The pleasure's all mine, Eugene! I really appreciate you as well for answering all my direct questions with full transparency and detailed explanations. This was an absolute masterclass 🫡
He was the one who really got me into bodybuilding, a true pro's pro. He wasn't the most gifted and for that reason really thought hard about training and used a lot of different influences. He was never dogmatic, he was receptive and fatherly. The Mr. Rogers of fitness, a truly decent man. It hit me hard when we lost him, and even now I still find it hard to watch his content. RIP Mountain Dog.
I like how later in the interview,Alex’s positivity truly shines! He doesn’t let Eugene and himself fall into the “the years will downgrade us” belief, he keeps pushing back up to “we still have a lot to grow!”. That why Alex is really the natural GOAT! Always pushing the positive way!
Eugene has a great mind for training/bodybuilding nuances. It really exemplifies his understanding of these topics. Huge respect to a fellow Aussie keeping sh't real.
This is easilly one of the best videos I have watched on UA-cam talking about training topics. A great pleasure watching and learning. Thanks for the good work guys
This is one of the best lifting podcasts I've heard. You guys dig into the details and nuance without being too granular or pedantic. As a lifting aficionado, this was right up my alley. Seems like we have a lot of the same thoughts on training. Both you guys are a wealth of knowledge.
@AlexLeonidas definitely! Just getting through the first part about genuinely caring about folks regardless of follower count and Eugene definitely walks that walk! He's been very generous with his time and effort in helping me to sell programs on his platform despite me not having a huge following. Looking forward to the rest of it!
Just starting my tuesday morning wfh - made my coffee, and been thinking about my training. Seeing this pop up on my feed already made my day. Looking forward learning from you boys today!
Between this episode and the one with Faz, these have been such a joy to listen to. Anyone deeply in love with the iron game could listen to these kind of conversations for days on end. People with a real passion for the lifting lifestyle just chopping it up. Love it. Hope you continue to get more awesome guests and keep these coming 👊
Can't wait to watch this video as y'all are two of my favorite bodybuilder influencers out there and that is saying a lot as I am very hard to impress. I watch everything you two put out and I love it all, we disagree on some things but 95% of what yall teach I say is Gold but honestly who in the world agrees with 100% of what someone says, at least I'm honest and you two guys are what I call the BEST. Much props to you both!!!!!
1:56:45 exactly alex! While looking back some of the stuff may seem corny, it was your authentic self. YOU thought chest and quads were overrated for what YOU thought was appealing (bear mode). Everyone loved and still loves you because you remain yourself. People eat steak and eggs? I don't care I'm a vegan. People do iliac pulldowns? I'm gonna do weighted pullups. That's what we love and don't ever lose that bro
Absolutely loved the conversation! It’s highly informative and insightful. I greatly appreciate Eugene for sharing his wisdom with us. The amount of effort and dedication he puts into bodybuilding is truly commendable. He’s truly an inspiration for all natural lifters. Also, I’d love to see Joel Kellett on the podcast. It’d really amazing to listen to you both discuss natural bodybuilding and old school training techniques. Joel’s training methods are quite fascinating. His physique is one of the greatest that I’ve ever seen! His entire philosophy on bodybuilding is incredibly inspiring. Thank you so much for all the amazing content! 🙌
being general jack of all trades is a gold thing in bodybuilding and sports in general. I realized this the hard way after fracturing my achilles after a soccer match. I had to go through a lot of calisthenics' wobbly leg moves like one leg RDL and Shrimp squat, and i realized what i missed because i was too focused in heavy barbell work
one thing that I have recently come to know about in regards to "lost knowledge" or similar is dynamic posing. this was used extensively by the bronze era dudes, where they could contract their muscles to make movement. after that it was more static posing and this dynamic stuff was left out. some of the surviving footage of this type of posing is really cool
To add to on Alex and Eugene’s points about gymnastic ring training: The efficacy of a training style is the sum of its parts. Especially with isolation exercises like Pelican Curls and Extensions on rings - in my experience performing them - they’re pretty stable once your nervous system adapts to it. Cues like “falling into” the movement patterns make them almost machine-like for me. You can also always apply principles of optimal Hypertrophy training to rings. For example: adding a bar between the rings or straps makes the coordination almost non-existent on a lot of exercises. Lengthened partials are also really good here because on many exercises the stability demands are primarily in the lockout. Myo reps also help because you can squeeze a ton of effective reps from the exercises with less time spent coordinating. Also, depending on the split, training the isolations first really helps before going into the ring compounds. Sorry if this was long-winded, but in my experience ring training has amazing Hypertrophy benefits.
