I like the comments on planned deloads vs auto deloads. Would like to add that Dr Israetel was more of a powerlifter so the build up of over reaching is planned into the program so it makes more sense to take a deload specially because their is an end goal. I understand he is pursuing bodybuilding now. Menno is a bodybuilder with less of an end goal because perfecting the physigue is more of a life long endeavor so over reaching is not optimal. In order to make consistent gains you are preforming with less intensity (then a powerlifter) so the auto deload as needed makes more sense to me for this scenario.
I have a big issue with his comment about deloads. From my personal anecdotal experience people aren't really lazy ("why would you take a week off? because people are lazy"), it's rather the opposite - they are overzealous and want to train. I've recommended many people to do deloads and it's usually met with resistance; and not necessarily because they think they are losing out on gains. They just want to do work. Menno also seems a bit 'disconnected' from other people at times. I hate to use the word because it has been given a lot of negative connotation due to social justice warriors and certain groups of tumblr-users abusing it, but he seems quite 'privileged'. I don't know if you remember my comment on your 'deep work' video review, but I am a person who has really bad attention span by nature whereas Menno seems (and admits to it in this video) to have a very high level of intrinsic motivation. Most of the advice he gives in this specific video regarding motivation, goal-setting etc. probably won't work for the majority of people who struggle with this... I compare it to a person asking someone 'how to get big', with the person answering replying with 'squats and milk' while the person asking has lactose intolerance and patellafemoral pain syndrome. I really do believe that Menno would adjust his answers and advice based on the person he was giving it to (i.e. if I told him about my attention problems I believe he'd give entirely different advice), but the advice he gives out in this video doesn't seem particularly useful (at least to me). I guess you only have about an hour and it started off more in a narrative fashion (instead of him specifically giving advice), but still. Additionally, Menno seems a bit too eager to sway 'the other direction'. You surely remember the whole diet-book history where first fats were bad, then someone leaned to the side and said carbs were bad so they stood out because it was 'new' and 'controversial'. I get the same vibe from Menno sometimes because here we have Israetel and Greg Nuckols (and probably more, but I'd have to check) being heavily in favor of planned deloads and even Eric Helms' stance on autoregulated deloads is a neutral'ish one (and he is doing his PhD in autoregulation IIRC), but here we have Menno saying you should go by feel. I think this is dangerous advice, in all likelihood it will probably just depend on the individual again and how receptive they are to their body's signals... If you are interested in motivation I would recommend checking out Mike Matthews' stuff (who is also part of the fitness industry) or perhaps speak to Kamal Patel (as Dr. Patel has spoken multiple times in fitness&health related podcasts about today's society and the instant gratification in relation to dopamine overload and desensitization). He (Mike) seems a lot more 'aware' about individual differences between people and doesn't just state what works for him & what he thinks is silly or ineffective. Overall the video was definitely interesting but my god is there a lot of personal anecdotal evidence in this interview as well as a ton of opinions being thrown around... I was hoping for a bit more hard science rather than just ideology when it comes to training.
I hear your points. I agree on the laziness thing, I'm also one of those individuals who, in retrospect, would have benefitted at times from taking a week off but didn't out of impulse..so it's not that cut&dry for sure. On the other hand, not sure about the general merit of deloads vs. reactive deloading. Mike Israetel programs afaik regularly include deloads, but they also consequently allow overreaching to occur. Mennos programs don't have pre-planned deloads, but they also prevent overreaching my constantly autoregulating volume. As far as the other comments on his approach, I hear you, but let's not forget that he didn't just come up with these things while sitting at home and only training himself. He is one of the most occupied coaches these days, and coaching, being the word-of-mouth-driven profession as it is, selects for methods that actually work pretty ruthlessly. So if his methods were so removed from the average population, I don't think he could be where he is today. About the goal setting thing, I think what he is saying is that by always just looking at the big thing, you can loose sight of what to do in the moment. I think in your analogy it would be more like: 'I want to get big, what should I do?' and the answer be like 'Focus on continous progressive overload in the gym, and eating a slight surplus of of calories, so that your average weekly weight going up by a half a pound.'
