I got a little sad when he said he was married haha he's brilliant and funny 😂 love brilliance in a man. Still my new favorite go to for education on this topic.
I am convinced my gym gives out insanely long and boring training programs on purpose, hoping you'll burnout and stop coming. I went to the gym and told them my goal was to do a pullup (i am female). They gave me 3 hours of excersises, 75% of which was legs. Thanks to good youtubers like you i have now made my own plan of things that i can actually get done and keep me motivated.
It is. What ever is your goal in general. Find a way to mske what is Essentiallx your gisl but easyer so xou can do 3 sets of 10 and progress to your goal slowly.
I think personal training has a problem with over training because they assume people want to feel they are getting their money’s worth and have put a lot of work?
@@Secretname951 at least with personal training they are there and can see what works and what doesn't. What i mentioned was just a gym employee 'getting me started'
As a physical therapist, I can’t describe how relieving it is to hear the term “graded exposure” being used here. Bless you for helping make my profession a little less necessary. P.S. I can confirm that va Gogh did, in fact, hurt himself.
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 Lots of decent evidence for deep cervical strengthening/endurance training, but really only in populations that have pain/injury. I don’t see a lot of reason to prioritize neck-specific training unless it relates to a specific sport (i.e. might be useful for combat/contact sports)
You're saving beginners potentially years of bad programming and troubleshooting. I know you touch on beginners in many of your other videos, but those 5 points distill everything you need to keep in mind as you watch everything else here and run it through that filter accordingly.
In one video Dr Mike 1) taught me how to get a new gym partner 2) how to train as a beginner 3) challenged satan to a jujitsu match 4) revealed his knowledge of air defense systems 5) taught me how to fight zombies 6) decided what I'd make for dinner for my kids
Love how you break it all down Dr Mike. Not all PHD have the ability to speak in laymen terms but it's definitely your strong suit. Keep it up brother.
Just started going back to the gym as an adult, the last time I was working out was in highschool. I needed to hear the bit about free-weights vs machines. I've been avoiding free-weights under the assumption that, a machine will increase my strength base with less room for injury due to poor technique than free-weights would. I understand now that this is misguided. Thanks Doc!
honestly such a reminder for me to not listen to random reels and tiktoks telling me that i NEED to take every single set to failure and that i need to train every single muscle that exists. i'm not a professional bodybuilder and i've also not been doing this for incredibly long - there's no need to overcomplicate it and wear myself and my body out in the process
I agree! It can become overwhelming for a beginner. We search for all this information and just end up making it harder than it has to be, then give up!
At this point I am not sure if I watch every RP video for the information on muscle building and science or to have a laugh with the crazy metaphors of Dr. Mike, either way please keep them coming!
That feeding kids analogy hit super close to home for me. One day recently The wife and I went to eat, she got some $20 gourmet noodle based dish. It was pretty good, but she gave the leftovers to the kids ( 1 & 2 yrs old) & I was like, you're wasting the good noodles on em, just give em top ramen and they'll be ecstatic. So I completely get it.
But for kids, the "easy beginner" stuffs are milk and fruits, the "advanced" stuffs are soda and instant ramen. Their little brain can't deal with the insane amount of sugar, salt, MSG and caffeine and develop dependence and attachment to those food.
Few years back I started with 5x5 like many other beginner and oh boy does that program teach you to grind out numbers! The weights increase like crazy, especially for squats, and it guides you to the mind set of "five reps or the session failed". It was so easy to go too heavy with that program and just chase those numbers - Grind out those last reps to get the required five, no matter what. It was not even fun anymore. Eventually I switched to higher rep program with RIR targets instead of fixed rep targets and my technique got better, I got stronger, I started to get better results, and most importantly training become really fun. So my tip for beginners is: "5x5: Not even once".
Agreed. I did 5x5 for a while thinking it was gonna be great since I'm a novice but I just found myself using cheat form to get those 5 reps and I dreaded training. Switched over to a program that still focuses on the basics but has a bit more variation and doesn't always force you to go super heavy and it's a lot more fun to go. Not sure how the gains are gonna be since I haven't been doing it for long but I think it'll go well.
I went from higher reps to lower reps for leg workouts and the key is to know what your capacity is to make the workout sustainable. My legs started growing again like crazy
This actually completely screwed me over. The advice was always "once linear gains stall out you're intermediate." So I giga bulked and got my squat to 265 for 5 with completely linear progression. When I tried to hit 260 I failed because obviously that progression is way to fast to keep up and thought I had plateaued, and basically gave up on training for a while because I thought I had shit genetics. Little did I know that progression was actually incredibly fast, especially for me, and that failing to hit 6 reps on a single lift doesn't mean I f*cking plateaued lol.
I started out with 5x5 too. It was good for me for a while. I found experience with starting strength to be very valuable. When I hit plateaus on most of the lifts I had to "level up" my programming and I switched to power lifting style of training. Then I did my powerlifts for a while and got pretty strong for 80kg bw. Deadlift was 240kg. I tried "powerbuilding". Pretty much just wanted more muscle and keep doing strength training. It wasn't optimal for me looking back. And now I find my self doing late-intermidiate level bodybuilding. Most of my information for my bodybuilding programming comes from RP and the sports medicine literature. Would I say never to do 5x5? Nah. It was good for a beginner level lifter, as long as technique is learned first. I'd say 5x5 has its benefits. Simplicity is very valuable to beginners, even if the lifts themselves are complex.
5x5 is actually a great program for beginners because it’s simple, and works like anything else beginners do. The issue is that it’s really unsustainable beyond the short term
On the technique point... I recently started working out again. I first focused on my body weight. I then started a full weekly workout schedule but never getting to failure, until I felt my motions were solid. Example, I bumped up my dumbbell bench press every week till I got to failure. I started with 30lbs(pretty much nothing), next week 35, then 40, till I found out that 50lbs would give me the workout I needed. I didn't feel the previous weeks were a waste. I felt like I was able to workout my technique while still getting a small workout.
This is the comment that I neede to read ! Right now I'm at the very begining with week 1 focused on calorie deficit but eventually when it's time to go maintenance and gym I want to restart proper strength training.
@@coachedgarflores2773 i genuinly dont like this fing guy, i don't think he's funny i don't like the shape of his body, i feel is cocky and he calls himself a Doctor, I'm out of here!
1.5 yrs ago, I spent thousands on a garage gym. Worked out for 6 weeks, full body 5x5's, five days a week. I got really strong in that 6 weeks but havent worked out since. Today, I try again with the RP app... gonna start with 3 days full body. Wish me luck, im about to turn 40 and am tired of being out of shape.
@thesnowspeaksfinnish today begins week 4, and its working pretty good, I think! Downside, no Beginner specific program. Mike says beginner should do Whole body 3 days a week, snd only 45 min to an hour sessions.... but this whole body routine takes me 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. I dont know how to do whole body in less time.
@@t.chrisrobinson2388 idk if you're still actively gaining muscle, but you can loosely follow starting strength and hit everything he says here. 2 or 3 days a week, do squat, deadlift, and bench. you can walk away after those until you get more used to the stress you put on your body. then, when you're happy to spend more time in the gym and your body is ready 😏, throw some bicep curls and pull ups (or lat pull downs) in there too. if you're feeling motivated you can find your 1 rep max weight, and do math off of that to build your program. or just lift what you're comfortable with and figure out your 1RM later. consistency is the number one obstacle for most people. just keep it simple, turn it into a habit, then get into isolations and advanced programming (which is definitely what the RP app seems geared toward)
Just re-watched this vid and shared with my 15 year old nephew who ihas started to lift but is surrounded by junior bros who "know better". Thanks Dr Mike
I loved this video. I just finished my first month at the gym with a trainer since I'm a newbie and it honestly made me more confident he's taking me in the right direction.
