Volume in SS

[Stu Hughes]

Hey Mark,
Should the total volume (i.e. warmup and work sets) in each successive workout always go up in SS?

My total volume in workout one was 4450kg, but only 3960kg in workout three. Granted it's only been three workouts so far for me, and my work sets have all increased.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Volume in the sense of total tonnage is not the primary concern for the novice program in SSBBT. Volume goes up slowly as work set weights accumulate. Work set weight is the focus, and warmups will taper to facilitate better work sets as you get stronger, so tonnage might actually go down if you've been doing 5s all the way up.