German volume training: 10 sets of 10, and what the two trials of it found

German volume training, GVT for short, is a high-volume method with a simple rule: pick a lift, do ten sets of ten reps, and rest only a minute or so between sets. The trials that tested it describe it as a practice used by national weightlifting coaches to add muscle mass to their athletes in the off-season.¹

This page covers what GVT is, what the two published trials measured and in whom, how it compares with a more ordinary set count, and a practical way to run it if you want to try it. Other set schemes have their own pages: the 5x5 workout and pyramid sets.

What German volume training is

As the trials describe it, a typical GVT session is 10 sets of 10 repetitions (100 reps) for each of two compound exercises, at a load of about 60% of a one-rep max, which the authors equate with a 20-rep max, with rests of about 60 to 90 seconds between sets.¹ The short rests are part of the design: the authors say they are there to add metabolic stress.¹

Both trials tested a modified version. Squats and deadlifts, which GVT traditionally uses, were swapped for the leg press and lunges, and assistive exercises were added after the two main lifts.¹ So the results below are for that version, not for a ten-set squat.

What the two trials found

The two trials share authors, and both compared 10 sets of 10 per exercise with 5 sets of 10 in a three-day-a-week split.

The two trials point the same way: doubling the sets from 5 to 10 did not add muscle or strength in healthy men, and the 5-set group did better on some measures. In these trials, more volume did not mean more gain.

Three limits matter. Both trials were in men only. The six-week trial's between-group difference in arm lean mass (p = 0.083) did not reach the usual threshold, so only the trunk difference is quoted above.² And the 12-week trial is a pilot with 12 people: its authors call for a larger cohort to confirm the results.¹ They are two small trials, not the last word.

What this says about how many sets

The trials changed one thing, 5 sets against 10 on the main lifts, which is a bigger jump than most set-count debates. Elsewhere in the research, more weekly sets per muscle go with more growth up to a point, and the returns shrink as sets pile up. The American College of Sports Medicine's 2026 position stand found that 10 or more sets per muscle group a week enhanced muscle growth, and put the point of diminishing returns at about 18 to 20 weekly sets for muscle growth and about two to three sets per exercise for strength.³ How many sets per week has the full numbers.

Put that next to the trials: ten sets of one lift in a week already reaches the stand's 10-set line for the muscles that lift trains, if nothing else trains them, and the trials cited here did not find that the extra five sets bought anything. That is a reading of the trials and the stand side by side, not a finding of any of them.

When it fits and when it doesn't

As a practical guide, not a finding:

• It fits a lifter who likes one simple rule, has time for a long session, and wants a change from three sets of eight.
• It doesn't fit a heavy-strength goal. Sets of 10 at about 60% of a one-rep max are light. For strength, the ACSM's 2009 stand recommends heavy sets of 1 to 6 reps for intermediate and advanced lifters, and 8 to 12 rep maximum loads for novices.⁴ The 5-set group also beat the 10-set group on bench press strength in the six-week trial.²
• It doesn't fit a short week. 200 reps on two lifts, with a minute's rest, is a long session, and the trials cited here found no gain from the extra five sets.
• If you want the same method for less: do 5 sets of 10. That is the comparison the trials made.

How to run it (practical)

This is a plan built from the trials' set-up, not a protocol either of them proved. The authors recommended 4 to 6 sets per exercise, so treat the full ten as an experiment you can drop.

1. Pick two compound exercises per session and do 10 sets of 10 on each, with the same weight for every set. The 12-week trial used a chest and upper-back day (bench press and lat pulldown), a leg day (leg press and lunges) and a shoulders-and-arms day (shoulder press and upright row), three days a week.¹
2. Pick a weight you could lift about 20 times. The trials describe about 60% of a one-rep max, which the authors equate with a 20-rep max.¹ Start lighter than you think; the last sets are the hard ones.
3. Rest 60 to 90 seconds. Time it. The short rest is the method. (How long to rest between sets.)
4. Add weight only when all ten sets are clean. When you finish all 100 reps with good form, add a small amount next time. (Progressive overload.)
5. Do the rest of the session at ordinary volume. Three or four sets of one or two other exercises are plenty after the two big ones.
6. Run it for a block you chose in advance, such as six weeks, and judge it by your log. If you stop beating last week, go back to five sets.

Common mistakes

• Starting too heavy. A weight that fails on set four of ten leaves you with six sets of grinding. Drop the weight.
• Running it on every exercise. The method is two exercises a session, and the other work stays at ordinary volume.
• Running it forever. Neither trial tested it for longer than 12 weeks.
• Reading the trials as proof it doesn't work. In the six-week trial, total, trunk and arm lean-mass measures and strength rose across both groups. The finding is that 10 sets were no better than 5.

Common questions

What is German volume training?

A method of 10 sets of 10 reps with the same weight on each of two compound exercises, at about 60% of a one-rep max, with 60 to 90 seconds between sets.¹

Does German volume training build muscle?

In the six-week trial, total, trunk and arm lean-mass measures rose across groups, with trunk lean mass rising more with 5 sets than with 10; leg lean mass and muscle thickness did not rise significantly.² In the 12-week pilot trial, total, trunk and arm lean mass did not change significantly in either group, and leg lean mass in the 10-set group fell from week 6 to week 12, which its authors call difficult to explain.¹ The two trials disagree on whether lean mass rose at all, and they agree that 10 sets were not better than 5.

What are German volume training results?

The results in the two trials were measured in healthy men over six and 12 weeks: no extra lean mass or strength from 10 sets compared with 5, and more upper-body strength with 5 in the six-week trial.^2,1 They do not say what the method will do for you.

How many days a week?

Both trials trained three days a week in a split routine.^2,1 That is one way to do it, not a rule.

Can I use squats and deadlifts for German volume training?

The method traditionally uses them, and the trials replaced them with the leg press and lunges.¹ Whether ten sets of squats or deadlifts do something different is not something the trials cited here tested.

If you'd rather not plan it alone

A set scheme is a small piece of a plan. The bigger questions are how much you can recover from, which lifts you're stuck on and what the rest of your week looks like, and those change as you train. If you'd like a plan built around that, coaching to build muscle explains how it works, and here's how to apply. Otherwise, pick the version that fits your week, five sets or ten, write it in your log and judge it at the end of the block.