After a 2 year break, I rejoined weight lifting in September. After two months I thought, "Yah, I'll stop doing this handful of exercises and ramp it up." Spent 2 hours at the gym at a time....and started to have insomnia from overtraining. So I cut it back as much as I could and went back to the old routine for a couple more months. Now, about a month ago, I decided to try training hard again. 10 exercises (so, half body split, basically) in a day with a couple of them being hard compound (and heavy) exercises in a session for four times a week. Yah, that lasted a good two weeks. So now, I switched to PPL twice a week (with a different set of exercises than what's recommended.) Only 6 exercises (with one heavy compound exercise per session) a session with the entire workload spread across 6 days....already felt way better after the first week of it. Well, except Leg day. Those fucking suck. But hey - my Push Pull feels a lot better now that I don't have the leg exercises crammed into it those days.
I‘d say the session length is way more important than the sessions a week. I actually started out saying I‘ll go twice a week but then quickly realized I wanna go more often. And now I‘ve been consistently going 6 days a week which is all thanks to the fact that my workouts only last more or less an hour. That means they end before it becomes a chore and I‘ll leave the gym excited to walk right back in again tomorrow.
Liking your workouts is the best thing. When newbies asks me for advice I say, try different gyms, different training routine, different kind of training to achieve the goal of having fun while training
@@simongloutnez589I assume you mean trying different routines just in the beginning to find the best one for you, but then sticking to it for quite a while. Keeping changing routines too frequently (like every week) is not the way to go - the body then doesn't have a chance to adapt and progressive overload is not that easy to track.
@@simongloutnez589 I agree with this. As a newb to the gym, my biggest frustration has been not feeling the pump so I have been trying different exercises for the muscle groups that don’t get the pump I am looking for to find the ones that give me the best pump, rather than the ones that are recommended as “the best”…all while keeping things safe, of course. That is what keeps me going back is finding the exercise that makes me feel like it’s actually doing something.
While I haven't done advanced, I'm guilty of doing intermediate training as a beginner because I genuinely thought that doing so would mean I build good foundations for my long term gym / bodybuilding journey. Thank you for making me realise the error of my ways!
What a great video! I've learned so much. I am a noob, never lifted in my life, bought some equipment for the garage (gym is a little scary hahah, I don't recognize anything in it). Too much information online, I don't even know where to start, what's effective. Now, I know, I'm worrying too much. Keep it simple, keep consistent and progress from there!
Sadly, there is a ton of BS out there, and a lot of it is conflicting so it becomes confusing, but the RP channel has probably the best info and it covers almost everything you need to know. It's an amazing resource for free and you won't go wrong if you just dive in to their content and ignore everyone else, at least for now. But be aware that a lot of their content is for intermediate & advanced lifters. Good luck!
The fun part is experimenting. I realized I didn't want to go to the gym, so I developed a home gym, and I'm now getting into calisthenics. After I acquired a good baseline set of exercises for a full body workout, I started adding stuff to try for variety. There are many ways to get a great body, and everyone has their own preference on how to get there. As an example, I decided I wanted to add sprint training for cardio, and because sprinters are all jacked. I love it and I can do it consistently because it's my program, and I'm making all the decisions on how to tweak it to align with my goals. I want to do handstand pushups at some point. It's a great strength exercise and looks plain fun to me.
Gym is scary, for sure. But here's a take: use the money you would have spent on equipment and get a trainer to meet you at the gym for six months. They'll teach what everything does, fix your technique, motivate you to show up, stop you from overdoing it or underdoing it, and even run interference for you with the gymbros. Plus the gym has more and better equipment than you'll ever have. It's pretty much all upside. (To be clear: the gymbros are almost universally nice people, but when you're a noob and someone three times your size who's deep in their zone with their earbuds in is walking up to the machine you need to finish your rotation, it can be daunting. Your trainer probably knows their name and their dogs name and the secret gymbro hand signals for "we're done here after one more set can you give us minute".)
Started back up with 4 sets of 10, pushups and squats every other day. Now I've got 2 routines for 4 days a week and 2 routines I can do in the middle of my 12 hour shifts on the weekend :)
I remember when I started lifting I used to work out 7 days a week for 2hrs or more 😂. Unfortunately there wasn't a Renaissance Periodization back then and the bodybuilding forums were where people learned 'things'... those were dark days. New lifters who find this channel have it real good!
Dude i was working out every day, i did this for 40-50 days straight, no rest days. I got sick. Took a short break. Now i am working out like 2-4 days in a row before taking a rest day. What you think? Still not enough rest days?
@pbrunner 2-4 days in a row before a rest day sounds fine. How much you need to rest is very individual. The RP hypertrophy book and their recovering from training book has some great info on that. From years of training the main thing I've learned about recovery is to just listen to your body. For me, if I train too much I'll start getting aches and pains in my connective tissue/joints. I'll also feel very demotivated in my goals outside of the gym and feel tired and fatigued all the time. If I keep pushing I eventually just dread my workouts and start to hate training (even though it's usually my life passion). Also that powerful feeling I get in the gym goes and everything feels a struggle. I'll also get insomnia from overtraining and wake up at 3am daily unable to get back to sleep. Pay attention to your body and don't be afraid to take a full week or two off training if you need it. You won't lose any notable gains in two weeks and the muscle resensitization and full fatigue recovery sets you up for many productive training mesocycles after.
Wow knowing that I actually SHOULDNT be training to failure saves me a lot, as you said, bad reps. Hearing I get enough gains from going nowhere near that 😍
Hearing that easy stuff gets me the same gains as advanced stuff as a beginner helped me really to understand: I’m doing the right thing now and should focus on that first. Thanks for the advice 👍
As a beginner it is hard to find good science based advice on how to workout. Everything you hear is failure or close to failure and technique is important but failure is imperative. So it’s a revelation to hear technique first for beginners and you will still make progress. Thank you and you probably saved me from years of pain and frustration.
I'm so grateful that I didn't burn out this time, but it happened the first 3 times I tried to start dieting and exercising. Burn out happened before because of exactly what he says at the beginning.
My biggest learn curve was when i commited to clean technique and stop ego lift. It was hard to take away some kgs here and there, but that really helped me improve. Specially my chest
I started lifting around a year ago... well more like 4-5 months and the rest was rather focused on cardio and losing weight. This Information contained in this Video is incredibly helpful. Thank you very much.
I would say it's 12 months as that's when you changed your life style, depending on how unfit and how old you may have needed to do the cardio/weight loss before going to the gym at all, so if it were me I would just tell people I started training 12 months ago.
I started lifting weights a little over a year ago never stuck to it and never progressed much i decided to get serious and have made more progress in 2 months than I did in the last year of lifting
I've always liked you on other podcasts/channels because you were so knowledgeable, didn't realize you had your own channel and that you're hilarious! Subbed.
