I disagree…there are people who go to the gym, and don’t see results. Yeah, maybe their overall health is improving, but it’s not until I’ll work with them, and give them some pointers/direction or they find in on their own…otherwise it’s just a waste of time to me.
@@arrow2380 perhaps, but they also don’t give their muscles any reason to adapt. I might be overly critical. I’m sure they have some progress. But I don’t think it’s what they are going for. I’ve trained people off and on, and I definitely get them results.
@BigstickNick U literly just proved his point😂. Your contradicting yourself. You said you disagree, then you proceed to explain how their health does improve, so yes, any kind of training is better than not training...
i love how we’ve hit the cycle of our lives where we’re like “ok i want to keep up with these healthy habits but i literally have a million other responsibilities and only so much energy and time!” there’s nothing wrong with exercising entirely for health, and i’m glad that fitness influencers like you encourage balance and knowledge! life has ebbs and flows and we should feel empowered to do what we can when we can, not only be encouraged when we’re on the extreme and able to schedule 6 gym sessions a week.
I get my work outs down while I'm cooking. For example if I boil eggs I have 6 minutes where I'm just standing there waiting. So I can get 3 sets of pullups and 3 sets of another exercise done in that time. And I'm more or less done with those muscle groups for the day and can target something else tomorrow. If I want to do cardio I have a stationary bike I can put in front of my PC and game at the same time lol. Really doesn't take any time out of your day to exercise.
@@davesouthword1298Waking up earlier doesn't always exactly solve the time problem. Hell, it's not even a viable solution depending on how late you work into the day. Plus, one set is always better than no sets at all, so I don't really see the
Love the quote at the end. So many people online will say things like “this isn’t optimal”, but at the end of the day, whatever gets you into the gym is what really matters
@@spawnnpwn4166 the main reason people care is that it saves time and energy towards reaching certain physiques/health goals. Of course that only matters if you can consistently go in
I was gonna say that. I am fully aware that bro splits are not optimal for muscle growth, but I doubt that reduces my gains in a really significant percentage like 20%. At the end of the day, is what made me train for 8 years and looking half decent
@@thief_fnm8993 Man I'd worry about being tricked by "how to reduce brow bone naturally" videos. You're not going to get anywhere if you get easily tricked by bait content and videos. For your own sake please watch more Jeff Nippard and RPStrength for actual scientific informational content. Don't watch trashcan old bodybuilder workout guides, they were blasting roids and had coaches who did all the programing for them.
I've been working out for about 3 years, improving in weights and physically growing, but since I reduced the number of sets and increased the intensity, I'm seeing growth at a faster rate. Again, everyone is different, but it's just insane.
Most people that have been doing a high volume for a long time will notice an increase increase when they switch to low volume. It could be because you're giving a body a new stimulus or it could be that because you've increased strength it's harder for your muscles to recover from high volume
I think progressive overload is also a big driver of hypertrophy and it seems easier to recover to do more reps/weight the next time when you do less volume.
Same here mate. Trained 5-6 days per week, 4-6 exercises per body part with 4 sets per exercise. Made great gains doing that for over 10 years but my gains increased when I dropped to 2 sets per exercise, 3-5 exercises per body part over 4 days per week
Thank you so much for these videos. I have lost over 150 pounds I went from 350 pounds to 200 now over the last year I have been going to the gym 5 to 6 times per week. I mostly started off with cardio because, it was easier for me and I was very intimidated by lifting. I started lifting more back in January just 10 minutes here and there a couple times a week but gradually worked up too much more than that focusing on different muscle groups and alternating days with cardio. When I, started to watch your videos. I realize I didn’t have to do all the cardio. That has helped me so much. I have less in my cardio because it’s not necessary. I just left or do more set and my physique has changed so much. It’s so nice to optimize my workouts because I’m a busy chef. I have a busy life and I honestly want to spend the least amount of time and a gym for maximal gains, also some weeks I only go two or three times now because at the beginning, it was all about being consistent and making routine and doing the most. Now that I am around my goal weight still wanna lose about 15 more pounds, but not that too concern I’m fit now, I’m definitely focusing on my physique overall in building up muscle and I love the science that you use in your videos. Much love brother. ❤ 💪
Holy moly, I always have a all or nothing mentality when it comes to exercise or dieting, I’m either working out and eating right or I’m rotting on the couch, no in between. Crazy to think that just doing a little bit over a long period of time can improve your health and life dramatically
I had this mentality and made pretty much zero progress. It wasn’t until I just mellowed out, stopped obsessing and just did what was needed, I made my biggest transformation ever. Going all in 100% was exhausting and would last 2-5 weeks and I would burn out and lose all motivation. But when I gave it 60%-80%, it kept me consistent all year. That’s what matters people, its consistency!! TLTR; A consistent 60%-80% throughout the year is wayyy better than 100% for a month etc. Do what is fun and do it to the best of your ability. Edit - Obviously there are a lot of days I give it 110% in my workouts, but it’s not everyday I do that. Some days it is good to give it your absolute best and go beyond, but keep it realistic.
I was the same. The hardest lesson of the last 15 years is: never go 100% all the time. Consistency is the only thing you need to be good at anything. Showing up and doing 10% when you're tired or below perfect health beats everything else.
@@joey4186 Better to 'undertrain' than to overtrain. The fact that you train is most important. No need in giving it 100%. Most people throw the towel in due to asking to much of themselves.
I think you should look into the Mike Mentzer style of weightlifting and body building. He believed in short but explosive workouts with long rest periods. About 4 days to a whole week of letting your muscles rest. He believed in complete failure is enough to stimulate muscle growth. It could be one set or 4 sets but he believed in complete and utter failure. Keep in mind he used to do crystal meth and other amphetamines so his failure would be different than yours.
@@joey4186 So true, most people will fail because they stop going, not because when they went they didn't train hard enough or optimal enough. Consistency is the most important factor.
