A simple trick I found for my purely developmental exercises where I want to avoid chasing the metric is to just count my reps after the set (from video recording). If I lose count during the set all I then care about is good technique and taking myself to true authentic failure. Whatever amount of reps that ends up being is determined after the fact when I review the footage.
You're not chasing strength, you're chasing stimulus. Damn that was so well put. Edit: regarding noobs ego lifting, I don't think anyone can ever solve this problem. Noobs are gonna noob
I am trying to not pay attention to the previous week's rep goal. I find that knowing what I got last time makes me want to beat this week's goal by at least 1. That isn't wrong, but what it does is make me want to cheat those last reps in one way or another whether or not I even realize it. It's a constant battle. I think those are the subtle things with hypertrophy training that are very challenging. It's just as much mental as it is physical. If not more so.
I don't write down reps. So say I want to do 3 set of 12 ish on db press. I write my weight down and once I can get 15 reps on that weight on my last set I will increase weight. I just then write down the new training weight in my log. So week to week I have no idea how many reps I did last session. I just know that my weights are slowly climbing
Because I know if I can get 15 reps on my last set I'm clearly way stronger than I need to be to get 3 x12 so will then move up. And my reps won't drop to low on the newer weight increase
My 5 rep maxes on barbell movements are my main indicators of progress. I track them also with my body weight for “relative strength”. I test these as “top sets” in my training pretty much every week… but 80% of my training is other stuff. My 5rep numbers 18 months ago: Body weight 146lbs Bench: 185 OHP: 105 PullUp: weighted 35lbs Squat: 205 Deadlift: 235 My 5 rep numbers today: Body weight 163lbs Bench: 235 OHP: 150 PullUp: 75lbs weighted Squat: 295 Deadlift: 390 Most of my relative strength increased 20-35%. I “chase”performance on these… but very gradually at a slow pace
I've been guilty of chasing the +1 reps and sacrificing technique a little bit.. Gonna try shifting my mindset to "chase stimulus through flawless technique, focus and effort."
“Be not afraid of growing slowly, be only afraid of standing still.” Saw this quote on a fortune cookie right now and think it helps sum up this vid nicely.
You did a great job addressing the nuance here. This is a very difficult concept to get across, especially within the dogma of YT fitness and you nailed it. Excellent content.
I use an app that automatically converts weight x reps on every set to a theoretical 1rm based on one of the common formulas. The good thing with that is that I can track performance across all kinds of weights and rep ranges through that.
@@anirudhtd7193 jefit. I think there's other, newer and better apps out there but that one has all my workout logs from way back in 2013 so I can't abandon it. It's good as a tracker and it shows you a graph of your 1rm progress. Looks like a stock market chart.
I think another thing people can do to stay motivated and not feel stagnant while being natty is switching up their lifts every few months. i was guilty of doing this too often when i first started, so now I dont deviate once im doing a program, but i'll swap to different exercise variations every few months unless i'm really trying to focus on one particular lift. this year that has been incline bench for me since I broke my collarbone a few years ago and lost a lot of progress in the chest while recovering.
I'm starting to go down the more muscle building road while keeping my strength relatively high for my wrestling classes through singles, triples and back off sets or lighter days focused on hypertrophy like deadlift days turning to RDL days for reps or Larsen Press for heavy triples with 3×10 back off sets and it's starting to give me good results paired with the lower bodyweight due to more cardio activity in wrestling. I really enjoy the process. You are giving some genuinely good advice here because I'm slowly realizing these things myself.
"Use the most weight with the best technique for hypertrophy". So true. But this causes me to reset my technique way too often. Hard to find the right spot for me
Stick with a weight until you've "maxed out" your rep range. Say your doing a curl in the rep range of 10 to 15 for 4 sets. Until you've hit 15 on all 4 sets you keep the same weight. At first you'll maybe cheat a bit to get 13 reps, 14 reps and then 15 reps on the first set but once you've hit it it's no longer failure next time so when you keep it to that 15 reps until you've hit on all 4 sets you can improve the rep quality of the first, second and third set constantly because you're no longer under the pressure of hitting "one more rep than last time" When you move up in weights make the absolute minimum rep requirement 10 while you're chasing that first 15 again. If say you hit 11 reps on the first set, go back to the earlier weight for the next 3 sets and hit the most picture perfect sets of 15 ever. This works for me. Essentially I make the progress so slow and deliberate on purpose that I never have to reset my form because I never lost it.
@@jjmuti3979 with this approach I find each set is different reps though. Would you back off the wait if you lose the rep range? Like say you get 2x12 18kg and 2x12 16kg do you just build both up to 4x15 then just add weight to the 3rd and 4th so there 18 and wait to get 4 sets of 18? It gets so confusing sometimes lol. What approach do you take?
When technique breaks down I don't sweat adding a couple bad technique reps to smaller muscles for bonus stimulus. I just don't deceive myself and count it as progress
The quad thing really hit close to home..after 8 years i just realized how hard my hips carry my leg movements. Really hard for me to isolate them because my ankle mobility is so bad. Thinking of using heel elevation blocks.