I'm a beginner in gym and exercising in general. Was slim and fit without effort for my entire life up to few years ago when I injured myself badly and as a consequence got to 105kg/235lbs at 6'3"/190cm. This injury was the worst I ever felt and it lasted for ~2 years in my early 30s, and once it all healed I decided to go to gym. That thing, the decision and actually being in a mindset to be able to stick to decisions is hardest thing. I'm now 84kg/185lbs, it has been 6 months, started with my own diet to get to this weight, and I literally never felt better in my entire life, and happy to say all of these beginner points I randomly decided to do when I started. Same as exercise, diet is something people shouldn't go too deep into if they are not ready to commit all in. In my case I just eat what I love (I always cook my own stuff) and bought a precise scale and weighing myself in the most neutral state I know of (after pooping and then eating the main meal of the day).. diet is a life style not just something you do for a week or 2, so why would it matter if you're figuring out how and what to eat for a week and then adjust to make it perfect. Point being people who are overweight listen to advices from pro dietitians that tell them to weigh grams of protein every day, have exact meals, stick to one diet, no sugars, no sweets at all.. no sugar in coffee, no full fat milk, no alcohol.. so everything they enjoyed that got them fat is now forbidden,guess what they are back on all of that in a week and then gain even more fat (I have people in my life that went trough that multiople times). I eat sweets when I want, which is not very often now as I don't crave them, drink full fat milk in my coffee, eat steak, salmon, all veggies, cheese, everything I like, never even looked at lables to see how much carbs or protein or what not, and I'm down 21kg/50lbs in 6 months. Easy 😅
3:20 Napoleon didn't plan to go to Moscow in the first place. His war with Russia was named "Polish campaign" for a reason. He was never planning on going further east than Smolensk city. However Russian army was constantly retreating and avoiding the big decisive battles Napoleon was hoping for. The only battle before Borodino that you could call more or less big, is the delaying battle of Smolensk where army of Bargration was tasked not to let Napoleon cross the river for as long as they could and retreat immediately after Napoleon crosses it.
I was super intimidated to use a bench and dumbells/barbells when i started. I felt i needed the machines to control my motions and it was really in my head "everyone will laugh at me for not knowing what i am doing". The correction i wish knew when i first started? Jump in with a super light load and get the "mechanics" of a motion down before attempting my load. It doesnt matter if my form is off when i am just working out getting it right before i rep the actual load
Even though likely every channel on TH-cam around fitness has made a video like this, I am 100% sure this is going to be the funniest one out of all of them
I would love to imagine this type of video is a result of one of my previous comments on a previous video. It’s great to see you guys recognize a lot of your audience is not planning on competing at the next pro bodybuilding show.
Damn, this was the talk I needed to get my shit together not only at the gym but with all my other hobbies. I'm gonna have to watch this every day from now on.
I told the personal coach at the gym I'd rather be there for 30 to 45 minutes 7 days a week than 3 2-hour sessions per week. Pretty happy with going there 5 times a week. Been doing that for almost 9 months now. I love feeling those heavy weights move. As far as technique goes...you can add me to the list of people with wriggle and writhe! xD I am in the hard process of reducing intensity to re-establish proper lifting technique.
I use the machines when the free weights are being hogged up. Nobody rushes me on them so I can focus on form, safety, and technique. When the gym is empty, I'm like a kid at the candy store because the free weights are free. Plus some machines hurt me because they don't match me anatomically or ergonomically. So I have to avoid those.
3:30 Napoleon did the same thing in Egypt and shot the Sphinx tho, every time I’m in the gym I use Napoleon as inspiration. Napoleonic mindset for Napoleonic gains.
Like your videos Doc. I started going to the gym recently, and been cycling between workout A and B: Squats, Bench press, Rows And Pull ups, Overhead press and Deadlifts. Still trying to learn the proper form, but also trying to challenge myself a bit. I am not doing machines yet, just trying to get really, and I can squat less than I can bench press or row for some reason.
Thank you for this I was biting off more than I can chew in an effort to lose weight. I'm now 70 lbs lighter and focusing more on cardio and shorter workouts. My only problem is figuring out suitable exercises for leg day (I have degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis in my lower back)
amazing video as always 💪🏻 i’d like to know how to determine the threshold between a beginner and advanced trainee or on average how long is the transition from one to another if all the conditions are on point..
I make some of these mistakes. I like consistency, but I'm only good at it when I'm doing something everyday. Days off just psychologically knock me out of the groove. I've just been splitting the volume up into smaller and smaller pieces.
this applies to everything. dont overwhelm yourself. Do what you can do consistently. don't rely on technology when you should be learning the basics. get your technique rock solid because unlearning bad technique takes way longer. Don't even attempt complicated stuff before you have learned all the component skills.
7:25 also, for actual beginners, these MAY seem intimidating, especially if you see a bunch of people throwing that weight around, good form or not. These can be some of the most fun, and entertaining exercises. The biggest thing I needed understand starting out, was to embrace the suck. It’s gonna hurt. That’s growth. Make it fun. Enjoy the burn.
All that barbell stuff you talked about : squats, dead’s, overhead press I can’t do because of mobility/balance issues (fused spine and more) I’ve come to terms with having no gains 😂
Regarding the advanced programming point, one thing you said in a different video really stuck with me. "Advanced" programming should be regarded as the same as "advanced" medicine. You don't want to be advanced, you want the beginner stuff because your problems are easy enough to be solved by beginner programming.
In gym since mid Jan, 7 days a week. Two weeks off when Omicron came through in March. One month off after eye surgery, ending that late last week. Now back to 7 days a week. So much equipment to use, can vary around quite a bit, but enjoy bench the most for some reason. Coming back, was slow and stiff, taking a week to zoom back up to bench level I was at before. Bench max so far at 175 lb. Going up incrementally now at 145lb. Maybe steroid eye drops after surgery caused the muscle weakness. With creatine starting in layoff two weeks ago, just marching along at this point at 1-1/2 hours a workout. First 2.5g/day, then several at 5g/day but last 3 days 10g/day. At same point starting taking protein powder with coffee twice a day. My advantage? Twice a week for 5 months with a trainer for a half hour to show me the equipment and best techniques. He is now gone, back to college. Coming back, was really sore, took sun off as I was also up all night with a generator after someone hit a power pole and took out the power to our neighborhood, to keep food safe in freezers and fridge, the first time off not due to medical events since Jan. Why keep going? 1. Down 16 pounds body wt, and will try to do more. 2. To be in shape horseback riding.
I was that beginner who would work out two to three hours at a time, yet I never burned out because I loved training so much. Fast-forward a year and I'd lost 50 pounds while packing on a good amount of muscle, leaving me with a fairly decent body. 23 years later and I still love training just as much now as I did back then. I guess I'm one of the rare people who just kind of hit the ground running. That said, I've definitely seen more than my fair share of people burn out quickly.
The biggest mistake I noticed is that beginners (and some early intermediates as well) is severly underestimating themselves. If you tell them do AMRAP just once they will usually be completely flabbergasted, because they're way stronger than they thought.
I started working out 5 months ago and have ever since then been doing PPL. I find it hard to do 4 days a week or less since PPL has to be done 6 days a week, but I really enjoy the program so I don’t want to change.
It's nice to know that I've avoided a few of these beginner mistakes right off the bat. A friend of mine gave me a push/pull/leg split, and I've committed to three sessions a week. Each workout is 40 minutes to an hour at most. The workouts are quick and easy. The only issue is that I've mostly been using machines. I'm just shy of 40 and have herniations in my lumbar and cervical vertebrae, and I'm going alone, and my friend has advised me to shoot for muscle failure at 8-10 reps. I won't be doing barbel squats until failure without a spotter (and even then, the strain on my neck and back could cause serious injury) but I've had success with a leg press. That said, I could probably do more with freeweights wherever possible. I've been fat my whole life (currently 300 lbs) and I recently lost 35 lbs through cardio and calorie counting. Now, I've mostly discarded the cardio, but I'm counting calories and macros, specially protein. Three weeks in, and I'm feeling really good about myself. I hope I can maintain this consistency and get to a decent weight, because even at 5'7", I've carried my weight exceptionally well. People try to correct me when I tell them I'm morbidly obese because I don't fit their conception of it, so once the fat starts melting away and the muscle starts to build, I'll look so much better.
