Most female "influencers" are good looking by default, simply bc they're still in their 20s & relatively carefree. Their looks have almost nothing to do with their exercises. I'm only impressed if they can stay in shape in their late 30s into their 40s & beyond. Nobody in their 20s should be allowed to give advice on health & fitness
Started a new full time job. Had to change my four day upper/lower body split to three days a week. One heavy lower/heavy upper and a full body lighter day. I prioritize my heavy days. If I get those two days in a week I'm good! Life changes and so do workouts. It's hard to adjust to but getting it done! Also studying to be a PT! Have a great day Harry!
Very respectful critique. The only time I felt like I was able to 'recover' from back to back leg days I was 19... But it took a toll on my knees and I got injured. Many years later... Now I lift twice a week, full body but intense sessions and it works well for me. I could never handle this volume without feeling like crap in my 30s.
I've been lifting for 7 years and over these 7 years I've read a lot of books on physical fitness with more of an emphasis on resistance training and I completely agree with everything you're saying. I think most people that follow MDJ fitness are females that are beginners to the gym and don't know about volume, intensity, and recovery. As a beginner you don't need a lot of volume for results. You only increase volume as time goes by and you stop seeing results. Recovery is severely underestimated by beginners.
This is spot on. I’ve been working out for a few months, never had a problem. I did her back workout a few days ago (rowing after deadlifting) and literally had to take a few days rest because my lower back was destroyed lol. Never again
I agree I also did the same seeing her full body functional workout (deadlift followed by rdl+rowing) & now my lower back hurts more & have to stop deadlift for few weeks till it gets better. 😔
Omg, thank you for covering this influencer. I don't think she is actually a healthy influence on her followers, I think she's very extreme. It also seems obvious that she's optimising for social media content, not optimal training
@@a.i.801 i think she mentions 4000 calories sometimes too, i had to stop watching tbh. Something just seems a bit off. Also, lots of body checking in the eating videos 🥲
@@a.i.801i don't think her point is that everyone should eat like that but that you don't need to starve yourself for a good physique. I eat 3000-3500 calories a day and build lean muscle🤷🏼♀️
MDJ is great she's very motivational. i don't think she's coaching anyone on specific volume. its all common sense and how your body feels. she is upbeat, positive, and a great example. everyone needs to research for themselves. ...i've worked out for decades. most important is consistency, listening to your body, and making the workouts enjoyable
I tried her workout for her mondays and tuesdays. I was only able to get halfway through and its been 3 days and I am still trying to recover. Glad I saw your video I thought.
I agree with you 100% Her channel was served up to me recently, and she has a great physique. I understand that she is a former competitive swimmer. She also has a great form from what I have observed. But her level of volume and frequency is quite overboard, particularly for most people that would follow her. If she cut her volume in half, took the frequency WAY down, and increased the intensity, she would likely make much better progress.
This was super helpful. I never had excessive volume due to not having the time. It's good to be reminded, because if I had my druthers, I'd go high volume for no other reason than "I like to work out a lot". I do a basic split - upper body/lower body. Rest means growth.
Hi Mary, do you do upper, lower, rest, and then repeat? I'm just getting back started, I'm thinking the same and then maybe a condensed down full body to get a 3rd workout in, but with resistance bands instead, not sure if that would be too much as a re-beginner!
@@rachelwarriormum71 I do Mondays lower body, Tuesdays upper body and then repeat. My lower body rest day is Tuesday and my upper body rest day is Wednesday. If my schedule doesn't allow for another two days of alternating, I will rest and then do a whole body day. I think you need at least 1-2 rest days a week. What you are proposing sounds good to get back into it!! Then you can build on that. 😊😊
The critique of her rowing super set is spot on. Rows should not follow deadlifts. And if you're doing overhand followed by underhand..... how hard could the overhand have been? This young woman is doing the Mr. Potato Head workout program: pick a bunch of stuff and STICK IT ALL TOGETHER, YAAAAAAAAGH!!
I‘d say she probably is sore… quite many tell their followers that they HAVE to feel everything burning and if they’re not sore 24/7 they do not enough.
@@juliaspoonie3627 I've been working out for over 35 years, and I can say that for a lot of years I thought it was good to be sore all the time! I thought my workouts weren't effective if I didn't constantly "feel the burn" as I was doing the exercises, and constantly be feeling DOMS every day. All those years I have to be honest, I really wasn't seeing much muscle growth, or strength gains. But, back when I was younger my goals were different, more focused on aesthetics. Nowadays, I'm much more focused on strength and developing more muscle! I work out hard, but I'm much smarter about it, and as a bonus I'm not sore all the time.
Dr. Mike has a great video on how a female-optimised training looks like - there are a lot of differences and males who give their opinions on female training should educate themselves more.
I broadly agree that often less can be more, if intensity is higher. On my leg days for example, after 3 sets on 3 exercises my legs are cooked. But when training back I have noticed that high intensity + high volume works best for me. I used to do 3 sets on 3 exercises, most sets to failure (to the point I can't complete another rep). This worked a little bit but wasn't great. I started doing 4-5 sets on 5 different exercises, every set going past failure (once I can't complete a rep I will do partials until I can't pull even a little bit). Training like this is the first time I've seen any decent amount of progress in my back.