Don't even worry about this. I usually do 4-5 weight exercises in a gym session and sometimes I go a bit too hard and can only do 1-2 good sets on the last thing. Are you lifting and seeing progress? If so, that's a goddamn win
@@sunburntsatan6475am i doing something wrong bro? Im doing 5x2(5 days of training, 1 or 2 days of rest), i just started lifting and i aim for some muscle gain
Yep, I've been in excuse mode for 5 years now. Finally, a friend helped me get into weights 2 months ago. Been going only 2 x 40mins per weeks as that's all I can take away from family time etc. I feel completely changed.
I bike to work. I live just 5 miles away and I still take the bus to cut my commute in half. I totally feel your desire to make excuses to avoid exercise, but also totally agree that this video is inspiring. I will make it a point to not take the bus at least twice a week for either going or coming home. (My job is physically focused, so those other two sets are probably built into just showing up every day.)
Finding this guy after struggling to get back into the gym since Covid has really helped me. Especially with saying “any amount of training you do is better than none at all” makes me feel like I’m doing good even though I know I’m not fully pushing myself yet, I know I’m doing better than I was. Thank you👑
I do 3 sets of weighted dips on monday and 3 sets of OHP on friday and my pushing muscles keep growing. For back I do 3 sets of machine tbar row on monday and 3 sets of weighted pullups on friday. For legs I do squats and leg curls for 3 sets each on wednesday. Stimulate the muscle and get out. What remains is how you eat and sleep that will impact your look.
Couldn’t agree more. I call it the 3 pillars. Training, nutrition and recovery. You’ll only grow to the lowest pillar. So you can do 20 sets per muscle group a week and eat horribly and your nutrition will be the bottleneck by a mile.
How hard you do this sets? Like 0 RIR? I’m trying similar, twice a week, each training 5 sets per muscle and around 0 RIR. So 10 sets per week in total. 2 minutes rest between sets. But not sure, have a kind of plateau, cant progress and increase reps or weight. But need to say, that i am in a minicut right now since 2 weeks, around 2000cals a day. Maybe need to reduce the volume to 8 sets per week and let some RIR?
@@eduardg5619playing around with it is a tedious task, but will give you some more insight on what really works for you. Try it out for a couple weeks and see if the plateau disappears 👀
@@eduardg5619I’d keep the volume the same for now, but train less close to failure on about half the sets. Also would increase my calories by about 300-500 a day. Then try that for two weeks, see how you feel and make adjustments from there.
My body responds very well to the Mentzer-approach. High intensity, heavy sets, two sets at the most, one set to absolute failure. Takes me more than a week sometimes to fully recover, but man do i get back stronger.
After ten years of training and not seeing any differences anymore, I lowered the volume per excercise to 2 sets till failure. Im in the best form I ever was and spent less time in gym.
Jeffs videos are all about getting the most out of minimal work. This is good for your few times a week people who care about being fit. Bodybuilders out there watching Jeff's videos thinking you can become a pro with doing the least amount of work, you won't make it
That's actually been my approach over the last year, and that's the time I've made most of my progress. It's crazy, people always ask me: "bro how many sets do you do?" I always reply with: "I don't count." Meaning repwise, I just bump them out till I can't do any more, then do dropsets of death. Most of the time I just do 2-3 sets. If I'm in a hurry, 1 set will be enough. The less you do (volume-wise), the harder the intensity needs to be. I always train beyond muscle failure (using dropsets and cheating at the very very end and controlling the eccentric, then do lengthened partials). In a nutshell: • 1-3 sets. • High intensity. • supersets to save time • dropsets, lengthened partials, cheatreps controlling the negative • basic exercises - oldschool • progression (weight/reps/form) That's MY way of training - it works for me.
All facts, I’ve noticed much more progress with this approach. I do full body 3 times a week, walk on off days for cardio. It’s a marathon not a race. Most men aren’t trying to be a bodybuilders. Load up on black Ts, sit back and enjoy the attention from the Ladies while your building on yourself 🫡
This is what I've done for a couple years now, working great for me! Full body workout twice a week, each muscle gets 2 sets to failure with the occasional dropset.
1-3 sets 2x a week of this style training is definitely sufficient; But not optimal.. and that's okay because not everyone wants to be optimal and also going to failure and beyond is fun.
It's good seeing this from Jeff. So many of Jeff's viewers will be like "but that's not what the science says!". There's more than one way to train and get results. The best way to train is down to you getting results training the way you want to. It might not be "optimal" but it's the best way. Let's say you do go for the "optimal" approach. What happens if you hate it? What if you just don't like it and it's not exciting enough for you? You'll interest and fall off.
Really needed this! I do a lil 10min workout each morning because it's easier for me to stay consistent that way, as opposed to my on-and-off relationship with the gym. I rotate my targeted muscle groups each day so that I still get 6 sets in per week for chest, arms, back, legs, and abs.
Jeff I lost 35 lbs this year and made crazy gains thanks to your channel. But I got married, and am working 93 hours a week to afford a life free from debt. It sucks working that much and still having a negative bank account. This also means I gained weight. It’s hard… but your videos. This video. It’s really encouraging. Thank you papa Jeff. You’ll always be the one person I truly trust for fitness advice (dr. Mike is cool too. But he’s scary 😂)
this is a big thing to recognize as like an unathletic kid growing up. i always knew i was unhappy with my body but i always felt like i had other things i needed to fix abour myself first. its important to recognize that just commiting to doing like a body weight workout whenever ur bored is already a huge step
Thank you for Making this video. It made me feel motivated. I'm overweight and struggle with mental health challenges and struggle to get myself to do Anything. Knowing that excercising when I can convince myself to will actually benefit me makes me feel good. Thank you!
This is so crazy, cuz recently I started doing just once a week pull-ups, push-ups, and squats, four sets until failure. I was surprised to find that it’s definitely often enough to make gains, then all the sudden I come across this awesome video!
No he wasnt. More Volume = More Gains. But less is enough. Metzner told is More = No Muscle Growth. And he did no 2 Sets per Week .... And second, with the 2 Sets Jeff speaks more or less about Strength . That does not equals 1 = 1 Muscle size. A Natty who trains after his advices will gain muscles. But A car driving with 20 MpH, still drives, but not close tho his Limit Since i doubles my Volume thanks to Supersetting, my gains increased a lot.