I hope you are doing well in your fitness journey. Are you still shooting for "muscle failure"? The science now shows 2-3 (or even 4-5 for some very heavy exercises) reps in reserve (aka before actual failure) is recommended. The gain is close enough, without risking injury and too much fatigue on the muscle that we cant recover for the next session. If you are afraid to do barbell squat then maybe can progress it from dumbbell, I go from bodyweight high reps squat to barbell only (20kg) squat. If i had known i could do dumbbell i prob would, just to make it a bit easier 😅
Been working out since last October, but only just starting to get my shit together. Love ur videos !! I feel like I’ve learned sm since finding ur channel !! Love ur vids !!
man i started to work out again, after like 6 years of extreme sedation. my friend made me a plan with lots of functional excercises like deadlift, squad, high planks asf. i never used to do these and i friggin love them. they are my favorite because they basically require your whole body to be in tension. gotta add plans also 3 times a week, 5 excercizes, 3 sets and its perfect, i used to do a lot longer workouts.
As a personal trainer, I appreciate this kind of videos. Thing is, I've been listening to Dr.Mike for quite some time now and I already knew all of this. The jokes are always a good reason to watch it though😆
im the beginner that you talked, i have burnt out 3 months ago, i now started slower back again. EVERY SINGLE SAY you said is so fucking true its scary. i now focusing on correct tech and better quality.
Great advice. Basically, do fewer things better. Be demanding of yourself and rigid in how consistently you apply yourself at a FEW essential things when starting out. People make the mistake of trying too many new things (I'm going to eat only clean food, be in 1000 calorie deficit, do cardio daily, weight train daily, meditate, drink only water) and doing all of them rather poorly or sporadically. I've been there with the too many sessions thing. Mainly because I'm a loser who has nowhere to go but the gym and only feel happy there, but also because I was avoiding what I knew I needed to work on. It's not that easy to eat 80% whole foods and stick to your calorie deficit for weeks if you've been in a surplus and eating whatever until then. Fewer things better, anything else is running away from the real work.
@@Marevrick I did this for like an entire year and then I said fuck it just go to the gym. 😂 Despite all that TH-cam watching I made all kinds of mistakes.
The best thing a beginner can do is get a good trainer who knows what they’re doing. Period. I would never have maintained the level of dedication and consistency at the gym that I have for the last 18 months without being held accountable by my trainer, who operates a gym in conjunction with a physical therapy practice, and who helps me maintain my workouts even when I travel for work. Strength training helps me maintain and enhance balance and flexibility in addition to building strength, which has improved my overall mobility and quality of life. Chronic pain in my knees and back is completely gone, now that they’re properly supported by much stronger muscles achieved through consistent, progressive workouts with an emphasis on proper form. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been in my entire life, at 57. I wish I had started sooner.
Not sure if i agree with the free weight start. For me the machines really helped me getting started. Looking up how to do it properly and focusing during the workout on what kind of muscle I am training in that moment really built my interest in exercising and made it fun for me. When you have been between overweight and obese for your whole life starting to feel you muscles below all that fat really was what kept me pushing. Later I changed away to free weights, but at that point I felt like I was able to feel what kind of muscle I am targeting and to do the exercises properly.
Great work. You've added years to your life not to mention it's difficult to change habits you've had for most of your life and while not many can or do do this that fact you have done it and have a good impetus also means you will have drive to continue it. Excellent job.
About point 1. If you're over 40 and haven't done much, even 45 minutes can be way too much to start with. Someone I know, who definitely wasn't me, remembered how he used to work out in his twenties. The result of a ~45 minute workout was 3 days of full systemic fatique that felt like a terrible flu without the actual flu symptoms and about a week until he could do any training again.
lol I got jumped in school my freshmen year in high school. My brother who was a couple years older that was a gym rat made me drop out of music and switch to weights class. I hated it at firs then got to love it. I stopped working out when I got out of the Navy in 2012. Started back at the start of the new year. PPL split. Im loving it again. I get to experience newbie gains all over again. In 4 months I have lost 20+lbs of fat and built right at 5lbs of muscle in a caloric defiicit. Im down to 205 from 236.
1.) Not having a Dr. Mike body pillow to sleep with at night
Intermediate-Advanced trainees also forget to keep increasing the number of the Mike body pillows as they have a higher MBPEV
@@mcfarvo MBPEV LMFAO
I got a little sad when he said he was married haha he's brilliant and funny 😂 love brilliance in a man. Still my new favorite go to for education on this topic.
but when get advanced, it gives a test boost
@manoftehsea is RP selling licensed ones? Mine is ... aham... homemade. Or should i say "artisanal"...
I am convinced my gym gives out insanely long and boring training programs on purpose, hoping you'll burnout and stop coming. I went to the gym and told them my goal was to do a pullup (i am female). They gave me 3 hours of excersises, 75% of which was legs. Thanks to good youtubers like you i have now made my own plan of things that i can actually get done and keep me motivated.
It is. What ever is your goal in general. Find a way to mske what is Essentiallx your gisl but easyer so xou can do 3 sets of 10 and progress to your goal slowly.
I think personal training has a problem with over training because they assume people want to feel they are getting their money’s worth and have put a lot of work?
@@Secretname951 at least with personal training they are there and can see what works and what doesn't. What i mentioned was just a gym employee 'getting me started'
Was it a CrossFit gym? They primarily use their legs to do pull-ups. 🤣
@@Secretname951 I think some also want their clients to be overly sore, so it looks like the program is working.
As a physical therapist, I can’t describe how relieving it is to hear the term “graded exposure” being used here. Bless you for helping make my profession a little less necessary.
P.S. I can confirm that va Gogh did, in fact, hurt himself.
Awesome. Lots of the same principles at play! - Dr. Mike
Your opinion on neck training?
@Super Mario Uhm, OP but I'd also love to know Dr. Mike's opinion on it. 😂
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 Lots of decent evidence for deep cervical strengthening/endurance training, but really only in populations that have pain/injury. I don’t see a lot of reason to prioritize neck-specific training unless it relates to a specific sport (i.e. might be useful for combat/contact sports)
@@mdawg3416 Thanks. I've also heard it's important for fighter pilots which is DEFINITELY relevant for a huge share of the population.😉
1. Not subscribing to Renaissance Periodization
Word
Mistake no. 1
Dr. Mike is gonna get you in a Walmart parking lot one day. And when you're dropped back off you will be subscribed. And your wig will be split.
Well said
FAX 📠📠📠
You're saving beginners potentially years of bad programming and troubleshooting. I know you touch on beginners in many of your other videos, but those 5 points distill everything you need to keep in mind as you watch everything else here and run it through that filter accordingly.
> I know you touch on beginners...
🤨
@@rm06c 😂
The thing about newbies is that they almost never listen unless it reinforces their preconceived notions. I know. I consult with them every day.
Ok Dr. Mike touches on beginners and is revered. I touch on beginners and I’m called a predator
In one video Dr Mike
1) taught me how to get a new gym partner
2) how to train as a beginner
3) challenged satan to a jujitsu match
4) revealed his knowledge of air defense systems
5) taught me how to fight zombies
6) decided what I'd make for dinner for my kids
😂
I’d say that’s more worthwhile education than a college degree could ever get you.