@@ericcarson342That’s probably accurate for her actually considering she was a competitive swimmer first, and then with the muscle she’s put on her frame and how much she works out. BUT I have a problem with her titling her videos as a girl who doesn’t bulk or cut because THAT is incredibly misleading. Most women would gain a lot of fat at her calorie intake. I’m around her height and intentionally bulked up to 2500 cals but most certainly gained fat in the process, but a lot of girls might be thinking they could stay lean and ripped like her while increasing their calories up to her intake
Fwiw: 5x5 isn't a Starting Strength programming guideline. Starting Strength typically uses a 3x5 for squats, bench and overhead squat, with 1x5 for deadlift during the linear progression (beginner) phase. You might be thinking of StrongLifts, which uses a 5x5 program.
i clicked on this video as i’ve always been envious of her physique. i expected poor technique, useless exercises, etc. is it a lot of volume? yes. but her physique speaks for itself and girly eats 3000 cals a day 🤷🏻♀️ i don’t see a problem with her training, a lot of powerlifters do an SBD split or multiple compounds in a day, it’s fine
I coach a lot of powerlifters and will be coaching at Nationals this weekend, none of them do anywhere near this much volume. The number of compounds isn’t the issue, the total number of sets is
@millendoan: I think it’s important for viewers - at this moment, it works for her (optimal or not, we don’t know) but is likely not going to work for many of her audience. So it’s helpful for people who she is influencing to know that there’s a much different way to train that can be just as effective.
I did a program with this much volume when I knew nothing about training, got newbie gains so I thought it worked then started with a serious tendon injury which I still haven’t recovered from
I think most all influencers push is volume. They preach high volume, low weight to gain size and for safety. Which is correct. If you have high reps you will get a pump and your 'growth" will be from size. You won't be strong, but you will look strong. You won't curl 45s if all you've been doing is curling 15s to failure to build your massive water balloons. Then you have the girls doing lower body exercises, but making them glute focused even when they are like BSS's which might be better for quads and doing that 3 times a week and pushing that for other girls to grow a 'shelf.' But then that is actually dangerous because it is imbalanced compared to quads and hams. So then training for strength gets shunned almost as if its not actual training anymore. That being said 5x5 isn't actually too much unless it is heavy. Some will push 3x15 or more, which is arguably more reps, but it depends on weight and if you include say a warm up set or two on 5x5. 3x5 is common for strength, I believe. Kind of went on a rant, but yea, many big influencers don't preach the same goals as everyone, aren't natty, and don't have anything else to do like most people. Just something to keep in mind. Tbh I'm someone who goes to the gym everyday for an 45 min to an hour and 15 min on the shorter days and maybe 2 hours on the longer leg days cause I lift heavy and take breaks. Also, do heavy squats and then heavy rdl's right after, save hip thrusts for the 2nd leg day. So I guess you might consider me as someone who has high volume. Definitely doable, but maybe more rest would give better results. My view/opinion is probably skewed because of this.
I‘m more a newbie (who has had enough of unqualified PTs who hurt me more that helped due to my genetic connective tissue disorder) and have a question. Is it even possible to grow the glutes without the hamstrings and quads growing too? At least if people want to follow the trend with the really big butt. Maybe I‘m following the „right“ women 😂 but they all have bigger legs too.
@juliaspoonie3627 O would say all exercises don't just target a single muscle. But they can definitely target one significantly more than others, and it can lead to imbalances, which can result in pain where related muscles connect or an injury. So I guess an example would be if you worked glutes and quads, but didn't train hams you could have knee or hip pain or even pull a hammy. Many girls do have equally big thighs and glutes, but some do have disproportionately large glutes. It could just be a bbl or genetics that lead them to store fat there but could be hip thrusts all the time. I've got no way to prove one way or the other.
@@ShiningQuasar13 thanks for responding, I was just curious about your personal opinion. You‘re probably right, training very targeted could lead to injuries and pain. I‘m not playing in their Liga tho, I don’t need a shelf ass, getting my legs back to working better after my incomplete paraplegia is annoying enough lol
I’m doing a program right now that has 15 reps for each exercise and it’s driving me NUTS! I’ve been wondering if it’s actually going to be effective in helping me lose fat. There are about 6 exercises for each day sometimes more and on average 1 min. Rest between sets. I’m not noticing much of anything happening… I want to lower the reps and up the weight but also want to trust the process.
@user-ou2cb2hf7t If you are looking to lose fat, you'll have to reduce your calorie intake while lifting and keeping protein intake up. If you don't lift heavy enough or eat enough protein while on a cut, your body might end up burning more muscle. Heavier lifting will let your body know it needs to keep it. While building muscle can help raise your maintenance calories, which adds up over time, it still depends on what you eat. Also, make sure not to reduce calories too much. Gaining or losing muscle or fat is a slow process. So you have to trust it. Change won't be noticeable every week or even longer.
I really appreciate this video -absolute no disrespect to her because she taught me a lot- but I’ve been following her split programme for about 2 months. I’ve never been able to complete any of her workouts in one day which used to really frustrate me. I rarely ever have energy for full body day ever, so I usually skip it. I have some joint problems since a teen (hereditary) and my knees are definitely feeling the effects 😅 thank you for this video definitely going to make major adjustments
So I actually have the evolve app and MJ is one of trainers on there that you can join on her program. I did her program for about 4 months and that’s exactly why I stopped doing it. I think her programs are more set up based on how she works out for herself. And that isn’t a bad thing but it’s just so much going on in n my opinion. it’s almost like trying to squeeze in all your favorite exercises on one day and it’s almost like that for each workout day. It’s exhausting and honestly too much in my opinion. it was because of this I curated my own workout split, I do less exercises and train hard and feel way better when I leave the gym. Overall I just think her program is too sporadic. And sometimes supersets are unnecessary is my opinion.