@flow1188 how much "more volume" is enough ? If 3 sets is great, isn't 6 sets even greater ? There's more limit. When training to failiure you HAVE a natural limit....failiure.
Thank you for sharing this information. I have always struggeled because I don't enjoy working out and burn out easily, but still tried to do the 3 sets every day and could not keep up. This is very informative and if not anything, I will start doing a set every few days. Who knows maybe I will even start enjoying it more
When you said most people do three sets that really opened my eyes 😂 I was always taught by 5’s, 5 sets with some denomination of 5. Thats pretty crazy
Damn right all these youtubers & influencers putting this out like some new shit they discovered screwing the great intellect Mike Mentzer just like the olympia screwed him. This joker, bald joker Isratel all beating around around the bush claiming its some new science instead of giving credit to Mike that he was right all aling and way of training popularized by Weider & Arnold isnt suitable for natural lifters.
@@musclemadnesyes so True hahaha And Dorian yates did like 4 warm up sets before thé „REAL“ set and does warm ups sets as a normal human being are already working sets!
@@m4andi0ca Actually, he won the heavyweight class of Mr. Olympia in '79 (which means that he can legitimately be called 'Mr. Olympia') but lost to Zane in the overall. In my opinion, he should have won the that, too; however, Zane was a worthy winner.
I’m the same way man if I can’t get all 6 days at the gym in a week I feel like I might as well take a rest week, if I miss one workout I feel small and the whole week was a waste
I too have been held back by my all or nothing approach to things. I have learned not all things go in the same basket. Setting priorities help managing things. Job yes, health hell yes, what joe blow thinks not so much.
This is true and I am living proof. During covid I decided to test how little I have to work to still make gains. For me it was 6 sets per muscle per week, divided in 2 days. 40 minutes per day. 2 exercices with 3 sets per muscle. Monday: chest/bicep/legs. Thursday: back/tricep/shoulder.
That’s what I was thinking! I see SO much love for Mentzer in various videos’ comment sections that there must be something to it. I was doing 4 sets but now enjoying a warm up set plus 2 hard sets, and less rest time in between. Much quicker workout
Arthur Jones ones said that it took me a decade to understand that 2 sets better than 3 , and took a another decade to understand that 1 is better than 2 sets
HIT which Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates advocated for has been shown in modern studies to be the most effective training method per hour of training you put in. That said, if you want max gains it's likely not for you, but with HIT it was shown that with less than 1/3 of the time spent in the gym you could get around 80% of the growth of traditional lifting. This also means that just spending a little time in the gym can do wonders for people. No excuse for most people.
I appreciate this video. I always tell people who are getting into working out and obsessing over plans and stuff, The doing is more important than the details
Weightlifting has helped bring me out of a pretty intense depressive episode. I didn't start off going hard either, but eventually you'll be seeing progress even if it's slight, your capacity will build, and i believe you will naturally do more. Do what you can and you'll start a cycle of being able to do more.
As far as I remember, both Jeff and Dr. Mike explained that failure and 1-3 reps in reserve aren’t that much of a difference. But yeah, lower volume always means no excuses regarding your intensity.
@@Robbiehansexactlyyyy I've been following Sean's style of training and it's been working out greatly for me. 2 sets to failure going all out is all I need tbh. Definitely not optimal, but it's what gets me going in the gym
Yeah it may work...for awhile. I tried working out that way for around 30 years. I would start out submaximal the first ciuple weeks, then try to add weight every workout over 3 months or so (1 set to failure after a couple warmups) and without fail almost every workout cycle I would never be able to finish it at least every exercise as I would end up with a minor strain, muscle pull, joint pain, get sick, ect. Of course I never tried roids and what you would call hardgainer genes. I know now I should have tried to mix it up a bit, but I was a believer in the Arthur Jones, Stuart McRober, Mentzer style of training and Yates was my idol. Well found out too late it doesn't work for everybody. Then again I'm probably bigger and stronger than 95% of the people my age, but will never be good enough to compete in a bodybuilding show.
You could go to failure on your first warm up set and count it as a working set. It is easily doable on some exercises eg calf raises, pulldowns, lateral raises, leg curls, most machine exercises with reps in the 20-30 range.
This is probably one of the most important videos. Little is better than nothing, and a person can dramatically improve their lives with just a little exercise.
Thank you for telling me this! I feel motivated again! I used to do home workouts about 20-40 minutes 3-4 per week and people did not take me seriously saying how that does practically nothing... I stopped doing it after a few weeks... Thank you!
@@mikeivanov6350 Thank you very much! I've been slowly realising this, not just about working out but every part of my life it's like I'm controlled by people. I will do it however way I want from now on.
trainer here who also recently became a new mom! i’ve been living for my 2 set workouts! i hit em hard and use progressive overload, happy to say im still making a lot of gainz while saving time ❤
This! I have anxiety on gym and i try to do as much as i can before i need to get out of people's view. Or i overthink someone else needs the machine and finish earlier than i want. If i beat myself over not doing enough sets it won't get me anywhere, so i try to celebrate when i manage to do two. It motivates me to go again.
I’m a big believer in having a life, and working out only 2-3 times a week full body. Those workouts I give my ALL and take each (safe) exercise to failiure and cheat reps. It’s amazing
This is the video I needed right now because I'm going through a depression. I used to lift 5x a week but now it's hard to even do 3x, so I usually do 2x. It's good to know that I'm still doing alright.
exactly. consistency over time has been my trick. I suspect I do less actual work than most folks but my growth is visible. and i eat very clean. I suspect my diet is making the most difference compared to others.