Lorenzo Vrolijk Hey man, I was just about to post my problems with mennos explanations on Deloads, but you already said everything I felt and thought listening to the episode perfectly, I agree 100% 👍🏻 I wasn't impressed with his philosophies about this...not that reactive / autoregulative Elements were bad or wouldn't work, but they most definitely aren't the be all end all. Also I would be interested in the specific research he was talking about being "dubious" when he Adressed Dr. Mikes stance on it, which at least to is far more convincing as a general approach in terms of usefulness for a broad spectrum of people. Like you, I also felt like menno was going off about personal preferences and experiences a bit too much..."this worked for me...". But I think Abel mentioned a valid point...the way Mike programs (im personally on his stuff as well) works with regular and planned phases of overreaching (either total volume, or intensity depending on the kind of block you are in) in each and every mesocycle that are followed by planned deloads. In this context, these are absolutely necessary and anyone pushing towards and a bit over their MRV would be very badly advised to skip deloads or just rely on autoregulating. I don't know how Menno programs specifically, but I sounded like it's more of an Minimum effective dose approach, seldomly reaching or surpassing MRV, which in turn would lessen the need to deload in a planned and regular fashion. Maybe this is what the disagreement comes down to... Concerning goal setting, I also felt like his philosophy are a bit disconnected and incomplete. I mean, of course the so called "process goals" are very important and not just the outcome goals. It's very important so be fulfilled by the journey to your goal, and not just the final destination. But completely avoiding final goals that are specific and have some sort of deadline? I don't know, but this doesn't sound right to me as in my opinion you are well advised to take your big overarching goal and then think about how you can turn it into small and achievable chunks that lead you there over time reaching one after the other one day at a time in a process that should be enjoyable, but also stretch you right to the limit of your current abilities. That's how you grow and get better in my view. Without specific targets, I find it hard to really be productive and get into my personal stretch zone. Great and insightful podcast overall, keep Doing what you are doing Abel, we appreciate this!:)
Lorenzo Vrolijk, Menno’s clientele consist (according to himself) mostly of highly motivated intermediate-advanced individuals. If you can’t even get yourself to the gym, why are you even watching this video? I don’t buy that your ”attention span” is drastically different to his. Just because someone has an intrinsic motivation to achieve something, does not mean it comes easy and without effort.
Lorenzo Vrolijk, totally agree with you on the ”deload because they are lazy”. People who even consider deloads or even know about them, generally want to maximize their training, but have probably at some point stalled out or even regressed and want to find a way to break through these plateaus. Never really heard about anyone enjoying a deload, except perhaps afterwards when they can come back and perform again.
Economists do not use the term rational to mean that humans always make decisions based on objectivity. They use it to mean what humans value, from an economic perspective, is subjective. So someone that chooses to purchase a gaming system instead of paying rent that month would be making a rational economic decision because that person valued the gaming system over paying the rent. Subjective value. I hate when people try to make claims in other fields they don't even practice in.
Omg Abel, you are the best! Just know that your viewers truly appreciate the quality content you're putting out. Listening now!
Thank's so much man! Means a lot, especially after experiencing a very slow -many hours until this got uploaded!:)
I totally agree with his statement regarding sleep quality improving during exercise. I always sleep far better when i train on the day.
Love your topics. This is gold!
Great interview. Thanks to both of you.
Finally, another Menno video on UA-cam, haha. Keep it up!
Ok, so we need to organize an all-you-can-eat sushi battle haha Great content as always from Menno, thanks for putting this together Abel!
challenge accepted! thanks Mario!
Mario Tomic I Would love to join that :D
I like the comments on planned deloads vs auto deloads. Would like to add that Dr Israetel was more of a powerlifter so the build up of over reaching is planned into the program so it makes more sense to take a deload specially because their is an end goal. I understand he is pursuing bodybuilding now. Menno is a bodybuilder with less of an end goal because perfecting the physigue is more of a life long endeavor so over reaching is not optimal. In order to make consistent gains you are preforming with less intensity (then a powerlifter) so the auto deload as needed makes more sense to me for this scenario.
Awesome interview!
Otto Kalliomäki thank you Otto!
what a great Channel.
harry zed thanks a lot Harry!!!
I have a big issue with his comment about deloads. From my personal anecdotal experience people aren't really lazy ("why would you take a week off? because people are lazy"), it's rather the opposite - they are overzealous and want to train. I've recommended many people to do deloads and it's usually met with resistance; and not necessarily because they think they are losing out on gains. They just want to do work.
Menno also seems a bit 'disconnected' from other people at times. I hate to use the word because it has been given a lot of negative connotation due to social justice warriors and certain groups of tumblr-users abusing it, but he seems quite 'privileged'. I don't know if you remember my comment on your 'deep work' video review, but I am a person who has really bad attention span by nature whereas Menno seems (and admits to it in this video) to have a very high level of intrinsic motivation. Most of the advice he gives in this specific video regarding motivation, goal-setting etc. probably won't work for the majority of people who struggle with this... I compare it to a person asking someone 'how to get big', with the person answering replying with 'squats and milk' while the person asking has lactose intolerance and patellafemoral pain syndrome. I really do believe that Menno would adjust his answers and advice based on the person he was giving it to (i.e. if I told him about my attention problems I believe he'd give entirely different advice), but the advice he gives out in this video doesn't seem particularly useful (at least to me). I guess you only have about an hour and it started off more in a narrative fashion (instead of him specifically giving advice), but still.
