have measured up to little more than wasted reps. So, Team MuscleTech's training specialists set out to find a guaranteed approach to remove your musclebuilding barriers. And what we found is an old school training technique known as German Volume Training (GVT).

Developed in... well, Germany (although that's still up for debate) the GVT style of training was popular amongst Olympic weightlifting giants back in the 70s. Entirely off-beat with the commonly prescribed low rep, heavy resistance approach, it is easy to see why the GVT 10 sets of 10 reps method is often overlooked by bodybuilders. Originally intended to help weightlifters pack on mass, GVT is a valuable tool that can also be used by bodybuilders to jack up muscle size and strength quickly. It is designed to hit your larger muscle groups with brutal intensity. The sheer volume of the GVT style will push your body to its absolute limits and your muscle gains to an all-time high.

The science behind volume

The theory that if some is good, more is even better, has been debated in bodybuilding circles for years. Putting all arguments aside, there is in fact a significant amount of science to support the importance of volume for building muscle. Higher volume training is extremely effective for maximizing blood flow. And as you already know, increased blood flow to the muscles, better known as the "pump," is like a super highway to all-out growth. This saturates your muscles with the anabolic hormones and musclebuilding nutrients they need in order to construct massive size. The GVT style of training works by targeting a specific group of motor units, exposing them to brutally high volumes at a moderate intensity. By repeatedly subjecting a group of motor units to such a high volume of stress, the targeted muscles must adapt-and do so by hypertrophying-at a very rapid rate. A word of caution: hitting the targeted muscle with such unusually high volume and from so many angles can be extremely taxing on your system. To fuel explosive growth, GVT requires you ramp up your intake of protein to enhance both recovery and optimal gains.

How GVT works

For this program you will perform a maximum of two exercises per muscle group, one of which - the key exercise - is compound. For compound exercises or those to which you apply the GVT principle, choose a weight that is roughly 50 to 60 percent of your one rep max. For example, if your max squat is 300 pounds then you'll want to start with 150 to 180 pounds. With minimal rest periods between sets (about 60 seconds). Following the rest times is crucial to this program. Use a stopwatch to help keep the rest intervals constant. You are not trying to reach failure during each set, only the last few sets should be hard. Reduce the weight if necessary. Once you're able to complete 10 sets of 10 with constant rest intervals, you can begin increasing the weight by 2.5 to 5 percent. Repeat the process, gradually increasing your weight. This is an intense program, consequently, only one training session every four to five days per bodypart is recommended. If done properly, you're guaranteed to pack on pounds of new muscle in only a few weeks!

Crank up the volume training program

The highlighted exercises are the key lifts to be included in this program. All other exercises are supplementary and may be substituted. Use this program for only four weeks. This program may be used every two to three months.