I've found a lot of progress focusing on minimal effective dose, finding out which exercises bring the widest range of gains, rather than having too much exercise FOMO
yeah I get you. Finally realizing how you can do a large variety of exercises, but it's better to rotate them in every few weeks rather than in a single lifting day.
Lmaooo i remember when i was starting i believed that the chest has 3 parts to hit so i would do 3 bench variations, 3 fly movements and some push ups. On my final bench variation, i was shaking just gripping the bar lying down😂😂 oh man good old days, now it's quarantine and im back to square one in terms of physique but in terms of knowledge and experience i have ascended
I've had a gym membership since 16, I'm 19 now. I was very inconsistent and didn't make much progress because I now realize that I was trying to do a program that was far too advanced for me, it was too many days in the gym and the workouts had far too much isolation work looking back. I only recently realized that my approach was flawed by going back to the fundamentals and I really regret not knowing what I know right now. I can't wait to get back into the gym and apply what I've learned, including from this video.
Because of you Mr. ,I now love weighted bodyweight exercises.Two months since I started training and I already see the differences.Much Love!(Sorry for my bad english)
Honestly, I watched so many of these videos while slowly becoming an intermediate lifter that I'm prolly infinitely better off that I usually would've been.
I've been watching AD for like, 5,6,7 yrs -I can't even remember...and every time he puts out a novice video I feel like I'm finally going to start working out.
Since I’ve discovered your channel I’ve learned a lot and can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. All the great information for free feels almost like I’m cheating at life
number 3 was defiantly me, I used to do 2 types of squats and 2 types of deadlifts +quad extensions and hamstring curls for one leg work out. And I'd do this twice per week... wasted so many years doing way too much per session. Lockdown gave me a chance to reflect, stop being so stubborn and actually fix the issues I had in my programming
Yup same . On my leg day , i would 1)squat 4sets 2)front squats 3sets 3)leg press 3sets 4) leg extension 3sets 5) hamstring curls 5sets 6) standing calf raises 3sets 7) seated calf raises 3 sets And ill just say this one thing to show the ridiculousness of this - my squat was 40kgs during this . When i finally stopped this bullshit , my squat which was stuck at 40kg-50kg for 3 fucking months , my squat jumped up to 70kg in just two novice sessions , and then it kept increasing by 5lbs every session for quite some while.
14:17 Biggest mistake I made was trying to train like an intermediate/ advanced lifter as a novis. I could've become intermediate so much quicker if I used a basic novis programme right from the start. I think it was because I was uneducated and thought because it was for a beginner it would mean it is designed to be easier yet the truth is its designed to be the most optimal for progression.
Same i had started training 5 years ago when i was in high school and starting with bro splits and intermediate programs without ever gaining strength. Im now doing Alex's novice program and its probably gonna take me longer to try to meet those benchmarks had i just done this from the beginning. Best of luck!
@@eduardoocampo3764 its never too late man, I'm sure you'll make some great gains on Alex's novis programme i hope it goes well. Also once your intermediate I highly reccomend Naturally Enhanced the gains have been insane
Your channel is a literal diamond mine my guy! I love your videos so much and they help me a lot thanks so much brother. There’s so much info here all for free i appreciate it so much
Hey Alex last week was my first week back to training since March 2020 When the pandemic hit. I did no training whatsoever for over a year due to the lockdown, injuries and mental health issues i personally have. However the gym reopened again for the 2nd time and was surprised i did not lose as much strength as i thought i would lose. Keep up your videos man it speaks the truth and you have helped me so much with your teaching throughout the last 2 and a half years!
I actually enjoy the fact that you kept it simple while information-dense in this one. Quite a few of your videos are packed with abbreviations and, to an outsider, somewhat complex theories that make it difficult for someone who just got started or just found your channel to follow you. Love yout stuff anyways! Thanks for all the work, bro!
My road to the goals I set for myself in your January video is coming to a close, I've now squatted 445 benched 295 (video on my channel) and pulled 475 (my goals were 455 squat 315 bench and 545 deadlift at a sub 170 bw) at a bodyweight of 163, thanks alex!
I used to constantly try to write my own programs while having low knowledge of exercise science. After reading naturally enhanced, watching real advanced naturals on youtube and running Alex’s novice program I made far better gains than I’ve ever made before. Cheers from Ontario Alex!
This couldn’t have come at a better time, thank you Alex! Could you perhaps do a pendlay row tutorial? I’m stuck between having a parallel back rowing with lighter weight (135) and a slight elevation with higher weights (170)
Love your chanel my dude, watched you a ton back in the day but fell off the fitness wagon. Got back on and your content is better than ever, glad to see you still rollin
Very true regarding tracking your workouts. It has taken the way I can push my limits and set goals for myself each session to a whole new level. Great stuff as always!
i dont know why, but putting my workout down with pen and paper after my workout (which i took notes on with my phone) really improved my whole experience
Speaking as an absolute novice when it comes to the gym, the biggest mistake I made was not powering through my anxiety and fear of judgement from onlookers sooner than I did. I, like many people do, had this feeling that as an unfit, overweight chubby dude, I didn't belong in the gym. It took a while to drill into my own head that as an unfit, overweight chubby dude, the gym was exactly where I needed to be. My gym anxiety caused my to delay moving away from less useful machine based sets & way too much cardio and towards free weights and compound exercises. Deadlifting specifically has changed my life. The gains, the adrenaline, the constant progression and even the full body exhaustion at the end of a session fills me with joy. The depression I've suffered with for decades is now virtually non-existent. I'm the strongest I've ever been in my life, I can see and feel my muscle mass exploding and the steady numerical progression of the weight I'm capable of pulling is extremely exciting. While still light weight by more seasoned lifters' standards, in 6 weeks I've gone from struggling to even get 100kg off the ground for 1 rep (conventional) with proper form, to a 150kg PR recently which actually felt quite easy, like I was giving about 80%.. and that was directly after pulling my previous 140kg PR for 2 easy reps.
