This reminds me of a story I heard Stan Efferding tell: he said that when he went to go work with Flex Wheeler, he brought a notepad and pen to their initial chat, so that he could write down all the “secrets” and finally learn what it takes to go to the next level. He left with not one thing written on the pad, everything Flex told him, he already knew. The real secret is executing the basics with precision, focus and consistency.
I am not expert but I think for us average natty people doings just the basic and fundamental stuff is more than enough , I saw a pic from 1902 about a strongman and I swear dude was jacked af even by today's standars , he wasn't overly lean but had good definition and was pretty big , all that before steroids even existed and I doubt he did all the exercises that people recommend these days with machines and shit @@artistaccount
That's how its always been. The only real reason is social media, where you put certain exercises on a pedestal, and say that others are killing your gains. Amazing story.
100%. And I think most nattys agree with you. The Basics are king, alter your form and switch up the variations occasionally to prevent overuse and plateaus, but "keep it simple stupid" . I've got to give you a massive thanks Alex, I've been following you for awhile and have been putting your principles into practice, and I've made so much progress, every time a hit a plateau I come back to your videos, switch things up and bust out of it within a month. You deserve way more recognition.@@AlexLeonidas
Barbell squats are the best ever. Barbell squats are the most brutal and vicious, and most ruthless exercise there's ever been. There's no one can stop barbell squats. Bench press is a good exercise? No, barbell squats is a good exericse, bench press is no good exercise. Barbell squats are the best ever! There's never been an exercise as ruthless! I'm zercher squats, I'm front squats. There's no one like barbell squats. Barbell squats are from their cloth. There's no one that can match barbell squats. Barbell squats' style is impetuous, barbell squats' defense is impregnable, and barbell squats are just ferocious. Barbell squats want your heart! Barbell squats want to eat his children! Praise be to barbell squats!
Yeah, me too I want to hear somebody unlock their mind in front of me ….about their craft💯 This dude is young as all get out compared to me but just watching his form and listening to him. It helped me out a lot. I’ve had to rebuild my mind as well as my body. I got a couple videos where I do squats to failure belt squats, but I’m just making videos just to make them…this guy, Geoff, Jeff and Dr. Mike. Oh, and Scott with the Boston accent, these are the only guys for me.. This is how real men should think. This is it … this is as real as it gets.
My love of the basics was really solidified by 2 things: - When I focused on Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Chin Ups, and Overhead press and commited to going consistently, miraculiusly I made Insane strength gains - When I had to get a home gym, I was able to buy a Power Rack, Bench, good Barbell, and Plates for less than a fucking Peleton that everyone was raving about at the time! XD
Hey now, Peloton is pretty damn good on many levels. You don't *really need the bike/tread/rower either, their calisthenics style strength training, stretching, and cardio are really good for every level. 😉
@@LRandleIcon But you dont need to buy a exerbike to do calisthenics. You get FAR more variety just buying a rack, bench, barbell, and weights. You can still do all those calisthenics. And any workout program that comes with Pelaton could be found for free online.
I know I am late, but for $15 a month you could follow the atg program who created by Ben Patrick(kneesovertoesguy) to fix knees ankles, backs and shoulders, it helped me fix mine, and you can also just write down the program with buying just one month karma and then later on use knowledge of training in order to create your own program. I get using a stationary bike, but still it be far better if you spent that on calisthenics equipment and like a normal standard bike. Still I understand why you got it but yeah he is right in regards to peloton being really expensive@@LRandleIcon
Learned to fully embrace the basics with the beginning of my 4th year of training. Switched to full body due to time constraints and had to focus on the basic movements and my favorite exercises. No nonsense optimal illiac exercises in my program.
I just started watching you and I love all your videos. Incredibly knowledgeable and I also just like your personality. Keep it up brother you’re my new favorite UA-camr
yeah that's my favorite aspect of the channel. he talks like an oldschool southern baptist preacher warning people about god's wrath, but on the subject of weight training instead of religion.
Besides keeping bb squats and bb rows, I've switched out bb for dB's on a few of my lifts and noticed more growth despite obviously being able to lift less due to the larger range of motion and its also fixed my imbalance.. Been doing BB bench for years thinking it was the superior chest exercise as that's what I was told when I started lifting. But recently just haven't been progressing at all in reps, weight ect even after a deload and my right side was always giving out as its my weaker side.. Switched it out for db incline press and I honestly think it's way better then flat bb bench. Way more range of motion, can work upper chest more and it's helping with my imbalances. Compounds are always the best, but bb isn't superior to dB's. Bb can lift more weight but dB's have better range of motion so they both have their pros.
This is SO TRUE! I have 2 herniated discs and I've been needing to switch up EVERYTHING involving the lower back. I just keep on telling myself it's alright, and keep on pushing myself on the movement I'm able to do pain-free. People overcomplicate "building muscle" nowadays. It's unbelieveable.
Basically, avoid everything that puts too much load/strain on your lower back and increases symptoms! Start low, and build your way up! Build a VERY STRONG core! It'll benefit you since the chances of you having disc problems for the rest of your life is quite high. When you've got a disc injury, it'll stay with you for the rest of your life. Even if you heal it, the chances of reinjury will be much higher than a person who has never had a disc injury @@SkyKngiht .
Dumbbell rows have been growing my mid to upper back better than wide chest supported t-bar supported rows (which i had been doing for a year) so this video is the truth
@@mayankshuklla2251 Single arm with slightly flared elbows… I dig the knee of the opposite side of my working side into the crook of the adjustable bench between where ur butt is and back is during an incline dumbbell press, put my other foot out, put the hand of the opposite side on the edge of the bench closest to my working side as well as stack my wrist with my shoulder, and i allow natural protraction of my working side while squaring the opposite side… When I can’t do any more without significant cheat (some body english okay) I do 2-3 partials with as much range of motion possible occasionally pausing at the sticking point to light my mid back and lats the f up… The mind muscle connection I get is unreal, nothing compares to this row which is great because I hate that it takes at least twice as long… I might eventually try Helms rows with the elbows slightly flared out but the way I have been doing single arm dumbbell rows has been bringing me such good results in such a short period of time I am not swapping for at least 3 months… I also like the way Oscarswider (type in full body everyday if you search youtube) does it where he takes an asjustable bench that he sets at a high incline and rests his elbow and head on, he has a similar elbow angle to what I use but a different foot placement, you can see the results of this row in his mid back… Glassback ticeronderoga pencil neck influencers will tell you my armpath is wrong and I have even had very underdeveloped beginners try to show me "the correct way", they need to stfu because my version gets a better stretch and squeeze of my mid back than their ultra lat biased single arm dumbbell rows and not every back exercise should be designed to bias the lats
@@AlexLeonidas What is the best replacement? Not heavy enough dumbbells, maxed 50kg couple years ago so havent done them since. Only comparable exercise I have been doing is one arm cable rows and one arm machine rows.
For me, it was giving barbell rows another inclusion and really pushing them hard. I don't think that the actual exercise is the key to this, rather spending enough time to learn the lift with adequate technique and then gradual, consistent progress on the time scale of months. Just because a lift works great for one lifter doesn't mean that others have to jump on the bandwagon. I think the caveat to that is if you're injured or the lift has become stale. You absolutely have to adapt to those. Sometimes coming back to a certain lift after building requisite strength elsewhere makes it click way better. It took me 18 months of 2x a week RDLs before the BB bent rows really clicked. I just had to get the rest of my posterior to where it needed to be for my upper back capabilities.