I really enjoyed this podcast Alex, keep them coming. I also noticed when I hyperfocused on one training method, style of training it gets stale I get bored and have higher chance of injury. That's why everybody should focused atleast 10% of their training to improve mobility, athleticism, cardio etc...
The "optimal" discussion was really great. The pendulum has swung way too far into the ultra-stable machine world in training and it's really going to hurt a lot of lifters long-term. The main issue is the idea floated around recently of lifting amnesia. So many advanced people are forgetting what got them the majority of their gains and are instead hyper-focusing on what is most "optimal" based on very early proof of concept type research. There are so many younger trainees at my gym who spend their entire workouts on low skill machine based training. Out of this population, maybe 1% actually train hard and focus on progressive overload. The extreme majority end up going through the motions and never progressing. In the rare chance I see them doing free weight movements, it's usually with hesitant technique and beginner weights, with working sets resembling my first warmup sets when I get to the gym cold. Is it any surprise a large number of these younger lifters are hopping on gear so young? They've been misled into thinking this type of machine based training will get them jacked and they've plateaued very early. There aren't enough people out there telling them that hard training on highly progressible movements is the way to go. That doesn't mean only free weights, there are plenty of machines and calisthenic movements that also fit the bill. How many people do you see going hard on a deep leg press, a Bulgarian split squat, or a weighted pullup at the gym, just to name a few examples? I only know of 2 other lifters at my gym who even do weighted pullups. It's gotten out of control. I've gotten so tired of the piecemeal approach to training that I'm veering back the other way. I'm putting more hard compound movements back into my routine and simplifying things a lot. I'm not discounting the modern bodybuilding approach entirely, it certainly has taught me how to position myself to best stimulate the muscles and learn to use lagging muscle groups, so it's served a purpose in improving the stimulus I get on big compounds. A healthy combination of training thresholds seems best equipped to progress long-term. I've always made the best progress when I keep high-skill movements and basic strength work in my routine. I don't plan on doing 1RMs anytime soon, but you don't need to just do sets of 6+ even when you're only concerned with physique goals.
Hello Leonidas. I lost my motivation during the two past months while on a cut. Please give us a video on regaining motivation after demotivation , especially for us older folks. Greetings from Greece! I haven't been to the gym for at least 2 months.
Alex, can i suggest getting the mindful mover in your Podcast? High intesity low volume Calisthenics to gain massive strength? would probably be a crazy flow of information
Okay! Hear me out. Doing curls with an arm blaster while leaning back on an incline bench. I am definitely going to try the back and arms on Preacher’s bench.
Can you help me? I'm going to set up a fixed dips, with the intention of focusing more on chest training, and in your opinion, what is the ideal width between the bars for good chest activation? Which one do you feel most comfortable doing? Just so I have a basis
I think a lot of people miss the point of having so much information. And with so much science out there showing us there many effective ways to train, I think all should feel empowered to chase the training they like. Even if barbell curls are not the best, you can add 1 set of preachers and 1 set of incline curls and tick the optimal box while doing what you like. That's if you even care for optimal. Because making the gym fun is gonna keep you in the game for long term , and in the end that's actually the MOST optimal outcome
Great interview as always! In other videos, you have said that TRT isn’t natural, and that once someone uses steroids, they can never be natural ever again. It sounds like you have changed your opinion on this?