5:13, I'm certainly guilty on this, jumping on an intermediate training too soon. Doing shit ton of volume. Probably over do the training and recovery cannot catch up with the training.
Training logs are a must. Each set has to be measured and each reps effort to complete must be measured also. If I'm balls to the wall getting 10 10 10 10, I'll go another week before I move up. More out of less weight and I don't want any serious issues arising. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
This is what I never understood about strength programs. Like wtf man?? I cant train all my other muscles with isolation movements? No thanks. Gonna look less optimal than if they were included.
"Not doing cardio or calisthenics" i think this is more than enough proof that this guy is legit and not a get big as possible stereotypical bodybuilder
Highly agree with tip 1, most programs include power cleans and do not even have a vertical and horizontal pull, you should include the six movement patterns: hip hinge, squat, horizontal push, vertical push, horizontal pull, vertical pull
@@darthghitza8037 Yeah but people should learn how to do cleans and snatches later on ideally if they are done in a power and high hang position especially for athletes
I tend to build my program around looking at all my muscle groups and deciding how many times a week I want to hit each, then I decide my exercises I prefer for those muscle groups, then I fit it all into a program deciding what exercises fit best in which days. From there you can add or subtract based on recovery and results
Where did the novices doing power cleans come from? Over the last year I've seen a lot of newbies come in and attempt power cleans far too early in their development. It hurts my soul to watch these younger guys repeatedly catch the clean with their knees and hips locked out.
There's a popular program that recommends them, and since then many more have come out with the same recommendation. I highly disagree with this trend for most lifters.
I’ve noticed this as well. I used to cleans all the time for football & rugby but it was after years of developing form & strength. Now ppl are snapping their shit up attempting them 😬
I love running and don't think I can ever stop. It's the ultimate drug once you can run fast without stopping for miles, not to mention the joys of running in fancy vaporflys.
Exactly..my goal was to get to intermediate as soon as possible..but couldnt run 5k..now about to do a half marathon and the strength is getting better anyways
My biggest novice mistake was not understanding the importance of scapular stability in all exercises, resulting in debilitating tennis/golfers elbow in both elbows.
Exercises I use to varying degrees with barbell and or dumbbell -Flat/Incline Bench press -Overhead press -Row -Back Squat -RDL/conventional deadlift -Curl -Hammer curl -Standing wrist curl -Gripping the barbell with a fat grip -Lateral raise -Rear delt row -Calf raise -Glute bridge (can’t do hip thrust because my torso doesn’t match the bench I’d have to buy a hip thruster -1 arm Tricep extension -Shrug Not sure if I want to do direct ab work for my goals yet but with what I have if I did I’d do a weighted crunch at a decline
Alex, Lifter A only does compound movements with no isolations. Lifter B only does isolations but he trains every body muscle on his body. Who's getting better results in 5 years?
@@popcornto6032 I'd like to agree since I'm literally lifter A, but at compounds you're as strong as your weakest link.. Which means some muscles will lag behind. Lifter A will have better real life strength though (because of the patterns) and probably more free time. On the other hand, if you max out on peck deck and can't increase the weight, then lifter B you're fucked. End of blabbering. Just my opinion.
100% agree with everything you said! I'm intermediate to advanced, came from fat dude to gym dude, only calisthenics thing I could do was push ups and I did many many push ups, now my bench press is significantly better than anything else even though I follow a strict routine encompassing the whole body. I wish I came from skinny dude so I could've done all that cool stuff back in the day.. now I'm struggling to learn front levers cos my legs feel heavy, can't handstand push up cos shoulders can't handle the instability let alone a planch or cool stuff... I reckon I easily have the strength, but not the skill or stability for any of these things. I primarily go for strength but doing high rep sets helps getting that one extra rep on the heavier sets and ect.
My biggest mistake was going too hard on the first or two sets of heavy compounds, always going to failure and beyond for no reason. I also did not deload, so I felt weak quite often, which made my lifts stagnate for months. Adopting better programming principles helped me gain muscle size and strength with only two 12.5kg dumbbells and a band during lockdown, and now that the gyms are reopen, I am stronger than before they closed, even though for half the time I didn't work out because of how boring home workouts were.
Terrific quality content, Alex! Very impressive esp. for some1 this young. "Strength is key." I have learnt much from what you have put out. IMO, willpower can be a double-edged sword when it comes to training esp. when one's work capacity is high. E.g. After a 4 x 1 90%-max effort deadlift on intensity day, believe it or not, I still feel great enough to run through all the opt. set x rep from 70-90% of Prilepin's. For intensity push and pull days, I can actually do this for 2 exercises for each body part. I just feel stronger at the lower weight ends when I back off from the heavier ones and many times, I will add in arm isolation after, depending on how I feel. Sessions will usually only end only after 90-105 min. A min. 45 min LISS cardio run then ensue. 6 days/week ppl split, and very rarely misses a workout. Gotta fight this feeling of not wanting to leave anything in the tank very often. Just because one can doesn't mean he should or that it is optimal. Would be terrific if you can make a video about overtraining on intensity days.