Thank you Alex ! I just turned 18 and am very passionate about the gym, but deeply frustrated with my results. I tried different things and the basics feel the best. This gives me confidence that I’m on the right path. Time and consistency will get me there.
***Don't get really hung up on exercise selections. Just pick a compound and progress on it... whether it's a Landmine row...T-bar...Bent over...it doesn't really matter...only to science based trainers who think 1% makes a huge impact. Pick the exercise you connect with the best too. There isn't alot of money in the basics 😂 why people come up with fancy exercises. - as people ask in comments which exercise should I do 😂 A or B
Hey Alex Ive taken your advice and started bulking since September and started your Natrually Ehanced Program. Holy shit Ive never been as big or strong when I was eating at maintenace or deficit. Feeling good, love the program thank you so much for your hard work, dedication and integrity peace from Ireland .
i like how like how his videos aren't so complicated like dr mike / jeff nipard / sean and such , it's just so straightforward, so what like " sam sulek style videos " if ykwim it's so calm and enjoyable, no flashy edits, transitions, barely any loud music in the back, and him being a natural makes it more relatable with him :)
Appreciate the reminder brother! Feels like everywhere you look it’s the science based lifters over analyzing everything, arguing about what’s more optimal
This raw rant video reminds me of some of your old school ones from back in the day, such as the one where however many years ago you claimed you'd one day hit a natyy 405 bench. pretty cool to see the call back
I'm completely new to this channel but nice to see Alex is such a legit guy. What he says from the beginning is 1000% true. Imo the simple approach is the best way, and full body workouts over bro split bs
I've been sleeping on this channel too long. I'm almost 1 year into lifting and I am very inspired by some of these videos. I'm glad I didn't get sucked into complex exercises and know to stick to the basics.
Decent power rack + 2 adjustable dumbbells w approx 100kg of iron + adjustable bench (which I'm not even using that much) = best gains ever. Weighted calisthenics + dumbbell destruction is the protocol. It got me to 195 pounds 6 foot 2 w decent BF [Ps. Almost brought up to 30kgx20 reps all neck moves (curl, extension, side) and without ANY direct trap work I got a freakin pyramid up there!] Thanks for all the advice, Alex!
do you mean alex's old 'dumbbell destruction' video? i remember doing that one for a while, was a good one (DB bench, DB seated overhead press, pull-ups, DB one-arm bent-over rows, DB RDLs, DB reverse lunges, DB hammer curls, DB tricep extensions)
People will do anything to get clout nowadays, making up claims with no evidence, or just using one study for click bait. Keep with the basics and what works!
What’s crazy is I followed your ohp advice and decided to make ohp my main pushing compound lift. My arms went from 14 inch while being able to bench 225 for 5, to 15.75 in cold while not doing any flat bench and only focusing seated press and incline bench. I originally followed this because I felt like my delts were way behind my chest and I didn’t want to exaggerate that weakness, I just wanted bigger delts but ended up getting bigger arms in the process. When I started focusing incline ohp I could do 115 for 8 and now I can do 170 for 8-9. It’s made a world of difference and for someone who probably can’t even bench 315 (yet) having almost 16 inch arms is pretty wild, considering you said you almost benched 405 with 16 inch arms.
Awesome video Alex! I am in Vietnam right now and went to a super basic local gym in the city and was forced to revisit the basics for this workout. DB Rows, Reverse Lunges, OHP etc…I gotta say I did not know how much I missed these movements which also built the base of my physique back than. Since I am traveling a lot I will go back to the roots of my training. Thanks for keeping it real brother, everybody that started training before the newschool UA-cam hype knows that the basic works.
Thank you for sharing Alex! I stopped pushing in the gym after years of training & achieving great results. I became too dogmatic in my approach when the reality is that you just keep trying out new shit to keep yourself interested while pushing hard towards different targets. I have doubts that I ever reached the advanced stage of lifting & that excites me to push once more to achieve a physique & level of strength that I can take pride in
Been lifting for over 20 years. I agree that nothing really replaces the basic free-weight exercises. I start there but then as my muscles fatigue and form starts to suffer I switch to machines/cables. That approach has worked well for me for years.
there's something cool about that old school feel that you just cant beat, calisthenics and free weight will likely make up the majority of my training for a long time.
Been here since the alpha destiny days when our boy was at 15k subs!!! Crazy how time flies, you're the man brother, thanks for keeping us up to date with all the best info
One of my gym buddies who is a natty pro bodybuilder (pro card in men's physique but also competes in classic) told me that barbell OHP isn't a bodybuilding movement, same with barbell bench. He does only (short length) partials on machines and dumbells and can't touch his upper back despite only being about 200 lb. His movement skills and flexibility are severely underdeveloped. There's still too much bad info out there. Guys are always looking for the quickest way to get big, not the most sustainable. My buddy told me he's trying to get big as fast as possible. He's only 24 and already a pro, not even near his natty potential, but he has dreams of being an enhanced IFBB pro classic physique guy with dollar signs in his eyes. His coach is some low level IFBB pro who looks like trash but has benefited by the IFBB giving out pro cards like candy (esp in men's physique). I think if my buddy goes enhanced, he's not gonna get the results he wants, because he's currently getting by on his elite genetics and structure and not on his training. I get into arguments about training with him all the time. I would love to have his genetic gifts, I'm fairly average in muscle building, and I see untapped potential in him that's getting squandered by his guru. My point is, too many people are interested in majoring in the minors and getting quick results without an eye towards long term progression. Your discussion of the Smith is pretty apt for me. My gym has crap machines mostly, but their single Smith is really good quality, the bar is fairly thick and there's very little friction. It feels really heavy. I love it for high incline bench, JM press, and bent rows. I'm currently nursing pretty bad tennis elbow that I got during my last training block from doing heavy prone grip bent rows. I can do underhand Yates style rows safely and without pain in the Smith, and I got the most gnarly soreness in my mid back erectors and lower traps that I've never felt from any other machine or barbell exercise. Smith is definitely underutilized by most gym bros due to the meme culture surrounding it, especially in elder millennials around my age.