I tried her program on the Evolv you app and quit after a month. There was so much volume, a lot of super sets on the same muscle group, which for me don’t work for muscle growth and no deload! I felt like I actually lost muscle mass in that month. Maybe for someone that’s new and doesn’t have muscle to begin with this could work. Or maybe if I was 20 years old again this could work lol
My 37 year old girlfriend does 7-9 lower body exercises and thinks it’s ok. And she barely even rests in between sets and I tell her she needs to slow down because she doing cardio almost. I tell her do 4 good compound exercises and maybe 1-2 accessory but she doesn’t listen! She thinks more is more! Smh. This is her workout: Barbell squats Barbell rdls Hip thrusts on machine Leg press Dumbell step ups Bulgarian split squats/ smith machine deficit lunges(alternates) Hyper extensions And will try to throw in leg curls/extensions and the abduction machine TOO dang much 😅
@@Doingmybest700 I have no idea because she doesn’t even take a pre workout and to make matters worse lolol she doesn’t even keep track of protein lol so she knows she ain’t even consuming enough protein. 😭🥹
@@maritzavargas5747 Lol! Oh man, does she recover okay though? I used to train like that when I was younger and first starting out…. Most definitely can’t do that much now 😅 not that I’d even want to if I could haha
@@Doingmybest700 she does lower body on Mondays and thursdays and I guess according to her she’s ok. It’s funny when we workout together and she tries to make me do extra with her I’m like “nope, I’m good” lol I’m 28 for context lol but I’m into learning about health and fitness and she doesn’t really do her research she just likes to workout.
It could be that for her it’s more about the mental health effect working out has. The dopamine and endorphins, the motivation, knowing she does something positive for herself… That’s not necessarily a bad thing and depends how she feels. (It only becomes concerning if she punishes herself for something or misuses the gym to feed some sort of mental health problem. Not that it’s the case for her, I‘m just mentioning it in general.)
That volume is absolutely wild 😮 reminds me of the program the first PT I worked with gave me… I don’t even work in an office right now and I don’t have the time to do this many sets 😅
National level natural bikini athlete here, after 3 years of trying different things to specifically target overall glute development (went through a strength phase in 6-8 rep range based on Bret Contreras and yes gained strength but saw absolutely zero measurement increase for glutes while in a heavy surplus with zero cardio then played around with different splits with high volume, low volume etc) balance of volume with compound and isolation exercises with PROPER mind muscle connection and controlling a weight load is what worked for me. My weekly volume doing three lower body days a weeks would be high from a power lifters view for sure. Typically three lower days with 6 movements so 12 working sets per day…36 weekly. My recovery is great. I do train to failure. Few compounds with proper warm up activation exercise to prime then a compound and some isolation for all three glute muscles. Don’t get me wrong I loved my 8 week block with only 4 movements and the lower rep range and felt strong AF and it looked cool. But did fuck all for hypertrophy.
I have the evolve you app, and I usually pick her programs, I have the freedom to pick the weight and even alternatives to the exercises, but I've noticed that it takes me too long to recover from leg workouts, there's always 1 or 2 super sets.
I thought exactly this when I watched her video. Nevertheless, she's bigger than me even though I program my split according to science. Life is not fair.
@@terrenceodonnell6347 I feel bad for her boyfriend because she’s out there wearing really tight stuff all the way up for crack and he’s just sitting there OK with it
Did you give any consideration to gender differences in volume optimization? Dr. Mike says women can handle more volume (likely due to decreased muscle size) and therefore volume recommendations differ
I like Dr Mike but he also says a lot of things that are not backed by any credible current literature, i.e., claiming the pump and muscle damage are both primary drivers of growth (they’re not)
Why can’t you do dead lifts and squats on the same days? I do 3 full body days a week due to time constraints. Also MDG is like 24yo that’s how she gets away with what she does. I think people who look at her and copy her workouts that aren’t young and already fit should know better. And if they don’t they’ll get injured and learn the hard way.
As a weightlifting “beginner” (have been doing it for a while, but significantly underfueled my first go around and took a break), I find it hard to even achieve the volume required by a workout focused on 1 or 2 muscle groups - like if I start my workout with assisted pull-ups, it feels hard to move right on to lat pulldowns. Is this normal? Would it be worthwhile to do a full-body style when starting out?
Hey I’ve been doing 3 full body sessions a week since I started 2.5 years ago and find it much easier to hit each muscle group maximally in a week and find my recovery is much better, would recommend trying it out and seeing how you find it for a couple of months :)
If you are a beginner yes full body 2-3 times a week is something you should definitely try for a bit. Assisted pull-ups and lat pulldowns work the same muscles so no wonder, as a noob you don´t need that much volume. 3-4 sets of either one is good for a session IMO. A total beginner might be good with 2 sets even. Don´t worry about "volume" , volume is something you can stack on when you NEED more and feel you can handle it. Important thing as a noob is tracking PROGRESSION and being able to add weight to the lifts regularly in the beginning stages, once that starts to taper out volume is one variable one can start to tweaking but that´s to big a topic for a youtube post answer.
@@varsha516 volume is the total amount of reps in a workout , intensity is how close to you maximum effort a lift goes. If you take a set to where your muscle goes to jelly an you can´t lift one rep more that´s 100% intensity. Or a one rep max lift. And no the video does not say that. He means that it´s not optimal or very likely even possible to push high levels of volume AND intensity on a single muscle group. If you can do as much volume as she does it is likely not very intense. (my legs would be done after 4-5 sets of 10 reps of squat for example if I went heavy enough, if I tried to DL afterwards it would have to so light there would not be any point ,) And muscles need time to recover, in general a muscle should rest 48 hours. So if you do legs on monday, don´t do legs again the next day, do on wednesday instead.(there´s nuance here but in nutshell) The video says she should go heavier and do less volume, and not do the same muscle groups two days in a row.