I think the idea that I try to convey to my wife when working out is "if it's not hard, is it really worth doing?". Generally, the stuff we avoid are movements that we need to get better on, pretty telling if you ask me.
I understand why not including isolation excersises might be a bad thing, but what about this: Let's say you do a upper body workout, without a db bicep curl and a cable tricep pushdown for example, BUT, include a neutral grip weighted pull up and a close grip bench press, next to your other chest (and triceps) and back (and bicep) excersises?
I made the second mistake for a long time but not because of laziness or not pushing myself but simply by not caring about it, and not programming about it. This resulted in a decent looking physique with terrible strenght numbers, a mistake that i‘m catching up right now thanks to you alex!
Hey Alex I’m going to try a Steve reeves Type workout. Full body 3x a week. Doing research about how he trained he would do low intensity cardio on off days. Things like swimming for ex. Is this a good idea or would this dip into recovery for muscle growth?
This is my exercises that i do in the gym A. Deadlift Bench Pull up Dips Biceps curls Calf Abs B. Squats Shoulder press Chin-ups Push ups Hammer curl Calfs Abs….. This is two days a week And cardio push sled 185 pounds 3 sets 15 yards …run 7.9 speed treadmill for 4 mins… Any advice on anything i should changed
mine was not paying enough attention to my rotator cuffs. My bench was increasing but my external rotation strength was staying the same. Could have avoided a lot of shoulder pain.
I was an endurance athlete for 20 some odd years. Now that I am 50 I started lifting seriously for the first time. There is zero reason to be able to deadlift 3x your body weight if your ticker is about to expire. The heart is a muscle and the most important one at that and in has to be trained. Do not over look the cardio. Everyone should be able to jog 5k, not for speed but for your health.
Hey alex i am a novice lifter doing a fullbody program but i spend way too much time in the gym because my workout takes too long to complete can you show us novice lifters how we can do concurrent periodisation on a novice program aswell make a video on good gpp workouts for our recovery off days so i can improve my work capacity.
As a novice I’d start with 5x5 then after 2 weeks I’d make made a dumb move and did chest/ tri Monday back bi Tuesday shoulders legs Wednesday and then restart and rest Sunday I ran this for a month then back to 5x5 and cut after 3 weeks. My bad lol just not a smart move to switch programs rapidly
Doing at least 10 mins of cardio after each session from now on. I’m bulking but I’m positive it’ll just contribute to better sleep and better performance.
I think that for an athlete who wants to start lifting, then stronglifts supplemented with pullups or 5/3/1 if they already know what kind of base strength they have is enough because they are already doing a lot more. But it is definitely not enough for someone who doesnt do anything else. I think your novice program is great and so is NHs
I'm new to lifting, going to do 5x5 because it's seems pretty simple as far as not many types of lifts,and it give me a schedule and structure can/should I do cardio on off days? I'm pretty fat lol 6 foot 243, And if I should at some point isolate other muscles, when should I do that ? Ok you answered the cardio part in video, I should of held out longer lol
What do you think about getting out of the sagittal plane? Things like cossack squats, side Lunges, sled side drags etc. Have you ever tried those? How would you incorporate this into your novice programme? Do consider this question for your qna buddy
It's wise to move in all the planes of motion. A novice could throw in 1 movement (pick from: one-arm cable row with torso rotation, wood choppers, cossack squats, etc.) at the end of each day. Progress on them from week to week. You could even rotate these movements out every 4-8 weeks if you want a variety of movement in your program.
Alex, do you one set to failure every other day in the 10-20 rep range can produce a large proportion of your hypertrophy for the muscles worked in that compound lift? Cause I like training this way. And what percentage of your max gains would you make if you had to guess.
As long as you are active at work do not feel bad about missing cardio. If you work a sedentary job, start with just 2-3 sessions of 5-10 minutes each week (can be done before or after work) and build up from there
@@StrengthHacksCoaching I understand my blood work is excellent my fat percentage is good 18% ( not looking for a pro card😂😂) and I work out for over an hour a minimum of five days a week. I get cardio when I can but it’s not every day .
@@spotsill - My work is quite demanding on my feet also, I walk between 10-18 miles, yes miles per day around the warehouse I help supervise/maintain. I was eating at maintainence calories of 2900 but that's now a deficit because of my new job. I need to eat about 3500-3600 per day just to cover what I lose at work walking around lmao.
@@DDB-91 cursed endomorph my maintenance is 1,700 but I get in all of my protein and manage 😂😂😂. Out of the house at 5;30am and in a good day I’am home by 5:30pm . I usually have some rice for a quick supper and pre workout meal do my over one hour workouts go to bed by 10:00 pm and start it all over again. Weekends are endless yard work, house maintenance and still get in my workouts .
for about a month now i started doing calf raises in the leg press machine making sure to control the weitgh and not bounce it but every time i do this exercise i feel the latic buildup on my feet arches rather than the muscle itself, i am doing 4 sets of 20 with 60 kgs
but what if i live in an appartment complex on the 9th floor and i do deadlifts from a pile of rubber and foam mats because i have to. does this spell bad news in the future for my lower back? this raises the bar about 10 centimeters
I am one of them, with work and training, my maintenance is 4000 calories per day at 215lb bodyweight. If it weren't for .5-.75 gallons of whole milk a day, I would not be able to bulk, and it would be hard to hit my maintenance calories.