This is so helpful! I used to lift 6 days a week but as I’ve gotten older I’ve been diagnosed with POTS and ehlers danlos, and physically and mentally I am only able to make it to the gym once a week, twice if I’m feeling good (which I never am). So, this makes me feel less bad about what I’m able to realistically do *and maintain*
Last year I took a break from weightlifting because I wasn't enjoying it anymore, and I wanted to focus on running and rock climbing. Recently I realized that I'd just been pushing myself more than was necessary. I went to the gym more often than I wanted to, and I also felt like I had to go really hard on every single set. Now I've started weightlifting only when I feel like it, and putting most of my energy into rock climbing, which I enjoy more and which also helps me grow muscle. You don't have to go 100% at everything you do.
so many fitness shorts are talking about CONSTANTLY lifting and never letting up, it makes it very intimidating. This is much more motivational to hear
What's funny is I learned this through trial and error. I was working out 4-5x/week for close to an hour doing weightlifting. I was getting exhausted. I was building muscle and losing some fat, but not as much as I'd like. I now push myself more and workout about 3x/week. I focus on one target area each week and do a mix of bodyweight and weightlifting. I've seen more gains in muscle and more lost fat in the last month relative to the years prior. It's also less time in the gym. Solid win-win
this is why i keep going to the gym and trying to stick to a routine even tho i do a shit ass job. im seeing *some* muscle gain over time and thats honestly enough for me for now
Crazy how little it takes to improve your life significantly
yet a lot of people still don't do it
@@MiguelReyesDevelopera lot of people take the first step and just quit, good example is first day of the new year
@@MiguelReyesDeveloperexactly.
What do you mean improve i jimed for a year and it was one of the most miserable times of my life , it isn't for evrybody
@@MiguelReyesDeveloper i pay 50$ for my gym, im gonna use all that 50$ as much as i can
"Any amount of training you do is a lot better than not doing at all" Now that's facts.
I disagree…there are people who go to the gym, and don’t see results. Yeah, maybe their overall health is improving, but it’s not until I’ll work with them, and give them some pointers/direction or they find in on their own…otherwise it’s just a waste of time to me.
@@BigstickNickthey're not training hard.
@@BigstickNickor their diet is bad or they're depriving themselves from sleep
@@arrow2380 perhaps, but they also don’t give their muscles any reason to adapt. I might be overly critical. I’m sure they have some progress. But I don’t think it’s what they are going for. I’ve trained people off and on, and I definitely get them results.
@BigstickNick U literly just proved his point😂. Your contradicting yourself. You said you disagree, then you proceed to explain how their health does improve, so yes, any kind of training is better than not training...
i love how we’ve hit the cycle of our lives where we’re like “ok i want to keep up with these healthy habits but i literally have a million other responsibilities and only so much energy and time!” there’s nothing wrong with exercising entirely for health, and i’m glad that fitness influencers like you encourage balance and knowledge! life has ebbs and flows and we should feel empowered to do what we can when we can, not only be encouraged when we’re on the extreme and able to schedule 6 gym sessions a week.
"hit the cycle" what?
Everyone has time, you’re making excuses. Get your ass out of bed earlier.
I get my work outs down while I'm cooking. For example if I boil eggs I have 6 minutes where I'm just standing there waiting. So I can get 3 sets of pullups and 3 sets of another exercise done in that time. And I'm more or less done with those muscle groups for the day and can target something else tomorrow.
If I want to do cardio I have a stationary bike I can put in front of my PC and game at the same time lol. Really doesn't take any time out of your day to exercise.
@@davesouthword1298Waking up earlier doesn't always exactly solve the time problem. Hell, it's not even a viable solution depending on how late you work into the day.
Plus, one set is always better than no sets at all, so I don't really see the
@@davesouthword1298 I dare you to work late.
Love the quote at the end. So many people online will say things like “this isn’t optimal”, but at the end of the day, whatever gets you into the gym is what really matters
Also, why even chase what's optimal if you arent even competing?
The only other reason one should is if they really are passionate about working out.
obsession with optimal workouts as if it matters for 99.9% of lifters
@@spawnnpwn4166 the main reason people care is that it saves time and energy towards reaching certain physiques/health goals. Of course that only matters if you can consistently go in
Optimal is the most you can do without having a detrimental effect on the rest of your life. That’s my opinion on it anyway.
I was gonna say that. I am fully aware that bro splits are not optimal for muscle growth, but I doubt that reduces my gains in a really significant percentage like 20%. At the end of the day, is what made me train for 8 years and looking half decent
This advice is much more practical than 10-20 hard sets per week per muscle group. Thanks for sharing!
I’m tryna get like Arnold so hop off. That applies to body building and obviously you won’t do that.
@@thief_fnm8993So you are trying to be a mr olympia? iyi şanslar evlat
@@thief_fnm8993Mentzer taught Dorian less sets, push to failure. 3-7 days rest between muscle groups
@@thief_fnm8993 Arnold was also blastings tons of gear making it way easier for his body to recover from the intense stress of lifting so much
@@thief_fnm8993 Man I'd worry about being tricked by "how to reduce brow bone naturally" videos. You're not going to get anywhere if you get easily tricked by bait content and videos. For your own sake please watch more Jeff Nippard and RPStrength for actual scientific informational content. Don't watch trashcan old bodybuilder workout guides, they were blasting roids and had coaches who did all the programing for them.
“Any amount of train you do its alot better than training not at all” this line hit straight to the heart
*me working out an hour per week to reduce my chances of dying in a fatal car crash by 30%*
All neck work baby
@@dijon0810that would actually be true you see that guy who is said to be able to perfectly survive car crashes the neck muscles is crazy
@@michaeltagor4238 this comment is crazy. full stops/periods and commas are your friends.
Maybe that hour you are at the gym could have been when you have a fatal car crash so makes sense
@@tuttyusbuttyus womp womp
I've been working out for about 3 years, improving in weights and physically growing, but since I reduced the number of sets and increased the intensity, I'm seeing growth at a faster rate. Again, everyone is different, but it's just insane.
Most people that have been doing a high volume for a long time will notice an increase increase when they switch to low volume. It could be because you're giving a body a new stimulus or it could be that because you've increased strength it's harder for your muscles to recover from high volume
I think progressive overload is also a big driver of hypertrophy and it seems easier to recover to do more reps/weight the next time when you do less volume.
Mike Mentzer would be proud of you
I’ve been doing this too - I’m spending less time in the gym and getting just as good of a workout, as when I was spending 1 1/2 hrs in the gym.
