In my experience, full body always gave the best results, but its a bit complicated. can't for example, do 4-5 sets of squats, then 2-3 sets of deadlifts, and maybe 2-3 sets of overhead press and bench press, all done in the strength-training fashion, high intensity, low volume, i would litteraly die from that. I can, however, do 3 sets of squats, 3-4 sets of bench press, maybe 3 sets of pullups or barbell rows, and then an isolation exercise or two at the end. Thats manageable. There are people out there making great gains off split routines, but i feel like with full body, big gains are almost guaranteed no matter who you are or what your genetics are like, and with a split its kind of a gamble, you may or may not get gains, that depends on your genetics. Personally i never make gains off a split, especially a bro split where you hit all your muscles once a week, that shit don't work at all for me, a twice a week split works better, but more for maintenanse than anything else, a 3 times a week full body has always produced tons of gains for me. But the thing is, with full body you really gotta be careful, as too much will burn you out completely. I know, i've been there. After my burnout on a full body, i switched to upper/lower, and that was ok, but i didn't notice any further growth of gains, and sometimes, due to life, i couldn't hit the gym 4 times a week, thus leaving certain muscles trained only once a week, so i was in some ways back to square one. Now i'm going back to full body again, but this time, i will make sure not to make the same mistake the first time, and manage my workouts alot smarter so i do just enough and not too much. So thats how i think it works. Its all about how you train. you can deadlift everyday if you want to, but not 500 pounds every day. It speaks for itself really. Train based on your energy levels and don't overdo it, no matter what split your on.
When it comes to full body, I recommend either choosing between the squat or dead for 3 or 4 working sets. It's to hard to do squats and deadlifts in the same workout.
Greg, the information you put out has really helped and has re-kindled my interest in strength training after a long hiatus. Thanks for all this great content.
Finally a video done intelligently and professional. Thank you. So many on here just swear and act obnoxious you can't really get anything from it. You did a great job!! Very informative!!
I've found that training for about a month and a half with Full Body Workouts, and then taking 2 weeks off before resuming my training, has given me the best results.
+Strengtheory Greg, bud. Watched the How To Squat vid last week. Awesome dude. You and Omar knocker the ole girl out of the park. Ended up buyin the Lifting Lyceum about 5 minutes into the video. I just started the squat program that comes with it and am lovin it. Thanks for putting so much thought and passion into your work man.
Not sure what you record with, but provided it's a DSLR camera, I highly recommend a tripod. The distorted perspective from your camera being low makes it seem like we're in a Skype call. So if it's leveled with your head since you're only showing the shoulders up in your videos, it would look better. It will also stabilize your camera so when you put your hands down or whatever you did, it won't shake the camera. That's just some tips from a guy who loves working in Video Production, I enjoy your content so if there's anything I could offer as a subscriber to improve the quality of said content aside from spreading your videos, then I'm all for it. As far as relevance to the video, I appreciate all the hard work you put into them and I am glad to see you posting pretty frequently. I'm also a newish subscriber and I plan to be for a long time at this rate. Keep it up, man. Also if you were recording with a phone, disregard everything I said above :P
+OhRelentless for the time being, it's just my computer's webcam. Once we really start taking things a little more seriously on youtube, we'll be stepping up production quality. Thanks for all the tips!
2 videos in 3 days.. Is this the comeback!? Would splitting a full body routine into an upper/lower or the opposite have much of an impact on performance over time?
+Muhammad Abdulla th-cam.com/video/vimZj8HW0Kg/w-d-xo.html Split it when you need to, and collapse it into full body when you need to. When you stall on one, do the other.
+Strengtheory Greg please start uploading more videos I don't want to rush you or anything because I know you are a very thorough person but these videos are gold mines of information and would like to learn more. Thanks
Full body is better imo. I'm not on steroids so I need to train body parts 2-3x a week instead of just once a week. But my overall volume is low so I prefer low volume with high frequency i.e. 5x5
This is interesting because you are saying that when you move onto a bro-split even though your per-week volume decreases, your per-session volume (per bodypart) rises, which obviously disrupts homeostasis more. What you're essentially saying is that the novelty of increased single session volume is more important than weekly volume to hypertrophy. Does this mean that you can somehow decrease the weekly volume required to make gains, while still making gains, by switching to a bro split program?
great video Greg! when you set down that example,you said when you plateau in 3-4 frequency training,you should decrease frequency and up the volume,wouldn't it be better if you up the volume in those 3-4 sessions? you would still be getting higher frecuency aaand more volume split into 3-4 sessions which according to all your info,it tends to work best. Thanks for all the info you put out!
Hi Greg, really interesting video. I was just curious, if training with greater frequency is better for getting bigger and stronger in general, why do you think it is that high volume six day a week split routines are so popular for bodybuilding? Are there other considerations that come into play if your goal isn't to improve on the powerlifting lifts, or do you think bodybuilders would also see better progress if they switched it up once in a while and tried full body training?
+James Tansey I could be a few different things. Two that come to mind right off: 1) with steroid usage, muscle protein synthesis is elevated for much longer. Instead of 12-24 hours in advanced lifters, that can be expanded all the way to 72-96 hours (if memory serves), so they just don't NEED to train that often if they're on gear. 2) they could be to the point where they've just been training so hard for so long that they need higher per-session volumes for each muscle to cause growth, which would basically preclude doing multiple different body parts in one session. It could just be that all of them are wrong, but that's how people have been training for size for a LONG time, all the while tinkering with it, and while it's not always true that old ideas are good, it's more likely that old ideas (that have stuck around) are good (the Lindy Effect).
So the study was kind of set up to favor the benefits of high frequency since most subjects trained low frequency? I'm always going to advocate high frequency but that's an interesting point you made about cutting back frequency as one stalls. Keep the vids coming Nucks!