I remember moving from the strength pr midset for hypertrophy to hypertrophy being the pr. My arms are very long. I have a six foot wingspan and I'm five eleven 😂. Everyone says, "focus on building strength in the big compounds and your arms will grow, isolations aren't necessary", maybe if your arms are short, not if they're long. My chest and shoulders take over. Once I started focusing on isolations my arms grew in a few months more than they did for all my years of pursuing strength. This is all true, better to learn it before you waste a lot of time like i did. The main way I overcame this was by, instead of putting the heavy compound press first, like you would do if you're pursueing strength or just pure overload, I put it last, after arm and shoulder isolations, making them the limiting factors and not my bigger stronger chest. Obviously that made me weaker, but so what, my arms grew and continue to do so.
Hypertrophy reps compound fatigue faster than strength reps so adding a couple reps especially in a single digit rep range for hypertrophy becomes extremely hard close to failure.
Technique and muscle tension/exhaustion is the deciding factor of when to add reps or weight. Focusing on using a weight in your goal rep range to get the most growth stimulus makes this easier too. Whenever I go "heavy" it's much harder for me to control or use the target muscle, I know the gains I want won't be happening.
I can vouch for this. I haven't been in a gym regularly since September 2021. I only go when a friend invites me every 3-6 months. In that time I lost motivation to train. But around January 2023 I started training at home regularly again. Main pushing exercise was just a variety of Push-up variations, mostly deficit and paused. 1 hard set a day. Naturally, because it's Pushups, I was chasing clean reps and muscular failure. A few days ago I went to the gym again with my friend for the first time in 7 months. I do Paused Bench, and I did 100Kg for 10 reps with a clean Pause and everything. Mind you, my previous PR was 5 reps. That's from 3 months of good training. It's funny because had I been in the gym and doing all that RPE and periodization gibberish, and training specifically for strength, I would have made less progress.
That's also why I think lenghtened biased movements where the gravity also helps you are so excellent, because as the set goes on and you start to fatigue, and you apply a micro pause to catch your breath, exactly that point is where the movement has the most growth potential. For example my fav upper back movement, the low incline bench ez bar row. From the beginning I emphasize the lenghtened portion slowing down on the way down and pausing for a second. As I fatigue, at the last reps it gets more like 2-3 second pauses, but they make the miracle. The same can't be done with a bench press.
Can’t remember where i got this from, but at one time i heard someone say to change your thoughts from “progressive overload” to “progressive stimulation” and it’s all clicked since
So what is your opinion having a log book and beating the numbers per session? If you look at DC training, a program that is meant for size, the progression is key. If I stall on a lift and strength is not the goal, which it’s not, I just decrease the rest time and lower the weight with the best form possible. I’m also big on multiple rep ranges that vary from 8-12 moderately heavy and a back off, blood flow set of 20. But definitely curious to hear your thoughts? I’m currently enjoying your content.
Good points 👍 Strength at the expense of other factors such as muscle stimulation of the target muscles is the problem. I chase strength while maintaining muscle tension, control of the weights, mind-muscle-connection to the target muscles, using clean technique…
I feel like a really good way to go about implementing this and making it more feasible for lifers who have always chased prs at any cost is to use self limiting variations, like pausing on presses for example. Finding a way to standardize technique that makes it much harder to cheat yourself.
Technique prs are worth pursuing, because you know you're working the target muscles better (you've brought up form resets before). A few weeks back I wanted to do some heavier bench (3-6 reps) to open my day. First working I overestimated and got a single. Peeled some off and tried again... to get a double. Reviewing the footage, I couldn't tell those sets were 0-1 RIR because they were SMOOTH. That told me that if this is the pristine form I use for my volume these days, I'm set.
What’s up people, didn’t know a better place to come to and talk about this. I’m 18yo, I’m aproaching the end of my 2nd year, but looking back at old pics - I didn’t change. I’ve been traning hard all the time, no brakes, nutrition is tracked, sleep is on point, everything is optimized but still - no progress. That causes a lot of stress, because lifting - is all i think about, all i care about, for me - it’s everything. Each day, apart of spending time in the gym and school, I research about lifting, have a gut feeling that it might be because I’m trying to do the most optimal exercises. Feeling like I’ve wasted 2 years, but not feeling sorry for my self and I’m not going to quit. So yeah, any tips?…
"The most stimulative weight is the lighter weight" Sometimes I get so impatient that I'll go weeks pushing the heaviest weight possible and realize I'm not increasing rep count, or my days are inconsistent because there are so many synthetic variables I need to have on point just to have the same lift capability. This video is a good reminder to not force progressive overload or strength progression
I like step loading methods for this reason . Start with a moderately challenging load until you have thoroughly proved it is too light, when you can't get the set wrong and then increase the load/add reps or implement pauses
I tried to word it: It's about chasing stimulating reps until the connection is lost due to local fatigue. Over time local fatigue will improve, reps will go up and eventually will be too high. Cardio will be the limiting factor. Increasing the weight will return the movement to an optimal stimulating rep range ratio. The goal is optimal stimualting reps, not increasing the numbers per se.
And yeah for sure regarding your last point. I remember unracking 95lbs, a 25 on each side and a 45 lb barbell and thinking to myself holy shit. I even tried on racking 135 on the bench one time. I'm like there's no fucking way. Some odd years later I'm hitting 275 for one by myself. So even for someone like me with ADD when it comes to programming and staying consistent and pretty mediocre genetics it's all obtainable.
This and latest video from Alex Leonidas are potentially the most important videos anyone that is novice or intermediate should watch. This stuff ACCELERATES gains and gets you into steroid accusation territory.
18:13 It sounds like you have good leverages and muscle insertion points for deadlifts, which ironically makes it harder to use that lift for hypertrophy as you'd get fatigued from the high weights required. I guess it goes back to working on your weaknesses being good for hypertrophy.