Perfect time of the year for this message. A lot of new lifters need to hear that hard work, good technique and substantial consistency is how you gain muscle. You need that adequate stimulus. The exercise selection helps to a higher degree the more you lift (your training adapts as you address personal weaknesses or work around injuries)...but man... those basic compounds are potent! I feel sad when I watch a novice entirely skip a compound for an isolation. It feels like they don't yet have the ability to appreciate why that isolation works in a way that blends seamlessly with the rest of a well rounded program. 🙃
you are 100% right, i used to go to the gym and i made some gains but nothing crazy. now for 1 month i've been doing pull ups, chin ups, hammer curls and I never had a body like this, crazy gains in so little time wow. I never did a pull up before in the gym, i was afraid of doing them lol basics are king
Not to put down any current accomplishments, but your ~1 month gains are going to be a lot of muscle memory if you've previously lifted consistently. You're going to notice some very quick changes as your body stores more glycogen, which will fill out a bit of the areas that you're working. I put a little over an inch on my arms when I started getting back into the gym (2-3 month timespan). It was simply lean mass that I had already built. I don't want to discourage you, rather encourage you to look at the year plus timeframe. In 2023 I heavily focused on my vertical pulls (mostly neutral grip chinups). Consistently hit those month after month, while slowly adding reps and improving technique. Ended up putting 3 inches on my chest measurement last year. Basically the best thing you can do is to build the habits that enable consistency. Take what you're loving right now and very slowly add to it over time. Try to do it in a balanced way to keep your joints happy. Enjoy your lifting journey 💪
@@nmnate chief it's been about a year since I've hit the gym really at all, I've still maintained a fair physique but def a considerable amount of muscle lost just from not eating enough. So you are telling me in about a month I'll see some fast "progress" mainly because that's what I used to be doing/used to look like so the physique will come back quickly? thanks
@@gorillaman6827 Yeah, exactly. Over a couple months of consistent time in the gym you'll get most if not all back. I took over ten years off the gym and my arm size came back quick. Blew my mind how fast it was.
I've arrived to the point in my training where I incorporate phases of Powerbuilding with Bodybuilding. I'll run Alex's Naturally Enhanced protocol for 3 or 4 months and then switch to a more bodybuilding centric program for about 12-16 weeks where I utilize mostly machine and cable work.
Doing weighted pull ups as the main movement for the back with volume rows on the side, making the OHP/ADP one of my key lifts and building up my posterior chain and deadlift strength with submaximal hinge exercices like romanian deadlifts and trap bar deadlifts are some of the most important elements I've taken from this channel. At least 80-90% of all my weight training consist of basic exercises and they work better than anything else! Your channel and philosophy has done so much for my training, Alex! Thank you!
This tends to be true with a lot of things in the world. People always want to ignore the lessons of history and claim that the tried and true is now, "bigoted", "hateful" or "outdated" , and that "now we know better".
Agree 100%. I rarely do the big 3 anymore, now that I’m older and just focused on looking decent, but they still work. They’ve always worked, and they always will. There is WAAAAAAAY too much focus on optimal, science based training nowadays, and people are leaving the most important thing off the table- hard ass work. Maybe hammer strength (or whatever else) does lead to increased activation, but if person A is just going through the motions on hammer strength, and person B is over there pushing it to the limit on old fashioned bench, I guarantee you person B is gonna get bigger and stronger.
@@JonathanCodes-ol1cm And that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. A lot of these people that go around with their studies end up looking like string beans. That’s my point.
The non stop BS that I keeping seeing on social media, including in commercial gyms now that I've been there again. I'm disgusted by the modern gym culture, fueled by shitfluencers. Wanted to share my perspective early on in 2024, it's been a buildup.
Need more rants like this Alex! I feel like ever since you recommended NH’s videos, I’ve been really enjoying these more philosophical or methodology based videos. I know you have a lot more to say about a ton of topics so I would love to see them!
Weighted dips/pull ups for upper body you can’t go wrong unlimited progression/responsible for 80% of my upper body gains. Forces you to grow through difficulty 😂💯
Totally agree. I have seen a lot of people get big just from weighted calisthenics, and I myself I'm starting to se results only after 4 or 5 months of doing it.
Ges I believe that even how much we are advance. I'm talking in any sort of life. Once in our life we need to go back to BASICS. Thanks For This Advice.
Chilled out for a while after the first 5 years of lifting. Now in my 8th year I’ve decided im going to go to a completely different level because I realized I actually have way more to gain
I agree Alex, variations of the squat bench deadlift are just too good to pass up, amongst other basic movements, rows, pull-ups, shoulder presses etc especially for naturals.
So true, at the end of the day I'm glad my gym has no fancy machines just the essentials. I don't know if I look like a old school bodybuilder, but freeweights definitely give you a different look.
This past 6 month I’ve been running a bodybuilder program that’s mostly machines and cables. It’s fun and yes getting results, but honestly if I was a beginner, I’d have messed these up just because some cues I use when using barbells actually make these machines better - as in better mind muscle connection. When I was starting out and solely doing machines (back in like 2016), I barely got results. Switched to barbells - started off with programs like Starting Strength, making my own programs based off an app’s advice, and Steve Cook’s Big Man on Campus to programs like yours and Jeff Nippard’s for the last 7 years. Each one had barbells and each gave me results better than before. Not saying that pure machine and bodybuilding is inferior or that barbells are inferior or superior - I just think they’re all tools but the way you go about it (from basics to advanced) is maybe the key. Either way, I just love all exercises and tbh I wish our bodies could tolerate 7+ hours of working out - just to be able have fun hahaha
5:50 oh my god I was literally thinking this the other day. I will die on that hill but I know the fates have my back on that one. Because it’s ducking correct. Where the muscle feels tension is where it adapts. Fuck I’m so glad you said that
Love your advice brother. I used to take steroids in my 30s now I am in my 50s been training naturally for 4 years and putting on big size. Thanks for the information. Want to get big and still live long!
Thank you. Big barbell and dumbbell compounds, the Smith Rack and weighted pull ups, dips, push ups and hand stand push ups will always deliver the best gains. Machines have never been and never will be superior to exercises that force the lifter to find his optimal path and create his own stability through practice. It has always been this way and always will. Thank you because I am tired of listening to people trying to sell this load of horse shit. All that is necessary to learn this is to watch people the best physique athletes throughout history train. If you get stronger 9n basic compound movements with barbell, dumbbell, weighted calisthenics and smith exercises you will gain muscle assuming you are eating and sleeping enough to ensure weight gain. It's real simple. Train using good technique, use enough sets to practice the basics and variations. Use progressive overload, give the body the calories, protein and quality micro and macro nutrients required for a 250-750 caloric surplus, sleep as often as needed to recover. When you recover hit it again. Make realistic increases in load , sets and reps to coax (,not force gains,). When you start to peak , deload, reset and repeat using slight variations of the same types of movements, modifying angles, grips etc. Usually start off with less intensity in terms.of load but 3-6% higher than the commencement of your prior mesocycle (8-12 week monitored training. If the exercises are too different than they were in the last cycle you may n oh t be able to accurately gage the appropriate starting intensity in which case use common sense. Start with something that allows for plenty of jumps over the next 8- 12 weeks or less if you are using conjugate in which case you are switching exercuses every 3 weeks for most people. Use the big barbell and DB compounds as your main bread and butter movements (,60-75% of your time is spent here).. this is how you build size and strength with natural or enhanced. There is no secret training or magic exercises except getting better at the simple linear compounds done using impeccable form for 3-12 reps. And fuck those studies that talk about building mass using 30% for 30 reps. I have never seen a lifter who has a thick, strong sinewy physique lifting in the 30-40% range for 20-30 reps. Sorry but unless you are on a fuck ton of drugs I just don't see the benefits from training this way.