@@Matthew_KlepadloNext he gonna propose a poly relationship to Dr. Mike and his wife.
Wish him luck......😂
Love how you break it all down Dr Mike. Not all PHD have the ability to speak in laymen terms but it's definitely your strong suit. Keep it up brother.
Just started going back to the gym as an adult, the last time I was working out was in highschool. I needed to hear the bit about free-weights vs machines. I've been avoiding free-weights under the assumption that, a machine will increase my strength base with less room for injury due to poor technique than free-weights would. I understand now that this is misguided. Thanks Doc!
honestly such a reminder for me to not listen to random reels and tiktoks telling me that i NEED to take every single set to failure and that i need to train every single muscle that exists. i'm not a professional bodybuilder and i've also not been doing this for incredibly long - there's no need to overcomplicate it and wear myself and my body out in the process
I agree! It can become overwhelming for a beginner. We search for all this information and just end up making it harder than it has to be, then give up!
At this point I am not sure if I watch every RP video for the information on muscle building and science or to have a laugh with the crazy metaphors of Dr. Mike, either way please keep them coming!
That feeding kids analogy hit super close to home for me. One day recently The wife and I went to eat, she got some $20 gourmet noodle based dish. It was pretty good, but she gave the leftovers to the kids ( 1 & 2 yrs old) & I was like, you're wasting the good noodles on em, just give em top ramen and they'll be ecstatic. So I completely get it.
Haha! Right? They don't know any better! Use a golden spoon next time, why not? - Dr. Mike
But for kids, the "easy beginner" stuffs are milk and fruits, the "advanced" stuffs are soda and instant ramen. Their little brain can't deal with the insane amount of sugar, salt, MSG and caffeine and develop dependence and attachment to those food.
How did this goon get all those likes for wanting to feed his kids garbage over his wife feeding them some what actual food 💀
Few years back I started with 5x5 like many other beginner and oh boy does that program teach you to grind out numbers! The weights increase like crazy, especially for squats, and it guides you to the mind set of "five reps or the session failed". It was so easy to go too heavy with that program and just chase those numbers - Grind out those last reps to get the required five, no matter what. It was not even fun anymore.
Eventually I switched to higher rep program with RIR targets instead of fixed rep targets and my technique got better, I got stronger, I started to get better results, and most importantly training become really fun. So my tip for beginners is: "5x5: Not even once".
Agreed. I did 5x5 for a while thinking it was gonna be great since I'm a novice but I just found myself using cheat form to get those 5 reps and I dreaded training. Switched over to a program that still focuses on the basics but has a bit more variation and doesn't always force you to go super heavy and it's a lot more fun to go. Not sure how the gains are gonna be since I haven't been doing it for long but I think it'll go well.
I went from higher reps to lower reps for leg workouts and the key is to know what your capacity is to make the workout sustainable. My legs started growing again like crazy
This actually completely screwed me over. The advice was always "once linear gains stall out you're intermediate." So I giga bulked and got my squat to 265 for 5 with completely linear progression. When I tried to hit 260 I failed because obviously that progression is way to fast to keep up and thought I had plateaued, and basically gave up on training for a while because I thought I had shit genetics.
Little did I know that progression was actually incredibly fast, especially for me, and that failing to hit 6 reps on a single lift doesn't mean I f*cking plateaued lol.
I started out with 5x5 too. It was good for me for a while. I found experience with starting strength to be very valuable. When I hit plateaus on most of the lifts I had to "level up" my programming and I switched to power lifting style of training.
Then I did my powerlifts for a while and got pretty strong for 80kg bw. Deadlift was 240kg.
I tried "powerbuilding". Pretty much just wanted more muscle and keep doing strength training. It wasn't optimal for me looking back.
And now I find my self doing late-intermidiate level bodybuilding. Most of my information for my bodybuilding programming comes from RP and the sports medicine literature.
Would I say never to do 5x5? Nah. It was good for a beginner level lifter, as long as technique is learned first.
I'd say 5x5 has its benefits. Simplicity is very valuable to beginners, even if the lifts themselves are complex.
5x5 is actually a great program for beginners because it’s simple, and works like anything else beginners do. The issue is that it’s really unsustainable beyond the short term
as a beginner lifter is really relieving to see that my trainer follows all those principles on point
On the technique point...
I recently started working out again. I first focused on my body weight. I then started a full weekly workout schedule but never getting to failure, until I felt my motions were solid. Example, I bumped up my dumbbell bench press every week till I got to failure. I started with 30lbs(pretty much nothing), next week 35, then 40, till I found out that 50lbs would give me the workout I needed. I didn't feel the previous weeks were a waste. I felt like I was able to workout my technique while still getting a small workout.
This is the comment that I neede to read ! Right now I'm at the very begining with week 1 focused on calorie deficit but eventually when it's time to go maintenance and gym I want to restart proper strength training.
@lenon1980 during my diet focus phase I did stretching. About 3 times a week.
Every time I watch your videos I'm learning and laughing at the same time! You're born to be an educator Dr Mike
😂😂 exactly Dr. Mike’s sense of humor is gold protect him at all costs
@@coachedgarflores2773 i genuinly dont like this fing guy, i don't think he's funny i don't like the shape of his body, i feel is cocky and he calls himself a Doctor, I'm out of here!
@@coachedgarflores2773n
My
He is born to be a great educator!...😊👍
1.5 yrs ago, I spent thousands on a garage gym. Worked out for 6 weeks, full body 5x5's, five days a week.
I got really strong in that 6 weeks but havent worked out since.
Today, I try again with the RP app... gonna start with 3 days full body.
Wish me luck, im about to turn 40 and am tired of being out of shape.
Good luck, and did it work??
@thesnowspeaksfinnish today begins week 4, and its working pretty good, I think!
Downside, no Beginner specific program. Mike says beginner should do Whole body 3 days a week, snd only 45 min to an hour sessions.... but this whole body routine takes me 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. I dont know how to do whole body in less time.
Some people would kill for a garage gym. Good luck bro
@@t.chrisrobinson2388 idk if you're still actively gaining muscle, but you can loosely follow starting strength and hit everything he says here. 2 or 3 days a week, do squat, deadlift, and bench. you can walk away after those until you get more used to the stress you put on your body. then, when you're happy to spend more time in the gym and your body is ready 😏, throw some bicep curls and pull ups (or lat pull downs) in there too.
if you're feeling motivated you can find your 1 rep max weight, and do math off of that to build your program. or just lift what you're comfortable with and figure out your 1RM later.
consistency is the number one obstacle for most people. just keep it simple, turn it into a habit, then get into isolations and advanced programming (which is definitely what the RP app seems geared toward)
But what about your car?
Just re-watched this vid and shared with my 15 year old nephew who ihas started to lift but is surrounded by junior bros who "know better". Thanks Dr Mike
I loved this video. I just finished my first month at the gym with a trainer since I'm a newbie and it honestly made me more confident he's taking me in the right direction.
After a 2 year break, I rejoined weight lifting in September. After two months I thought, "Yah, I'll stop doing this handful of exercises and ramp it up." Spent 2 hours at the gym at a time....and started to have insomnia from overtraining. So I cut it back as much as I could and went back to the old routine for a couple more months.
Now, about a month ago, I decided to try training hard again. 10 exercises (so, half body split, basically) in a day with a couple of them being hard compound (and heavy) exercises in a session for four times a week. Yah, that lasted a good two weeks.
