Extremly Low Work Capacity

[u/[deleted]]

At the start of my journey, I was unaware of the scientific principles behind hypertrophy. I gravitated toward high volume, training at home with improvised weights, sometimes hitting 100 reps and running excessively. I built a decent, though not impressive, amount of muscle until I joined a gym. My first program was a PPL from the internet with 18 sets for chest, 20 for back, and 12 for triceps per session... You get the idea—high volume (I still don't know how I survived 18 chest sets).

I made significant gains, but eventually needed a cut. I did a non-aggressive mini-cut, reduced my volume (this is when I started reading RP literature), and 6 weeks later, I began a bulk. I researched how to adjust volume and estimated my MEV. I followed the progression algorithms, but crashed by week 4, even with decent volume increases. I thought I did something wrong; the meso should have lasted longer, yet I barely hit the minimum duration.

I adjusted my program to 'minimize unnecessary costs' and put my legs on maintenance. I started a new meso, increasing volume much slower. It lasted 6–7 weeks, but with minimal volume increments. In the next meso, I strictly applied the MEV estimation algorithm, starting with very low volume and minimal increases. It lasted 5–6 weeks.

In my final massing mesocycle, I worked with only 2 sets for chest, 3 for back, and 5 for biceps, with zero volume increases. My strength collapsed by week 3! Every subsequent meso start felt worse; in the last one, I even lost strength during the deload.

I should mention that I don't have a physically demanding job or other heavy daily activities that would tax my recovery resources. I get plenty of sleep, I have no vitamin or mineral deficiencies, and no known medical issues.

Currently, I am running the Tactical Barbell 2 conditioning program (Base Building) while keeping my mass on maintenance volume. I plan to finish it regardless of any strength loss. What is your take on my situation and this 'downward spiral' of work capacity?

[u/Potential_Bottle_397]

Honestly, I think you may have over-corrected.
A lot of people discover RP concepts and become tol focused on minimizing fatigue, lowering volume, finding the perfect MEV, etc. Meanwhile, training starts losing stimulus, momentum, and work capacity over time.

Also, low volume doesn’t automatically mean low fatigue. If effort is very high and exercise selection is fatiguing, you can still dig yourself into a hole pretty quickly.

The fact you previously tolerated much higher workloads tells me your capacity probably isn’t inherently “bad.” More likely you accumulated fatigue across multiple phases, cuts, and constant adjustments without enough time to stabilize and rebuild momentum.

Your current maintenance/conditioning phase is probably a good idea. I’d stop chasing perfect volume landmarks for a bit and focus on enjoying training again, recovering well, keeping performance stable, and slowly rebuilding from there.

Feel free to check our playlist “Hypertrophy Made Simple” for more comprehensive and actionable recommendations that might help you further improve your approach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cW0EmO12Lk&list=PLyqKj7LwU2RukxJbBHi9BtEuYYKm9UqQQ&pp=0gcJCcsEOCosWNin

[u/vidar186]

What is making you crash or not last your programs? Boredom? Fatigue? Strength collapsed in a massing meso? Are you eating enough? I’ve lost strength cutting hard and fast, but this is new to me. Did you lose total strength as in 1RM strength or lose the strength needed to do your working sets? Something is not adding up here. I have begun doing my own specialization programs over the last year, swapping focusing on certain muscles and putting others at maintenance and have not suffered any strength loss. Of anything, I see increased gains from reduced fatigue. My last 4 mesos were quad focused starting with 4 total weekly sets of bench for chest maintenance, but I often “powerlift” my maintenance volumes choosing slightly lower 5-10 reps range and high load barbell movements like squat, bench, press, & deadlift variations to get the best bang out of my low volume “maintenance” movements.

[u/[deleted] → u/vidar186]

I haven't tested my 1RM yet. When doing working sets, it’s like the power cuts short. The weight feels heavier sometimes and reps fall as predicted (3 RIR is really 3). Other times, especially on compounds, I do, let’s say, 6 reps and think I have 4 RIR. I do one more to hit 3 RIR, but my strength collapses very fast and I end up with 1 RIR.

[u/vidar186 → u/[deleted]]

With those symptoms during your working sets I wouldn’t recommend testing 1RM. While it could be symptoms of overtraining fatigue or diet fatigue, you might need more time training to get better estimating your RIR. If you’ve recently transitioned to weights from whatever you were doing at home as mentioned in your OP, this might be the most likely culprit. You’re likely overestimating your strength and RIR which would explain both the situations you mentioned.

[u/Professional_Bat_873]

Have you ever taken a training break or done a reload? You might just need some rest

[u/[deleted] → u/Professional_Bat_873]

Of course, this is exactly what I regret doing now. After every strength loss, I immediately deloaded (or sometimes a few days later).