I read comments all the time on these woman/attention influences post.And it’s unbelievable what people fall and believe in. And like worship some of these people.
I started my fitness journey back in January, and I have been following this program since. While I will say, I have noticed a lot of muscle growth… I will say that I often times skip the full body day. Because I just don’t have it in me to be able to execute it. in the beginning, I would at least try and go to the gym to get it done… Only to call and walk. Or just go home. I’m really curious to know how you would reframe her split to be more optimal and productive.
@@FruityTreat False. Weight used does not change biomechanics of movement, especially as technique should be standardised. E.g., regardless of how heavy you’re going, biceps will still be the primary muscle involved in elbow flexion when doing a supinated curl.
im kinda beginner female been training for over a year now and even me think she is obviously not doing the right thing and a part of me think she knows she must now but maybe that not her real exercises maybe she is trying to impress or whatever cause who does a deadlift then does a leg day the day after , saitan workout haha but its still weird you offering to coach her lol she aint taking it she has way bigger channel than u and that would kill her whole ego
It’s the accent and the very fast talking I struggle with watching your videos. And it sucks because your content is great. I reduced the playback speed to 0.75 and can now finally understand what you’re saying 😊👌🏼
@MDJ I know you have the evidence to back up! Training in the 5 rep range is not as effective for ex. glute growth as the 8-12 rep range. You got this babe, we stand by your methods 💕
@@FruityTreat You’re wrong. Evidence suggests 5-30 reps (provided intensity is the same) achieve a similar stimulus, but higher reps actually promote more fatigue which is not a good thing.
@@TFNLThank you for sharing this. I had listened to fake natties in the past, thinking I could train as much as they recommended lol.. ended up under recovering + injuries!
@@TFNL The average lifter will never reach the state of over training. Highly doubt the average lifter puts 100% effort into each set. Besides, volume training is subjective.
National level natural bikini athlete here, after 3 years of trying different things to specifically target overall glute development (went through a strength phase in 6-8 rep range based on Bret Contreras and yes gained strength but saw absolutely zero measurement increase for glutes while in a heavy surplus with zero cardio then played around with different splits with high volume, low volume etc) balance of volume with compound and isolation exercises with PROPER mind muscle connection and controlling a weight load is what worked for me. My weekly volume doing three lower body days a weeks would be high from a power lifters view for sure. Typically three lower days with 6 movements so 12 working sets per day…36 weekly. My recovery is great. I do train to failure. Few compounds with proper warm up activation exercise to prime then a compound and some isolation for all three glute muscles. Don’t get me wrong I loved my 8 week block with only 4 movements and the lower rep range and felt strong AF and it looked cool. But did fuck all for hypertrophy.
► TFNL Coaching - Work with me: tinyurl.com/pp4nsb84
Most female "influencers" are good looking by default, simply bc they're still in their 20s & relatively carefree. Their looks have almost nothing to do with their exercises. I'm only impressed if they can stay in shape in their late 30s into their 40s & beyond. Nobody in their 20s should be allowed to give advice on health & fitness
Started a new full time job. Had to change my four day upper/lower body split to three days a week. One heavy lower/heavy upper and a full body lighter day. I prioritize my heavy days. If I get those two days in a week I'm good! Life changes and so do workouts. It's hard to adjust to but getting it done! Also studying to be a PT! Have a great day Harry!
Very respectful critique. The only time I felt like I was able to 'recover' from back to back leg days I was 19... But it took a toll on my knees and I got injured. Many years later... Now I lift twice a week, full body but intense sessions and it works well for me. I could never handle this volume without feeling like crap in my 30s.
I can relate... Exactly this happened less than a week ago and now my wrist, my knees, ankles n back hurt 😢
@@youraveragecarnivore1921 the body is resilient, you'll come back. Feel better and rest up!
@@NicoleDeanna this is reassuring
Could you make a video this? on your workout routine now in your 30s that’s safe but shows results please?
I've been lifting for 7 years and over these 7 years I've read a lot of books on physical fitness with more of an emphasis on resistance training and I completely agree with everything you're saying. I think most people that follow MDJ fitness are females that are beginners to the gym and don't know about volume, intensity, and recovery. As a beginner you don't need a lot of volume for results. You only increase volume as time goes by and you stop seeing results. Recovery is severely underestimated by beginners.
This is spot on. I’ve been working out for a few months, never had a problem. I did her back workout a few days ago (rowing after deadlifting) and literally had to take a few days rest because my lower back was destroyed lol. Never again
I agree I also did the same seeing her full body functional workout (deadlift followed by rdl+rowing) & now my lower back hurts more & have to stop deadlift for few weeks till it gets better. 😔
Omg, thank you for covering this influencer. I don't think she is actually a healthy influence on her followers, I think she's very extreme. It also seems obvious that she's optimising for social media content, not optimal training
Have you also seen her “what i eat in a day” videos?
@@Doingmybest700 no
@@Doingmybest700Yeah it's insane eating 3000kcal a day and she says everyone can and should eat like that...