So now, I switched to PPL twice a week (with a different set of exercises than what's recommended.) Only 6 exercises (with one heavy compound exercise per session) a session with the entire workload spread across 6 days....already felt way better after the first week of it. Well, except Leg day. Those fucking suck. But hey - my Push Pull feels a lot better now that I don't have the leg exercises crammed into it those days.
I‘d say the session length is way more important than the sessions a week. I actually started out saying I‘ll go twice a week but then quickly realized I wanna go more often. And now I‘ve been consistently going 6 days a week which is all thanks to the fact that my workouts only last more or less an hour. That means they end before it becomes a chore and I‘ll leave the gym excited to walk right back in again tomorrow.
This is the best way 👌👌
Liking your workouts is the best thing. When newbies asks me for advice I say, try different gyms, different training routine, different kind of training to achieve the goal of having fun while training
@@simongloutnez589I assume you mean trying different routines just in the beginning to find the best one for you, but then sticking to it for quite a while. Keeping changing routines too frequently (like every week) is not the way to go - the body then doesn't have a chance to adapt and progressive overload is not that easy to track.
@@eriqborg exactly !
@@simongloutnez589 I agree with this. As a newb to the gym, my biggest frustration has been not feeling the pump so I have been trying different exercises for the muscle groups that don’t get the pump I am looking for to find the ones that give me the best pump, rather than the ones that are recommended as “the best”…all while keeping things safe, of course. That is what keeps me going back is finding the exercise that makes me feel like it’s actually doing something.
While I haven't done advanced, I'm guilty of doing intermediate training as a beginner because I genuinely thought that doing so would mean I build good foundations for my long term gym / bodybuilding journey. Thank you for making me realise the error of my ways!
What a great video! I've learned so much. I am a noob, never lifted in my life, bought some equipment for the garage (gym is a little scary hahah, I don't recognize anything in it). Too much information online, I don't even know where to start, what's effective. Now, I know, I'm worrying too much. Keep it simple, keep consistent and progress from there!
Sadly, there is a ton of BS out there, and a lot of it is conflicting so it becomes confusing, but the RP channel has probably the best info and it covers almost everything you need to know. It's an amazing resource for free and you won't go wrong if you just dive in to their content and ignore everyone else, at least for now. But be aware that a lot of their content is for intermediate & advanced lifters. Good luck!
The fun part is experimenting. I realized I didn't want to go to the gym, so I developed a home gym, and I'm now getting into calisthenics.
After I acquired a good baseline set of exercises for a full body workout, I started adding stuff to try for variety.
There are many ways to get a great body, and everyone has their own preference on how to get there.
As an example, I decided I wanted to add sprint training for cardio, and because sprinters are all jacked.
I love it and I can do it consistently because it's my program, and I'm making all the decisions on how to tweak it to align with my goals.
I want to do handstand pushups at some point. It's a great strength exercise and looks plain fun to me.
Gym is scary, for sure. But here's a take: use the money you would have spent on equipment and get a trainer to meet you at the gym for six months. They'll teach what everything does, fix your technique, motivate you to show up, stop you from overdoing it or underdoing it, and even run interference for you with the gymbros. Plus the gym has more and better equipment than you'll ever have. It's pretty much all upside.
(To be clear: the gymbros are almost universally nice people, but when you're a noob and someone three times your size who's deep in their zone with their earbuds in is walking up to the machine you need to finish your rotation, it can be daunting. Your trainer probably knows their name and their dogs name and the secret gymbro hand signals for "we're done here after one more set can you give us minute".)
Started back up with 4 sets of 10, pushups and squats every other day. Now I've got 2 routines for 4 days a week and 2 routines I can do in the middle of my 12 hour shifts on the weekend :)
I remember when I started lifting I used to work out 7 days a week for 2hrs or more 😂. Unfortunately there wasn't a Renaissance Periodization back then and the bodybuilding forums were where people learned 'things'... those were dark days. New lifters who find this channel have it real good!
Dude i was working out every day, i did this for 40-50 days straight, no rest days. I got sick. Took a short break. Now i am working out like 2-4 days in a row before taking a rest day. What you think? Still not enough rest days?
@pbrunner 2-4 days in a row before a rest day sounds fine. How much you need to rest is very individual. The RP hypertrophy book and their recovering from training book has some great info on that. From years of training the main thing I've learned about recovery is to just listen to your body. For me, if I train too much I'll start getting aches and pains in my connective tissue/joints. I'll also feel very demotivated in my goals outside of the gym and feel tired and fatigued all the time. If I keep pushing I eventually just dread my workouts and start to hate training (even though it's usually my life passion). Also that powerful feeling I get in the gym goes and everything feels a struggle. I'll also get insomnia from overtraining and wake up at 3am daily unable to get back to sleep. Pay attention to your body and don't be afraid to take a full week or two off training if you need it. You won't lose any notable gains in two weeks and the muscle resensitization and full fatigue recovery sets you up for many productive training mesocycles after.
Before RP many of us had the Scooby days...
@@arihaviv8510Scooby mentioned 🗣️💯🔥
Watching Dr. Mike train and trying to imitate his technique changed my training style forever. Deep stretch under load with control and fill ROM.
*full
Same
You're becoming my role model as a teacher, Dr. Mike. Please continue!
Wow knowing that I actually SHOULDNT be training to failure saves me a lot, as you said, bad reps. Hearing I get enough gains from going nowhere near that 😍
Moment of silence for those that don't. Even. Lift. Beginners are in the top 1% of humanity on day 1! respect 💪
Every beginner should watch this video!
Hey, I'm Every Beginner, & I did watch this video ! 🥳
Hearing that easy stuff gets me the same gains as advanced stuff as a beginner helped me really to understand: I’m doing the right thing now and should focus on that first. Thanks for the advice 👍
It's not just the information, but the delivery! Dude is funny AF!!! 🤣🤣🤣
One of your best doctor Mike.
your analogies and humor are great helpers to ur key points and, as always solid exercise science 👍
As a beginner it is hard to find good science based advice on how to workout. Everything you hear is failure or close to failure and technique is important but failure is imperative. So it’s a revelation to hear technique first for beginners and you will still make progress. Thank you and you probably saved me from years of pain and frustration.
0:41 “Dr. Mike explains Bootcamp”
I'm so grateful that I didn't burn out this time, but it happened the first 3 times I tried to start dieting and exercising.
Burn out happened before because of exactly what he says at the beginning.
Overheard pressing to Enya is a vibe.
I love when uncle Mike goes off on a crazy tangent and forgets why he went down that path. It is a story in a story!
Mike, I have made a couple to gym transformation this year with your videos as a guide. This is exactly what I've done and had great results. Thanks!
Those weapons against zombies and cooking food for kids analogies around 18:00 were so good.
Another S+ Upload. So much information and entertainment shoved into a 20 minute video.
My biggest learn curve was when i commited to clean technique and stop ego lift. It was hard to take away some kgs here and there, but that really helped me improve. Specially my chest
I started lifting around a year ago... well more like 4-5 months and the rest was rather focused on cardio and losing weight. This Information contained in this Video is incredibly helpful. Thank you very much.
I would say it's 12 months as that's when you changed your life style, depending on how unfit and how old you may have needed to do the cardio/weight loss before going to the gym at all, so if it were me I would just tell people I started training 12 months ago.
I started lifting weights a little over a year ago never stuck to it and never progressed much i decided to get serious and have made more progress in 2 months than I did in the last year of lifting
I've always liked you on other podcasts/channels because you were so knowledgeable, didn't realize you had your own channel and that you're hilarious! Subbed.