Got a question for u mate, Im a late novice and ive hit a plateau recently - have stayed on the same weight and reps for all compounds for 2 months, Im 15 and ive been sorta consistent w my diet (protein and calories), id really appreciate it ifnu could tell me whats best to do - i dont know if im an intermediate now and the gains are way slower or if i need a deload (training everythibg to failure upper lower 4 days a week for 6 months now) or anything else - keep up the good work mate
Is working out everyday a good idea? What i mean is doing a small full body workout everyday for gpp work and a little bit of extra volume. For example: OHP, pull ups, RDLs, Squats, rear delt flys, push ups. 1 set each and doing half the reps you can normally do. Should i do this with no rest all the exercises back to back or split them throughout the day?
you can try either ways to find what tunes to your goals. But doing full body workouts everyday needs you to have a very wide wheel for rotation. Hitting different angles and types of stimulus can help you decrease overuse injury in long term
Lifting weights every day is not a good idea. If you want to workout every day there’s lots of different things you can do, running, biking, swimming, yoga, rock climbing. Lifting weights I don’t think is worth doing more than 5 days a week for any goal. It’s going to build up too much fatigue and joint stress. Rest days are important
In one facebook post he has written that he gained some kg of muscle natty now in a bulk.I Wonder because he was Enhancend in the past. How is it possible that he now natty have made some gainz again? I would think after the Enhance phase that he fall Back to his natty limit, which means that it would not be possible to gain kg of muscles
I totally agree with only wanting a back machine if you wanted one haha, been building up my home gym and if never get a "chest press" or hack squat etc, but a back machine? Hell yeah, and maybe a preacher curl station but that's not a machine
It was an absolute pleasure and honour to be on the podcast. I really appreciate the opportunity and your time Alex! 🫡
The pleasure's all mine, Eugene! I really appreciate you as well for answering all my direct questions with full transparency and detailed explanations.
This was an absolute masterclass 🫡
The video was great
Thank you guys! It is an awesome video! 🙏🏼😊
You guys are beasts!
This is so much precious. Thank you a lot. ❤️🙏
Big props for giving John Meadows his flowers, you can tell he was a genuine guy with great knowledge.
The one and only Mountain Dog never forgotton. 🙏
mountain dog is goated
He was the one who really got me into bodybuilding, a true pro's pro. He wasn't the most gifted and for that reason really thought hard about training and used a lot of different influences. He was never dogmatic, he was receptive and fatherly. The Mr. Rogers of fitness, a truly decent man. It hit me hard when we lost him, and even now I still find it hard to watch his content. RIP Mountain Dog.
I like how later in the interview,Alex’s positivity truly shines! He doesn’t let Eugene and himself fall into the “the years will downgrade us” belief, he keeps pushing back up to “we still have a lot to grow!”.
That why Alex is really the natural GOAT! Always pushing the positive way!
Alex is a really good interviewer. Really enjoy these podcasts
Thank you Gally!
Eugene has a great mind for training/bodybuilding nuances. It really exemplifies his understanding of these topics. Huge respect to a fellow Aussie keeping sh't real.
The quality is insane and the clips everything perfect wtf😂
Haha much love for noticing the details!
@@AlexLeonidas i watched the whole podcast as if it was a normal youtube video. Thats quality👍
Damn back to back podcasts with amazing guests!
A lot of work behind the scenes, enjoy!
Appreciate the timestamps king
My pleasure homie, enjoy
This is easilly one of the best videos I have watched on UA-cam talking about training topics. A great pleasure watching and learning. Thanks for the good work guys
It’s always nice to listen to 2 individuals who are genuinely obsessed with the topic they are discussing
One of my favourites on fitness YT. No dogmatism. Just an open mind, knowledgeable and most importantly nice guy.
Im about to start a long drive, perfect timing for this upload to listen to. Thanks Alex!!
Perfect timing, enjoy the ride!
Teo’s channel is one of my must watch ones, always top notch content
Uncle Eugene and brother Alexander exchanging bodybuilding gems. Hell yeah!
Fuiyohhhh
Did not expect this collab🔥🔥🔥
I literally commented on Teos channel saying we need a collab between you too and it was upvoted af, can't believe it happened🔥
Alex said he was going to dedicate the next year of this channel to education and he meant it
Right on brother, that's what we do over here :)
Not the crossover we deserved but the one we needed! Two of the best fitness influencers
Yeee brother, been waiting for this collab
Yeahhhhh, you saw it coming! So many gems from start to finish on being the jack of all trades. I resonate a lot with Eugene's training philosophy.