Same here mate. Trained 5-6 days per week, 4-6 exercises per body part with 4 sets per exercise. Made great gains doing that for over 10 years but my gains increased when I dropped to 2 sets per exercise, 3-5 exercises per body part over 4 days per week
Thank you so much for these videos. I have lost over 150 pounds I went from 350 pounds to 200 now over the last year I have been going to the gym 5 to 6 times per week. I mostly started off with cardio because, it was easier for me and I was very intimidated by lifting. I started lifting more back in January just 10 minutes here and there a couple times a week but gradually worked up too much more than that focusing on different muscle groups and alternating days with cardio. When I, started to watch your videos. I realize I didn’t have to do all the cardio. That has helped me so much. I have less in my cardio because it’s not necessary. I just left or do more set and my physique has changed so much. It’s so nice to optimize my workouts because I’m a busy chef. I have a busy life and I honestly want to spend the least amount of time and a gym for maximal gains, also some weeks I only go two or three times now because at the beginning, it was all about being consistent and making routine and doing the most. Now that I am around my goal weight still wanna lose about 15 more pounds, but not that too concern I’m fit now, I’m definitely focusing on my physique overall in building up muscle and I love the science that you use in your videos. Much love brother. ❤ 💪
Way to go, man.
Holy moly, I always have a all or nothing mentality when it comes to exercise or dieting, I’m either working out and eating right or I’m rotting on the couch, no in between.
Crazy to think that just doing a little bit over a long period of time can improve your health and life dramatically
I had this mentality and made pretty much zero progress. It wasn’t until I just mellowed out, stopped obsessing and just did what was needed, I made my biggest transformation ever. Going all in 100% was exhausting and would last 2-5 weeks and I would burn out and lose all motivation. But when I gave it 60%-80%, it kept me consistent all year. That’s what matters people, its consistency!!
TLTR; A consistent 60%-80% throughout the year is wayyy better than 100% for a month etc. Do what is fun and do it to the best of your ability.
Edit - Obviously there are a lot of days I give it 110% in my workouts, but it’s not everyday I do that. Some days it is good to give it your absolute best and go beyond, but keep it realistic.
I was the same. The hardest lesson of the last 15 years is: never go 100% all the time. Consistency is the only thing you need to be good at anything. Showing up and doing 10% when you're tired or below perfect health beats everything else.
@@joey4186
Better to 'undertrain' than to overtrain. The fact that you train is most important. No need in giving it 100%. Most people throw the towel in due to asking to much of themselves.
I think you should look into the Mike Mentzer style of weightlifting and body building. He believed in short but explosive workouts with long rest periods. About 4 days to a whole week of letting your muscles rest. He believed in complete failure is enough to stimulate muscle growth. It could be one set or 4 sets but he believed in complete and utter failure. Keep in mind he used to do crystal meth and other amphetamines so his failure would be different than yours.
@@joey4186 So true, most people will fail because they stop going, not because when they went they didn't train hard enough or optimal enough.
Consistency is the most important factor.
This made me feel so motivated and good about doing 3 sets to failure
Same. I’ve been doing 3 super sets 3 times a week, and simple walking cardio on rest days.
I’m always wondering if I’m doing the right thing.
Don't even worry about this. I usually do 4-5 weight exercises in a gym session and sometimes I go a bit too hard and can only do 1-2 good sets on the last thing. Are you lifting and seeing progress? If so, that's a goddamn win
@@sunburntsatan6475am i doing something wrong bro? Im doing 5x2(5 days of training, 1 or 2 days of rest), i just started lifting and i aim for some muscle gain
bro Im doing 6 sets 2x for every muscle and I thought thats too little
@@EpicBenjoyou are bro and did you see gains in your muscles bcoz I've been doing the same for about a month now
"any amount of training you do is a lot better than no training at all" speaking facts 🗣️
Buddy I needed this. Injury after injury and new fatherhood has me in excuse mode. Any movement is better than none. Let's get it!
Yep, I've been in excuse mode for 5 years now.
Finally, a friend helped me get into weights 2 months ago. Been going only 2 x 40mins per weeks as that's all I can take away from family time etc. I feel completely changed.
I bike to work. I live just 5 miles away and I still take the bus to cut my commute in half. I totally feel your desire to make excuses to avoid exercise, but also totally agree that this video is inspiring. I will make it a point to not take the bus at least twice a week for either going or coming home. (My job is physically focused, so those other two sets are probably built into just showing up every day.)
The Synapse CCR is your answer and your kids can even join in!
@@jamjamjamjamjammajmajmajmajmaj I stopped doing weights long ago, it's no good for your joints in the end.
Look up mike mentzer heavy duty
"any amount of training you do is a lot better than not training at all" thanks jeff for the reassurance
I dropped my sessions by 50% and the reps per session by 50% and I've never grown this fast in my life. I'm 28 and have been lifting since 15
Finding this guy after struggling to get back into the gym since Covid has really helped me. Especially with saying “any amount of training you do is better than none at all” makes me feel like I’m doing good even though I know I’m not fully pushing myself yet, I know I’m doing better than I was. Thank you👑
Short haired Nippard isn’t real. He can’t hurt you.
Short haired Nippard:
But he said good stuff in the video. Wdym?
@@bobdarrick2628 that has nothing to do with the joke
tf is this a reference or just a really weird example
@@deadringer-cultofdeathratt8813 what is the joke?
@@deadringer-cultofdeathratt8813 what does the joke mean?
I do 3 sets of weighted dips on monday and 3 sets of OHP on friday and my pushing muscles keep growing. For back I do 3 sets of machine tbar row on monday and 3 sets of weighted pullups on friday. For legs I do squats and leg curls for 3 sets each on wednesday. Stimulate the muscle and get out. What remains is how you eat and sleep that will impact your look.
Couldn’t agree more. I call it the 3 pillars. Training, nutrition and recovery. You’ll only grow to the lowest pillar. So you can do 20 sets per muscle group a week and eat horribly and your nutrition will be the bottleneck by a mile.
How hard you do this sets? Like 0 RIR? I’m trying similar, twice a week, each training 5 sets per muscle and around 0 RIR. So 10 sets per week in total. 2 minutes rest between sets. But not sure, have a kind of plateau, cant progress and increase reps or weight. But need to say, that i am in a minicut right now since 2 weeks, around 2000cals a day. Maybe need to reduce the volume to 8 sets per week and let some RIR?