You are living proof that more challenging basic exercises are the way to build a physique over time. For those of us who have subscribed to your channel from the early days we have seen the evolution in your training and trading philosophy and the effects it's had on your physique. As a natural the results are that much more compelling. Although you, like most serious strength athletes built the majority of you muscle in the first 5 or 6 years, in the past 2 years your physique has improved dramatically and your strength levels have left your look fellow naturals (guys sound your weight and age) in the dust. I attribute this to (1) building up weaknesses and (2) practicing the fundamental exercises and variations so that they are more than merely an exercise but a high level skill. Obviously doing a bench press is not the same thing as throwing a major league fast ball. However, if you treat it's performance we with a similar attention to detail and constantly experiment with new approaches to get the most out of it you will discover that the initial 5-10% load increase may have less to do with a pure strength increase initially, but once your technique enables you to work with increased loads safely over time, the strength increases come. Then with these new strength increases, comes the ability to realize more structural adaptations. These adaptations improve leverage. This leads to new modifications to technique that were not possible without the leverages resulting from increased muscle mass in the right places. So structural adaptations from modifications to technique that help build size, lead to changes in form that allow the loads to improve that result in more size, changes in technique., More strength, more weight in hypertrophy focused training and a recipe for a steady increase in both size and strength. You still have the ability to be a great deal larger and stronger. You are starting to look stronger in addition to being stronger than 99% of the enhanced guys at your weight. That is quite Remarkable.
Thank you so much for your content, Alex. You're one of the (maybe) 5 channels I can say I benefit from with every video. Could you recommend some silver era or old school bodybuilders resources, though? I'm so eager to learn from people who've been in the trenches longer than I've been alive. I find them hard to come by, so some suggestions from you would be really helpful. Thanks again~ 🌹
Preach. The barbell is as optimal as it gets, if optimal means getting results. Now nobody says it's the only thing you need to use, you can use everything but there's no reason to go 180 and stop using the barbell. Also barbells>dumbbells all day everyday but that's another discussion entirely lol 14:24 damn that's some passion right there. Love it
well, 80-90% of your possible gains will be made by training hard for 15-20 years with progression. everything else is marginal and preference. avoiding overuse and injury is what enables training hard for that long. now for me cables and machines are essential but that's why I have sensitive joints preventing me from a lot of exercises, not cause they're not effective. now except from exercises with a really poor resistance profile and low progressibility, like dumbell lateral raises, where implementing different cable exercises, as well as machine and cable taterals did make a huge difference and more than doubled my strength on the dumbells where I was stuck for a long time. my experience is that it really doesn't matter if you just free weights and some cables or the best machines in the world(mybe with a handful of exceptions, but even then it's on the margins), at least not to a noticeable amount and this also includes doing just isolations for entire muscle groups, as long as you can hit the muscle hard and progress by gtting the muscle stronger, not by altering technique, anything will work, which discredits all purists, I firmly believe the basics work, but you can just as well throw them out the window and still be just as good, but the same goes the other way aound, it's about the muscle for hypertrophy and the movement pattern for general strength, what exactly you do in either case, as long as there's high effort and at least decent progressibility you'll be just fine with any approach of your choice, which is why joint comfort and enjoyment would be my priorities, in that order would be how I choose my exercises.
And the basics are more fun, like what's more enjoyable, the "unilateral illiac fiber lat pulldown" or just loading up some weight on the belt and doing simple pull ups
Hey Alex, I’ve been implementing the 3-5 min rest for compounds & 2 min for isolations thanks to your advice. I’m shook how much more I could lift in my 2nd set in each lift!! I wanted to ask, since the breaks are long now…would you recommend sitting and waiting for heart rate to go down OR should I take advantage of this time to get my walking steps in?
I’m not convinced max stability leads to more growth there’s no concrete evidence for it, all we know for sure is that you can’t be flying all over the place. You could argue a little instability is actually better when looking at the effectiveness of rings, one arm push ups (the fact it takes a lot of strength to even get one rep) etc
Ive always been saying this. All these tiktok experts are trying to reinvent the wheel like they are some type of guru or something. Do the basics and progress.
This reminds me of a story I heard Stan Efferding tell: he said that when he went to go work with Flex Wheeler, he brought a notepad and pen to their initial chat, so that he could write down all the “secrets” and finally learn what it takes to go to the next level.
He left with not one thing written on the pad, everything Flex told him, he already knew. The real secret is executing the basics with precision, focus and consistency.
Yeah he told him what to stick in his ass 😂
Funny but definitely facts.
Basics and fundamentals are the basics and fundamentals for a reason
I am not expert but I think for us average natty people doings just the basic and fundamental stuff is more than enough , I saw a pic from 1902 about a strongman and I swear dude was jacked af even by today's standars , he wasn't overly lean but had good definition and was pretty big , all that before steroids even existed and I doubt he did all the exercises that people recommend these days with machines and shit @@artistaccount
That's how its always been. The only real reason is social media, where you put certain exercises on a pedestal, and say that others are killing your gains. Amazing story.
Most things in life are about execution.
There’s almost no REAL secrets, shortcuts or “hacks.”
I've never seen Alex this pissed off, and I'm loving it.
There was one part where I got REALLY pissed, but didn't want to get shadowbanned so removed it lol
Feels good to rant sometimes!
100%. And I think most nattys agree with you. The Basics are king, alter your form and switch up the variations occasionally to prevent overuse and plateaus, but "keep it simple stupid" . I've got to give you a massive thanks Alex, I've been following you for awhile and have been putting your principles into practice, and I've made so much progress, every time a hit a plateau I come back to your videos, switch things up and bust out of it within a month. You deserve way more recognition.@@AlexLeonidas
@@AlexLeonidas what were you saying in that part?
Hey Alex, I just wanted to say thank you for all the knowledge that you've given me on lifting. I truly appreciate it
Hey Eshan, thanks for stopping by to tell me that. Your support means a lot, and I love making these videos for real ones like you.
@@AlexLeonidas great content for over a decade now thats crazy !! i still remember the OG rack pull videos
Barbell squats are the best ever. Barbell squats are the most brutal and vicious, and most ruthless exercise there's ever been. There's no one can stop barbell squats. Bench press is a good exercise? No, barbell squats is a good exericse, bench press is no good exercise. Barbell squats are the best ever! There's never been an exercise as ruthless! I'm zercher squats, I'm front squats. There's no one like barbell squats. Barbell squats are from their cloth. There's no one that can match barbell squats. Barbell squats' style is impetuous, barbell squats' defense is impregnable, and barbell squats are just ferocious. Barbell squats want your heart! Barbell squats want to eat his children! Praise be to barbell squats!
💯
Lmaooo lost it at “I’m zercher squats”. Most iconic speech in sports, shout out to Mike.
Love the rant, feels like the good old days of young rambling Alex…
But this time, far more nuanced and professional. Hats off to you sir. 🎩
'You know, the basics...' -Ronnie Coleman
good old chicken
I love when content creators describe their things as RANT. Is very open and honest. 🙏
Yeah, me too I want to hear somebody unlock their mind in front of me ….about their craft💯
This dude is young as all get out compared to me but just watching his form and listening to him. It helped me out a lot. I’ve had to rebuild my mind as well as my body.
I got a couple videos where I do squats to failure belt squats, but I’m just making videos just to make them…this guy, Geoff, Jeff and Dr. Mike. Oh, and Scott with the Boston accent, these are the only guys for me..
This is how real men should think.
This is it … this is as real as it gets.