Very informative video. What would be your nr. 1 option if one had to pick a book about periodization? I'm currently considering buying Bompa's Periodization book or Issurin's Block Periodization, but if there are better options I would love to hear it!
I have been surfing your channel. Great content, I also noticed I couldn't comment on the oxygen mask video. Greetings from Pasto, Colombia. Can living at high altitude help with strength progression or does it mostly benefit endurance athletes?
+Kyle Winters It can work in either direction. When just living at high altitude without training, or when doing endurance exercise at high altitude, people tend to actually lose muscle faster than they would at sea level. However, on the other hand, people actually tend to gain muscle and strength a little fast when lifting at high altitude than they would when lifting at sea level.
Thanks for the quick response, living at 8,290 ft above sea level I have been able to make a steady progression with continuous strength gains. However I tend to lose weight really fast, I believe it is due to my body working harder all the time. I am trying to find a way to gain more mass. I have a daily intake of 3500 calories of very healthy eating. Maybe I am a Ectomorph or I have a tape worm. It Could be both. It also took me about four weeks to adjust to the Altitude difference, I was living in Black Mountain, N.C. before that and every time I travel it takes some time to get Acclimated. Thanks for the input!
I was trying Lyle's mcdonald bulking routine (upper lower), but idk, i wasnt recovering well, then i change to 3 days on 1 off... and to be honest i kinda enjoy it better... is weird to even explain it... at least i can recover better... i hit chest arms.... legs.... back shoulders.... rest... repeat
hey Strengthteory. I am trying out a programm vom Dr. Marco Toigo (muscel scientist at the ETH zürich) i have 4 days 1 legs day 1 back and biceps day, 1 chest and triceps day and 1 deadlift variation for oly lifts day) i tend to have 6-7 excercices for the back and chest and 1 for the arm and i only do 1 set of 6-9 reps but with at tempo of 4-2-4-0 until i cant even hold the wieght isometric. legs i use the german volume training (but 5 for front 5 for backsquat insteat of 10x10) Deadlift day is a bit different. whats your opinion on it? i train 4 days per week now.
I understand that Greg is trying to give a balanced take on the question of volume/intensity/frequency, but it left me confused, particularly those last comments about "novelty". It is hard to know what conclusions I should draw for myself. The body does continually adapt to changes in training. However, when you change how you train, don't you also run the risk of losing desirable adaptations you have already made? The range of possible modifications you can make is so vast. A strength athlete with exactly the same goals might conceivably train with a rep range of anywhere from 1x1 to 10x10. I am left with an entire universe of possibilities. And I only have a few years remaining to me in which to make more gains. Perhaps Greg is looking for some sort of unified theory of programming-- something that can reconcile all these conflicting principles. However, at this point, nothing even remotely like a unified theory exists as far as I am aware. For myself, I would like something a bit more practical and concrete--a specific "theory" about a specific aspect of programming that I can test out, if I find it compelling enough. Perhaps he has done this somewhere, but if so, I am unaware of it. To me it seems like he is wary of committing to anything terribly specific. *You're stalled out on your training? Well, you could try some different combination of volume....or intensity....or frequency....something like that ought to do the trick.* Very interesting stuff, but leaves me with little to go on. That said, I recognize there is a place for talking about unified theories.
+vir Good point about the adaptations that you can loose when you change the stimulus all the time. I don't have a clean-cut answer, but I've been thinking about that problem for a long time. I think the best you can actually do is to make experiments about what it takes to keep the adaptations you got from past training cycles. I did that for a few months when I was injured. Now I know pretty well, what volume I need on an exercise to maintain the strength that I gained. The rest of the volume I can devote to making gains in other exercises/intensities that I want to concentrate on. Not saying that this is necessarily the only method, but I feel that this way I can figure out for myself what works and what doesn't. I actually think that some of the periodization approaches out there don't take into account, that the progress they make comes at the cost of loosing some past adaptations, so the progress first seems better than it actually is. I think the same goes for bulking and cutting. The higher rate of change is basically just a good psychological motivator, but I'm not sure if the overall progress is actually higher than just training at maintenance or slightly above.
Basically train as frequently as you can within reason. If you stop making gains up volume until your training sessions are too long to handle. Split workouts up so you can do more volume less frequently to elicit a response. When this stops working go back to frequency training as you will have detrained from the effects of frequency.
+vir nothing like that exists, or will exist. Individual responses are just too variable. Read this if you haven't already: www.strengtheory.com/pubmed-doesnt-replace-a-strength-coach/ That being said, there ARE ways to find basically a "unified theory" for yourself. Unfortunately, they're really time consuming, and you have to be comfortable with nonlinear modeling (and you have to have the time/inclination to record a lot of data) to tease it all out (first order effects are easy and obvious, but second and third order effects are generally less straightforward). I'm pestering a friend who's getting a PhD in machine learning right now, because I think he could help me streamline it.
***** If you have something you can publish about it, you would make me a very happy man! :-) I'm working on some modeling myself, basically trying to find the volume-rate of improvement-relation. I feel it's incredibly difficult actually excluding other influences like mean intensity, previous training etc.. Even though I did some nonlinear optimization in my phd, I feel that so far simple curve fits in excel actually do the job pretty well, but I would be happy to get convinced otherwise!
Hey Greg, I started a wendler 5/3/1 Programm 2 months ago, what's your take on this one? Do you think it's legit, or would a different program be more beneficial to me? Have been training upper/lower for a year before and got to a plateau on every lift. In total I've been training for 3 years, first year was mostly bodybuilding though..