The way I do prs now is more based around reps and seeing if in 1 set I can hit a new weight. If I don't hir the new weight goal, I try to go for high reps on previous prs. Keeps my training exciting and since I'm not going balls to the way on strength less likely for me to injure myself
I’m not sure if you’ve talked about this before, but do you still think it is good to open your training up with something in the 3-6 rep zone and have everything else in the 6-30 zone. Also do you use rep goal for everything or do you think it is still beneficial to program your main lift with something like linear periodization?
I’d give it a try, the rep range is a combo of preference and what works best for you, and what range is best for each lift. Something I’ll be touching in on the near future.
Everybody falls into this trap at some point. Some never make it out. Especially when people first start out they want to progress too quickly and don't build a proper foundation first. I would much rather see a beginner lift a lighter weight in a more moderate rep range with good technique then trying to handle a weight they have no business lifting. Yet all the time you see these scrawny kids in packs of 3 maxing out with terrible technique. Once I started focusing on technique and generating stimulus and stopped giving a fuck about weight is when I actually started to build real strength. No plateaus since.
Off topic from the video but could you make a video about working upper back? (rhomboids/mid/lower traps) Specifically got curious about technique on one arm db row in your video of the 10 lifits to rebuild physique. Anyways subscribed to your channel recently and am loving the videos
One of the things you would hear in fitness videos all the time back then was "Progressive Overload is more important than anything" in the context of adding weight and reps. They'd say "Most people just dick around in the gym and do the same workout every time. You have to quit being a wuss and add weight!" So I interpreted that as anytime my brain said "Maybe I should stay at this weight until it feels better" I was being a wuss.
The best bodybuilders do sure as heck plateau, especially when competing. Even if not competing Why would you expect them to progress, they’re growing like 100 grams of muscle over their whole body in a given year. using yourself as an example, Your training age for hypertrophy isn’t 7 years, you violated specificity for so long.
Hey Landon, love the video man! I had a question, how do you know if you are progressing at a normal rate for an advanced lifter or if progressing slowly? Been lifting for about 12-14 years. I’ve been able to add a rep or two every couple of weeks but I’m not sure if I’m in optimal volume and progressing “normally” or if I should trial adding some more volume for “faster” progress. Thanks!
Thanks! That depends on the context of your program. If you do barbell squats or lots of work that fatigues your low back, a leg press or leg sled is a good way to get more volume in without excess back work. A leverage squat is more of a happy medium, a bit closer to barbell squats though.
bro what do you think about peaking and powerlifting while on a cut? Since you need less stimulus to maintain your mass, surely you should be able to take it easy, hit some PRs and then go back to bodybuilding on the bulk?
Yeah no you're not strong right now. But if you were to take 3 to 5 days and start touching 85% or more you would then be strong as they're all claiming that you're not at that moment. If they had half a brain they would understand that the difference of how fired up or constantly fired up your CNS, motor neurons and muscle fibers are while handling 85% plus all the time as opposed to 45% to 70% then they would understand that maximal strength comes and goes very quickly but can also be obtained back very quickly. It's also an ego thing and it's something that just naturally comes with being a human, especially if you're competitive. I too got wrapped up and being able to walk around knowing I have those numbers hanging above my head that I achieved on my own surprisingly. While jumping from program to program it even coming up with my own shit. But I obtained a 275 lb bench, 405 lb squat and a 430 lb deadlift. Which I could never get recovered for or progress with properly mainly because I was absolutely killing myself chasing my bench numbers and fucking around with one to three rep maxes all the time for squat and yada yada yada. Got it feels bad that I may never hit that 500 deadlift but who knows. But again at one point I did work with like 45 to 50 to 55% with like 120 lb give or take on the bench and did like four sets of 10 three times a week and I fucking felt thick tight solid even though my strength wasn't at peak all the time. But again my ego took over and I couldn't handle not touching heavy weight. I kind of look back and even though I did touch those mediocre numbers or milestones I kind of wish that I would have done a proper progression and maximized my muscle building potential for my genetics. I also started when I was 31 and I'm 39 now. If I would have started when I was 17 or whatever and did it progression properly who fucking knows where I would have been with my lifts. But such as life. I still have the fire at 39 and I know that I can get back and better where I left off and after doing all that fuckery for so many years.
I dunno, I feel kinda different about this. Do you think maybe you're going to naturally be a bit biased since you gain strength quicker? I don't have genetics for strength or size. Since size can come from strength progression, if it's extremely slow, size is inherently going to be slow. But if you gain strength without having to chase it, you gain size without having to chase it. You say that that is bad because people only get strong by going sumo, widening grip, speeding up rep, etc. But if what you gain strength quickly, period? What if the reason you've made great gains is because you've gained a lot of strength in the bodybuilding movements and not cheated? That doesn't happen for me. If I don't fight tooth and nail for an extra rep here and there, I go nowhere. You mentioned that you can look back and see massive gains to your lifts over long periods of time. What are they? I can't say that for most of my lifts. I remember when I was doing a squatting phase during a bulk after gyms reopened, I was squatting twice per week and gained 15kg to my squat in 8 months. I then lost 7.5kg from that when I cut body fat. So in 8 months I gained 7.5kg to my squat, taking it from 105kg to 120kg for 6-8 reps. My bodyweight went from 70kg to 80kg, and then back to 73.5kg. I'm 5'9 and have been lifting for five years in total. First 1.5 years was strength training, only compounds, newbie mistakes. Then I started getting into bodybuilding and the lockdowns happened. For two years I did Calisthenics and barely got anywhere. For the last 2 years since pandemic ended, I've been bodybuilding consistently. The other day I watched a video from GVS saying that if you're not higher than 'X' weight (can't remember what it was, something like 170lbs) unless you're shredded or short, you haven't been working hard. That pissed me off a lot. Ever since then I've been doubting everything, because effort and consistency was never an issue for me. Everything I've learned, in practise and from all the amazing teachers out there, seems to have all been wrong because my bodyweight is so low when I'm not that lean.