My love of the basics was really solidified by 2 things:
- When I focused on Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Chin Ups, and Overhead press and commited to going consistently, miraculiusly I made Insane strength gains
- When I had to get a home gym, I was able to buy a Power Rack, Bench, good Barbell, and Plates for less than a fucking Peleton that everyone was raving about at the time! XD
Hey now, Peloton is pretty damn good on many levels. You don't *really need the bike/tread/rower either, their calisthenics style strength training, stretching, and cardio are really good for every level. 😉
@@LRandleIcon But you dont need to buy a exerbike to do calisthenics. You get FAR more variety just buying a rack, bench, barbell, and weights. You can still do all those calisthenics. And any workout program that comes with Pelaton could be found for free online.
@@LRandleIconlol imagine spending a month of rent on a stationary bike that plays videos. You got duped buddy.
@Linkolite well if youre a poor that pays "rent", ok....🙄 I have a bad knee and ankle so road work is a no fly zone, what exactly would you suggest?
I know I am late, but for $15 a month you could follow the atg program who created by Ben Patrick(kneesovertoesguy) to fix knees ankles, backs and shoulders, it helped me fix mine, and you can also just write down the program with buying just one month karma and then later on use knowledge of training in order to create your own program. I get using a stationary bike, but still it be far better if you spent that on calisthenics equipment and like a normal standard bike. Still I understand why you got it but yeah he is right in regards to peloton being really expensive@@LRandleIcon
Learned to fully embrace the basics with the beginning of my 4th year of training. Switched to full body due to time constraints and had to focus on the basic movements and my favorite exercises. No nonsense optimal illiac exercises in my program.
I thought 2017 was 3 years ago
Time really flies OG, quite shocking when you plug in the numbers
Bro me too.
It really feels like that lol
Same here.
brother... 😢
I just started watching you and I love all your videos. Incredibly knowledgeable and I also just like your personality. Keep it up brother you’re my new favorite UA-camr
As someone who has a Garage Gym at Home but who’s instagram is filled with Influencers using the latest equipment with all the angles… thank you!
Likewise 👊🏽
ENERGY in these new vids is awesome (6+ year watcher). Alex growing on ALL levels
You ROCK OG, thank you so much!!!!
14:26- love it when alex get angry, you can see he speaks from the heart❤ thank you bro great video!!!😊❤
man I fucking loved that moment
Bro, love the energy you bring to this or any other subject you like to discuss! You had me engaged!
He back with that passion
yeah that's my favorite aspect of the channel. he talks like an oldschool southern baptist preacher warning people about god's wrath, but on the subject of weight training instead of religion.
Besides keeping bb squats and bb rows, I've switched out bb for dB's on a few of my lifts and noticed more growth despite obviously being able to lift less due to the larger range of motion and its also fixed my imbalance.. Been doing BB bench for years thinking it was the superior chest exercise as that's what I was told when I started lifting. But recently just haven't been progressing at all in reps, weight ect even after a deload and my right side was always giving out as its my weaker side.. Switched it out for db incline press and I honestly think it's way better then flat bb bench. Way more range of motion, can work upper chest more and it's helping with my imbalances. Compounds are always the best, but bb isn't superior to dB's. Bb can lift more weight but dB's have better range of motion so they both have their pros.
This is SO TRUE! I have 2 herniated discs and I've been needing to switch up EVERYTHING involving the lower back. I just keep on telling myself it's alright, and keep on pushing myself on the movement I'm able to do pain-free. People overcomplicate "building muscle" nowadays. It's unbelieveable.
What exercises u Changed ? I have herniated discs L4 and L5 : what should be concerned about ?
Basically, avoid everything that puts too much load/strain on your lower back and increases symptoms! Start low, and build your way up! Build a VERY STRONG core! It'll benefit you since the chances of you having disc problems for the rest of your life is quite high. When you've got a disc injury, it'll stay with you for the rest of your life. Even if you heal it, the chances of reinjury will be much higher than a person who has never had a disc injury @@SkyKngiht .
Dumbbell rows have been growing my mid to upper back better than wide chest supported t-bar supported rows (which i had been doing for a year) so this video is the truth
Same bro, re-introducing them made me realize why they were a staple for so many years. Love when you have access to heavier dumbbells.
Which style of dumbbell rows are u relying on?...is it the bent-over dumbbell rows or single arm bent over dumbbell rows?
@@mayankshuklla2251 Single arm with slightly flared elbows… I dig the knee of the opposite side of my working side into the crook of the adjustable bench between where ur butt is and back is during an incline dumbbell press, put my other foot out, put the hand of the opposite side on the edge of the bench closest to my working side as well as stack my wrist with my shoulder, and i allow natural protraction of my working side while squaring the opposite side… When I can’t do any more without significant cheat (some body english okay) I do 2-3 partials with as much range of motion possible occasionally pausing at the sticking point to light my mid back and lats the f up… The mind muscle connection I get is unreal, nothing compares to this row which is great because I hate that it takes at least twice as long… I might eventually try Helms rows with the elbows slightly flared out but the way I have been doing single arm dumbbell rows has been bringing me such good results in such a short period of time I am not swapping for at least 3 months… I also like the way Oscarswider (type in full body everyday if you search youtube) does it where he takes an asjustable bench that he sets at a high incline and rests his elbow and head on, he has a similar elbow angle to what I use but a different foot placement, you can see the results of this row in his mid back… Glassback ticeronderoga pencil neck influencers will tell you my armpath is wrong and I have even had very underdeveloped beginners try to show me "the correct way", they need to stfu because my version gets a better stretch and squeeze of my mid back than their ultra lat biased single arm dumbbell rows and not every back exercise should be designed to bias the lats
@@AlexLeonidas What is the best replacement? Not heavy enough dumbbells, maxed 50kg couple years ago so havent done them since. Only comparable exercise I have been doing is one arm cable rows and one arm machine rows.
For me, it was giving barbell rows another inclusion and really pushing them hard.
I don't think that the actual exercise is the key to this, rather spending enough time to learn the lift with adequate technique and then gradual, consistent progress on the time scale of months. Just because a lift works great for one lifter doesn't mean that others have to jump on the bandwagon.
I think the caveat to that is if you're injured or the lift has become stale. You absolutely have to adapt to those. Sometimes coming back to a certain lift after building requisite strength elsewhere makes it click way better. It took me 18 months of 2x a week RDLs before the BB bent rows really clicked. I just had to get the rest of my posterior to where it needed to be for my upper back capabilities.
Thank you Alex ! I just turned 18 and am very passionate about the gym, but deeply frustrated with my results. I tried different things and the basics feel the best. This gives me confidence that I’m on the right path. Time and consistency will get me there.
Eat more
@@krystofplacek7178 I shove 4000 calories a day down my throat. I think I got it.
***Don't get really hung up on exercise selections. Just pick a compound and progress on it... whether it's a Landmine row...T-bar...Bent over...it doesn't really matter...only to science based trainers who think 1% makes a huge impact. Pick the exercise you connect with the best too. There isn't alot of money in the basics 😂 why people come up with fancy exercises. - as people ask in comments which exercise should I do 😂 A or B
@@morgan14366 apparently you don't agree with the video then because that's his whole argument.
He's trained for years.
Hey Alex Ive taken your advice and started bulking since September and started your Natrually Ehanced Program. Holy shit Ive never been as big or strong when I was eating at maintenace or deficit. Feeling good, love the program thank you so much for your hard work, dedication and integrity peace from Ireland .