Bruh that intro had me rolling🤣🤣. I was watching this video while doing cardio and I just started busting out laughing on the treadmill.
I'm a beginner in gym and exercising in general.
Was slim and fit without effort for my entire life up to few years ago when I injured myself badly and as a consequence got to 105kg/235lbs at 6'3"/190cm.
This injury was the worst I ever felt and it lasted for ~2 years in my early 30s, and once it all healed I decided to go to gym. That thing, the decision and actually being in a mindset to be able to stick to decisions is hardest thing. I'm now 84kg/185lbs, it has been 6 months, started with my own diet to get to this weight, and I literally never felt better in my entire life, and happy to say all of these beginner points I randomly decided to do when I started.
Same as exercise, diet is something people shouldn't go too deep into if they are not ready to commit all in. In my case I just eat what I love (I always cook my own stuff) and bought a precise scale and weighing myself in the most neutral state I know of (after pooping and then eating the main meal of the day).. diet is a life style not just something you do for a week or 2, so why would it matter if you're figuring out how and what to eat for a week and then adjust to make it perfect. Point being people who are overweight listen to advices from pro dietitians that tell them to weigh grams of protein every day, have exact meals, stick to one diet, no sugars, no sweets at all.. no sugar in coffee, no full fat milk, no alcohol.. so everything they enjoyed that got them fat is now forbidden,guess what they are back on all of that in a week and then gain even more fat (I have people in my life that went trough that multiople times). I eat sweets when I want, which is not very often now as I don't crave them, drink full fat milk in my coffee, eat steak, salmon, all veggies, cheese, everything I like, never even looked at lables to see how much carbs or protein or what not, and I'm down 21kg/50lbs in 6 months. Easy 😅
I literally laughed out loud when you said to turn up Enya and stand next to the machine for barbell overhead presses. 😂😂😂😂
3:20 Napoleon didn't plan to go to Moscow in the first place. His war with Russia was named "Polish campaign" for a reason. He was never planning on going further east than Smolensk city. However Russian army was constantly retreating and avoiding the big decisive battles Napoleon was hoping for. The only battle before Borodino that you could call more or less big, is the delaying battle of Smolensk where army of Bargration was tasked not to let Napoleon cross the river for as long as they could and retreat immediately after Napoleon crosses it.
Not the machines playing Enya🤣🤣
You were starting to lose me towards the end but then when you explained it in terms of a zombie outbreak everything made sense
My biggest takeaway is beginners need to avoid AWACS systems and just get blunt or sharp objects.
“I’m gonna file a police 👮♂️ report”…. Don’t give my clients ideas please 😂
underrated comment lmao
underrated comment lmao
Best fitness analogies in the business
I was super intimidated to use a bench and dumbells/barbells when i started. I felt i needed the machines to control my motions and it was really in my head "everyone will laugh at me for not knowing what i am doing".
The correction i wish knew when i first started? Jump in with a super light load and get the "mechanics" of a motion down before attempting my load. It doesnt matter if my form is off when i am just working out getting it right before i rep the actual load
Thank you Dr. Mike, that was a very informative and equally entertaining video!
Even though likely every channel on TH-cam around fitness has made a video like this, I am 100% sure this is going to be the funniest one out of all of them
I would love to imagine this type of video is a result of one of my previous comments on a previous video. It’s great to see you guys recognize a lot of your audience is not planning on competing at the next pro bodybuilding show.
Damn, this was the talk I needed to get my shit together not only at the gym but with all my other hobbies. I'm gonna have to watch this every day from now on.
I told the personal coach at the gym I'd rather be there for 30 to 45 minutes 7 days a week than 3 2-hour sessions per week. Pretty happy with going there 5 times a week. Been doing that for almost 9 months now. I love feeling those heavy weights move. As far as technique goes...you can add me to the list of people with wriggle and writhe! xD I am in the hard process of reducing intensity to re-establish proper lifting technique.
Been watching a lot of videos for beginner lifting. This one is by far the best. 😮
This video does not apply to me, but I knew that Dr Mike will entertain regardless. Was not disappointed.
I use the machines when the free weights are being hogged up. Nobody rushes me on them so I can focus on form, safety, and technique. When the gym is empty, I'm like a kid at the candy store because the free weights are free.
Plus some machines hurt me because they don't match me anatomically or ergonomically. So I have to avoid those.
3:30 Napoleon did the same thing in Egypt and shot the Sphinx tho, every time I’m in the gym I use Napoleon as inspiration.
Napoleonic mindset for Napoleonic gains.
Like your videos Doc.
I started going to the gym recently, and been cycling between workout A and B:
Squats, Bench press, Rows
And
Pull ups, Overhead press and Deadlifts.
Still trying to learn the proper form, but also trying to challenge myself a bit. I am not doing machines yet, just trying to get really, and I can squat less than I can bench press or row for some reason.
Thank you for this I was biting off more than I can chew in an effort to lose weight. I'm now 70 lbs lighter and focusing more on cardio and shorter workouts. My only problem is figuring out suitable exercises for leg day (I have degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis in my lower back)
amazing video as always 💪🏻 i’d like to know how to determine the threshold between a beginner and advanced trainee or on average how long is the transition from one to another if all the conditions are on point..
When the time comes it will be revealed to you.
I make some of these mistakes. I like consistency, but I'm only good at it when I'm doing something everyday. Days off just psychologically knock me out of the groove. I've just been splitting the volume up into smaller and smaller pieces.
this applies to everything. dont overwhelm yourself. Do what you can do consistently. don't rely on technology when you should be learning the basics. get your technique rock solid because unlearning bad technique takes way longer. Don't even attempt complicated stuff before you have learned all the component skills.
great to know I shouldn't be training to failure at all in the beginning. Thats a great tip. I really want to make sure Im getting technique down.
7:25 also, for actual beginners, these MAY seem intimidating, especially if you see a bunch of people throwing that weight around, good form or not. These can be some of the most fun, and entertaining exercises. The biggest thing I needed understand starting out, was to embrace the suck. It’s gonna hurt. That’s growth. Make it fun. Enjoy the burn.
All that barbell stuff you talked about : squats, dead’s, overhead press I can’t do because of mobility/balance issues (fused spine and more) I’ve come to terms with having no gains 😂
Regarding the advanced programming point, one thing you said in a different video really stuck with me. "Advanced" programming should be regarded as the same as "advanced" medicine. You don't want to be advanced, you want the beginner stuff because your problems are easy enough to be solved by beginner programming.
Thank you so much for this (almost a year later) Now I have some reference points to work with.
16:56 I'm crying 😭
In gym since mid Jan, 7 days a week. Two weeks off when Omicron came through in March. One month off after eye surgery, ending that late last week. Now back to 7 days a week. So much equipment to use, can vary around quite a bit, but enjoy bench the most for some reason. Coming back, was slow and stiff, taking a week to zoom back up to bench level I was at before. Bench max so far at 175 lb. Going up incrementally now at 145lb. Maybe steroid eye drops after surgery caused the muscle weakness. With creatine starting in layoff two weeks ago, just marching along at this point at 1-1/2 hours a workout. First 2.5g/day, then several at 5g/day but last 3 days 10g/day. At same point starting taking protein powder with coffee twice a day. My advantage? Twice a week for 5 months with a trainer for a half hour to show me the equipment and best techniques. He is now gone, back to college. Coming back, was really sore, took sun off as I was also up all night with a generator after someone hit a power pole and took out the power to our neighborhood, to keep food safe in freezers and fridge, the first time off not due to medical events since Jan. Why keep going? 1. Down 16 pounds body wt, and will try to do more. 2. To be in shape horseback riding.