I’m currently running a full body weightlifting program, 1 day on, 1 day off. On my off day I’m doing cardio and stretches for mobility. When would you slot in calisthenics? Bear in mind I do pushups and pullups on my weightlifting days.
Alpha, going to be switching to three days a week naturally enhanced. My focus is going to be ohp good mornings and the like. If I run a max and two volume sessions in a week, what would be the progression? Would the volume stay the same for both high rep days? How would that play into increasing weight/sets? Thanks for the advice, love the channel.
My gains have been huge this year. However,, I just tore the meniscus in my left knee squatting a week ago. It was a damn warmup working set also and I completed all my sets. Any advice - non medical - anyone has for how I should proceed? I feel like the most important thing after rest will be continue training but maybe leave squats out, maybe just fix my form and use less weight. I dunno. At a damn loss right now. It’s not terrible, but can tell it’s torn because I did my right knee 3 years ago
5 sets or relatively light leg extensions before squat sessions made my quads double in size to the point i could hardly believe, accessory work matters
People need to learn as much as they can, and then use their own mind to make decisions. Training should not be dogmatic. What is your goal, and what would you enjoy doing?
People who are extremists in exercise selection, like with compound vs isolation, are usually wrong
Definitely, exercise is such a complex topic, most things about it are not black and white.
Any extreme is, most of the time, bad. Love your content Dr. Swole, as well. Keep it up.
My biggest mistake was hitting every variation of an exercise in a single workout and being too scared to increase the weight.
I have tried something similar and man it takes so damn long learning to pace myself has been rough
I've found a lot of progress focusing on minimal effective dose, finding out which exercises bring the widest range of gains, rather than having too much exercise FOMO
yeah I get you. Finally realizing how you can do a large variety of exercises, but it's better to rotate them in every few weeks rather than in a single lifting day.
Lmaooo i remember when i was starting i believed that the chest has 3 parts to hit so i would do 3 bench variations, 3 fly movements and some push ups. On my final bench variation, i was shaking just gripping the bar lying down😂😂 oh man good old days, now it's quarantine and im back to square one in terms of physique but in terms of knowledge and experience i have ascended
@@sillyme2598 same situation lol. Atm im minimalist.
Have you guys seen some of Alphas first uploads ever? My guy has changed so much fantastic work Mr Destiny clearly your methods work
‘Mr. Destiny’ 🤣
Loool
Lmao mr destiny
Mr Destiny
@@Angelo-z2i please, Mr Destiny was my father
I've had a gym membership since 16, I'm 19 now. I was very inconsistent and didn't make much progress because I now realize that I was trying to do a program that was far too advanced for me, it was too many days in the gym and the workouts had far too much isolation work looking back. I only recently realized that my approach was flawed by going back to the fundamentals and I really regret not knowing what I know right now. I can't wait to get back into the gym and apply what I've learned, including from this video.
The same thing happened to me bro, that's life, now let's give it all when we go back to the gym.
Because of you Mr. ,I now love weighted bodyweight exercises.Two months since I started training and I already see the differences.Much Love!(Sorry for my bad english)
You say words of praise but i find your picture disrespectful
@@Jnikola97 I'd say the combination of what he said and his pic makes his comment perfect
@@sicuw1773 hahaha true
@@Jnikola97 lol it's a funny picture stfu, apparently not even alex found it disrespectful since he liked the comment
@@sicuw1773 exactly especially since it saying I can see the difference and y just look at the pic.
Honestly, I watched so many of these videos while slowly becoming an intermediate lifter that I'm prolly infinitely better off that I usually would've been.
I've been watching AD for like, 5,6,7 yrs -I can't even remember...and every time he puts out a novice video I feel like I'm finally going to start working out.
Since I’ve discovered your channel I’ve learned a lot and can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. All the great information for free feels almost like I’m cheating at life
number 3 was defiantly me, I used to do 2 types of squats and 2 types of deadlifts +quad extensions and hamstring curls for one leg work out. And I'd do this twice per week... wasted so many years doing way too much per session. Lockdown gave me a chance to reflect, stop being so stubborn and actually fix the issues I had in my programming
Yup same . On my leg day , i would 1)squat 4sets
2)front squats 3sets
3)leg press 3sets
4) leg extension 3sets
5) hamstring curls 5sets
6) standing calf raises 3sets
7) seated calf raises 3 sets
And ill just say this one thing to show the ridiculousness of this - my squat was 40kgs during this .
When i finally stopped this bullshit , my squat which was stuck at 40kg-50kg for 3 fucking months , my squat jumped up to 70kg in just two novice sessions , and then it kept increasing by 5lbs every session for quite some while.
14:17 Biggest mistake I made was trying to train like an intermediate/ advanced lifter as a novis. I could've become intermediate so much quicker if I used a basic novis programme right from the start.
