Notorious Fit — Experimental Program V1
Notorious Log — Experimental V1
Alternating GVT / Split, revised. Week 1 & 3 run GVT, Week 2 & 4 run Split, Week 5 is Deload. This is a live experiment, not just a program update — the section below explains exactly what we're testing and what we expect. Then the full program, day by day.
The experiment
The original alternating GVT/Split log worked, but ran real risk: sustained 10×10 volume is the exact protocol a controlled study found causes leg mass loss past week 6, arm and calf work was inconsistent between weeks, and nothing in the log adjusted for a bad day. V1 tests whether trimming volume to the research-backed range, closing those gaps, and adding a readiness gate holds strength and hypertrophy roughly steady while cutting overreach risk and inconsistency.
| Hypothesis | Similar strength, similar-to-slightly-lower hypertrophy from reduced volume, but meaningfully lower overreach risk and more consistent arm/calf/rest exposure. |
| What's cut | Chest/Back/Shoulders/Legs sets drop 10–20% on average across the 5-week cycle — from a range the research says was likely past the point of added return, not below it. |
| What's added | Direct arm work on GVT days, calf work on GVT days, a second rest day in Split week, a readiness gate every session, and a weekly sets-per-muscle rollup to actually see the numbers instead of inferring them. |
| How we'll know | Track Volume totals and Readiness in the log every session, and Tracking Summary weekly. If strength on the main lifts holds and readiness stays out of the ≤2 zone more consistently than before, the trade is working. |
Forecasted change vs. the original, per muscle group (avg sets/week across the 5-week cycle)
| Muscle | Original | V1 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chest | 14.0/wk | 12.0/wk | −2 |
| Back | 14.4/wk | 12.8/wk | −1.6 |
| Shoulders | 13.2/wk | 10.4/wk | −2.8 |
| Legs | 16.8/wk | 15.2/wk | −1.6 |
| Triceps | 2.4/wk | 2.4/wk | even, more consistent |
| Biceps | 2.4/wk | 2.4/wk | even, more consistent |
| Calves | 1.2/wk | 3.0/wk | +1.8 |
| Rest days (avg/wk) | 1.4 | 1.8 | +0.4 |
Every big-muscle number, before or after, sits inside the 10–20 sets/week range research associates with most of the growth signal — this is a move from "high" to "still high," not "high" to "low." If you personally recover fast, the original's extra volume might buy a small real edge; V1 is the bet that the overreach risk isn't worth it without a readiness gate to catch a bad week.
The six changes, in detail
Six changes, each tied to a specific gap or a specific piece of research.
Weekly sets per muscle group
The variable the research actually tracks is sets-per-muscle-per-week, not volume-load. 10–20 hard sets/week is the commonly cited range for most lifters — this is where GVT and Split each land.
Readiness gate
Check this before every session, GVT/Split/Deload alike. This is the lever that keeps a bad day from turning into the kind of overreach the GVT research flagged.
| 4–5 | Train as written. |
| 3 | Cut working sets by about 20%. |
| ≤2 | Drop to Deload-level loading for today, regardless of which week you're in. |
The full program
Every day, every exercise, every set. Orange tags mark what changed from the original; blue tags mark what's new.
Notorious Fit — Experimental Program V1
Notorious Log — Experimental V1 Training Log
The live-fill companion to the Experimental V1 Program Guide. Trimmed GVT volume, added arm/calf work, a real second rest day, and a readiness check on every session. Week 1 & 3 use GVT. Week 2 & 4 use Split. Week 5 is Deload. Fill in Weight, Reps, RPE, and Notes as you go — Volume and every total calculate live.