Originally Posted by
Tom Narvaez
I think a lot of people around here have a completely warped interpretation of the interplay between volume and adaptation.
The more volume you do, the greater the increase in underlying fitness. However, simultaneously, the more volume you do, the greater the increase in overall fatigue levels. Nevertheless, the entire point of programming, if you want to make gains at an optimal rate, is to figure out how you can do as much volume as physically possible while still recovering by the time your peak week rolls around.
The more volume you perform and successfully recover from, the stronger you will get at the end of each training cycle. It is really that simple.
This is why people who go through programs like Smolov, or whatever else, can come away with 30-40lbs increases on their maxes in ~3-4 weeks despite the fact they are "intermediate" or even "advanced" lifters.
More volume, more progress. Do as much as you personally can. You don't even need to "program" per se until you've added as much time/volume as your schedule/body can accommodate. After you've reached your personal limit in terms of resources, whether that limit be practical or physical, that is when you need to start periodizing. Before that point, you can just get stronger by doing more.