This is one of the best lifting podcasts I've heard. You guys dig into the details and nuance without being too granular or pedantic. As a lifting aficionado, this was right up my alley. Seems like we have a lot of the same thoughts on training. Both you guys are a wealth of knowledge.
Looking forward to listening!
Enjoy my brother, there's a lot that you'll resonate with!
@AlexLeonidas definitely! Just getting through the first part about genuinely caring about folks regardless of follower count and Eugene definitely walks that walk! He's been very generous with his time and effort in helping me to sell programs on his platform despite me not having a huge following. Looking forward to the rest of it!
Just starting my tuesday morning wfh - made my coffee, and been thinking about my training. Seeing this pop up on my feed already made my day. Looking forward learning from you boys today!
My two favorites youtubers. Always true to themselves. No BS
Between this episode and the one with Faz, these have been such a joy to listen to. Anyone deeply in love with the iron game could listen to these kind of conversations for days on end. People with a real passion for the lifting lifestyle just chopping it up. Love it.
Hope you continue to get more awesome guests and keep these coming 👊
Your conversational/interviewing skills are great Alex, makes these videos flow very well
Can't wait to watch this video as y'all are two of my favorite bodybuilder influencers out there and that is saying a lot as I am very hard to impress. I watch everything you two put out and I love it all, we disagree on some things but 95% of what yall teach I say is Gold but honestly who in the world agrees with 100% of what someone says, at least I'm honest and you two guys are what I call the BEST.
Much props to you both!!!!!
That was really good one. Thank both of you for sitting down and taking the time to do this.
Alex, thank you for these interviews and all the knowledge you are putting out there
THIS BOUTTA BE PEAK!!
Fantastic video gentlemen. The collab I didn't know I wanted to see today.
Looking forward to listening to this one!
1:56:45 exactly alex! While looking back some of the stuff may seem corny, it was your authentic self. YOU thought chest and quads were overrated for what YOU thought was appealing (bear mode). Everyone loved and still loves you because you remain yourself. People eat steak and eggs? I don't care I'm a vegan. People do iliac pulldowns? I'm gonna do weighted pullups. That's what we love and don't ever lose that bro
Absolutely loved the conversation! It’s highly informative and insightful. I greatly appreciate Eugene for sharing his wisdom with us. The amount of effort and dedication he puts into bodybuilding is truly commendable. He’s truly an inspiration for all natural lifters. Also, I’d love to see Joel Kellett on the podcast. It’d really amazing to listen to you both discuss natural bodybuilding and old school training techniques. Joel’s training methods are quite fascinating. His physique is one of the greatest that I’ve ever seen! His entire philosophy on bodybuilding is incredibly inspiring. Thank you so much for all the amazing content! 🙌
Another great podcast .Love all of Eugene’s content and how transparent he is with his journey on and off Peds. And his training philosophy.💪🏽
No way it actually happened! You said one of the men I suggested was already upcoming, you are the best Alex
being general jack of all trades is a gold thing in bodybuilding and sports in general. I realized this the hard way after fracturing my achilles after a soccer match. I had to go through a lot of calisthenics' wobbly leg moves like one leg RDL and Shrimp squat, and i realized what i missed because i was too focused in heavy barbell work
29:50 unironically great setup on the lat pulldown. Gonna have to try this
Excellent video! 🙏
absolutely incredible from start to finish man. thank you for the content. Eugene on the channel is insane!!
one thing that I have recently come to know about in regards to "lost knowledge" or similar is dynamic posing. this was used extensively by the bronze era dudes, where they could contract their muscles to make movement.
after that it was more static posing and this dynamic stuff was left out. some of the surviving footage of this type of posing is really cool
Man Eugene’s posing is absolutely beautiful. Reminds me of the artistic posing of a Shawn Ray!
WOW
Thank You both for this Masterpiece video
Pure Gold Guys
Grand Slam
Bro, I'm so early that it was uploaded 1 min ago....hats off Alex, really appreciate your effective advice
Gotta appreciate Eugene's mic quality ❤
To add to on Alex and Eugene’s points about gymnastic ring training:
The efficacy of a training style is the sum of its parts. Especially with isolation exercises like Pelican Curls and Extensions on rings - in my experience performing them - they’re pretty stable once your nervous system adapts to it. Cues like “falling into” the movement patterns make them almost machine-like for me.