Practically & for effectiveness (for time efficiency purposes & good moderate loads) 6-10reps for compounds, 12-20 for Isolations is what I've seen to be both effective and practical for most people
Mostly self programming, or modded 5/3/1, or a system where I’d do: 5@70,75,80%, 3@85, then AMRAP at 90%. Did this for SBD once a week, then speed work the other day for a bit, or just a volume day for squats and bench.
I up the weight by 5 or 10 if I hit more than 15+ good reps. Stay with that weight until Im able to hit 15+. Sometimes it happens the following week. Sometimes a few weeks. Not 15+ reps for all exercises of course. But that's the route i take
If I can hit 15+ clean reps on dumbbell pressing for the first set I'll up the weight and work with that weight for the last few sets. If I can do that weight during the next session I'll go up again. If I have to grind to get those 15 reps I keep the weight the same.
@@kevinwoods5837 thanks so much for the reply mate. I always go to failure or close so say I fail at 15 but I get 15 clean reps but can’t get any more than 15 do I up the weight? I always go for more if I can but say I get 15 and it’s a grind but I get 15 clean reps do I up?
@@grahamnyman9869 if it's a grind to get those 15 reps, for me I would keep the weight the same. Sounds like it will be the right weight to be at. But once again that method I use isn't for every exercise. Have a rep range for specific exercises and if it's a grind to hit that max target rep with proper form keep the weight the same. If you start getting 16, 17, 18 reps clean then it's time to bump the weight up.
So…where the hell did chasing strength for hypertrophy come from? Oh, it’s talking about how strong you are while being jacked…there are no PR’s in bodybuilding. All that matters in bodybuilding is what the judges think! If not you aren’t bodybuilding, you are training for something else.
Keeping it straight your videos can be 3 minute long...u just talk the same thing over n over n over expanding unnecessarily..also u make no sense...simple put it..advance in strength once all other aspects are in place n constant.....also u can learn a thing or 2 from alex leonidas..
Hello bb how are you? I hope you are fine. Anyway i have a question, wich scheme 9f periodization is the best acording to you? I train balls to the wall every time to the point i can't go home for 20 minutes on leg days. I am actually pushing the wall minus some inconviniences mostly IMO due to systemic fatigue or local fatigue on a particular muscle mostly triceps and biceps. Anyway wanted to hear your thoughts couse i am convinced ypu dont really believe in hitting the wall as not progressing but you believe that you could actually confuse a stale in growth or progress for actual progress becouse sometimes performance is in the details like execution of the movement and not doing 1 more rep does not mean allways you are stalling and can mean you are getting better but ypu cant percieve it. Also; you go to failure in every set? I started doing that and i dont seem to plateau (4 nonths now) going to the gym for 14 years Anyway i wanted to know. Thank you bro
A simple trick I found for my purely developmental exercises where I want to avoid chasing the metric is to just count my reps after the set (from video recording). If I lose count during the set all I then care about is good technique and taking myself to true authentic failure. Whatever amount of reps that ends up being is determined after the fact when I review the footage.
Thats a genius idea.
Yap, I have been doing this here and there and can testify that it's a legit approach
By nature you’re chasing quality reps and hard sets. That’s an awesome method.
This is a solid idea
I dont wanna be that guy who films everything in the gym tho
You're not chasing strength, you're chasing stimulus. Damn that was so well put.
Edit: regarding noobs ego lifting, I don't think anyone can ever solve this problem. Noobs are gonna noob
I am trying to not pay attention to the previous week's rep goal. I find that knowing what I got last time makes me want to beat this week's goal by at least 1. That isn't wrong, but what it does is make me want to cheat those last reps in one way or another whether or not I even realize it.
It's a constant battle. I think those are the subtle things with hypertrophy training that are very challenging. It's just as much mental as it is physical. If not more so.
Spot on. Still use the metric, but don’t focus on it. It’s finding that balance.
Yes I do this too I'm realizing. It becomes about moving the weight instead of feeling the target muscle. So I use other bodyparts to move the weight.
I don't write down reps. So say I want to do 3 set of 12 ish on db press. I write my weight down and once I can get 15 reps on that weight on my last set I will increase weight. I just then write down the new training weight in my log. So week to week I have no idea how many reps I did last session. I just know that my weights are slowly climbing
@@rossico If you're aiming for 3 sets of 12 why do you only move up when you hit 15? Sounds like somewhat of a double progression
Because I know if I can get 15 reps on my last set I'm clearly way stronger than I need to be to get 3 x12 so will then move up. And my reps won't drop to low on the newer weight increase
My 5 rep maxes on barbell movements are my main indicators of progress. I track them also with my body weight for “relative strength”. I test these as “top sets” in my training pretty much every week… but 80% of my training is other stuff.