@@a.i.801 i think she mentions 4000 calories sometimes too, i had to stop watching tbh. Something just seems a bit off. Also, lots of body checking in the eating videos 🥲
@@a.i.801i don't think her point is that everyone should eat like that but that you don't need to starve yourself for a good physique. I eat 3000-3500 calories a day and build lean muscle🤷🏼♀️
MDJ is great she's very motivational. i don't think she's coaching anyone on specific volume. its all common sense and how your body feels. she is upbeat, positive, and a great example. everyone needs to research for themselves. ...i've worked out for decades. most important is consistency, listening to your body, and making the workouts enjoyable
I tried her workout for her mondays and tuesdays. I was only able to get halfway through and its been 3 days and I am still trying to recover. Glad I saw your video I thought.
I agree with you 100%
Her channel was served up to me recently, and she has a great physique. I understand that she is a former competitive swimmer. She also has a great form from what I have observed.
But her level of volume and frequency is quite overboard, particularly for most people that would follow her. If she cut her volume in half, took the frequency WAY down, and increased the intensity, she would likely make much better progress.
This was super helpful. I never had excessive volume due to not having the time. It's good to be reminded, because if I had my druthers, I'd go high volume for no other reason than "I like to work out a lot". I do a basic split - upper body/lower body. Rest means growth.
Hi Mary, do you do upper, lower, rest, and then repeat? I'm just getting back started, I'm thinking the same and then maybe a condensed down full body to get a 3rd workout in, but with resistance bands instead, not sure if that would be too much as a re-beginner!
@@rachelwarriormum71 I do Mondays lower body, Tuesdays upper body and then repeat. My lower body rest day is Tuesday and my upper body rest day is Wednesday. If my schedule doesn't allow for another two days of alternating, I will rest and then do a whole body day. I think you need at least 1-2 rest days a week. What you are proposing sounds good to get back into it!! Then you can build on that. 😊😊
@@maryhamric thanks Mary, that's super helpful, I am on it from tomorrow 😊😊💪💪
@@rachelwarriormum71 yeah girl!!! 👏👏
You always critique in the most respectful and educational manner. Greatly appreciated as a former fitness instructor and personal trainer.
The critique of her rowing super set is spot on. Rows should not follow deadlifts. And if you're doing overhand followed by underhand..... how hard could the overhand have been?
This young woman is doing the Mr. Potato Head workout program: pick a bunch of stuff and STICK IT ALL TOGETHER, YAAAAAAAAGH!!
Nope can't train the same muscle two times in a row I wouldn't recover fast enough I have no idea how she's not sore all the time.
Because everything is ten reps on reserve And women have better recovery than men.
I‘d say she probably is sore… quite many tell their followers that they HAVE to feel everything burning and if they’re not sore 24/7 they do not enough.
@@juliaspoonie3627 I've been working out for over 35 years, and I can say that for a lot of years I thought it was good to be sore all the time! I thought my workouts weren't effective if I didn't constantly "feel the burn" as I was doing the exercises, and constantly be feeling DOMS every day.
All those years I have to be honest, I really wasn't seeing much muscle growth, or strength gains. But, back when I was younger my goals were different, more focused on aesthetics. Nowadays, I'm much more focused on strength and developing more muscle! I work out hard, but I'm much smarter about it, and as a bonus I'm not sore all the time.
Dr. Mike has a great video on how a female-optimised training looks like - there are a lot of differences and males who give their opinions on female training should educate themselves more.
Holy volume Batman!
I broadly agree that often less can be more, if intensity is higher. On my leg days for example, after 3 sets on 3 exercises my legs are cooked. But when training back I have noticed that high intensity + high volume works best for me. I used to do 3 sets on 3 exercises, most sets to failure (to the point I can't complete another rep). This worked a little bit but wasn't great. I started doing 4-5 sets on 5 different exercises, every set going past failure (once I can't complete a rep I will do partials until I can't pull even a little bit). Training like this is the first time I've seen any decent amount of progress in my back.
Her food videos are also quite misleading…
I thought I was the only one that thought that
No u are not the only one!
I think she said she eats like 2700 calories a day! I would definitely need that volume to burn those calories as a small female for sure.
She definitely does not average that per day. She would get fat at 2700-2800 calories per day.
@@ericcarson342That’s probably accurate for her actually considering she was a competitive swimmer first, and then with the muscle she’s put on her frame and how much she works out. BUT I have a problem with her titling her videos as a girl who doesn’t bulk or cut because THAT is incredibly misleading. Most women would gain a lot of fat at her calorie intake. I’m around her height and intentionally bulked up to 2500 cals but most certainly gained fat in the process, but a lot of girls might be thinking they could stay lean and ripped like her while increasing their calories up to her intake
Very informative video. One injury will definitely make anyone rethink their workouts. I give my lower body 2days to recover. Best decision I’ve made.
Fwiw: 5x5 isn't a Starting Strength programming guideline. Starting Strength typically uses a 3x5 for squats, bench and overhead squat, with 1x5 for deadlift during the linear progression (beginner) phase. You might be thinking of StrongLifts, which uses a 5x5 program.
Probably, classic MadCow - thanks for the correction!
this is such a good analysis and reflection, i definitely learned from it as well!
i clicked on this video as i’ve always been envious of her physique. i expected poor technique, useless exercises, etc. is it a lot of volume? yes. but her physique speaks for itself and girly eats 3000 cals a day 🤷🏻♀️ i don’t see a problem with her training, a lot of powerlifters do an SBD split or multiple compounds in a day, it’s fine
I coach a lot of powerlifters and will be coaching at Nationals this weekend, none of them do anywhere near this much volume. The number of compounds isn’t the issue, the total number of sets is
@millendoan: I think it’s important for viewers - at this moment, it works for her (optimal or not, we don’t know) but is likely not going to work for many of her audience. So it’s helpful for people who she is influencing to know that there’s a much different way to train that can be just as effective.
