Can I Do Cardio With German Volume Training? (Explained!)

Last updated on August 28th, 2023 at 05:17 pm

Your aim is to pack on muscle, so German Volume Training seems like the ideal solution.

However, you also feel that you’re carrying excess body fat and would like to lose this as well.

So, should you be doing high volume workouts interspersed with cardio?

Or is it better to focus on one training goal on its own?

Allow me to reveal all.

You can do cardio with German Volume Training, although it would be better to do low-impact cardio. German Volume Training involves a lot of volume, which can be hard to recover from. So, you don’t want to hamper your recovery with excess cardio. If you feel that losing body fat is your number one goal, it would make more sense to focus on this first, which would typically involve less volume.

German Volume Training May Provide Enough Cardio

I totally understand the thought process that goes behind potentially doing German Volume Training and cardio at the same time.

Most of us want to pack on muscle to our frame, while also keeping body fat at bay.

Basically, our aim is to produce a lean, toned, muscular, and ripped physique.

However, gaining lean muscle and burning body fat typically go against each other in terms of training and nutrition.

In effect, you could hamper your muscle gains with excess cardio.

Plus, your recovery could also be impeded with the amount of training that you’re doing.

I would always suggest that you give German Volume Training alone a try for at least a couple of weeks.

The reason I say this is that performing 10 sets of 10 reps for the major compound exercises could actually provide enough cardio in itself.

Furthermore, in most cases, you’ll be doing this type of training 4-5 times a week.

And, as I’ve mentioned, recovery is of paramount importance with German Volume Training.

So, it initially makes much more sense to simply perform German Volume Training alone to see how your body reacts to it.

It could be a case that you simply don’t have enough energy to effectively perform cardio.

Then again, you may find that due to the increased volume and intensity of your workouts that you’ve actually started burning body fat anyway.

Don’t forget that German Volume Training will hit both the Central Nervous System and your metabolism quite hard.

So, you could find that this form of training literally turns you into a calorie and fat-burning machine.

Additionally, you wouldn’t usually want to perform German Volume Training for much more than 4-6 weeks.

Therefore, this provides you the perfect opportunity to focus solely on one form of training and then reassess everything afterwards.

You May Be Better Off Focusing On Cutting First

I’ve just mentioned that excess cardio can have an effect on building muscle.

This is not to say that you can’t perform hypertrophy-based workouts alongside cardio.

However, the whole point being that you don’t want one form of training to impact on the other.

In essence, your training should compliment each other, thus helping you to produce the body that you crave.

With that being said, if one form of training is more important to you than the other, then you should focus on that.

When it comes to German Volume Training you’ll typically find that it is very hard to recover from.

This is especially true during the first week or two.

In fact, it’s not unheard-of to be completely wiped out by your training during that first couple of weeks.

You may find that once you’ve trained you literally have no energy left, even to perform some of the most menial tasks around the home.

This is why good nutrition, ample rest and recovery, with 7-9 hours sleep a night, go hand-in-hand with German Volume Training.

I will also say that due to the intensity of your workouts you’ll probably have to increase your calorie intake.

However, with the volume of your training and those extra calories you should experience some significant muscle gains.

With that being said, it’s very hard to keep fat at bay when you’re eating at a calorie surplus.

And this still holds true even when you’re eating as clean as possible.

In effect, a calorie is a calorie, no matter where it comes from, so an excess of calories will always mean you gain weight.

And more often than not, there will always be some fat gain involved.

So, if this is a worry for you, or your main goal is to cut body fat, then I’d suggest that you focus on this first.

Basically, you’ll need to eat at a calorie deficit, while also somewhat restricting the volume of your training.

You can still obviously train hard and with adequate intensity, but German Volume Training may be a bit too much when you’re on a calorie deficit.

Aim For Low-Impact Cardio

I have been through a few stages of doing German Volume Training in my life.

This is generally to change things up a bit in my training, while also looking to add some more muscle to my frame.

Plus, I will say that I have the same concerns about possibly gaining more body fat than I’d want.

So, I actually always end up performing some type of cardio in addition to my training.

However, I tend to keep this extremely low-impact, so that it won’t affect my main training.

For me, walking has always been the best form of cardio, and it is something I do every single day.

In fact, it has become such a habit that I no longer pay that much attention to it.

I simply get up and go for a walk first thing in the morning, and then usually have a couple of shorter walks later in the day.

But, I know that on a daily basis I’m probably walking 4-5 miles.

Now, you certainly don’t need to be walking that much for the fat-burning benefits.

Plus, remember that you don’t want your cardio to impact your main training.

However, I see nothing wrong with taking three to four 30-45 minute walks a week.

Perhaps, on your days off from the gym you could even extend your “walking cardio” to an hour.

But, what you will find is that walking is usually more than enough cardio for most of us doing German Volume Training.

Do Whatever Works Best For You

The final thing I’ll say on the matter is to do what works best for you.

We’re always typically looking for the “right answer”, but this will vary from person-to-person.

We are different from each other and therefore our body’s react differently to exercise.

I’m pretty sure there are many beasts out there who could do 7 days of sprint training in the morning, followed by German Volume Training in the afternoon.

Then again, there are those of us who will merely perform German Volume Training 2-3 times a week and have absolutely nothing left in the tank.

I personally believe that exercise, fitness, and living a healthy lifestyle is all about finding what works best for you.

So, while there may be certain “rules” about training and nutrition, this doesn’t mean that they will work in the same way for everyone.

Therefore, I urge you to try to test things when it comes to training and nutrition.

As long as you feel that you’re regularly progressing and you’re recovering well then you’re definitely headed in the right direction.

Final Thoughts

So, as you can see, you can do cardio with German Volume Training, although this will very much depend on you as an individual.

In truth, with the amount of volume you’ll be doing with this type of training, it could be enough “cardio” for most people.

Then again, if losing fat is your main goal then you would probably be better training with a lower volume, while eating at a calorie deficit.

Additionally, German Volume Training is extremely difficult to recover from, and the last thing you want is to hamper your results with excessive workouts.

If you’re looking to build muscle without gaining unwanted body fat then I have just the thing for you. Bodybuilder Frank Rich has created a 12-week workout program that is specifically aimed at these two training protocols. Perfect!