My 5rep numbers 18 months ago:
Body weight 146lbs
Bench: 185
OHP: 105
PullUp: weighted 35lbs
Squat: 205
Deadlift: 235
My 5 rep numbers today:
Body weight 163lbs
Bench: 235
OHP: 150
PullUp: 75lbs weighted
Squat: 295
Deadlift: 390
Most of my relative strength increased 20-35%. I “chase”performance on these… but very gradually at a slow pace
I've been guilty of chasing the +1 reps and sacrificing technique a little bit.. Gonna try shifting my mindset to "chase stimulus through flawless technique, focus and effort."
Fun drinking game: take a shot everytime BB says asterisk
Do NOT play that I take no responsibility 😂
Hit a PR every time he says asterisk
“Be not afraid of growing slowly, be only afraid of standing still.”
Saw this quote on a fortune cookie right now and think it helps sum up this vid nicely.
You did a great job addressing the nuance here. This is a very difficult concept to get across, especially within the dogma of YT fitness and you nailed it. Excellent content.
"Chase stimulus, not Strength" Understanding the message in this video will save you from becoming a DYEL powerlifter.
Great takeaway. Don’t make my same mistakes.
I use an app that automatically converts weight x reps on every set to a theoretical 1rm based on one of the common formulas. The good thing with that is that I can track performance across all kinds of weights and rep ranges through that.
Can you share the name please?
@@anirudhtd7193 jefit. I think there's other, newer and better apps out there but that one has all my workout logs from way back in 2013 so I can't abandon it. It's good as a tracker and it shows you a graph of your 1rm progress. Looks like a stock market chart.
I think another thing people can do to stay motivated and not feel stagnant while being natty is switching up their lifts every few months. i was guilty of doing this too often when i first started, so now I dont deviate once im doing a program, but i'll swap to different exercise variations every few months unless i'm really trying to focus on one particular lift. this year that has been incline bench for me since I broke my collarbone a few years ago and lost a lot of progress in the chest while recovering.
I'm starting to go down the more muscle building road while keeping my strength relatively high for my wrestling classes through singles, triples and back off sets or lighter days focused on hypertrophy like deadlift days turning to RDL days for reps or Larsen Press for heavy triples with 3×10 back off sets and it's starting to give me good results paired with the lower bodyweight due to more cardio activity in wrestling. I really enjoy the process. You are giving some genuinely good advice here because I'm slowly realizing these things myself.
"Use the most weight with the best technique for hypertrophy". So true. But this causes me to reset my technique way too often. Hard to find the right spot for me
Stick with a weight until you've "maxed out" your rep range. Say your doing a curl in the rep range of 10 to 15 for 4 sets. Until you've hit 15 on all 4 sets you keep the same weight. At first you'll maybe cheat a bit to get 13 reps, 14 reps and then 15 reps on the first set but once you've hit it it's no longer failure next time so when you keep it to that 15 reps until you've hit on all 4 sets you can improve the rep quality of the first, second and third set constantly because you're no longer under the pressure of hitting "one more rep than last time"
When you move up in weights make the absolute minimum rep requirement 10 while you're chasing that first 15 again. If say you hit 11 reps on the first set, go back to the earlier weight for the next 3 sets and hit the most picture perfect sets of 15 ever.
This works for me. Essentially I make the progress so slow and deliberate on purpose that I never have to reset my form because I never lost it.
@@jjmuti3979 with this approach I find each set is different reps though. Would you back off the wait if you lose the rep range? Like say you get 2x12 18kg and 2x12 16kg do you just build both up to 4x15 then just add weight to the 3rd and 4th so there 18 and wait to get 4 sets of 18? It gets so confusing sometimes lol. What approach do you take?
Healthy strength is not only about muscles, but also about tendons and BONE DENSITY. Many enthusiasts tend to forget about the bones.
When technique breaks down I don't sweat adding a couple bad technique reps to smaller muscles for bonus stimulus. I just don't deceive myself and count it as progress
The quad thing really hit close to home..after 8 years i just realized how hard my hips carry my leg movements. Really hard for me to isolate them because my ankle mobility is so bad. Thinking of using heel elevation blocks.
Same problem and I tried heel elevation and it just hurt my knees
leg extensions and smith machine hack squats are very good for quad isolation with limited dorsiflexion
maybe reverse nordics/sissy squats?
@@Laocoon283 same here! hack squat is even worse, fuuuuuuuck
I remember moving from the strength pr midset for hypertrophy to hypertrophy being the pr. My arms are very long. I have a six foot wingspan and I'm five eleven 😂. Everyone says, "focus on building strength in the big compounds and your arms will grow, isolations aren't necessary", maybe if your arms are short, not if they're long. My chest and shoulders take over. Once I started focusing on isolations my arms grew in a few months more than they did for all my years of pursuing strength. This is all true, better to learn it before you waste a lot of time like i did. The main way I overcame this was by, instead of putting the heavy compound press first, like you would do if you're pursueing strength or just pure overload, I put it last, after arm and shoulder isolations, making them the limiting factors and not my bigger stronger chest. Obviously that made me weaker, but so what, my arms grew and continue to do so.
Hypertrophy reps compound fatigue faster than strength reps so adding a couple reps especially in a single digit rep range for hypertrophy becomes extremely hard close to failure.