Wassup brotha man! Really big fan of your work. I was wondering if you had anyone in your network that geared their line of work towards stregnth training for a combat sport athlete. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
This is excellent Greg, particularly for those with strength goals in the short-term. However, lets say I am not going to compete for 4-6 months and want to spend 1-3 months doing purely hypertrophy with no need for periodization. Is there a practical guideline on how to structure hypertrophy only training? Say someone has 6-days to structure their training?
You often read that consistency is key - constantly switching programme is detrimental to your progess. Since change is beneficial to progess, is the problem with switching simply because you would never get past the foundation weeks of any programme before starting the foundation weeks of a new programme, and therefore not benefit from the progression built in to the later weeks?
+Mikey R It's a matter of time scale. You shouldn't change everything every week or two, but keeping everything the same for months and months on end without making any adjustments probably isn't either.
at 5:45 when you say you can ramp frequency back up, do you mean while dialing volume per session back as well (so you're back where you started with full body splits)? So essentially switching between the 2 split types back and forth when one plateaus?
hey greg, love your videos and articles! i'm interessted in your view on wendlers 5/3/1, especially the advanced template (1. week: 5x5 75%, 2nd week: 5x3 85%, 3rd week: 5x1 95%) the rep scheme and the percentages look similar to some of your free strength programs. also interessted if somebody else has some experience with it. greetz
+Ohje Ohje I've never used it, but tbh that's how most good strength programs I'm aware of are set up. Increase intensity and decrease volume for 3-5 weeks, rinse, and repeat.
+Strengtheory just wondering where you got your numbers for MPS for experienced lifters? You mentioned as little as 12-24 hours in this video, I tried finding a paper that dealt with MPS in experienced lifters and came up short. Can you lead me in the right path?
+Nathaniel Whitmore Yep! It's in here: link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40279-015-0320-0 Here's a screenshot of a graphic in from that study (if you don't have f/t access) showing the difference: www.dropbox.com/s/s0bflsp6cb1v1cm/Screenshot%202016-02-01%2015.21.51.jpg?dl=0
Please post graphs (arbitrary units okay) or other visual aids for your lectures. I understand and retain info much better that way. Else I have to watch your video 3-4x just to memorize the info presented. Great content, though.
Hey Greg! Great video. I have a problem/question that I'm hoping you could give me some insight on. I cannot do heavy squats, over 185, and I cannot deadlift due to serious chronic back pain. I stick to split style training, because as you can imagine the only compound movement I can do is bench press so I have to do a lot of accessory type movements/machines. Would it even be beneficial for me to attempt a full body split and if I did would I be able to bench press every session? I really hate only being able to do one compound lift.
+Shredded Gamer Currently doing a 4 days on 1 day off split. My back days have no barbell work at all and can't row anything below my waist. I do weighted chin-ups.
You can easily bench 2-4 times a week with split routine. Just do your compound press first and continue with the rest of your routine. This would probably result in better pressing gains. I bench 3 times a week; 2 with competition style and 1 paused. And only after that I continue with rest of the upper body work.
greg can you explain the int/adv squat in your 28 free programs a little more? I'm struggling with which weights to pick for the rpe day and am I supposed to set a PR on each "RM" day? thanks
+andy refrigerator Getting better with RPE mainly just comes with practice. And you're supposed to shoot for you PR on each RM day. You may not always hit it, but you should give it your best shot.
+Strengtheory thanks for the reply! is there a general range of sets on the rpe day I should aim for? What i've done is it it calls for RPE 8 for 6 reps I see how many sets of 6 I can do with my 8RM (given from calculator) but I usually only get 2 sets before reaching RPE9. So should I be picking a lighter weight and maybe aim for 3-5 sets generally speaking?
Hey Greg, an off topic question here I went for a sumo deadlift pr and found I have increased to 325 from 295 and I have been traning for 6 weeks following wendler but I'm thinking of switching to conventional because of my leverages r for it I haven't really trained conv like my sumo ever and I heard for beginners they should pull conv and I havnt now I don't kno how to switch over and what percentages to use for conv or if I should even switch. I just want to optimize my strength. Hope u can help. Thanks
Hi Greg. I really want to go into the profession of weightlifting coaching. I'm in the final year of an Accounting & Finance degree however so can't really afford to go back to university to study straight after this. I do a lot of reading (currently enjoying artscience and also Practical Strength Programming from Rippetoe,Pendlay etc) but I was wondering what qualifications are necessary and what the best academic route would be for me to start a career here. Thanks
Thing is, it's not something I want to make into the entirety of my career. Planning on having several smaller jobs as opposed to just a solo source of income. Also I'm just passionately curious
+TobiasUstun if you're just wondering what's *necessary* - not a whole heck of a lot. A weekend certification. That's all most people have. Now, if you actually really want to understand this stuff, a 4-year degree (or teaching yourself everything you'd learn in a 4-year degree; A&P, ex phys, bio, chem, biochem, physics, basic pharmacology, sports psych, and exercise prescription for special populations) is essentially
Yes I definitely do want to understand as much as necessary. If I'm going to be a PT worth their salt I need a good understanding of that stuff. It always amazes me how little legal certification is needed for tht sort of stuff.
TobiasUstun then you need to seriously consider a degree or, at the very least, finding someone in your area to mentor you who's coached the same people who want to coach (successfully, and for 10+ years).
In your 28 programs, how would i go about running bench and ohp as their own main lifts? Would running a seperate cycle for bench and ohp at the same time be too much pressing? eg. 2x/week bench and 2x/week ohp
So, would doing the full body version of your Average to Savage program possibly produce better progress? Or is it a matter of just doing it one way for awhile, then switching?
How do I know when I have "plateaud" I'm 17yrs old and having been on an Upper-Lower Body Routine for about a year and switch from strength and hypertrophy phases(increasing tonnage via reps) and have been able to add volume overtime. Does this mean that I should stay on this upper lower body routine until I literally can't add more volume. Or how can I determine when I should change frequency? Thanks.