The most needed video regarding the current scenario in the fitness world...
i like how like how his videos aren't so complicated like dr mike / jeff nipard / sean and such , it's just so straightforward, so what like " sam sulek style videos " if ykwim it's so calm and enjoyable, no flashy edits, transitions, barely any loud music in the back, and him being a natural makes it more relatable with him :)
Appreciate the reminder brother! Feels like everywhere you look it’s the science based lifters over analyzing everything, arguing about what’s more optimal
3:18
i WANT that bench for pullovers. never seen one like it.
This raw rant video reminds me of some of your old school ones from back in the day, such as the one where however many years ago you claimed you'd one day hit a natyy 405 bench. pretty cool to see the call back
I'm completely new to this channel but nice to see Alex is such a legit guy. What he says from the beginning is 1000% true. Imo the simple approach is the best way, and full body workouts over bro split bs
I've been sleeping on this channel too long. I'm almost 1 year into lifting and I am very inspired by some of these videos. I'm glad I didn't get sucked into complex exercises and know to stick to the basics.
Decent power rack + 2 adjustable dumbbells w approx 100kg of iron + adjustable bench (which I'm not even using that much) = best gains ever. Weighted calisthenics + dumbbell destruction is the protocol. It got me to 195 pounds 6 foot 2 w decent BF [Ps. Almost brought up to 30kgx20 reps all neck moves (curl, extension, side) and without ANY direct trap work I got a freakin pyramid up there!] Thanks for all the advice, Alex!
do you mean alex's old 'dumbbell destruction' video? i remember doing that one for a while, was a good one (DB bench, DB seated overhead press, pull-ups, DB one-arm bent-over rows, DB RDLs, DB reverse lunges, DB hammer curls, DB tricep extensions)
Reg Park said..5-8 exercises is all you need everything else is a slight variation. ( Small hinges swing Big Doors...) Keep it simple get stronger
People will do anything to get clout nowadays, making up claims with no evidence, or just using one study for click bait. Keep with the basics and what works!
What’s crazy is I followed your ohp advice and decided to make ohp my main pushing compound lift. My arms went from 14 inch while being able to bench 225 for 5, to 15.75 in cold while not doing any flat bench and only focusing seated press and incline bench. I originally followed this because I felt like my delts were way behind my chest and I didn’t want to exaggerate that weakness, I just wanted bigger delts but ended up getting bigger arms in the process. When I started focusing incline ohp I could do 115 for 8 and now I can do 170 for 8-9. It’s made a world of difference and for someone who probably can’t even bench 315 (yet) having almost 16 inch arms is pretty wild, considering you said you almost benched 405 with 16 inch arms.
Love the passionate videos from time to time
Awesome video Alex! I am in Vietnam right now and went to a super basic local gym in the city and was forced to revisit the basics for this workout. DB Rows, Reverse Lunges, OHP etc…I gotta say I did not know how much I missed these movements which also built the base of my physique back than. Since I am traveling a lot I will go back to the roots of my training. Thanks for keeping it real brother, everybody that started training before the newschool UA-cam hype knows that the basic works.
That pullover bench is sick! I had no idea they made those
Thank you for sharing Alex! I stopped pushing in the gym after years of training & achieving great results. I became too dogmatic in my approach when the reality is that you just keep trying out new shit to keep yourself interested while pushing hard towards different targets. I have doubts that I ever reached the advanced stage of lifting & that excites me to push once more to achieve a physique & level of strength that I can take pride in
I love the basics, the compounds are so fun and since I’m still a beginner, this gives me so much hope for the future! Thanks
Been lifting for over 20 years. I agree that nothing really replaces the basic free-weight exercises. I start there but then as my muscles fatigue and form starts to suffer I switch to machines/cables. That approach has worked well for me for years.
there's something cool about that old school feel that you just cant beat, calisthenics and free weight will likely make up the majority of my training for a long time.
Hell yeah. I personally love cali and free weights and I use machines only for the legs (knee extension and flexion)
@@mario8833 fr seated leg curl cant be beat, but yeah free weights and cali on everything else is the way ey
Try nordic and reverse nordic you'll never use extension machine again @@mario8833
"Old school exercises bias an old school physique"
I love that 💪🏼
Been here since the alpha destiny days when our boy was at 15k subs!!! Crazy how time flies, you're the man brother, thanks for keeping us up to date with all the best info
your so right about different training styles result in different physiques. And I really love your physique.
One of my gym buddies who is a natty pro bodybuilder (pro card in men's physique but also competes in classic) told me that barbell OHP isn't a bodybuilding movement, same with barbell bench. He does only (short length) partials on machines and dumbells and can't touch his upper back despite only being about 200 lb. His movement skills and flexibility are severely underdeveloped.
There's still too much bad info out there. Guys are always looking for the quickest way to get big, not the most sustainable. My buddy told me he's trying to get big as fast as possible. He's only 24 and already a pro, not even near his natty potential, but he has dreams of being an enhanced IFBB pro classic physique guy with dollar signs in his eyes. His coach is some low level IFBB pro who looks like trash but has benefited by the IFBB giving out pro cards like candy (esp in men's physique). I think if my buddy goes enhanced, he's not gonna get the results he wants, because he's currently getting by on his elite genetics and structure and not on his training. I get into arguments about training with him all the time. I would love to have his genetic gifts, I'm fairly average in muscle building, and I see untapped potential in him that's getting squandered by his guru.
My point is, too many people are interested in majoring in the minors and getting quick results without an eye towards long term progression.
Your discussion of the Smith is pretty apt for me. My gym has crap machines mostly, but their single Smith is really good quality, the bar is fairly thick and there's very little friction. It feels really heavy. I love it for high incline bench, JM press, and bent rows. I'm currently nursing pretty bad tennis elbow that I got during my last training block from doing heavy prone grip bent rows. I can do underhand Yates style rows safely and without pain in the Smith, and I got the most gnarly soreness in my mid back erectors and lower traps that I've never felt from any other machine or barbell exercise. Smith is definitely underutilized by most gym bros due to the meme culture surrounding it, especially in elder millennials around my age.
Perfect time of the year for this message. A lot of new lifters need to hear that hard work, good technique and substantial consistency is how you gain muscle. You need that adequate stimulus. The exercise selection helps to a higher degree the more you lift (your training adapts as you address personal weaknesses or work around injuries)...but man... those basic compounds are potent! I feel sad when I watch a novice entirely skip a compound for an isolation. It feels like they don't yet have the ability to appreciate why that isolation works in a way that blends seamlessly with the rest of a well rounded program. 🙃
can u make a video with all of these exercises and why they are so good?
you are 100% right, i used to go to the gym and i made some gains but nothing crazy. now for 1 month i've been doing pull ups, chin ups, hammer curls and I never had a body like this, crazy gains in so little time wow. I never did a pull up before in the gym, i was afraid of doing them lol basics are king
Not to put down any current accomplishments, but your ~1 month gains are going to be a lot of muscle memory if you've previously lifted consistently. You're going to notice some very quick changes as your body stores more glycogen, which will fill out a bit of the areas that you're working. I put a little over an inch on my arms when I started getting back into the gym (2-3 month timespan). It was simply lean mass that I had already built.