I think it was because I was uneducated and thought because it was for a beginner it would mean it is designed to be easier yet the truth is its designed to be the most optimal for progression.
Same i had started training 5 years ago when i was in high school and starting with bro splits and intermediate programs without ever gaining strength. Im now doing Alex's novice program and its probably gonna take me longer to try to meet those benchmarks had i just done this from the beginning. Best of luck!
@@eduardoocampo3764 its never too late man, I'm sure you'll make some great gains on Alex's novis programme i hope it goes well. Also once your intermediate I highly reccomend Naturally Enhanced the gains have been insane
Hey man im really struggling in my personal Life but youre one of the good things that makes me wanting to keep progressing in life
Hope things get better for you bud, keep grinding the gym as I'm sure it'll help
Everything will get better do the work and god will guide you to happiness again
your gonna fail at life give up
Hahaha
Thanks Alex! It seems like your one of the only fittness channels that gives practical advice nowadays
Preciate that man! Always trying to help.
@@AlexLeonidas AS BEGINNER i should do some tricep extensions and bicep curls and not just do compound lifts ok. il add some to my workout.
@@AlexLeonidas how often should i train my biceps as beginner and tricep extentions. 3 times week?
@@broski4851 10-20 sets
@@broski4851 yeah it’s fine 2-3 times a week is good
Your channel is a literal diamond mine my guy! I love your videos so much and they help me a lot thanks so much brother. There’s so much info here all for free i appreciate it so much
Hey Alex last week was my first week back to training since March 2020 When the pandemic hit. I did no training whatsoever for over a year due to the lockdown, injuries and mental health issues i personally have. However the gym reopened again for the 2nd time and was surprised i did not lose as much strength as i thought i would lose. Keep up your videos man it speaks the truth and you have helped me so much with your teaching throughout the last 2 and a half years!
Awesome to hear that man, natty muscle is definitely easier to keep. Much love!
I actually enjoy the fact that you kept it simple while information-dense in this one. Quite a few of your videos are packed with abbreviations and, to an outsider, somewhat complex theories that make it difficult for someone who just got started or just found your channel to follow you. Love yout stuff anyways!
Thanks for all the work, bro!
Coaches that tell people to do power cleans instead of rows are always built like those boogers off the mucinex commercials
Just say his name: Mark Rippetoe
My road to the goals I set for myself in your January video is coming to a close, I've now squatted 445 benched 295 (video on my channel) and pulled 475 (my goals were 455 squat 315 bench and 545 deadlift at a sub 170 bw) at a bodyweight of 163, thanks alex!
That's serious bro!! Keep killing it I can only imagine your potential 🔥🔥🔥
@@AlexLeonidas thanks man! I will, you're gonna destroy 405 soon
@@quadslikescott3816 what happened to the video?
@@natereynolds2783 I took it down a while back but I've massacred that pr and benched 350 before I turned 17 after working with a coach
@@natereynolds2783 uploaded the 350 bench and a squat vid
Always the best advice. Best in the fitness industry, honest useful advice and consistent uploads. Should be at a million subs
I used to constantly try to write my own programs while having low knowledge of exercise science. After reading naturally enhanced, watching real advanced naturals on youtube and running Alex’s novice program I made far better gains than I’ve ever made before. Cheers from Ontario Alex!
This couldn’t have come at a better time, thank you Alex! Could you perhaps do a pendlay row tutorial? I’m stuck between having a parallel back rowing with lighter weight (135) and a slight elevation with higher weights (170)
My pleasure Bilal! Could definitely cover that at some point.
Yes please, it's tricky to get right
Love your chanel my dude, watched you a ton back in the day but fell off the fitness wagon. Got back on and your content is better than ever, glad to see you still rollin
This channel has changed and opened my mind and challenged my assumptions. Thank you very much.
Thanks for the upload, ur my favorite natty
Very true regarding tracking your workouts. It has taken the way I can push my limits and set goals for myself each session to a whole new level. Great stuff as always!
i dont know why, but putting my workout down with pen and paper after my workout (which i took notes on with my phone) really improved my whole experience
You are actually a really good channel, information is solid. And new channel name gives better impression :)
Speaking as an absolute novice when it comes to the gym, the biggest mistake I made was not powering through my anxiety and fear of judgement from onlookers sooner than I did. I, like many people do, had this feeling that as an unfit, overweight chubby dude, I didn't belong in the gym. It took a while to drill into my own head that as an unfit, overweight chubby dude, the gym was exactly where I needed to be. My gym anxiety caused my to delay moving away from less useful machine based sets & way too much cardio and towards free weights and compound exercises.
Deadlifting specifically has changed my life. The gains, the adrenaline, the constant progression and even the full body exhaustion at the end of a session fills me with joy. The depression I've suffered with for decades is now virtually non-existent. I'm the strongest I've ever been in my life, I can see and feel my muscle mass exploding and the steady numerical progression of the weight I'm capable of pulling is extremely exciting. While still light weight by more seasoned lifters' standards, in 6 weeks I've gone from struggling to even get 100kg off the ground for 1 rep (conventional) with proper form, to a 150kg PR recently which actually felt quite easy, like I was giving about 80%.. and that was directly after pulling my previous 140kg PR for 2 easy reps.
Your channel is amazing, so much knowledge. You're one of the few people in this fitness group that aren't clowns and tell us what we need to hear.