Engagement.
I like that girl. But she is just a hot chick with great genetics.
So many "influencers" are like this.
Stick to science based programs.
My god! Her one session is my 2 sessions. I just couldn’t train like that. 3 exercises for me on a good day otherwise if I have more time it’s 4. 😮
Well it's too much for you.i train as much as her and it's perfect for me.
I did a program with this much volume when I knew nothing about training, got newbie gains so I thought it worked then started with a serious tendon injury which I still haven’t recovered from
She comes to my gym and films 2 videos in one session. They are not long and when you are filming limited reps like 5.
I think most all influencers push is volume. They preach high volume, low weight to gain size and for safety. Which is correct. If you have high reps you will get a pump and your 'growth" will be from size. You won't be strong, but you will look strong. You won't curl 45s if all you've been doing is curling 15s to failure to build your massive water balloons. Then you have the girls doing lower body exercises, but making them glute focused even when they are like BSS's which might be better for quads and doing that 3 times a week and pushing that for other girls to grow a 'shelf.' But then that is actually dangerous because it is imbalanced compared to quads and hams. So then training for strength gets shunned almost as if its not actual training anymore. That being said 5x5 isn't actually too much unless it is heavy. Some will push 3x15 or more, which is arguably more reps, but it depends on weight and if you include say a warm up set or two on 5x5. 3x5 is common for strength, I believe. Kind of went on a rant, but yea, many big influencers don't preach the same goals as everyone, aren't natty, and don't have anything else to do like most people. Just something to keep in mind.
Tbh I'm someone who goes to the gym everyday for an 45 min to an hour and 15 min on the shorter days and maybe 2 hours on the longer leg days cause I lift heavy and take breaks. Also, do heavy squats and then heavy rdl's right after, save hip thrusts for the 2nd leg day. So I guess you might consider me as someone who has high volume. Definitely doable, but maybe more rest would give better results. My view/opinion is probably skewed because of this.
I‘m more a newbie (who has had enough of unqualified PTs who hurt me more that helped due to my genetic connective tissue disorder) and have a question. Is it even possible to grow the glutes without the hamstrings and quads growing too? At least if people want to follow the trend with the really big butt. Maybe I‘m following the „right“ women 😂 but they all have bigger legs too.
@juliaspoonie3627 O would say all exercises don't just target a single muscle. But they can definitely target one significantly more than others, and it can lead to imbalances, which can result in pain where related muscles connect or an injury. So I guess an example would be if you worked glutes and quads, but didn't train hams you could have knee or hip pain or even pull a hammy. Many girls do have equally big thighs and glutes, but some do have disproportionately large glutes. It could just be a bbl or genetics that lead them to store fat there but could be hip thrusts all the time. I've got no way to prove one way or the other.
@@ShiningQuasar13 thanks for responding, I was just curious about your personal opinion. You‘re probably right, training very targeted could lead to injuries and pain. I‘m not playing in their Liga tho, I don’t need a shelf ass, getting my legs back to working better after my incomplete paraplegia is annoying enough lol
I’m doing a program right now that has 15 reps for each exercise and it’s driving me NUTS! I’ve been wondering if it’s actually going to be effective in helping me lose fat. There are about 6 exercises for each day sometimes more and on average 1 min. Rest between sets. I’m not noticing much of anything happening… I want to lower the reps and up the weight but also want to trust the process.
@user-ou2cb2hf7t If you are looking to lose fat, you'll have to reduce your calorie intake while lifting and keeping protein intake up. If you don't lift heavy enough or eat enough protein while on a cut, your body might end up burning more muscle. Heavier lifting will let your body know it needs to keep it. While building muscle can help raise your maintenance calories, which adds up over time, it still depends on what you eat. Also, make sure not to reduce calories too much. Gaining or losing muscle or fat is a slow process. So you have to trust it. Change won't be noticeable every week or even longer.
So glad I have your guidance so I don’t have a program with this much volume 🥵
I really appreciate this video -absolute no disrespect to her because she taught me a lot- but I’ve been following her split programme for about 2 months. I’ve never been able to complete any of her workouts in one day which used to really frustrate me. I rarely ever have energy for full body day ever, so I usually skip it. I have some joint problems since a teen (hereditary) and my knees are definitely feeling the effects 😅 thank you for this video definitely going to make major adjustments
I like her workouts.
So I actually have the evolve app and MJ is one of trainers on there that you can join on her program. I did her program for about 4 months and that’s exactly why I stopped doing it. I think her programs are more set up based on how she works out for herself. And that isn’t a bad thing but it’s just so much going on in n my opinion. it’s almost like trying to squeeze in all your favorite exercises on one day and it’s almost like that for each workout day. It’s exhausting and honestly too much in my opinion. it was because of this I curated my own workout split, I do less exercises and train hard and feel way better when I leave the gym. Overall I just think her program is too sporadic. And sometimes supersets are unnecessary is my opinion.
I tried her program on the Evolv you app and quit after a month. There was so much volume, a lot of super sets on the same muscle group, which for me don’t work for muscle growth and no deload! I felt like I actually lost muscle mass in that month. Maybe for someone that’s new and doesn’t have muscle to begin with this could work. Or maybe if I was 20 years old again this could work lol
My 37 year old girlfriend does 7-9 lower body exercises and thinks it’s ok. And she barely even rests in between sets and I tell her she needs to slow down because she doing cardio almost. I tell her do 4 good compound exercises and maybe 1-2 accessory but she doesn’t listen! She thinks more is more! Smh.