Technique and muscle tension/exhaustion is the deciding factor of when to add reps or weight. Focusing on using a weight in your goal rep range to get the most growth stimulus makes this easier too. Whenever I go "heavy" it's much harder for me to control or use the target muscle, I know the gains I want won't be happening.
I can vouch for this.
I haven't been in a gym regularly since September 2021. I only go when a friend invites me every 3-6 months.
In that time I lost motivation to train.
But around January 2023 I started training at home regularly again.
Main pushing exercise was just a variety of Push-up variations, mostly deficit and paused. 1 hard set a day. Naturally, because it's Pushups, I was chasing clean reps and muscular failure.
A few days ago I went to the gym again with my friend for the first time in 7 months.
I do Paused Bench, and I did 100Kg for 10 reps with a clean Pause and everything. Mind you, my previous PR was 5 reps. That's from 3 months of good training.
It's funny because had I been in the gym and doing all that RPE and periodization gibberish, and training specifically for strength, I would have made less progress.
RPE and periodization is the opposite of gibberish. They're very helpful to use.
@@sejo5057 of course they're useful, but for hypertrophy they're way overused.
That's also why I think lenghtened biased movements where the gravity also helps you are so excellent, because as the set goes on and you start to fatigue, and you apply a micro pause to catch your breath, exactly that point is where the movement has the most growth potential. For example my fav upper back movement, the low incline bench ez bar row. From the beginning I emphasize the lenghtened portion slowing down on the way down and pausing for a second. As I fatigue, at the last reps it gets more like 2-3 second pauses, but they make the miracle. The same can't be done with a bench press.
Can’t remember where i got this from, but at one time i heard someone say to change your thoughts from “progressive overload” to “progressive stimulation” and it’s all clicked since
once again, great video. no stupid pop culture references and no regurgitated recycled nonsense.
So what is your opinion having a log book and beating the numbers per session? If you look at DC training, a program that is meant for size, the progression is key. If I stall on a lift and strength is not the goal, which it’s not, I just decrease the rest time and lower the weight with the best form possible. I’m also big on multiple rep ranges that vary from 8-12 moderately heavy and a back off, blood flow set of 20. But definitely curious to hear your thoughts? I’m currently enjoying your content.
Good points 👍
Strength at the expense of other factors such as muscle stimulation of the target muscles is the problem. I chase strength while maintaining muscle tension, control of the weights, mind-muscle-connection to the target muscles, using clean technique…
I feel like a really good way to go about implementing this and making it more feasible for lifers who have always chased prs at any cost is to use self limiting variations, like pausing on presses for example. Finding a way to standardize technique that makes it much harder to cheat yourself.
Technique prs are worth pursuing, because you know you're working the target muscles better (you've brought up form resets before).
A few weeks back I wanted to do some heavier bench (3-6 reps) to open my day. First working I overestimated and got a single. Peeled some off and tried again... to get a double.
Reviewing the footage, I couldn't tell those sets were 0-1 RIR because they were SMOOTH. That told me that if this is the pristine form I use for my volume these days, I'm set.
Great video. Chase stimulus not weight is a great way of putting it.
What’s up people, didn’t know a better place to come to and talk about this. I’m 18yo, I’m aproaching the end of my 2nd year, but looking back at old pics - I didn’t change. I’ve been traning hard all the time, no brakes, nutrition is tracked, sleep is on point, everything is optimized but still - no progress. That causes a lot of stress, because lifting - is all i think about, all i care about, for me - it’s everything. Each day, apart of spending time in the gym and school, I research about lifting, have a gut feeling that it might be because I’m trying to do the most optimal exercises. Feeling like I’ve wasted 2 years, but not feeling sorry for my self and I’m not going to quit. So yeah, any tips?…
did u grow
"The most stimulative weight is the lighter weight" Sometimes I get so impatient that I'll go weeks pushing the heaviest weight possible and realize I'm not increasing rep count, or my days are inconsistent because there are so many synthetic variables I need to have on point just to have the same lift capability. This video is a good reminder to not force progressive overload or strength progression
Thanks man, I hope this helps.
I like step loading methods for this reason . Start with a moderately challenging load until you have thoroughly proved it is too light, when you can't get the set wrong and then increase the load/add reps or implement pauses
So many good Natty's on yt but this guy here is truly above all others. His logic tracks to reality beautifully.
I tried to word it:
It's about chasing stimulating reps until the connection is lost due to local fatigue. Over time local fatigue will improve, reps will go up and eventually will be too high. Cardio will be the limiting factor. Increasing the weight will return the movement to an optimal stimulating rep range ratio.
The goal is optimal stimualting reps, not increasing the numbers per se.
You get it
And yeah for sure regarding your last point. I remember unracking 95lbs, a 25 on each side and a 45 lb barbell and thinking to myself holy shit. I even tried on racking 135 on the bench one time. I'm like there's no fucking way. Some odd years later I'm hitting 275 for one by myself. So even for someone like me with ADD when it comes to programming and staying consistent and pretty mediocre genetics it's all obtainable.
Good video i needed to hear this. I'm a habitual rep chaser 😭
This and latest video from Alex Leonidas are potentially the most important videos anyone that is novice or intermediate should watch. This stuff ACCELERATES gains and gets you into steroid accusation territory.
His video was awesome. I agree. Thanks man.
4:24 oh yea, I use to do front levers and cali Performance, now that I'm training for hypertrophy I realized how big I can get
18:13 It sounds like you have good leverages and muscle insertion points for deadlifts, which ironically makes it harder to use that lift for hypertrophy as you'd get fatigued from the high weights required. I guess it goes back to working on your weaknesses being good for hypertrophy.