5:13, I'm certainly guilty on this, jumping on an intermediate training too soon. Doing shit ton of volume. Probably over do the training and recovery cannot catch up with the training.
Training logs are a must. Each set has to be measured and each reps effort to complete must be measured also. If I'm balls to the wall getting 10 10 10 10, I'll go another week before I move up. More out of less weight and I don't want any serious issues arising. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Great stuff, as always. Love the Paul Anderson drop. Of course, when he did HSPU, he was pushing up 350 pounds.
Trying to replace your NP during gym lockdown. What are your thoughts?
Day A
- Bulgarian split squat: 5x5
- Nordic curls 5x5
- Pause dips: 5x5
- Pause Narrow Chins: 5x5
- Def Pike push-ups: 5x6
- Pull-ups: 5x5
- Plank 5x30sec
Day B
- Pistol squat: 5x10
- Nordic curl: 5x10
- Def Pike push-ups: 5x6
-Deficit neut push-ups: 5x8
-Pause Narrow chins: 5x6
- Pull-ups: 5x5
- Plank 5x30sec
Thankful to have this man on youtube
This is what I never understood about strength programs. Like wtf man?? I cant train all my other muscles with isolation movements? No thanks. Gonna look less optimal than if they were included.
Well, they are strength programs not aesthetic/hypertrophy program
"Not doing cardio or calisthenics" i think this is more than enough proof that this guy is legit and not a get big as possible stereotypical bodybuilder
Crazy how lengthened partials are now seen as a good addition to your program
Great thing about conjugate is you can see an exercise or principal and think “that looks cool” and you can fit it into your training
Highly agree with tip 1, most programs include power cleans and do not even have a vertical and horizontal pull, you should include the six movement patterns: hip hinge, squat, horizontal push, vertical push, horizontal pull, vertical pull
Agreed, you should include those before anything else if your goal is general strength or hypertrophy.
@@darthghitza8037 Yeah but people should learn how to do cleans and snatches later on ideally if they are done in a power and high hang position especially for athletes
@@inigoxd only if your goals require it
High quality videos from you always Alex. You have the best content explanation and presentation. Good work.
I tend to build my program around looking at all my muscle groups and deciding how many times a week I want to hit each, then I decide my exercises I prefer for those muscle groups, then I fit it all into a program deciding what exercises fit best in which days. From there you can add or subtract based on recovery and results
Where did the novices doing power cleans come from? Over the last year I've seen a lot of newbies come in and attempt power cleans far too early in their development. It hurts my soul to watch these younger guys repeatedly catch the clean with their knees and hips locked out.
There's a popular program that recommends them, and since then many more have come out with the same recommendation. I highly disagree with this trend for most lifters.
I’ve noticed this as well. I used to cleans all the time for football & rugby but it was after years of developing form & strength. Now ppl are snapping their shit up attempting them 😬
No bs just straight into the video 👍
Ur a legend, i sayd ur too big on some other channel but its bs man. You just serious about this. Good luck to you sir
Awesome content as always Alex
Solid info! Thanks. I do 100% calisthenics at 63. 3rd year training regularly. Addicted. #FitOver60
Just gotta stop in and say, hair and facial hair game is ON . bro! 💪
I love running and don't think I can ever stop. It's the ultimate drug once you can run fast without stopping for miles, not to mention the joys of running in fancy vaporflys.
Exactly..my goal was to get to intermediate as soon as possible..but couldnt run 5k..now about to do a half marathon and the strength is getting better anyways
My biggest novice mistake was not understanding the importance of scapular stability in all exercises, resulting in debilitating tennis/golfers elbow in both elbows.
Exercises I use to varying degrees with barbell and or dumbbell
-Flat/Incline Bench press
-Overhead press
-Row
-Back Squat
-RDL/conventional deadlift
-Curl
-Hammer curl
-Standing wrist curl
-Gripping the barbell with a fat grip
-Lateral raise
-Rear delt row
-Calf raise
-Glute bridge (can’t do hip thrust because my torso doesn’t match the bench I’d have to buy a hip thruster
-1 arm Tricep extension
-Shrug
Not sure if I want to do direct ab work for my goals yet but with what I have if I did I’d do a weighted crunch at a decline
Alex, Lifter A only does compound movements with no isolations. Lifter B only does isolations but he trains every body muscle on his body. Who's getting better results in 5 years?
@@popcornto6032 I'd like to agree since I'm literally lifter A, but at compounds you're as strong as your weakest link.. Which means some muscles will lag behind. Lifter A will have better real life strength though (because of the patterns) and probably more free time. On the other hand, if you max out on peck deck and can't increase the weight, then lifter B you're fucked. End of blabbering. Just my opinion.
100% agree with everything you said! I'm intermediate to advanced, came from fat dude to gym dude, only calisthenics thing I could do was push ups and I did many many push ups, now my bench press is significantly better than anything else even though I follow a strict routine encompassing the whole body. I wish I came from skinny dude so I could've done all that cool stuff back in the day.. now I'm struggling to learn front levers cos my legs feel heavy, can't handstand push up cos shoulders can't handle the instability let alone a planch or cool stuff... I reckon I easily have the strength, but not the skill or stability for any of these things.
I primarily go for strength but doing high rep sets helps getting that one extra rep on the heavier sets and ect.