How much volume per body part would you recommend for your average trainee who has both size and strength goals on a full body routine? Either in sets per body part or working reps.
What's better: Full body, split routine or the new Star Wars? ....sorry, this is just the only place on the internet without Star Wars being mentioned so I got confused.
Couldn't the full body person just add another session rather than going back to a split? I thought that in science training volume was the biggest factor for growth and strength gainz?
+Taylor Oxelgren You can't do that forever. What happens when you're already training every day you have time to train, and for essentially as long each session as you have time for? If, at that point, you're not giving your body enough stimulus to keep improving, what do you do?
+Strengtheory Couldn't one add a morning and an evening session and then a morning, afternoon and an evening? I assumed the time committment itself was part of the reason why I thought the top end athletes who have all day to train are at the top. Plus I thought volume was supposed to go up slowly every year and getting stronger makes getting more volume a little easier because you can lift more per rep. So I assumed someones volume wouldn't double for at least 5 years. Or are you suggesting that eventually that when your volume gets high enough it will fatigue you too much to get the volume required after your first exercise? Or maybe I am just underestimatimg the amount of volume one needs to get really strong(which would explain why I am not really strong). Also I just need to make it clear I am not questioning you or saying you are wrong at all I just use questions to better understand the things that people are telling me. I have incredible respect for you and am just trying to learn. Thank you for your time.
Taylor Oxelgren I'm saying most people don't have schedules that allow them to just add workouts forever. Most people get to the gym 3-5 days per week for an hour or two, and it's a matter of making the most of that time.
***** Ah I see, I was over thinking things. Strength training is just a hobby for most and it is unrealistic to tell people to add sessions forever when they don't have the time. You are giving practical advice to get around these time constraints. Thank you for your response I appreciate it, but be warned the more videos you put out the more question I will attempt to bother you with. I hope you have a good Christmas/Holiday.
+BryanMcCaffrey10 Oh, worded that poorly. She was my wife-to-be at the time (we just didn't know it yet). We've been married for two and a half years now.
***** ohh haha, thats cool man, im glad youre happy man, i love your videos by the way, probably the most informative, science based lifting videos on youtube
Top Lad Nigel Jason have the worst genetics on the whole world..Look at Reg park,Steve Reeves,Leroy Colbert,Bill Pearl,John Grimek..All legends who did mostly of they gains on fullbody routines
You are periodizing your upload frequency. You're gonna make all kinds of subscriber gains.
+John Ny He should be using concurrent uploads (changing the upload schedule every week) I think this will give him most subscriber gains.
all kinds.................
In my experience, full body always gave the best results, but its a bit complicated. can't for example, do 4-5 sets of squats, then 2-3 sets of deadlifts, and maybe 2-3 sets of overhead press and bench press, all done in the strength-training fashion, high intensity, low volume, i would litteraly die from that. I can, however, do 3 sets of squats, 3-4 sets of bench press, maybe 3 sets of pullups or barbell rows, and then an isolation exercise or two at the end. Thats manageable. There are people out there making great gains off split routines, but i feel like with full body, big gains are almost guaranteed no matter who you are or what your genetics are like, and with a split its kind of a gamble, you may or may not get gains, that depends on your genetics. Personally i never make gains off a split, especially a bro split where you hit all your muscles once a week, that shit don't work at all for me, a twice a week split works better, but more for maintenanse than anything else, a 3 times a week full body has always produced tons of gains for me. But the thing is, with full body you really gotta be careful, as too much will burn you out completely. I know, i've been there. After my burnout on a full body, i switched to upper/lower, and that was ok, but i didn't notice any further growth of gains, and sometimes, due to life, i couldn't hit the gym 4 times a week, thus leaving certain muscles trained only once a week, so i was in some ways back to square one. Now i'm going back to full body again, but this time, i will make sure not to make the same mistake the first time, and manage my workouts alot smarter so i do just enough and not too much. So thats how i think it works. Its all about how you train. you can deadlift everyday if you want to, but not 500 pounds every day. It speaks for itself really. Train based on your energy levels and don't overdo it, no matter what split your on.
Split routines have nothing to do with genetics
Plus when you train full body it sorts the flab better than anything in my opinion
LiveLoveLift92 Intensity and Volume day...
When it comes to full body, I recommend either choosing between the squat or dead for 3 or 4 working sets. It's to hard to do squats and deadlifts in the same workout.
This Channel deserve more views
Greg, the information you put out has really helped and has re-kindled my interest in strength training after a long hiatus. Thanks for all this great content.
Finally a video done intelligently and professional. Thank you. So many on here just swear and act obnoxious you can't really get anything from it. You did a great job!! Very informative!!
Can you give me a beard growing routine? I've stalled pretty hard.
minoxidil. Join the minoxidil beard group on facebook for more info
Best channel for strength training on TH-cam. Dead serious. I will drop everything I'm doing when you put out a video. Thanks
There are no magic programs , it depends how fast you can recover & bang it out again
I've found that training for about a month and a half with Full Body Workouts, and then taking 2 weeks off before resuming my training, has given me the best results.
+Strengtheory Greg, bud. Watched the How To Squat vid last week. Awesome dude. You and Omar knocker the ole girl out of the park. Ended up buyin the Lifting Lyceum about 5 minutes into the video. I just started the squat program that comes with it and am lovin it. Thanks for putting so much thought and passion into your work man.
+Wade Wilson thanks man! I really appreciate it :)
Wow this explanation blows my mind - i train 6 times a week and because of you I can change my plateau!
Great to see you back man! Finally getting to learn some real shit on youtube! :D
Good to see you back on TH-cam Greg!