This is her workout:
Barbell squats
Barbell rdls
Hip thrusts on machine
Leg press
Dumbell step ups
Bulgarian split squats/ smith machine deficit lunges(alternates)
Hyper extensions
And will try to throw in leg curls/extensions and the abduction machine
TOO dang much 😅
Holy smokes, how does she have the energy?!
@@Doingmybest700 I have no idea because she doesn’t even take a pre workout and to make matters worse lolol she doesn’t even keep track of protein lol so she knows she ain’t even consuming enough protein. 😭🥹
@@maritzavargas5747 Lol! Oh man, does she recover okay though? I used to train like that when I was younger and first starting out…. Most definitely can’t do that much now 😅 not that I’d even want to if I could haha
@@Doingmybest700 she does lower body on Mondays and thursdays and I guess according to her she’s ok. It’s funny when we workout together and she tries to make me do extra with her I’m like “nope, I’m good” lol I’m 28 for context lol but I’m into learning about health and fitness and she doesn’t really do her research she just likes to workout.
It could be that for her it’s more about the mental health effect working out has. The dopamine and endorphins, the motivation, knowing she does something positive for herself… That’s not necessarily a bad thing and depends how she feels.
(It only becomes concerning if she punishes herself for something or misuses the gym to feed some sort of mental health problem. Not that it’s the case for her, I‘m just mentioning it in general.)
That volume is absolutely wild 😮 reminds me of the program the first PT I worked with gave me… I don’t even work in an office right now and I don’t have the time to do this many sets 😅
This volume would make me vomit
National level natural bikini athlete here, after 3 years of trying different things to specifically target overall glute development (went through a strength phase in 6-8 rep range based on Bret Contreras and yes gained strength but saw absolutely zero measurement increase for glutes while in a heavy surplus with zero cardio then played around with different splits with high volume, low volume etc) balance of volume with compound and isolation exercises with PROPER mind muscle connection and controlling a weight load is what worked for me. My weekly volume doing three lower body days a weeks would be high from a power lifters view for sure. Typically three lower days with 6 movements so 12 working sets per day…36 weekly. My recovery is great. I do train to failure. Few compounds with proper warm up activation exercise to prime then a compound and some isolation for all three glute muscles. Don’t get me wrong I loved my 8 week block with only 4 movements and the lower rep range and felt strong AF and it looked cool. But did fuck all for hypertrophy.
I am VERY excited for TFNL clothing!
So am I!
I also agree on the too much volume
I've seen some of her videos before and always thought the volume was crazy!
I have the evolve you app, and I usually pick her programs, I have the freedom to pick the weight and even alternatives to the exercises, but I've noticed that it takes me too long to recover from leg workouts, there's always 1 or 2 super sets.
I thought exactly this when I watched her video. Nevertheless, she's bigger than me even though I program my split according to science. Life is not fair.
Volume is king for size
genetics also ....
Most of her followers are probably dudes and they aren’t following her because of her awesome workout routines lol.
I'm a woman, and I admit that I follow her because her whole instagram is a damn thirst trap. 😅
She has a nice butt 🤷♂️
She's dating someone, why do we think we can talk about her and it's OK.. Weird world...
@@Neophema 😂
@@terrenceodonnell6347 I feel bad for her boyfriend because she’s out there wearing really tight stuff all the way up for crack and he’s just sitting there OK with it
Did you give any consideration to gender differences in volume optimization? Dr. Mike says women can handle more volume (likely due to decreased muscle size) and therefore volume recommendations differ
Lol, but not that much more volume! 🤪
I like Dr Mike but he also says a lot of things that are not backed by any credible current literature, i.e., claiming the pump and muscle damage are both primary drivers of growth (they’re not)
Check out Dr. Stacey Sims. She gives the scientific research behind “women are not small men”.
Love your confidence with offering to train her. I’m definitely subscribing lol
Thank you!
You definitely would think I do too much..
Her programme on the app is much less volume wise tbf
Why can’t you do dead lifts and squats on the same days? I do 3 full body days a week due to time constraints.
Also MDG is like 24yo that’s how she gets away with what she does. I think people who look at her and copy her workouts that aren’t young and already fit should know better. And if they don’t they’ll get injured and learn the hard way.
Love your approach.
She must be knackered!
That aside, this was a really helpful video :)
Post the free coaching videos when you link up 🙏
Yes thank you for covering her! Her workouts always look so suboptimal
Guys she's 22
Have you seen her “what I eat in a day” UA-cam shorts? She eats practically nothing and I’m so confused how she looks the way she does
This is a crazy nonsensical combination of moves. Good coverage.
Problem is too most followers are beginners. A novice doesn’t need anywhere near that amount of volume.
Nobody needs that volume
Hi.
Hi!
Hello
As a weightlifting “beginner” (have been doing it for a while, but significantly underfueled my first go around and took a break), I find it hard to even achieve the volume required by a workout focused on 1 or 2 muscle groups - like if I start my workout with assisted pull-ups, it feels hard to move right on to lat pulldowns. Is this normal? Would it be worthwhile to do a full-body style when starting out?
Hey I’ve been doing 3 full body sessions a week since I started 2.5 years ago and find it much easier to hit each muscle group maximally in a week and find my recovery is much better, would recommend trying it out and seeing how you find it for a couple of months :)
If you are a beginner yes full body 2-3 times a week is something you should definitely try for a bit.
Assisted pull-ups and lat pulldowns work the same muscles so no wonder, as a noob you don´t need that much volume. 3-4 sets of either one is good for a session IMO.
A total beginner might be good with 2 sets even.
Don´t worry about "volume" , volume is something you can stack on when you NEED more and feel you can handle it.