My biggest mistake was going too hard on the first or two sets of heavy compounds, always going to failure and beyond for no reason. I also did not deload, so I felt weak quite often, which made my lifts stagnate for months. Adopting better programming principles helped me gain muscle size and strength with only two 12.5kg dumbbells and a band during lockdown, and now that the gyms are reopen, I am stronger than before they closed, even though for half the time I didn't work out because of how boring home workouts were.
Balance is always important not following any extremes
Terrific quality content, Alex! Very impressive esp. for some1 this young. "Strength is key." I have learnt much from what you have put out. IMO, willpower can be a double-edged sword when it comes to training esp. when one's work capacity is high. E.g. After a 4 x 1 90%-max effort deadlift on intensity day, believe it or not, I still feel great enough to run through all the opt. set x rep from 70-90% of Prilepin's. For intensity push and pull days, I can actually do this for 2 exercises for each body part. I just feel stronger at the lower weight ends when I back off from the heavier ones and many times, I will add in arm isolation after, depending on how I feel. Sessions will usually only end only after 90-105 min. A min. 45 min LISS cardio run then ensue. 6 days/week ppl split, and very rarely misses a workout. Gotta fight this feeling of not wanting to leave anything in the tank very often. Just because one can doesn't mean he should or that it is optimal. Would be terrific if you can make a video about overtraining on intensity days.
I think the idea that I try to convey to my wife when working out is "if it's not hard, is it really worth doing?". Generally, the stuff we avoid are movements that we need to get better on, pretty telling if you ask me.
That’s what she said
I get overloaded with movements so much that I work out twice a day & still can't fit them all in
Thumbnail game is strong on this one! Very catchy to the eye
6:41 I never laugh more this year 😂😂
Hahahahah like a cat
I understand why not including isolation excersises might be a bad thing, but what about this: Let's say you do a upper body workout, without a db bicep curl and a cable tricep pushdown for example, BUT, include a neutral grip weighted pull up and a close grip bench press, next to your other chest (and triceps) and back (and bicep) excersises?
I made the second mistake for a long time but not because of laziness or not pushing myself but simply by not caring about it, and not programming about it. This resulted in a decent looking physique with terrible strenght numbers, a mistake that i‘m catching up right now thanks to you alex!
My biggest mistake in the beginning was that I would only do 1 working set for compound exercises
Alex you are so awesome bro. Huge inspiration to me and so many others🤘
You workout weird but i like it .
Im a bro guy i do isolation workout .
Tomorow cheat meal BABYYYYY YEAAAA.
Love your stuff Alex
Hey Alex I’m going to try a Steve reeves Type workout. Full body 3x a week. Doing research about how he trained he would do low intensity cardio on off days. Things like swimming for ex. Is this a good idea or would this dip into recovery for muscle growth?
this man just roasted stronglifts 5x5 and didnt have to mention it directly once😂
This is my exercises that i do in the gym
A.
Deadlift
Bench
Pull up
Dips
Biceps curls
Calf
Abs
B.
Squats
Shoulder press
Chin-ups
Push ups
Hammer curl
Calfs
Abs…..
This is two days a week
And cardio push sled 185 pounds 3 sets 15 yards …run 7.9 speed treadmill for 4 mins…
Any advice on anything i should changed
I’m starting isolation workouts tomorrow 😅
Compounds + isolations = best gains!
I totally agree. Been training for 2 years while done anything for biceps and triceps. I ended up looking like an arigator, or even a beatle
mine was not paying enough attention to my rotator cuffs. My bench was increasing but my external rotation strength was staying the same. Could have avoided a lot of shoulder pain.
I mainly do weighted callisthenics and built tones of muscles with my daily workouts
great advice from this dude!!!
Thanks for the great advice👍🏼
I started StrongLifts 5x5 as a novice. It's been good to me
I was an endurance athlete for 20 some odd years. Now that I am 50 I started lifting seriously for the first time. There is zero reason to be able to deadlift 3x your body weight if your ticker is about to expire. The heart is a muscle and the most important one at that and in has to be trained. Do not over look the cardio. Everyone should be able to jog 5k, not for speed but for your health.
2:17 is that a reverse hyper with a weight stack??? I've been scouring online for one of those, I can't find any lol
Hey alex i am a novice lifter doing a fullbody program but i spend way too much time in the gym because my workout takes too long to complete can you show us novice lifters how we can do concurrent periodisation on a novice program aswell make a video on good gpp workouts for our recovery off days so i can improve my work capacity.
Not having a training log has been my biggest mistake.
As a novice I’d start with 5x5 then after 2 weeks I’d make made a dumb move and did chest/ tri Monday back bi Tuesday shoulders legs Wednesday and then restart and rest Sunday I ran this for a month then back to 5x5 and cut after 3 weeks. My bad lol just not a smart move to switch programs rapidly
Doing at least 10 mins of cardio after each session from now on. I’m bulking but I’m positive it’ll just contribute to better sleep and better performance.
It definitely will, as it speeds up circulation and recovery. Especially when done after a lower body session
@@StrengthHacksCoaching thank you for the advice man!!