@@eduardg5619playing around with it is a tedious task, but will give you some more insight on what really works for you. Try it out for a couple weeks and see if the plateau disappears 👀
@@eduardg5619 not gonna make much gains in a cut. If you want to gain you gotta eat.
@@eduardg5619I’d keep the volume the same for now, but train less close to failure on about half the sets. Also would increase my calories by about 300-500 a day. Then try that for two weeks, see how you feel and make adjustments from there.
My body responds very well to the Mentzer-approach. High intensity, heavy sets, two sets at the most, one set to absolute failure. Takes me more than a week sometimes to fully recover, but man do i get back stronger.
After ten years of training and not seeing any differences anymore, I lowered the volume per excercise to 2 sets till failure.
Im in the best form I ever was and spent less time in gym.
How many times each week? Once? More? Thanks
@@emc6511 i do 6
To maintain you need much less volume than to gain. I wait til Jan and do 6 months for gains and then 6 months to maintain. More sustainable.
This is probably the best video that boils down what I actually need from 100s of video hours online
Jeffs videos are all about getting the most out of minimal work. This is good for your few times a week people who care about being fit. Bodybuilders out there watching Jeff's videos thinking you can become a pro with doing the least amount of work, you won't make it
Can we all appreciate how jeff always give us the best information in simple ways even tho he always gets hate from ignorant people keep it up jeff ❤
Hate? He gets hate? Where ?
pareto's principle. 80% of the results comes from 20% of the work and the remaining 20% results will need 80% of the work
great point
Definitely. Quality over Quantity. Most people never truly push their sets that hard.
I'm a 49 er and this year I learn you do not have to train so frequently. Thank you for the video
That's actually been my approach over the last year, and that's the time I've made most of my progress. It's crazy, people always ask me: "bro how many sets do you do?"
I always reply with: "I don't count." Meaning repwise, I just bump them out till I can't do any more, then do dropsets of death. Most of the time I just do 2-3 sets. If I'm in a hurry, 1 set will be enough.
The less you do (volume-wise), the harder the intensity needs to be. I always train beyond muscle failure (using dropsets and cheating at the very very end and controlling the eccentric, then do lengthened partials).
In a nutshell:
• 1-3 sets.
• High intensity.
• supersets to save time
• dropsets, lengthened partials, cheatreps controlling the negative
• basic exercises - oldschool
• progression (weight/reps/form)
That's MY way of training - it works for me.
All facts, I’ve noticed much more progress with this approach. I do full body 3 times a week, walk on off days for cardio. It’s a marathon not a race.
Most men aren’t trying to be a bodybuilders. Load up on black Ts, sit back and enjoy the attention from the Ladies while your building on yourself 🫡
@@cjbarber1138 hahah yeah.
Hope you're doing it for yourself too though 😂👊
@@IronChicken999 most definitely 💪🏾
This is what I've done for a couple years now, working great for me! Full body workout twice a week, each muscle gets 2 sets to failure with the occasional dropset.
1-3 sets 2x a week of this style training is definitely sufficient; But not optimal.. and that's okay because not everyone wants to be optimal and also going to failure and beyond is fun.
Preach it brother! I always told clients, if you can just get 15 minutes of exercise per day you are greatly improving your health!
It's good seeing this from Jeff. So many of Jeff's viewers will be like "but that's not what the science says!". There's more than one way to train and get results.
The best way to train is down to you getting results training the way you want to. It might not be "optimal" but it's the best way. Let's say you do go for the "optimal" approach. What happens if you hate it? What if you just don't like it and it's not exciting enough for you? You'll interest and fall off.
The best way is the one that works for you! I feel you
This makes me less worried about missing few workouts
I have skipped months... then go back and start getting visible gains...its about the diet
Really needed this! I do a lil 10min workout each morning because it's easier for me to stay consistent that way, as opposed to my on-and-off relationship with the gym. I rotate my targeted muscle groups each day so that I still get 6 sets in per week for chest, arms, back, legs, and abs.
Murderer, who's already stabbed me 7 times: HOW THE HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE
Me, who lifts one hour per week:
I mean, the muscles can help. people w trained muscles have kept their broken bones together through having strong muscles around the damage.
Nah bro that 30% just gets you from 2 stabs to 3
Jeff I lost 35 lbs this year and made crazy gains thanks to your channel. But I got married, and am working 93 hours a week to afford a life free from debt. It sucks working that much and still having a negative bank account.
This also means I gained weight. It’s hard… but your videos. This video. It’s really encouraging. Thank you papa Jeff. You’ll always be the one person I truly trust for fitness advice (dr. Mike is cool too. But he’s scary 😂)
93 hours of work per week? WHATTTTTT?
That's crazy. You need good rest to push yourself and see gains. Take it easy, man. Rest is important.
Don't kill yourself, man. 93 hours a week is crazy.
93 hours is crazy man, best of luck to you❤
i would not be able to work 93 hours a week, thats craaazzy man.
keep up the good work!
His editor is INSAAAANE with the skills fr 🤌🏾🤌🏾🏆
this is a big thing to recognize as like an unathletic kid growing up. i always knew i was unhappy with my body but i always felt like i had other things i needed to fix abour myself first. its important to recognize that just commiting to doing like a body weight workout whenever ur bored is already a huge step
Just been beating myself up for not lifting enough. This made me happy 😃Thanks Jeff👍🏻
Thank you for Making this video. It made me feel motivated. I'm overweight and struggle with mental health challenges and struggle to get myself to do Anything. Knowing that excercising when I can convince myself to will actually benefit me makes me feel good. Thank you!
Now I need you to drop a minimalist work out plan targeting all areas that I can do each week
Fighter template from tactical barbell
i think thats the most import thing many forget: any training is better than no training at all. So starting out means literally everything
This is so crazy, cuz recently I started doing just once a week pull-ups, push-ups, and squats, four sets until failure. I was surprised to find that it’s definitely often enough to make gains, then all the sudden I come across this awesome video!
MENTZER was right. DECADES ago. Legend
I came on here to say this too!
No he wasnt. More Volume = More Gains.
But less is enough.
Metzner told is More = No Muscle Growth.