You can also always apply principles of optimal Hypertrophy training to rings.
For example: adding a bar between the rings or straps makes the coordination almost non-existent on a lot of exercises. Lengthened partials are also really good here because on many exercises the stability demands are primarily in the lockout. Myo reps also help because you can squeeze a ton of effective reps from the exercises with less time spent coordinating.
Also, depending on the split, training the isolations first really helps before going into the ring compounds.
Sorry if this was long-winded, but in my experience ring training has amazing Hypertrophy benefits.
I’m digging these podcasts and I’d like to seem some more of them. Maybe make a series if possible
I'm learning so much from this. This was awesome
Just finished working out thinking about Alex's methods and this banger drops!!
This thing really logically falls about during “risk vs reward context”. Especially surprised at Alex given some of his training history.
Very nice Alex! You’re hitting these out of the park brother! 💥💥💥😊
Alex, you should release a hardcover book, brother. That would be amazing!
Long term, that would be sick for sure!!!
@@AlexLeonidas Can't wait, man! You have so much knowledge to share. Would even greater for us naturals. Godspeed, Sir!
A book would be dope
I really enjoyed this podcast Alex, keep them coming. I also noticed when I hyperfocused on one training method, style of training it gets stale I get bored and have higher chance of injury. That's why everybody should focused atleast 10% of their training to improve mobility, athleticism, cardio etc...
loving these podcasts!!!
Only 6 minutes in and the wholesome meter is already almost maxing out.
BRO WHAT?!!?!? This is awesome man
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh enjoy man!
holy shit with eugene teo?!, time to grab some popcorn
John Meadows is sorely missed but his guidance is timeless. RIP John 🙏🏾
Such an emotional podcast this one was
Can’t wait to listen🔥🔥🔥
The "optimal" discussion was really great. The pendulum has swung way too far into the ultra-stable machine world in training and it's really going to hurt a lot of lifters long-term.
The main issue is the idea floated around recently of lifting amnesia. So many advanced people are forgetting what got them the majority of their gains and are instead hyper-focusing on what is most "optimal" based on very early proof of concept type research.
There are so many younger trainees at my gym who spend their entire workouts on low skill machine based training. Out of this population, maybe 1% actually train hard and focus on progressive overload. The extreme majority end up going through the motions and never progressing. In the rare chance I see them doing free weight movements, it's usually with hesitant technique and beginner weights, with working sets resembling my first warmup sets when I get to the gym cold.
Is it any surprise a large number of these younger lifters are hopping on gear so young? They've been misled into thinking this type of machine based training will get them jacked and they've plateaued very early. There aren't enough people out there telling them that hard training on highly progressible movements is the way to go. That doesn't mean only free weights, there are plenty of machines and calisthenic movements that also fit the bill. How many people do you see going hard on a deep leg press, a Bulgarian split squat, or a weighted pullup at the gym, just to name a few examples? I only know of 2 other lifters at my gym who even do weighted pullups. It's gotten out of control.
I've gotten so tired of the piecemeal approach to training that I'm veering back the other way. I'm putting more hard compound movements back into my routine and simplifying things a lot. I'm not discounting the modern bodybuilding approach entirely, it certainly has taught me how to position myself to best stimulate the muscles and learn to use lagging muscle groups, so it's served a purpose in improving the stimulus I get on big compounds. A healthy combination of training thresholds seems best equipped to progress long-term. I've always made the best progress when I keep high-skill movements and basic strength work in my routine. I don't plan on doing 1RMs anytime soon, but you don't need to just do sets of 6+ even when you're only concerned with physique goals.
Yeeaahhh we at the buffet!!
YEAHHHHHHHH THE INFORMATION BUFFET
eugene is the man
amazing duo
I didn't know I needed this.
wow a fan of both you gym rats, appreciate the content boys. im about to hit a workout right now. bless
Alex leonidas the best in the game 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hello Leonidas. I lost my motivation during the two past months while on a cut. Please give us a video on regaining motivation after demotivation , especially for us older folks. Greetings from Greece! I haven't been to the gym for at least 2 months.