My biggest mistake was focusing on upper body more than lower body when i started lifting
I think that for an athlete who wants to start lifting, then stronglifts supplemented with pullups or 5/3/1 if they already know what kind of base strength they have is enough because they are already doing a lot more. But it is definitely not enough for someone who doesnt do anything else. I think your novice program is great and so is NHs
I'm new to lifting, going to do 5x5 because it's seems pretty simple as far as not many types of lifts,and it give me a schedule and structure can/should I do cardio on off days? I'm pretty fat lol 6 foot 243, And if I should at some point isolate other muscles, when should I do that ? Ok you answered the cardio part in video, I should of held out longer lol
What do you think about getting out of the sagittal plane? Things like cossack squats, side Lunges, sled side drags etc. Have you ever tried those? How would you incorporate this into your novice programme? Do consider this question for your qna buddy
It's wise to move in all the planes of motion. A novice could throw in 1 movement (pick from: one-arm cable row with torso rotation, wood choppers, cossack squats, etc.) at the end of each day. Progress on them from week to week. You could even rotate these movements out every 4-8 weeks if you want a variety of movement in your program.
Your advice to push for progression made me get constant pr's in the gym today and I was dry fasted for ramadan.
#Wedontsettle
Alex, do you one set to failure every other day in the 10-20 rep range can produce a large proportion of your hypertrophy for the muscles worked in that compound lift? Cause I like training this way.
And what percentage of your max gains would you make if you had to guess.
I also workout the same way. Will be interesting to hear Alex's opinion
@@paulo7113 I train fairly similar to this nowadays as well. I like training to failure lol
Yeah me too. I can only train at home and my max weight I have for Squats are 46kg so I am forced to train like that.
I have tracked my workouts for years but I will admit to not doing enough cardio but with my twelve hour work days something’s gotta give 😖😖😖.
As long as you are active at work do not feel bad about missing cardio. If you work a sedentary job, start with just 2-3 sessions of 5-10 minutes each week (can be done before or after work) and build up from there
@@StrengthHacksCoaching I understand my blood work is excellent my fat percentage is good 18% ( not looking for a pro card😂😂) and I work out for over an hour a minimum of five days a week. I get cardio when I can but it’s not every day .
@@spotsill - My work is quite demanding on my feet also, I walk between 10-18 miles, yes miles per day around the warehouse I help supervise/maintain. I was eating at maintainence calories of 2900 but that's now a deficit because of my new job. I need to eat about 3500-3600 per day just to cover what I lose at work walking around lmao.
@@DDB-91 cursed endomorph my maintenance is 1,700 but I get in all of my protein and manage 😂😂😂. Out of the house at 5;30am and in a good day I’am home by 5:30pm . I usually have some rice for a quick supper and pre workout meal do my over one hour workouts go to bed by 10:00 pm and start it all over again. Weekends are endless yard work, house maintenance and still get in my workouts .
Keep skipping abs because planks hurt my shoulders, I have to stop due to shoulder pain instead
I'd recommend weighted crunches homie
@@AlexLeonidas Thanks, I’ll try them
@@animejunkie7791 cable crunches are pretty cool, you can also try dragon flags if you want a bodyweight exercise, leg raises are a must tho holmes
for about a month now i started doing calf raises in the leg press machine making sure to control the weitgh and not bounce it but every time i do this exercise i feel the latic buildup on my feet arches rather than the muscle itself, i am doing 4 sets of 20 with 60 kgs
but what if i live in an appartment complex on the 9th floor and i do deadlifts from a pile of rubber and foam mats because i have to. does this spell bad news in the future for my lower back?
this raises the bar about 10 centimeters
You should do a video on diet with men whose job is basically a low intensity full-body exercise every day.
I am one of them, with work and training, my maintenance is 4000 calories per day at 215lb bodyweight. If it weren't for .5-.75 gallons of whole milk a day, I would not be able to bulk, and it would be hard to hit my maintenance calories.
Great content 👍!
I’m currently running a full body weightlifting program, 1 day on, 1 day off. On my off day I’m doing cardio and stretches for mobility. When would you slot in calisthenics? Bear in mind I do pushups and pullups on my weightlifting days.
Alpha, going to be switching to three days a week naturally enhanced. My focus is going to be ohp good mornings and the like. If I run a max and two volume sessions in a week, what would be the progression? Would the volume stay the same for both high rep days? How would that play into increasing weight/sets? Thanks for the advice, love the channel.
I want to go back to full body as well from ppl u/l but im afraid that i cannot fit in the work in the 2 sessions
nice! i totally agree! do i understand you right, that you are crossfiter now? :-) at least some beginner, without olympic lifts or so...
your speeches could rival 'any given sunday' in terms of motivation haha
My gains have been huge this year. However,, I just tore the meniscus in my left knee squatting a week ago. It was a damn warmup working set also and I completed all my sets. Any advice - non medical - anyone has for how I should proceed? I feel like the most important thing after rest will be continue training but maybe leave squats out, maybe just fix my form and use less weight. I dunno. At a damn loss right now. It’s not terrible, but can tell it’s torn because I did my right knee 3 years ago
The nice thing about your videos is that they don’t really age
What? Alphabro, common sense? We don't need common sense... Love your philosophy. Keep it up
5 sets or relatively light leg extensions before squat sessions made my quads double in size to the point i could hardly believe, accessory work matters
before?
People need to learn as much as they can, and then use their own mind to make decisions. Training should not be dogmatic. What is your goal, and what would you enjoy doing?