Not sure what you record with, but provided it's a DSLR camera, I highly recommend a tripod. The distorted perspective from your camera being low makes it seem like we're in a Skype call. So if it's leveled with your head since you're only showing the shoulders up in your videos, it would look better. It will also stabilize your camera so when you put your hands down or whatever you did, it won't shake the camera. That's just some tips from a guy who loves working in Video Production, I enjoy your content so if there's anything I could offer as a subscriber to improve the quality of said content aside from spreading your videos, then I'm all for it. As far as relevance to the video, I appreciate all the hard work you put into them and I am glad to see you posting pretty frequently. I'm also a newish subscriber and I plan to be for a long time at this rate. Keep it up, man. Also if you were recording with a phone, disregard everything I said above :P
+OhRelentless for the time being, it's just my computer's webcam. Once we really start taking things a little more seriously on youtube, we'll be stepping up production quality. Thanks for all the tips!
2 videos in 3 days.. Is this the comeback!?
Would splitting a full body routine into an upper/lower or the opposite have much of an impact on performance over time?
+Muhammad Abdulla th-cam.com/video/vimZj8HW0Kg/w-d-xo.html
Split it when you need to, and collapse it into full body when you need to. When you stall on one, do the other.
+Strengtheory Thanks, but pls don't knock me out. Hahahaha
+Muhammad Abdulla I was mainly sharing it for the "don't call it a comeback" part
+Strengtheory hahaha. Next video - you rapping that verse pls.
+Strengtheory Greg please start uploading more videos I don't want to rush you or anything because I know you are a very thorough person but these videos are gold mines of information and would like to learn more. Thanks
Been setting up programs like this for years. Fantastic video Greg
first time I've visited one of your advisory youtube sessions. I like your analytical and temperate presentation. Thanks.
Hell ya Greg!!! Love the frequent uploads!!!
downloading this in offline to listen from time to time.. good information for beginners to advanced lifters
Brain hypertrophy 😍😍😍
Full body is better imo. I'm not on steroids so I need to train body parts 2-3x a week instead of just once a week. But my overall volume is low so I prefer low volume with high frequency i.e. 5x5
Well said. Good stuff man!
Greg is very intelligent and one heck of a super swell guy!
please make more videos. i could listen to you talk for days.
Thanks for the vid Greg. So essentially you recommend periodizing splits and fullbody routines.
This is interesting because you are saying that when you move onto a bro-split even though your per-week volume decreases, your per-session volume (per bodypart) rises, which obviously disrupts homeostasis more. What you're essentially saying is that the novelty of increased single session volume is more important than weekly volume to hypertrophy. Does this mean that you can somehow decrease the weekly volume required to make gains, while still making gains, by switching to a bro split program?
great video Greg! when you set down that example,you said when you plateau in 3-4 frequency training,you should decrease frequency and up the volume,wouldn't it be better if you up the volume in those 3-4 sessions? you would still be getting higher frecuency aaand more volume split into 3-4 sessions which according to all your info,it tends to work best. Thanks for all the info you put out!
+Twodiverse Like I said, up the volume, and when you can't up the volume per session any more, then pull back.
+Strengtheory but when you cannot add more volume per session how is dialing back on the frecuency a smart choice? just trying to understand ?
+Twodiverse You increase the volume per session at the same time. ;-)
ClimbingCalisthenics exactly
Hi Greg, really interesting video. I was just curious, if training with greater frequency is better for getting bigger and stronger in general, why do you think it is that high volume six day a week split routines are so popular for bodybuilding? Are there other considerations that come into play if your goal isn't to improve on the powerlifting lifts, or do you think bodybuilders would also see better progress if they switched it up once in a while and tried full body training?
+James Tansey I could be a few different things. Two that come to mind right off:
1) with steroid usage, muscle protein synthesis is elevated for much longer. Instead of 12-24 hours in advanced lifters, that can be expanded all the way to 72-96 hours (if memory serves), so they just don't NEED to train that often if they're on gear.
2) they could be to the point where they've just been training so hard for so long that they need higher per-session volumes for each muscle to cause growth, which would basically preclude doing multiple different body parts in one session.
It could just be that all of them are wrong, but that's how people have been training for size for a LONG time, all the while tinkering with it, and while it's not always true that old ideas are good, it's more likely that old ideas (that have stuck around) are good (the Lindy Effect).
So the study was kind of set up to favor the benefits of high frequency since most subjects trained low frequency? I'm always going to advocate high frequency but that's an interesting point you made about cutting back frequency as one stalls.
Keep the vids coming Nucks!
great video you gave me alot of information I didn't know 👍👍
Stumbled on this
Good stuff.
Put some references up.
cheers mate
Hey gregg please continue uploading content !
Very informative video. What would be your nr. 1 option if one had to pick a book about periodization? I'm currently considering buying Bompa's Periodization book or Issurin's Block Periodization, but if there are better options I would love to hear it!
+Ties H Bompa's is probably the best I've read
Thanks for responding.Since I'm regularly impressed by your articles I'll be getting Bompa's book if you're recommending it!
I have been surfing your channel. Great content, I also noticed I couldn't comment on the oxygen mask video. Greetings from Pasto, Colombia. Can living at high altitude help with strength progression or does it mostly benefit endurance athletes?
+Kyle Winters It can work in either direction. When just living at high altitude without training, or when doing endurance exercise at high altitude, people tend to actually lose muscle faster than they would at sea level. However, on the other hand, people actually tend to gain muscle and strength a little fast when lifting at high altitude than they would when lifting at sea level.