The way I do prs now is more based around reps and seeing if in 1 set I can hit a new weight. If I don't hir the new weight goal, I try to go for high reps on previous prs. Keeps my training exciting and since I'm not going balls to the way on strength less likely for me to injure myself
I’m not sure if you’ve talked about this before, but do you still think it is good to open your training up with something in the 3-6 rep zone and have everything else in the 6-30 zone. Also do you use rep goal for everything or do you think it is still beneficial to program your main lift with something like linear periodization?
Id love to know the answer to both of these questions too
Me as well
Should I implement rep goal system? Also how do you determine how many reps (30,40 etc) for an exercise?
I’d give it a try, the rep range is a combo of preference and what works best for you, and what range is best for each lift. Something I’ll be touching in on the near future.
Please do I watched the video on rep goal system and still couldn’t understand it
Everybody falls into this trap at some point. Some never make it out. Especially when people first start out they want to progress too quickly and don't build a proper foundation first. I would much rather see a beginner lift a lighter weight in a more moderate rep range with good technique then trying to handle a weight they have no business lifting. Yet all the time you see these scrawny kids in packs of 3 maxing out with terrible technique. Once I started focusing on technique and generating stimulus and stopped giving a fuck about weight is when I actually started to build real strength. No plateaus since.
Off topic from the video but could you make a video about working upper back? (rhomboids/mid/lower traps) Specifically got curious about technique on one arm db row in your video of the 10 lifits to rebuild physique. Anyways subscribed to your channel recently and am loving the videos
Just make sure you pair this with eating right enough to keep those prs going and that's it.
One of the things you would hear in fitness videos all the time back then was "Progressive Overload is more important than anything" in the context of adding weight and reps. They'd say "Most people just dick around in the gym and do the same workout every time. You have to quit being a wuss and add weight!" So I interpreted that as anytime my brain said "Maybe I should stay at this weight until it feels better" I was being a wuss.
TL;DR: Do the exercises that will train the muscles you need to train. Do them with the same form.
Great topic man and Sick thumbnail!! How do you do that ?
Thanks man! It’s an AI art avatar from Lensa.
Might be a stupid question but would that mean it's actually more impressive if someone is big but has "light" PRs?
The best bodybuilders do sure as heck plateau, especially when competing. Even if not competing Why would you expect them to progress, they’re growing like 100 grams of muscle over their whole body in a given year.
using yourself as an example, Your training age for hypertrophy isn’t 7 years, you violated specificity for so long.
I looking for video on topic of specialization, muscle maintenance, decay and how much specialization is too much.
Hey Landon, love the video man! I had a question, how do you know if you are progressing at a normal rate for an advanced lifter or if progressing slowly?
Been lifting for about 12-14 years. I’ve been able to add a rep or two every couple of weeks but I’m not sure if I’m in optimal volume and progressing “normally” or if I should trial adding some more volume for “faster” progress. Thanks!
Great video as always! Would you recommend a Sled Hack Squat machine, a leverage squat machine, or something else for an older lifters home gym
Thanks! That depends on the context of your program. If you do barbell squats or lots of work that fatigues your low back, a leg press or leg sled is a good way to get more volume in without excess back work. A leverage squat is more of a happy medium, a bit closer to barbell squats though.
People should call powerlifting Leveragelifting as powerlifting just isn’t only about power
yes sir
Physical weakness is ok, mental weakness is not!
It’s ok to be weak, but not to stay weak. I like that mindset
Great advice 👍
bro what do you think about peaking and powerlifting while on a cut? Since you need less stimulus to maintain your mass, surely you should be able to take it easy, hit some PRs and then go back to bodybuilding on the bulk?
Yeah no you're not strong right now. But if you were to take 3 to 5 days and start touching 85% or more you would then be strong as they're all claiming that you're not at that moment. If they had half a brain they would understand that the difference of how fired up or constantly fired up your CNS, motor neurons and muscle fibers are while handling 85% plus all the time as opposed to 45% to 70% then they would understand that maximal strength comes and goes very quickly but can also be obtained back very quickly. It's also an ego thing and it's something that just naturally comes with being a human, especially if you're competitive. I too got wrapped up and being able to walk around knowing I have those numbers hanging above my head that I achieved on my own surprisingly. While jumping from program to program it even coming up with my own shit. But I obtained a 275 lb bench, 405 lb squat and a 430 lb deadlift. Which I could never get recovered for or progress with properly mainly because I was absolutely killing myself chasing my bench numbers and fucking around with one to three rep maxes all the time for squat and yada yada yada. Got it feels bad that I may never hit that 500 deadlift but who knows. But again at one point I did work with like 45 to 50 to 55% with like 120 lb give or take on the bench and did like four sets of 10 three times a week and I fucking felt thick tight solid even though my strength wasn't at peak all the time. But again my ego took over and I couldn't handle not touching heavy weight. I kind of look back and even though I did touch those mediocre numbers or milestones I kind of wish that I would have done a proper progression and maximized my muscle building potential for my genetics. I also started when I was 31 and I'm 39 now. If I would have started when I was 17 or whatever and did it progression properly who fucking knows where I would have been with my lifts. But such as life. I still have the fire at 39 and I know that I can get back and better where I left off and after doing all that fuckery for so many years.