I don't want to discourage you, rather encourage you to look at the year plus timeframe. In 2023 I heavily focused on my vertical pulls (mostly neutral grip chinups). Consistently hit those month after month, while slowly adding reps and improving technique. Ended up putting 3 inches on my chest measurement last year.
Basically the best thing you can do is to build the habits that enable consistency. Take what you're loving right now and very slowly add to it over time. Try to do it in a balanced way to keep your joints happy. Enjoy your lifting journey 💪
@@nmnate chief it's been about a year since I've hit the gym really at all, I've still maintained a fair physique but def a considerable amount of muscle lost just from not eating enough. So you are telling me in about a month I'll see some fast "progress" mainly because that's what I used to be doing/used to look like so the physique will come back quickly? thanks
@@gorillaman6827 Absolutely man. Muscle memory will kick in.
@@gorillaman6827 Yeah, exactly. Over a couple months of consistent time in the gym you'll get most if not all back. I took over ten years off the gym and my arm size came back quick. Blew my mind how fast it was.
Muscle memory is awesome. It means that your hard work in the gym stays forever.
I've arrived to the point in my training where I incorporate phases of Powerbuilding with Bodybuilding. I'll run Alex's Naturally Enhanced protocol for 3 or 4 months and then switch to a more bodybuilding centric program for about 12-16 weeks where I utilize mostly machine and cable work.
Doing weighted pull ups as the main movement for the back with volume rows on the side, making the OHP/ADP one of my key lifts and building up my posterior chain and deadlift strength with submaximal hinge exercices like romanian deadlifts and trap bar deadlifts are some of the most important elements I've taken from this channel. At least 80-90% of all my weight training consist of basic exercises and they work better than anything else! Your channel and philosophy has done so much for my training, Alex! Thank you!
Great back work eh? I do pull ups chins, then a few heavy pull downs and rows. All I need
Yyyeeeaaahhh I’ve been sticking to the basics lately and I truly love it.
This tends to be true with a lot of things in the world. People always want to ignore the lessons of history and claim that the tried and true is now, "bigoted", "hateful" or "outdated" , and that "now we know better".
Agree 100%. I rarely do the big 3 anymore, now that I’m older and just focused on looking decent, but they still work. They’ve always worked, and they always will. There is WAAAAAAAY too much focus on optimal, science based training nowadays, and people are leaving the most important thing off the table- hard ass work. Maybe hammer strength (or whatever else) does lead to increased activation, but if person A is just going through the motions on hammer strength, and person B is over there pushing it to the limit on old fashioned bench, I guarantee you person B is gonna get bigger and stronger.
I don’t like the bench press just because it hurts my shoulders and not because it’s not optimal
@@JonathanCodes-ol1cmhave you tried reverse grip?
@@JonathanCodes-ol1cm And that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. A lot of these people that go around with their studies end up looking like string beans. That’s my point.
i agree with your perspective but i have to inquire, what prompted this?
The non stop BS that I keeping seeing on social media, including in commercial gyms now that I've been there again. I'm disgusted by the modern gym culture, fueled by shitfluencers. Wanted to share my perspective early on in 2024, it's been a buildup.
@AlexLeonidas Fuck yeah bro thank you for being a real one. Thoroughbreds like you are rare and appreciated heavily💯💪🏽
Need more rants like this Alex! I feel like ever since you recommended NH’s videos, I’ve been really enjoying these more philosophical or methodology based videos. I know you have a lot more to say about a ton of topics so I would love to see them!
Big true. Cables are great for isolation exercises but bench, Squat and deadlift are the cornerstone to my training.
Love Alex rants, this is gonna be a good video
You already know bro, it's a hell of a rant! Enjoy
Weighted dips/pull ups for upper body you can’t go wrong unlimited progression/responsible for 80% of my upper body gains. Forces you to grow through difficulty 😂💯
Totally agree. I have seen a lot of people get big just from weighted calisthenics, and I myself I'm starting to se results only after 4 or 5 months of doing it.
Throw some incline bench,rear delt work with that,and heavy hinge for traps and sinal erectores
Shoutout to Alex for answering my questions on so many videos over the last year-plus. Never too big for his audience. Best fitness UA-camr.
Excellent video! Yes please do more of these rant videos they are inspiring and much needed .
You need more live q/a they’re gold !
Love the content Alex, sure this is gonna be another banger
It's got a classic AD vibe to it, straight from the heart rant!
Brilliant video, Alex. Awesome. Listen to this guy. A gem.
Great content as always Alex! Can you make a vid on the z press pretty please
This is the best fitness channel and it's not an opinion, it's a fact 💯💯💯
Ges I believe that even how much we are advance. I'm talking in any sort of life. Once in our life we need to go back to BASICS. Thanks For This Advice.
New year, new opportunity for Alex to continue to SPIT THE FREAKING FACTS. And we are all here for it.
Incredible content as always. May Alex never die!
Couldn't agree more and no worries I think most of us enjoy u being passionate, that's what makes us like you in the first place!
i squated 125kg yesterday and it was a new pr for me im so happy, thanks for the knowledge bro
Haven’t watched yet but im sure its gonna be a banger
Chilled out for a while after the first 5 years of lifting. Now in my 8th year I’ve decided im going to go to a completely different level because I realized I actually have way more to gain
I agree with you with the whole stabilty debate if it was true the gymnastics rings would not have build my chest to a great extent
I am currently watching this video. I am enjoying it a lot, I've been frustrated with the " fitness community bad mouthing good exercises.
I agree Alex, variations of the squat bench deadlift are just too good to pass up, amongst other basic movements, rows, pull-ups, shoulder presses etc especially for naturals.
So true, at the end of the day I'm glad my gym has no fancy machines just the essentials. I don't know if I look like a old school bodybuilder, but freeweights definitely give you a different look.
Hey I've been watching your videos for a long time. I just want to say thank you for all the free content you've produced.
Haven't watched it yet but I know for sure is goibg to be an absolute banger
This past 6 month I’ve been running a bodybuilder program that’s mostly machines and cables. It’s fun and yes getting results, but honestly if I was a beginner, I’d have messed these up just because some cues I use when using barbells actually make these machines better - as in better mind muscle connection. When I was starting out and solely doing machines (back in like 2016), I barely got results. Switched to barbells - started off with programs like Starting Strength, making my own programs based off an app’s advice, and Steve Cook’s Big Man on Campus to programs like yours and Jeff Nippard’s for the last 7 years. Each one had barbells and each gave me results better than before. Not saying that pure machine and bodybuilding is inferior or that barbells are inferior or superior - I just think they’re all tools but the way you go about it (from basics to advanced) is maybe the key.
Either way, I just love all exercises and tbh I wish our bodies could tolerate 7+ hours of working out - just to be able have fun hahaha
Just gotta comment, the bench that you are doing the Pullovers on looks fucking fantastic
Love the channel. Keep up the work brother. Cheers
Much love Anthony!
thanks bro. Its refreshing to hear.
5:50 oh my god I was literally thinking this the other day. I will die on that hill but I know the fates have my back on that one. Because it’s ducking correct. Where the muscle feels tension is where it adapts. Fuck I’m so glad you said that
Great video that sums up all my thoughts on this biomechanics/optimal era. Thanks Alex.