Thanks for the quick response, living at 8,290 ft above sea level I have been able to make a steady progression with continuous strength gains. However I tend to lose weight really fast, I believe it is due to my body working harder all the time. I am trying to find a way to gain more mass. I have a daily intake of 3500 calories of very healthy eating. Maybe I am a Ectomorph or I have a tape worm. It Could be both. It also took me about four weeks to adjust to the Altitude difference, I was living in Black Mountain, N.C. before that and every time I travel it takes some time to get Acclimated. Thanks for the input!
I was trying Lyle's mcdonald bulking routine (upper lower), but idk, i wasnt recovering well, then i change to 3 days on 1 off... and to be honest i kinda enjoy it better... is weird to even explain it... at least i can recover better... i hit chest arms.... legs.... back shoulders.... rest... repeat
Im really trying to watch and learn and all, but I keep getting lost in your eyes Greg.
hey Strengthteory. I am trying out a programm vom Dr. Marco Toigo (muscel scientist at the ETH zürich)
i have 4 days 1 legs day 1 back and biceps day, 1 chest and triceps day and 1 deadlift variation for oly lifts day)
i tend to have 6-7 excercices for the back and chest and 1 for the arm and i only do 1 set of 6-9 reps but with at tempo of 4-2-4-0 until i cant even hold the wieght isometric.
legs i use the german volume training (but 5 for front 5 for backsquat insteat of 10x10)
Deadlift day is a bit different.
whats your opinion on it?
i train 4 days per week now.
+bunnyswallows so i have to change from split to full body depending on my plateu :)
+bunnyswallows
3 months later:
How did it go?
I understand that Greg is trying to give a balanced take on the question of volume/intensity/frequency, but it left me confused, particularly those last comments about "novelty". It is hard to know what conclusions I should draw for myself. The body does continually adapt to changes in training. However, when you change how you train, don't you also run the risk of losing desirable adaptations you have already made? The range of possible modifications you can make is so vast. A strength athlete with exactly the same goals might conceivably train with a rep range of anywhere from 1x1 to 10x10. I am left with an entire universe of possibilities. And I only have a few years remaining to me in which to make more gains.
Perhaps Greg is looking for some sort of unified theory of programming-- something that can reconcile all these conflicting principles. However, at this point, nothing even remotely like a unified theory exists as far as I am aware. For myself, I would like something a bit more practical and concrete--a specific "theory" about a specific aspect of programming that I can test out, if I find it compelling enough. Perhaps he has done this somewhere, but if so, I am unaware of it. To me it seems like he is wary of committing to anything terribly specific. *You're stalled out on your training? Well, you could try some different combination of volume....or intensity....or frequency....something like that ought to do the trick.* Very interesting stuff, but leaves me with little to go on.
That said, I recognize there is a place for talking about unified theories.
+vir Good point about the adaptations that you can loose when you change the stimulus all the time. I don't have a clean-cut answer, but I've been thinking about that problem for a long time. I think the best you can actually do is to make experiments about what it takes to keep the adaptations you got from past training cycles. I did that for a few months when I was injured. Now I know pretty well, what volume I need on an exercise to maintain the strength that I gained. The rest of the volume I can devote to making gains in other exercises/intensities that I want to concentrate on. Not saying that this is necessarily the only method, but I feel that this way I can figure out for myself what works and what doesn't.
I actually think that some of the periodization approaches out there don't take into account, that the progress they make comes at the cost of loosing some past adaptations, so the progress first seems better than it actually is. I think the same goes for bulking and cutting. The higher rate of change is basically just a good psychological motivator, but I'm not sure if the overall progress is actually higher than just training at maintenance or slightly above.
Basically train as frequently as you can within reason. If you stop making gains up volume until your training sessions are too long to handle. Split workouts up so you can do more volume less frequently to elicit a response. When this stops working go back to frequency training as you will have detrained from the effects of frequency.
+vir nothing like that exists, or will exist. Individual responses are just too variable. Read this if you haven't already: www.strengtheory.com/pubmed-doesnt-replace-a-strength-coach/
That being said, there ARE ways to find basically a "unified theory" for yourself. Unfortunately, they're really time consuming, and you have to be comfortable with nonlinear modeling (and you have to have the time/inclination to record a lot of data) to tease it all out (first order effects are easy and obvious, but second and third order effects are generally less straightforward). I'm pestering a friend who's getting a PhD in machine learning right now, because I think he could help me streamline it.
***** If you have something you can publish about it, you would make me a very happy man! :-) I'm working on some modeling myself, basically trying to find the volume-rate of improvement-relation. I feel it's incredibly difficult actually excluding other influences like mean intensity, previous training etc.. Even though I did some nonlinear optimization in my phd, I feel that so far simple curve fits in excel actually do the job pretty well, but I would be happy to get convinced otherwise!
Upper/Lower Crew Checking In
Hey Greg,
I started a wendler 5/3/1 Programm 2 months ago, what's your take on this one? Do you think it's legit, or would a different program be more beneficial to me?
Have been training upper/lower for a year before and got to a plateau on every lift.
In total I've been training for 3 years, first year was mostly bodybuilding though..
Wassup brotha man!
Really big fan of your work. I was wondering if you had anyone in your network that geared their line of work towards stregnth training for a combat sport athlete. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
+ames abdon I think Complete Human Performance (alex vida and his crew) do quite a bit with combat sport athletes.
but for beginners, which type of training will be more beneficial
? btw just subscribed. your knowledge is amusing. you are truly making people learn
+Reivax Zagonlez It depends. As long as you're training each muscle/movement at least twice per week, it probably doesn't really matter
This is excellent Greg, particularly for those with strength goals in the short-term. However, lets say I am not going to compete for 4-6 months and want to spend 1-3 months doing purely hypertrophy with no need for periodization. Is there a practical guideline on how to structure hypertrophy only training? Say someone has 6-days to structure their training?