And he did no 2 Sets per Week ....
And second, with the 2 Sets Jeff speaks more or less about Strength . That does not equals 1 = 1 Muscle size.
A Natty who trains after his advices will gain muscles. But A car driving with 20 MpH, still drives, but not close tho his Limit
Since i doubles my Volume thanks to Supersetting, my gains increased a lot.
@flow1188 those sets you do are to complete failiure. Anymore training would tip over into overturning which is pointless and detrimental.
@flow1188 how much "more volume" is enough ? If 3 sets is great, isn't 6 sets even greater ? There's more limit. When training to failiure you HAVE a natural limit....failiure.
mentzer is the current trend in fitness industry. Soon it will go back to high volume you wait
Also Mike Mentzer the goat!:)
I'm a new dad and this information is literally gold. I can now do some sneaky pull ups/dips at work knowing that it'll yield results!!
Last point is the most crucial. Doing something good even if it's small is still better than doing nothing at all
The short hair suits him well
fr
imma bouta
same thought but now I'm scared that maybe he jumped on steroids 🥶 anyways whatever direction he chooses I would still like to support him
I like his old hair.
people with good hairline always look good even with buzz cut...
Thank you for sharing this information. I have always struggeled because I don't enjoy working out and burn out easily, but still tried to do the 3 sets every day and could not keep up. This is very informative and if not anything, I will start doing a set every few days. Who knows maybe I will even start enjoying it more
When you said most people do three sets that really opened my eyes 😂 I was always taught by 5’s, 5 sets with some denomination of 5. Thats pretty crazy
Ive been doing 3x7 for months now. When the sets get easy I just go up by 5lbs.
I almost never add more reps! Doesnt seem to be necessary, yet :p
And Dorian Yates was mentored and coached by the uncrowned Mike Mentzer! Give the man the credit that he deserves, a legend truly ahead of his time.
And was on an absolute shit ton of gear 😂 😂 I can't believe the science based guy used that as an example
Damn right all these youtubers & influencers putting this out like some new shit they discovered screwing the great intellect Mike Mentzer just like the olympia screwed him. This joker, bald joker Isratel all beating around around the bush claiming its some new science instead of giving credit to Mike that he was right all aling and way of training popularized by Weider & Arnold isnt suitable for natural lifters.
@@musclemadnesyes so True hahaha
And Dorian yates did like 4 warm up sets before thé „REAL“ set and does warm ups sets as a normal human being are already working sets!
@@dkwowoskdkskof1509 halrious dno why he wud use him as an example
@@musclemadnes totally agreed, not a good example XD
Thank you! You have answered a question that has never been asked nor answered except in my head. Appreciate you!!
Mentzer won Mr Olympia spending the least ammount of time at the gym between all of us
mentzer never won an olympia
He didn't won any but he def deserved one atleast. Mentzer, Platz, Levrone were robbed
@@Nonchalantprotagonistby Arnold lmao
@@m4andi0ca Actually, he won the heavyweight class of Mr. Olympia in '79 (which means that he can legitimately be called 'Mr. Olympia') but lost to Zane in the overall. In my opinion, he should have won the that, too; however, Zane was a worthy winner.
@@TruthTellert63 No he can't be legitimately called Mr Olympia, he came second overall. The title Mr Olympia only went to the overall winner.
This is great for people like me who have an all or nothing mindset. Sometimes, I skip the gym entirely if I know I can't go 5 times that week.
5 times a week might be overkill, never skip rest if you really want maximum gains and avoid injuries! 💪
I’m the same way man if I can’t get all 6 days at the gym in a week I feel like I might as well take a rest week, if I miss one workout I feel small and the whole week was a waste
@@mrhunter2154that’s bad
@@DrOrr yup it’s ocd, but I look at it in a positive way atleast it pushes me to train hard and eat healthy every day
I too have been held back by my all or nothing approach to things. I have learned not all things go in the same basket. Setting priorities help managing things. Job yes, health hell yes, what joe blow thinks not so much.
This is true and I am living proof. During covid I decided to test how little I have to work to still make gains. For me it was 6 sets per muscle per week, divided in 2 days. 40 minutes per day. 2 exercices with 3 sets per muscle. Monday: chest/bicep/legs. Thursday: back/tricep/shoulder.
He could mention mike mentzer as he was dorian yates’s coach and also the person who invented that training style
That’s what I was thinking! I see SO much love for Mentzer in various videos’ comment sections that there must be something to it. I was doing 4 sets but now enjoying a warm up set plus 2 hard sets, and less rest time in between. Much quicker workout
Mike was not Dorian's coach. Dorian took inspiration from Mike's training philosophies and altered to his needs but he wasn't exactly his coach.
mike was taught by someone else you do realise that lol
just done a quick search as forgot his name.... Arthur Jones, the founder of high intensity lifting
Was looking for this comment. High intensity training from the master Mr. Mentzer.
I thought he was smart but with the head shape reveal i KNOW hes smart
Hi Jeff, I love how you integrate training and science based evidence and papers!!! ❤️
Arthur Jones ones said that it took me a decade to understand that 2 sets better than 3 , and took a another decade to understand that 1 is better than 2 sets
HIT which Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates advocated for has been shown in modern studies to be the most effective training method per hour of training you put in. That said, if you want max gains it's likely not for you, but with HIT it was shown that with less than 1/3 of the time spent in the gym you could get around 80% of the growth of traditional lifting. This also means that just spending a little time in the gym can do wonders for people. No excuse for most people.
I appreciate this video. I always tell people who are getting into working out and obsessing over plans and stuff, The doing is more important than the details
Weightlifting has helped bring me out of a pretty intense depressive episode. I didn't start off going hard either, but eventually you'll be seeing progress even if it's slight, your capacity will build, and i believe you will naturally do more. Do what you can and you'll start a cycle of being able to do more.
I agree it feels very good doing something for yourself and to see and feel the results. Best of luck to you man.
...if you push to failure
As far as I remember, both Jeff and Dr. Mike explained that failure and 1-3 reps in reserve aren’t that much of a difference. But yeah, lower volume always means no excuses regarding your intensity.