I dunno, I feel kinda different about this. Do you think maybe you're going to naturally be a bit biased since you gain strength quicker?
I don't have genetics for strength or size. Since size can come from strength progression, if it's extremely slow, size is inherently going to be slow. But if you gain strength without having to chase it, you gain size without having to chase it. You say that that is bad because people only get strong by going sumo, widening grip, speeding up rep, etc. But if what you gain strength quickly, period? What if the reason you've made great gains is because you've gained a lot of strength in the bodybuilding movements and not cheated? That doesn't happen for me. If I don't fight tooth and nail for an extra rep here and there, I go nowhere.
You mentioned that you can look back and see massive gains to your lifts over long periods of time. What are they? I can't say that for most of my lifts. I remember when I was doing a squatting phase during a bulk after gyms reopened, I was squatting twice per week and gained 15kg to my squat in 8 months. I then lost 7.5kg from that when I cut body fat. So in 8 months I gained 7.5kg to my squat, taking it from 105kg to 120kg for 6-8 reps. My bodyweight went from 70kg to 80kg, and then back to 73.5kg. I'm 5'9 and have been lifting for five years in total. First 1.5 years was strength training, only compounds, newbie mistakes. Then I started getting into bodybuilding and the lockdowns happened. For two years I did Calisthenics and barely got anywhere. For the last 2 years since pandemic ended, I've been bodybuilding consistently.
The other day I watched a video from GVS saying that if you're not higher than 'X' weight (can't remember what it was, something like 170lbs) unless you're shredded or short, you haven't been working hard. That pissed me off a lot. Ever since then I've been doubting everything, because effort and consistency was never an issue for me. Everything I've learned, in practise and from all the amazing teachers out there, seems to have all been wrong because my bodyweight is so low when I'm not that lean.
Yes, this video made perfectly sense 👍
what do you think about DB seal rows on a flat bench? which would be better, in your opinion, DB seal rows or inverted rows?
what’s the best rep range for the rep goal system? should i do 10-20/5-15 reps per set or should i lower the rep range?
Practically & for effectiveness (for time efficiency purposes & good moderate loads) 6-10reps for compounds, 12-20 for Isolations is what I've seen to be both effective and practical for most people
Thanks man!
Thanks for the support!
14:13 no disrespect just thought it was funny, got coath flashbacks there, I'm a pretty strong guy, bigger than 99% of people
Not kidding I was about to add in a soundbite of his “hey everybody” when I was editing lmao. Will do next time.
You gotta start humbly before you get big
So whats a solid routine to try?
what strength programs did you use when you were gettin strong?
Mostly self programming, or modded 5/3/1, or a system where I’d do: 5@70,75,80%, 3@85, then AMRAP at 90%. Did this for SBD once a week, then speed work the other day for a bit, or just a volume day for squats and bench.
Comment for the algorithm
Thanks brotha
I up the weight by 5 or 10 if I hit more than 15+ good reps. Stay with that weight until Im able to hit 15+. Sometimes it happens the following week. Sometimes a few weeks.
Not 15+ reps for all exercises of course. But that's the route i take
For pressing do you do this mate? So you add when it’s 15? Or wait till it’s more?
If I can hit 15+ clean reps on dumbbell pressing for the first set I'll up the weight and work with that weight for the last few sets. If I can do that weight during the next session I'll go up again. If I have to grind to get those 15 reps I keep the weight the same.
I hope that made sense. Kind of didn't to me after typing it lol
@@kevinwoods5837 thanks so much for the reply mate. I always go to failure or close so say I fail at 15 but I get 15 clean reps but can’t get any more than 15 do I up the weight? I always go for more if I can but say I get 15 and it’s a grind but I get 15 clean reps do I up?
@@grahamnyman9869 if it's a grind to get those 15 reps, for me I would keep the weight the same. Sounds like it will be the right weight to be at. But once again that method I use isn't for every exercise. Have a rep range for specific exercises and if it's a grind to hit that max target rep with proper form keep the weight the same. If you start getting 16, 17, 18 reps clean then it's time to bump the weight up.
9:24 confirmed, sumo is cheating 😂
For the hyper trophies, yes sir lmao
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So…where the hell did chasing strength for hypertrophy come from? Oh, it’s talking about how strong you are while being jacked…there are no PR’s in bodybuilding. All that matters in bodybuilding is what the judges think! If not you aren’t bodybuilding, you are training for something else.
Keeping it straight your videos can be 3 minute long...u just talk the same thing over n over n over expanding unnecessarily..also u make no sense...simple put it..advance in strength once all other aspects are in place n constant.....also u can learn a thing or 2 from alex leonidas..
First!
Ayy let’s go
Hello bb how are you? I hope you are fine. Anyway i have a question, wich scheme 9f periodization is the best acording to you? I train balls to the wall every time to the point i can't go home for 20 minutes on leg days. I am actually pushing the wall minus some inconviniences mostly IMO due to systemic fatigue or local fatigue on a particular muscle mostly triceps and biceps. Anyway wanted to hear your thoughts couse i am convinced ypu dont really believe in hitting the wall as not progressing but you believe that you could actually confuse a stale in growth or progress for actual progress becouse sometimes performance is in the details like execution of the movement and not doing 1 more rep does not mean allways you are stalling and can mean you are getting better but ypu cant percieve it.
Also; you go to failure in every set? I started doing that and i dont seem to plateau (4 nonths now) going to the gym for 14 years
Anyway i wanted to know. Thank you bro