One word for you, 10x10. Do the original 10x10 program and watch yourself balloon in size.
I don't think so...that much volume in a single day would probably reduce total volume for a week/month
You often read that consistency is key - constantly switching programme is detrimental to your progess. Since change is beneficial to progess, is the problem with switching simply because you would never get past the foundation weeks of any programme before starting the foundation weeks of a new programme, and therefore not benefit from the progression built in to the later weeks?
+Mikey R It's a matter of time scale. You shouldn't change everything every week or two, but keeping everything the same for months and months on end without making any adjustments probably isn't either.
Thank you for your good information
Hey Greg, can you make a video on scoliosis and lifting? How can one go about getting bigger and stronger with the imbalance that scoliosis causes?
+David Gutierrez that would be one to ask a physical therapist about.
I will say full body is more efficient for time lacking people. Like a person who cannot be certain to train 5 times per week....
Great video plus that beard is looking much better :P
It all depends on the individual,genetics,lifestyle and how bad you want it,easy job done!
Great video thanks iv been watching Jason Gallant on uou tube he does high frequency low to medium volume might be worth a view
at 5:45 when you say you can ramp frequency back up, do you mean while dialing volume per session back as well (so you're back where you started with full body splits)? So essentially switching between the 2 split types back and forth when one plateaus?
+SeanMMR yep
hey greg,
love your videos and articles!
i'm interessted in your view on wendlers 5/3/1, especially the advanced template (1. week: 5x5 75%, 2nd week: 5x3 85%, 3rd week: 5x1 95%)
the rep scheme and the percentages look similar to some of your free strength programs.
also interessted if somebody else has some experience with it.
greetz
+Ohje Ohje I've never used it, but tbh that's how most good strength programs I'm aware of are set up. Increase intensity and decrease volume for 3-5 weeks, rinse, and repeat.
+Strengtheory thanks for the answer!
+Strengtheory just wondering where you got your numbers for MPS for experienced lifters? You mentioned as little as 12-24 hours in this video, I tried finding a paper that dealt with MPS in experienced lifters and came up short. Can you lead me in the right path?
+Nathaniel Whitmore Yep! It's in here: link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs40279-015-0320-0
Here's a screenshot of a graphic in from that study (if you don't have f/t access) showing the difference: www.dropbox.com/s/s0bflsp6cb1v1cm/Screenshot%202016-02-01%2015.21.51.jpg?dl=0
Please post graphs (arbitrary units okay) or other visual aids for your lectures. I understand and retain info much better that way. Else I have to watch your video 3-4x just to memorize the info presented. Great content, though.
woah mah dude
greg the master of beardness is back and active
Hey Greg! Great video. I have a problem/question that I'm hoping you could give me some insight on. I cannot do heavy squats, over 185, and I cannot deadlift due to serious chronic back pain. I stick to split style training, because as you can imagine the only compound movement I can do is bench press so I have to do a lot of accessory type movements/machines. Would it even be beneficial for me to attempt a full body split and if I did would I be able to bench press every session? I really hate only being able to do one compound lift.
+Shredded Gamer Currently doing a 4 days on 1 day off split. My back days have no barbell work at all and can't row anything below my waist. I do weighted chin-ups.
You can easily bench 2-4 times a week with split routine. Just do your compound press first and continue with the rest of your routine. This would probably result in better pressing gains.
I bench 3 times a week; 2 with competition style and 1 paused. And only after that I continue with rest of the upper body work.
+Shredded Gamer can you not do other compound lower body lifts? Split squats, leg presses, lunges, etc?
I can max 8 plates total on leg press before back irritates me and I do do lunges. I don't do split squats
+Shredded Gamer You can just use leg press for higher reps, and lunges as your two primary lower boy compound lifts, then.
love that poster. that book used to be my shit!!!!! good vid.
greg can you explain the int/adv squat in your 28 free programs a little more? I'm struggling with which weights to pick for the rpe day and am I supposed to set a PR on each "RM" day? thanks
+andy refrigerator Getting better with RPE mainly just comes with practice.
And you're supposed to shoot for you PR on each RM day. You may not always hit it, but you should give it your best shot.
+Strengtheory thanks for the reply! is there a general range of sets on the rpe day I should aim for? What i've done is it it calls for RPE 8 for 6 reps I see how many sets of 6 I can do with my 8RM (given from calculator) but I usually only get 2 sets before reaching RPE9. So should I be picking a lighter weight and maybe aim for 3-5 sets generally speaking?
+andy refrigerator Yep. When in doubt, err light and get in more volume (unless you're in the last couple of weeks peaking for a meet)
+Strengtheory much appreciated
Hey Greg, an off topic question here I went for a sumo deadlift pr and found I have increased to 325 from 295 and I have been traning for 6 weeks following wendler but I'm thinking of switching to conventional because of my leverages r for it I haven't really trained conv like my sumo ever and I heard for beginners they should pull conv and I havnt now I don't kno how to switch over and what percentages to use for conv or if I should even switch. I just want to optimize my strength. Hope u can help. Thanks
+MrApplepie54321 If you're still making progress with sumo, I'm not sure why'd you'd try to switch yet.
thanks for the help dude!!! im gonna do try to make my sumo better
Hi Greg. I really want to go into the profession of weightlifting coaching. I'm in the final year of an Accounting & Finance degree however so can't really afford to go back to university to study straight after this. I do a lot of reading (currently enjoying artscience and also Practical Strength Programming from Rippetoe,Pendlay etc) but I was wondering what qualifications are necessary and what the best academic route would be for me to start a career here. Thanks
Don't bother, no money in it unless you are very popular and have something very special about you that makes people want to hire you.