Love your advice brother. I used to take steroids in my 30s now I am in my 50s been training naturally for 4 years and putting on big size. Thanks for the information. Want to get big and still live long!
Glad to see your growth Alex
Thank you. Big barbell and dumbbell compounds, the Smith Rack and weighted pull ups, dips, push ups and hand stand push ups will always deliver the best gains. Machines have never been and never will be superior to exercises that force the lifter to find his optimal path and create his own stability through practice. It has always been this way and always will. Thank you because I am tired of listening to people trying to sell this load of horse shit. All that is necessary to learn this is to watch people the best physique athletes throughout history train.
If you get stronger 9n basic compound movements with barbell, dumbbell, weighted calisthenics and smith exercises you will gain muscle assuming you are eating and sleeping enough to ensure weight gain. It's real simple. Train using good technique, use enough sets to practice the basics and variations. Use progressive overload, give the body the calories, protein and quality micro and macro nutrients required for a 250-750 caloric surplus, sleep as often as needed to recover. When you recover hit it again. Make realistic increases in load , sets and reps to coax (,not force gains,). When you start to peak , deload, reset and repeat using slight variations of the same types of movements, modifying angles, grips etc. Usually start off with less intensity in terms.of load but 3-6% higher than the commencement of your prior mesocycle (8-12 week monitored training. If the exercises are too different than they were in the last cycle you may n oh t be able to accurately gage the appropriate starting intensity in which case use common sense. Start with something that allows for plenty of jumps over the next 8- 12 weeks or less if you are using conjugate in which case you are switching exercuses every 3 weeks for most people. Use the big barbell and DB compounds as your main bread and butter movements (,60-75% of your time is spent here).. this is how you build size and strength with natural or enhanced. There is no secret training or magic exercises except getting better at the simple linear compounds done using impeccable form for 3-12 reps. And fuck those studies that talk about building mass using 30% for 30 reps. I have never seen a lifter who has a thick, strong sinewy physique lifting in the 30-40% range for 20-30 reps. Sorry but unless you are on a fuck ton of drugs I just don't see the benefits from training this way.
You are living proof that more challenging basic exercises are the way to build a physique over time. For those of us who have subscribed to your channel from the early days we have seen the evolution in your training and trading philosophy and the effects it's had on your physique. As a natural the results are that much more compelling. Although you, like most serious strength athletes built the majority of you muscle in the first 5 or 6 years, in the past 2 years your physique has improved dramatically and your strength levels have left your look fellow naturals (guys sound your weight and age) in the dust. I attribute this to (1) building up weaknesses and (2) practicing the fundamental exercises and variations so that they are more than merely an exercise but a high level skill. Obviously doing a bench press is not the same thing as throwing a major league fast ball. However, if you treat it's performance we with a similar attention to detail and constantly experiment with new approaches to get the most out of it you will discover that the initial 5-10% load increase may have less to do with a pure strength increase initially, but once your technique enables you to work with increased loads safely over time, the strength increases come. Then with these new strength increases, comes the ability to realize more structural adaptations. These adaptations improve leverage. This leads to new modifications to technique that were not possible without the leverages resulting from increased muscle mass in the right places. So structural adaptations from modifications to technique that help build size, lead to changes in form that allow the loads to improve that result in more size, changes in technique., More strength, more weight in hypertrophy focused training and a recipe for a steady increase in both size and strength. You still have the ability to be a great deal larger and stronger. You are starting to look stronger in addition to being stronger than 99% of the enhanced guys at your weight. That is quite Remarkable.
Realest fitness channel right here and it ain't even close. John Meadows was a real one too. I miss him
Thank you so much for your content, Alex.
You're one of the (maybe) 5 channels I can say I benefit from with every video.
Could you recommend some silver era or old school bodybuilders resources, though?
I'm so eager to learn from people who've been in the trenches longer than I've been alive.
I find them hard to come by, so some suggestions from you would be really helpful.
Thanks again~ 🌹
Preach. The barbell is as optimal as it gets, if optimal means getting results. Now nobody says it's the only thing you need to use, you can use everything but there's no reason to go 180 and stop using the barbell. Also barbells>dumbbells all day everyday but that's another discussion entirely lol
14:24 damn that's some passion right there. Love it
🔥 content as usual Alex!! Thank you bro
well, 80-90% of your possible gains will be made by training hard for 15-20 years with progression. everything else is marginal and preference. avoiding overuse and injury is what enables training hard for that long. now for me cables and machines are essential but that's why I have sensitive joints preventing me from a lot of exercises, not cause they're not effective. now except from exercises with a really poor resistance profile and low progressibility, like dumbell lateral raises, where implementing different cable exercises, as well as machine and cable taterals did make a huge difference and more than doubled my strength on the dumbells where I was stuck for a long time. my experience is that it really doesn't matter if you just free weights and some cables or the best machines in the world(mybe with a handful of exceptions, but even then it's on the margins), at least not to a noticeable amount and this also includes doing just isolations for entire muscle groups, as long as you can hit the muscle hard and progress by gtting the muscle stronger, not by altering technique, anything will work, which discredits all purists, I firmly believe the basics work, but you can just as well throw them out the window and still be just as good, but the same goes the other way aound, it's about the muscle for hypertrophy and the movement pattern for general strength, what exactly you do in either case, as long as there's high effort and at least decent progressibility you'll be just fine with any approach of your choice, which is why joint comfort and enjoyment would be my priorities, in that order would be how I choose my exercises.
And the basics are more fun, like what's more enjoyable, the "unilateral illiac fiber lat pulldown" or just loading up some weight on the belt and doing simple pull ups
Agreed, the fun, hardcore factor is incredibly satisfying!! I would go crazy doing only "optimal" exercises.
Somethin about rings makes supersetting weighted basics continuously new
bro i love the fucking energy in this vid Alex. keep preaching the basics!!!
Hey Alex! Can you do a video about your pullup form? Like cues and stuff like that
Hey Alex, I’ve been implementing the 3-5 min rest for compounds & 2 min for isolations thanks to your advice. I’m shook how much more I could lift in my 2nd set in each lift!!
I wanted to ask, since the breaks are long now…would you recommend sitting and waiting for heart rate to go down OR should I take advantage of this time to get my walking steps in?
u can get walking steps in
always looking for the fancy new exercise is a bad habit of many. thanks for always teaching that the basics Will build muscle and strenght
I’m not convinced max stability leads to more growth there’s no concrete evidence for it, all we know for sure is that you can’t be flying all over the place. You could argue a little instability is actually better when looking at the effectiveness of rings, one arm push ups (the fact it takes a lot of strength to even get one rep) etc
Ive always been saying this. All these tiktok experts are trying to reinvent the wheel like they are some type of guru or something. Do the basics and progress.
Alex never fkn misses! I love this guy! 💪 happy new year big Al! Keep it going
Thank you so much Alex! You deserved everything you have, your work ethic is outstanding. Regards from Chile :)
Wena hermano qué gusto que un compatriota siga a este máquina jsdjsj. Saludos mano, vamos camino a no caber por las puertas 💪💪🇨🇱
It's crazy if you just call them fundamentals instead of basics ppl realize they're important 😂
Excellent distinction!