YOOOOOOOOOO, THE CROSSOVER THAT I DID NOT SEE IT COMING
Just Wow. 👑
Holy Moly! Christmas came early!
You inpired me to post my home workouts and stay natural 🎉🎉
Alex, can i suggest getting the mindful mover in your Podcast? High intesity low volume Calisthenics to gain massive strength? would probably be a crazy flow of information
This is doing to be a good one
Okay! Hear me out. Doing curls with an arm blaster while leaning back on an incline bench.
I am definitely going to try the back and arms on Preacher’s bench.
I would like a video about how to include the chest expander into routines
Zercher squats mad underrated
Zercher popularity comes and goes, but the badass factor will always be there. I used to live on them years ago.
Unexpected collab but I'm diggin it!
yooo that collab was not expected 😮
It's a big one and we got a lot in common, enjoy!
Can you help me? I'm going to set up a fixed dips, with the intention of focusing more on chest training, and in your opinion, what is the ideal width between the bars for good chest activation? Which one do you feel most comfortable doing? Just so I have a basis
I think a lot of people miss the point of having so much information. And with so much science out there showing us there many effective ways to train, I think all should feel empowered to chase the training they like.
Even if barbell curls are not the best, you can add 1 set of preachers and 1 set of incline curls and tick the optimal box while doing what you like.
That's if you even care for optimal.
Because making the gym fun is gonna keep you in the game for long term , and in the end that's actually the MOST optimal outcome
Could we get a review of the bell of steel chest expander vs the robert baraban chest expander?
Does Eugene Teo has a book or something ? Would love to read all that knowledge and exercise variety.
Just hit a chest expander PR and now another 2 hour podcast? LET'S GO GENTLEMEN
Great interview as always!
In other videos, you have said that TRT isn’t natural, and that once someone uses steroids, they can never be natural ever again. It sounds like you have changed your opinion on this?
Two real ones, one video.
So preacher curl as main movement, spider curl as a deload movement ( I'm chasing 18 inch arms )
Alex I would love to see you interview atlas power shrugged if possible, that guy has great insights
do you still do reverse hyperextensions?
How often to rotate isolation excercises?
Great video from a follower of both of you. Non fitness question and it's a bit silly, but Alex, where do you get your shirts?
Got a question for u mate, Im a late novice and ive hit a plateau recently - have stayed on the same weight and reps for all compounds for 2 months, Im 15 and ive been sorta consistent w my diet (protein and calories), id really appreciate it ifnu could tell me whats best to do - i dont know if im an intermediate now and the gains are way slower or if i need a deload (training everythibg to failure upper lower 4 days a week for 6 months now) or anything else - keep up the good work mate
paul carter said bulking is useless. thoughts?
when will the new novice program drop?
Hell yeah
Hey alex, how do i sign up for 1 on 1 online coaching?
Is working out everyday a good idea? What i mean is doing a small full body workout everyday for gpp work and a little bit of extra volume. For example: OHP, pull ups, RDLs, Squats, rear delt flys, push ups. 1 set each and doing half the reps you can normally do. Should i do this with no rest all the exercises back to back or split them throughout the day?
you can try either ways to find what tunes to your goals. But doing full body workouts everyday needs you to have a very wide wheel for rotation. Hitting different angles and types of stimulus can help you decrease overuse injury in long term
Lifting weights every day is not a good idea. If you want to workout every day there’s lots of different things you can do, running, biking, swimming, yoga, rock climbing. Lifting weights I don’t think is worth doing more than 5 days a week for any goal. It’s going to build up too much fatigue and joint stress. Rest days are important
In one facebook post he has written that he gained some kg of muscle natty now in a bulk.I Wonder because he was Enhancend in the past. How is it possible that he now natty have made some gainz again? I would think after the Enhance phase that he fall Back to his natty limit, which means that it would not be possible to gain kg of muscles
Can I go one day in gym for my heavy training and do calesthenics at park and running and body weight squat sissy squat superset
I totally agree with only wanting a back machine if you wanted one haha, been building up my home gym and if never get a "chest press" or hack squat etc, but a back machine? Hell yeah, and maybe a preacher curl station but that's not a machine
I think that the ohp is great for the serratus