Thing is, it's not something I want to make into the entirety of my career. Planning on having several smaller jobs as opposed to just a solo source of income. Also I'm just passionately curious
+TobiasUstun if you're just wondering what's *necessary* - not a whole heck of a lot. A weekend certification. That's all most people have.
Now, if you actually really want to understand this stuff, a 4-year degree (or teaching yourself everything you'd learn in a 4-year degree; A&P, ex phys, bio, chem, biochem, physics, basic pharmacology, sports psych, and exercise prescription for special populations) is essentially
Yes I definitely do want to understand as much as necessary. If I'm going to be a PT worth their salt I need a good understanding of that stuff. It always amazes me how little legal certification is needed for tht sort of stuff.
TobiasUstun then you need to seriously consider a degree or, at the very least, finding someone in your area to mentor you who's coached the same people who want to coach (successfully, and for 10+ years).
In your 28 programs, how would i go about running bench and ohp as their own main lifts? Would running a seperate cycle for bench and ohp at the same time be too much pressing? eg. 2x/week bench and 2x/week ohp
+Nel Sern nah, that should be fine
So, would doing the full body version of your Average to Savage program possibly produce better progress? Or is it a matter of just doing it one way for awhile, then switching?
+StrengthWorksTV the difference probably wouldn't be noticeable
How do I know when I have "plateaud" I'm 17yrs old and having been on an Upper-Lower Body Routine for about a year and switch from strength and hypertrophy phases(increasing tonnage via reps) and have been able to add volume overtime. Does this mean that I should stay on this upper lower body routine until I literally can't add more volume. Or how can I determine when I should change frequency? Thanks.
+Michael Cabral If you're still making progress, keep doing what you're doing.
You train your nervous system the most
Greg: Is this channel obsolete considering it's named after your old website?
How much volume per body part would you recommend for your average trainee who has both size and strength goals on a full body routine? Either in sets per body part or working reps.
+bigbobabc123 4-6ish sets per body part fairly close to failure, 2-3ish times per week
full is better but harder. if you want all your body to be sure. can take days of rest
Awesome video Greg! thanks a lot for this, I think it may be time for me to dial back on the frequency for a bit, please keep 'em coming! :)
This is the best answer to this question on YT, for sure
Would this imply that per session volume IS important, to a degree? If so, what would you think the minimum would be?
The minimum is 1 set.
@@Han-nk3io 5head
Very usefull and meaningful tnx
Are you from Virginia?
Hows the cut going Greg ?
+Savage1032 it's going
+Strengtheory cutting sucks so hard :(
What's better: Full body, split routine or the new Star Wars?
....sorry, this is just the only place on the internet without Star Wars being mentioned so I got confused.
+TheBodice Empire Strikes Back is still GOAT
Where the Wild Things are poster on the wall?
when are u coming back?
Couldn't the full body person just add another session rather than going back to a split? I thought that in science training volume was the biggest factor for growth and strength gainz?
+Taylor Oxelgren You can't do that forever. What happens when you're already training every day you have time to train, and for essentially as long each session as you have time for? If, at that point, you're not giving your body enough stimulus to keep improving, what do you do?
+Strengtheory Couldn't one add a morning and an evening session and then a morning, afternoon and an evening? I assumed the time committment itself was part of the reason why I thought the top end athletes who have all day to train are at the top. Plus I thought volume was supposed to go up slowly every year and getting stronger makes getting more volume a little easier because you can lift more per rep. So I assumed someones volume wouldn't double for at least 5 years. Or are you suggesting that eventually that when your volume gets high enough it will fatigue you too much to get the volume required after your first exercise? Or maybe I am just underestimatimg the amount of volume one needs to get really strong(which would explain why I am not really strong). Also I just need to make it clear I am not questioning you or saying you are wrong at all I just use questions to better understand the things that people are telling me. I have incredible respect for you and am just trying to learn. Thank you for your time.
Taylor Oxelgren I'm saying most people don't have schedules that allow them to just add workouts forever. Most people get to the gym 3-5 days per week for an hour or two, and it's a matter of making the most of that time.
***** Ah I see, I was over thinking things. Strength training is just a hobby for most and it is unrealistic to tell people to add sessions forever when they don't have the time. You are giving practical advice to get around these time constraints. Thank you for your response I appreciate it, but be warned the more videos you put out the more question I will attempt to bother you with. I hope you have a good Christmas/Holiday.
Taylor Oxelgren haha no problem man. Looking forward to it!
Where the wild things are poster!
hnnnggggg dat video frequency
Except progressive overload disrupts.
where the wild things are
+BryanMcCaffrey10 That was my first real date with my wife-to-be :D
***** aww haha thats so nice, i hope you have a fantastic wedding dude!
+BryanMcCaffrey10 Oh, worded that poorly. She was my wife-to-be at the time (we just didn't know it yet). We've been married for two and a half years now.
***** ohh haha, thats cool man, im glad youre happy man, i love your videos by the way, probably the most informative, science based lifting videos on youtube
nice 10 min stall!!
listen Leroy Colbert 😂
Just say 'Bulgarian Method' already haha
Lol, bro, 6 days split is where it's fat for aesthetics. Full body if you want to look like Jason Blaha.
You couldn't be more wrong
+Edmund Burke STAY SKINNY BITCH
You mean if I want to look like a superhuman strength monster?
Jason blaha is actually allot bigger and more aesthetic than he looks. It's the camera playing tricks on our eyes. Lmao
Top Lad Nigel Jason have the worst genetics on the whole world..Look at Reg park,Steve Reeves,Leroy Colbert,Bill Pearl,John Grimek..All legends who did mostly of they gains on fullbody routines
Queshten
FIRST BIAAAATCHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
I can't take advice from someone fatter than me lol
Sorry....Zzzzzzzzz
borrrring