@@lowfrequencywizard fuck RIR, I go to failure on every set 🦅🦅🦅🦅🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥
If you push to failure one set is enough
(Sean Nalewanyj)
Nope! Sometimes, failure can lead to injury.
@@Robbiehansexactlyyyy I've been following Sean's style of training and it's been working out greatly for me. 2 sets to failure going all out is all I need tbh.
Definitely not optimal, but it's what gets me going in the gym
Me that have 53 years this is very useful, I need more time to recover as natural indeed for my age.
A disclaimer:
“The 2 sets you do, have to be done to FAILURE and you have to do warmup sets before those 2 WORKING SETS”
Thats interesting can u elaborste further if you can?
Yeah it may work...for awhile. I tried working out that way for around 30 years. I would start out submaximal the first ciuple weeks, then try to add weight every workout over 3 months or so (1 set to failure after a couple warmups) and without fail almost every workout cycle I would never be able to finish it at least every exercise as I would end up with a minor strain, muscle pull, joint pain, get sick, ect. Of course I never tried roids and what you would call hardgainer genes. I know now I should have tried to mix it up a bit, but I was a believer in the Arthur Jones, Stuart McRober, Mentzer style of training and Yates was my idol. Well found out too late it doesn't work for everybody. Then again I'm probably bigger and stronger than 95% of the people my age, but will never be good enough to compete in a bodybuilding show.
You could go to failure on your first warm up set and count it as a working set. It is easily doable on some exercises eg calf raises, pulldowns, lateral raises, leg curls, most machine exercises with reps in the 20-30 range.
What did you do to avoid injury, joint pain and so on?@@Mrbobcat7
*near failure.
Mike mentzer be like:
Thats not MM sorry
Most influences seem to try and get you to increase volume so total respect to Jeff for explaining this.
It feels illegal to be this early
This is probably one of the most important videos. Little is better than nothing, and a person can dramatically improve their lives with just a little exercise.
This man is hands down the best 💪🏻🔥🎉❤
I was just talking to my friends about cutting training volume and this video got into my feed. Sold.
Thank you for telling me this! I feel motivated again!
I used to do home workouts about 20-40 minutes 3-4 per week and people did not take me seriously saying how that does practically nothing... I stopped doing it after a few weeks...
Thank you!
Never worry about what others think. Do what you like, when you like. Do it safe and controlled, increase as you feel comfortable. Best of luck man.
@@mikeivanov6350 Thank you very much! I've been slowly realising this, not just about working out but every part of my life it's like I'm controlled by people. I will do it however way I want from now on.
trainer here who also recently became a new mom! i’ve been living for my 2 set workouts! i hit em hard and use progressive overload, happy to say im still making a lot of gainz while saving time ❤
This! I have anxiety on gym and i try to do as much as i can before i need to get out of people's view. Or i overthink someone else needs the machine and finish earlier than i want. If i beat myself over not doing enough sets it won't get me anywhere, so i try to celebrate when i manage to do two. It motivates me to go again.
I’m a big believer in having a life, and working out only 2-3 times a week full body. Those workouts I give my ALL and take each (safe) exercise to failiure and cheat reps. It’s amazing
Thank you for this. It really motivated me. It's nice to feel like my efforts aren't for nothing.
This is the video I needed right now because I'm going through a depression. I used to lift 5x a week but now it's hard to even do 3x, so I usually do 2x. It's good to know that I'm still doing alright.
Thank you, may God bless you all and everyone. ❤
When I feel like not going to the gym, I just have to remind myself that some exercise is better than no exercise.
exactly. consistency over time has been my trick. I suspect I do less actual work than most folks but my growth is visible.
and i eat very clean. I suspect my diet is making the most difference compared to others.
This comes in a good time as i have abandoned lifting for some time now. Will give it a shot
This video needs to be seen by everyone!!!
This is so helpful! I used to lift 6 days a week but as I’ve gotten older I’ve been diagnosed with POTS and ehlers danlos, and physically and mentally I am only able to make it to the gym once a week, twice if I’m feeling good (which I never am). So, this makes me feel less bad about what I’m able to realistically do *and maintain*
“The biggest victory is showing up to the gym” So fricking true
I have zero desire to get swole, I'm very glad there's starting to be science on excercise for people other than athletes and bodybuilders.
Last year I took a break from weightlifting because I wasn't enjoying it anymore, and I wanted to focus on running and rock climbing. Recently I realized that I'd just been pushing myself more than was necessary. I went to the gym more often than I wanted to, and I also felt like I had to go really hard on every single set. Now I've started weightlifting only when I feel like it, and putting most of my energy into rock climbing, which I enjoy more and which also helps me grow muscle. You don't have to go 100% at everything you do.
How does your week often look like? On average
This video was exactly what i needed tbh
When u mentioned Dorian Yates I was proud of myself for drawing the connection
This is the best video on youtube.
This is groundbreaking... thank you Jeff
so many fitness shorts are talking about CONSTANTLY lifting and never letting up, it makes it very intimidating. This is much more motivational to hear
Great video as always, thank you mate
This... holy shit. Thanks. I've been doing the minimum to help stay motivated. And I've noticed my arms are bigger. Glad it's not just in my head
So glad science lifters are giving some credit to HIT training,it has downsides but also big upsides
What's funny is I learned this through trial and error. I was working out 4-5x/week for close to an hour doing weightlifting. I was getting exhausted. I was building muscle and losing some fat, but not as much as I'd like.
I now push myself more and workout about 3x/week. I focus on one target area each week and do a mix of bodyweight and weightlifting. I've seen more gains in muscle and more lost fat in the last month relative to the years prior. It's also less time in the gym. Solid win-win
Great video, I’m a Mike Mentzer philosophy believer myself!
Thank you for the information 🙏
Thank you for your work, Jeff
Jeff, you are the best❤
Thank you for such an informative video Jeff!!!
this is why i keep going to the gym and trying to stick to a routine even tho i do a shit ass job. im seeing *some* muscle gain over time and thats honestly enough for me for now
Thank you so much for this one!
Key point to the entire video
Doing anything at all will garner more results then doing nothing
This makes me feel better about going to the gym only a couple times a week. 😊