Important thing as a noob is tracking PROGRESSION and being able to add weight to the lifts regularly in the beginning stages, once that starts to taper out volume is one variable one can start to tweaking but that´s to big a topic for a youtube post answer.
@@LP-mh6ri Just one question . What is volume and what is intensity? Does this video mean that you should not work out one muscle more than once?
@@varsha516 volume is the total amount of reps in a workout , intensity is how close to you maximum effort a lift goes. If you take a set to where your muscle goes to jelly an you can´t lift one rep more that´s 100% intensity.
Or a one rep max lift.
And no the video does not say that.
He means that it´s not optimal or very likely even possible to push high levels of volume AND intensity on a single muscle group. If you can do as much volume as she does it is likely not very intense.
(my legs would be done after 4-5 sets of 10 reps of squat for example if I went heavy enough, if I tried to DL afterwards it would have to so light there would not be any point ,)
And muscles need time to recover, in general a muscle should rest 48 hours.
So if you do legs on monday, don´t do legs again the next day, do on wednesday instead.(there´s nuance here but in nutshell)
The video says she should go heavier and do less volume, and not do the same muscle groups two days in a row.
I read comments all the time on these woman/attention influences post.And it’s unbelievable what people fall and believe in. And like worship some of these people.
She might be able to do this much volume now while she is young but would it be the same when she is in her later years.
Do you have any videos on a good split for women?
Should we go to failure in compounds movements?
With heavier weights and lower reps how long do you recommend for recovery in between sets?
Was watching one of her videos yesterday and wondering what your thoughts would be😊
I started my fitness journey back in January, and I have been following this program since. While I will say, I have noticed a lot of muscle growth… I will say that I often times skip the full body day. Because I just don’t have it in me to be able to execute it. in the beginning, I would at least try and go to the gym to get it done… Only to call and walk. Or just go home. I’m really curious to know how you would reframe her split to be more optimal and productive.
Why train with heavier weights and lower reps when other muscle groups will become involved rather than the muscle you try to isolate?
@@FruityTreat False. Weight used does not change biomechanics of movement, especially as technique should be standardised. E.g., regardless of how heavy you’re going, biceps will still be the primary muscle involved in elbow flexion when doing a supinated curl.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing 😃
I love MDJ work out. I do what works for my body. I follow some of her workouts but not all of her workouts. Overall she’s great.
I agree.
whats your thoughs on single arm bent over row?
im kinda beginner female been training for over a year now and even me think she is obviously not doing the right thing and a part of me think she knows she must now but maybe that not her real exercises maybe she is trying to impress or whatever cause who does a deadlift then does a leg day the day after , saitan workout haha but its still weird you offering to coach her lol she aint taking it she has way bigger channel than u and that would kill her whole ego
Have you ever checked out Coach Ali?
She is so pretty
Her deadlift looks like too much squatting..
Hello!
It’s the accent and the very fast talking I struggle with watching your videos. And it sucks because your content is great. I reduced the playback speed to 0.75 and can now finally understand what you’re saying 😊👌🏼
Nah she needs to be arrested
Pls also have my engagement
Women can do with more volume.
She does note that she eats almost 3,000 calories and I know calories is due to many factors
@@ahepburn101 I eat 5,000 and I couldn’t recover from that - caloric intake will only help until a point
@@TFNLis it valid for mdj fitness to eat that much kcal? And what should you recommend for a female that height?
@@a.i.801I’m female age 42 I eat 2200 to maintain & im in good shape but her shape. I need 2800 minimum to gain
Is it possible that she actually didn't do these exercises in a week and just edited it like it is?
Here for it!!
Leave MDJ alone!! We STAN MDJ
@@FruityTreat That’s unhealthy.
@@TFNLit's not.
Stan😮😂😂😂😂😂grow up fruity lol
@MDJ I know you have the evidence to back up! Training in the 5 rep range is not as effective for ex. glute growth as the 8-12 rep range. You got this babe, we stand by your methods 💕
@@FruityTreat You’re wrong. Evidence suggests 5-30 reps (provided intensity is the same) achieve a similar stimulus, but higher reps actually promote more fatigue which is not a good thing.
@@TFNLThank you for sharing this. I had listened to fake natties in the past, thinking I could train as much as they recommended lol.. ended up under recovering + injuries!
P.E.D.'s
Still wouldn't allow somebody to recover from that much volume tbf
@@TFNL The average lifter will never reach the state of over training. Highly doubt the average lifter puts 100%
effort into each set. Besides, volume training is subjective.
@@sargentd3125 Never said they would
Yep insane recovery plus low bf, def sus
@@garywu6488 I doubt it. The idea of PEDs greatly enhancing recovery is supported by gym bros rather than literature
National level natural bikini athlete here, after 3 years of trying different things to specifically target overall glute development (went through a strength phase in 6-8 rep range based on Bret Contreras and yes gained strength but saw absolutely zero measurement increase for glutes while in a heavy surplus with zero cardio then played around with different splits with high volume, low volume etc) balance of volume with compound and isolation exercises with PROPER mind muscle connection and controlling a weight load is what worked for me. My weekly volume doing three lower body days a weeks would be high from a power lifters view for sure. Typically three lower days with 6 movements so 12 working sets per day…36 weekly. My recovery is great. I do train to failure. Few compounds with proper warm up activation exercise to prime then a compound and some isolation for all three glute muscles. Don’t get me wrong I loved my 8 week block with only 4 movements and the lower rep range and felt strong AF and it looked cool. But did fuck all for hypertrophy.