I like the term “technique momentum” I’m 6 years into bb and I wish I understood this concept in the beginning! Thanks doc!!
I was that beginner who would work out two to three hours at a time, yet I never burned out because I loved training so much. Fast-forward a year and I'd lost 50 pounds while packing on a good amount of muscle, leaving me with a fairly decent body. 23 years later and I still love training just as much now as I did back then. I guess I'm one of the rare people who just kind of hit the ground running. That said, I've definitely seen more than my fair share of people burn out quickly.
Thank you Dr.Mike for the last advice. I really need it.
The biggest mistake I noticed is that beginners (and some early intermediates as well) is severly underestimating themselves. If you tell them do AMRAP just once they will usually be completely flabbergasted, because they're way stronger than they thought.
I go to the gym 2 days a week and I like it... Changed my diet and went from 250 to 225 to 220 to 218 and now 216
I started working out 5 months ago and have ever since then been doing PPL. I find it hard to do 4 days a week or less since PPL has to be done 6 days a week, but I really enjoy the program so I don’t want to change.
There is a reason gym memberships are for a year. Not by the week or month (in most cases). People who sign up, then quit, are their bread and butter.
It's nice to know that I've avoided a few of these beginner mistakes right off the bat. A friend of mine gave me a push/pull/leg split, and I've committed to three sessions a week. Each workout is 40 minutes to an hour at most. The workouts are quick and easy.
The only issue is that I've mostly been using machines. I'm just shy of 40 and have herniations in my lumbar and cervical vertebrae, and I'm going alone, and my friend has advised me to shoot for muscle failure at 8-10 reps. I won't be doing barbel squats until failure without a spotter (and even then, the strain on my neck and back could cause serious injury) but I've had success with a leg press. That said, I could probably do more with freeweights wherever possible.
I've been fat my whole life (currently 300 lbs) and I recently lost 35 lbs through cardio and calorie counting. Now, I've mostly discarded the cardio, but I'm counting calories and macros, specially protein. Three weeks in, and I'm feeling really good about myself. I hope I can maintain this consistency and get to a decent weight, because even at 5'7", I've carried my weight exceptionally well. People try to correct me when I tell them I'm morbidly obese because I don't fit their conception of it, so once the fat starts melting away and the muscle starts to build, I'll look so much better.
I hope you are doing well in your fitness journey. Are you still shooting for "muscle failure"? The science now shows 2-3 (or even 4-5 for some very heavy exercises) reps in reserve (aka before actual failure) is recommended. The gain is close enough, without risking injury and too much fatigue on the muscle that we cant recover for the next session. If you are afraid to do barbell squat then maybe can progress it from dumbbell, I go from bodyweight high reps squat to barbell only (20kg) squat. If i had known i could do dumbbell i prob would, just to make it a bit easier 😅
Been working out since last October, but only just starting to get my shit together. Love ur videos !! I feel like I’ve learned sm since finding ur channel !! Love ur vids !!
man i started to work out again, after like 6 years of extreme sedation. my friend made me a plan with lots of functional excercises like deadlift, squad, high planks asf. i never used to do these and i friggin love them. they are my favorite because they basically require your whole body to be in tension. gotta add plans also 3 times a week, 5 excercizes, 3 sets and its perfect, i used to do a lot longer workouts.
As a personal trainer, I appreciate this kind of videos. Thing is, I've been listening to Dr.Mike for quite some time now and I already knew all of this. The jokes are always a good reason to watch it though😆
I found you on the collab with Adam Ragusea and loved it, looking forward to checking out your channel
im the beginner that you talked, i have burnt out 3 months ago, i now started slower back again. EVERY SINGLE SAY you said is so fucking true its scary. i now focusing on correct tech and better quality.
when do you stop being beginner? After 6 months, i feel I'm still a beginner
The first two years of consistent training is considered begginer
Great advice. Basically, do fewer things better. Be demanding of yourself and rigid in how consistently you apply yourself at a FEW essential things when starting out. People make the mistake of trying too many new things (I'm going to eat only clean food, be in 1000 calorie deficit, do cardio daily, weight train daily, meditate, drink only water) and doing all of them rather poorly or sporadically. I've been there with the too many sessions thing. Mainly because I'm a loser who has nowhere to go but the gym and only feel happy there, but also because I was avoiding what I knew I needed to work on. It's not that easy to eat 80% whole foods and stick to your calorie deficit for weeks if you've been in a surplus and eating whatever until then. Fewer things better, anything else is running away from the real work.
1. Watching hours of TH-cam and not going to the gym.
guiltyyyy
@@Marevrick I did this for like an entire year and then I said fuck it just go to the gym. 😂 Despite all that TH-cam watching I made all kinds of mistakes.
Great video as always, thank you Dr. Mike!
Any mention of the ongoing war is appreciated
Thank you Dr. Mike! Respect!
You’re the fucking man Mike, thanks for the no BS advice
This explains the crazy quads on the dude trying get me to "see for myself" the speakers in the back of his van in the Walmart parking lot.
The best thing a beginner can do is get a good trainer who knows what they’re doing. Period. I would never have maintained the level of dedication and consistency at the gym that I have for the last 18 months without being held accountable by my trainer, who operates a gym in conjunction with a physical therapy practice, and who helps me maintain my workouts even when I travel for work. Strength training helps me maintain and enhance balance and flexibility in addition to building strength, which has improved my overall mobility and quality of life. Chronic pain in my knees and back is completely gone, now that they’re properly supported by much stronger muscles achieved through consistent, progressive workouts with an emphasis on proper form. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been in my entire life, at 57. I wish I had started sooner.
Mike’s intrusive gear thoughts of kidnapping someone to make them lift. 😂
Not sure if i agree with the free weight start. For me the machines really helped me getting started. Looking up how to do it properly and focusing during the workout on what kind of muscle I am training in that moment really built my interest in exercising and made it fun for me. When you have been between overweight and obese for your whole life starting to feel you muscles below all that fat really was what kept me pushing. Later I changed away to free weights, but at that point I felt like I was able to feel what kind of muscle I am targeting and to do the exercises properly.
Great work. You've added years to your life not to mention it's difficult to change habits you've had for most of your life and while not many can or do do this that fact you have done it and have a good impetus also means you will have drive to continue it. Excellent job.
most relatable comment i have ever read
Yeah, being 6'4 and overweight i would never be able to squat without machines
@@sensaikoreally? You couldn’t even do a body weight squat? I don’t believe that
He comes off as such a nice guy yet a "smart ass comedian" which is actually a great personality lol
About point 1. If you're over 40 and haven't done much, even 45 minutes can be way too much to start with. Someone I know, who definitely wasn't me, remembered how he used to work out in his twenties. The result of a ~45 minute workout was 3 days of full systemic fatique that felt like a terrible flu without the actual flu symptoms and about a week until he could do any training again.
lol I got jumped in school my freshmen year in high school. My brother who was a couple years older that was a gym rat made me drop out of music and switch to weights class. I hated it at firs then got to love it. I stopped working out when I got out of the Navy in 2012. Started back at the start of the new year. PPL split. Im loving it again. I get to experience newbie gains all over again. In 4 months I have lost 20+lbs of fat and built right at 5lbs of muscle in a caloric defiicit. Im down to 205 from 236.