Additionally, Menno seems a bit too eager to sway 'the other direction'. You surely remember the whole diet-book history where first fats were bad, then someone leaned to the side and said carbs were bad so they stood out because it was 'new' and 'controversial'. I get the same vibe from Menno sometimes because here we have Israetel and Greg Nuckols (and probably more, but I'd have to check) being heavily in favor of planned deloads and even Eric Helms' stance on autoregulated deloads is a neutral'ish one (and he is doing his PhD in autoregulation IIRC), but here we have Menno saying you should go by feel. I think this is dangerous advice, in all likelihood it will probably just depend on the individual again and how receptive they are to their body's signals...
If you are interested in motivation I would recommend checking out Mike Matthews' stuff (who is also part of the fitness industry) or perhaps speak to Kamal Patel (as Dr. Patel has spoken multiple times in fitness&health related podcasts about today's society and the instant gratification in relation to dopamine overload and desensitization). He (Mike) seems a lot more 'aware' about individual differences between people and doesn't just state what works for him & what he thinks is silly or ineffective.
Overall the video was definitely interesting but my god is there a lot of personal anecdotal evidence in this interview as well as a ton of opinions being thrown around... I was hoping for a bit more hard science rather than just ideology when it comes to training.
I hear your points. I agree on the laziness thing, I'm also one of those individuals who, in retrospect, would have benefitted at times from taking a week off but didn't out of impulse..so it's not that cut&dry for sure.
On the other hand, not sure about the general merit of deloads vs. reactive deloading. Mike Israetel programs afaik regularly include deloads, but they also consequently allow overreaching to occur. Mennos programs don't have pre-planned deloads, but they also prevent overreaching my constantly autoregulating volume.
As far as the other comments on his approach, I hear you, but let's not forget that he didn't just come up with these things while sitting at home and only training himself. He is one of the most occupied coaches these days, and coaching, being the word-of-mouth-driven profession as it is, selects for methods that actually work pretty ruthlessly. So if his methods were so removed from the average population, I don't think he could be where he is today.
About the goal setting thing, I think what he is saying is that by always just looking at the big thing, you can loose sight of what to do in the moment.
I think in your analogy it would be more like: 'I want to get big, what should I do?' and the answer be like 'Focus on continous progressive overload in the gym, and eating a slight surplus of of calories, so that your average weekly weight going up by a half a pound.'
Lorenzo Vrolijk Hey man, I was just about to post my problems with mennos explanations on Deloads, but you already said everything I felt and thought listening to the episode perfectly, I agree 100% 👍🏻
I wasn't impressed with his philosophies about this...not that reactive / autoregulative Elements were bad or wouldn't work, but they most definitely aren't the be all end all. Also I would be interested in the specific research he was talking about being "dubious" when he Adressed Dr. Mikes stance on it, which at least to is far more convincing as a general approach in terms of usefulness for a broad spectrum of people. Like you, I also felt like menno was going off about personal preferences and experiences a bit too much..."this worked for me...". But I think Abel mentioned a valid point...the way Mike programs (im personally on his stuff as well) works with regular and planned phases of overreaching (either total volume, or intensity depending on the kind of block you are in) in each and every mesocycle that are followed by planned deloads. In this context, these are absolutely necessary and anyone pushing towards and a bit over their MRV would be very badly advised to skip deloads or just rely on autoregulating. I don't know how Menno programs specifically, but I sounded like it's more of an Minimum effective dose approach, seldomly reaching or surpassing MRV, which in turn would lessen the need to deload in a planned and regular fashion. Maybe this is what the disagreement comes down to...
Concerning goal setting, I also felt like his philosophy are a bit disconnected and incomplete. I mean, of course the so called "process goals" are very important and not just the outcome goals. It's very important so be fulfilled by the journey to your goal, and not just the final destination. But completely avoiding final goals that are specific and have some sort of deadline? I don't know, but this doesn't sound right to me as in my opinion you are well advised to take your big overarching goal and then think about how you can turn it into small and achievable chunks that lead you there over time reaching one after the other one day at a time in a process that should be enjoyable, but also stretch you right to the limit of your current abilities. That's how you grow and get better in my view. Without specific targets, I find it hard to really be productive and get into my personal stretch zone.
Great and insightful podcast overall, keep Doing what you are doing Abel, we appreciate this!:)
MohrAvaMohr
I'm happy someone feels the same way!
Lorenzo Vrolijk, Menno’s clientele consist (according to himself) mostly of highly motivated intermediate-advanced individuals. If you can’t even get yourself to the gym, why are you even watching this video? I don’t buy that your ”attention span” is drastically different to his. Just because someone has an intrinsic motivation to achieve something, does not mean it comes easy and without effort.
Lorenzo Vrolijk, totally agree with you on the ”deload because they are lazy”. People who even consider deloads or even know about them, generally want to maximize their training, but have probably at some point stalled out or even regressed and want to find a way to break through these plateaus. Never really heard about anyone enjoying a deload, except perhaps afterwards when they can come back and perform again.
Menno are you a fan of the Mises School of Economics, based on the 16-18 minute stuff?
Excellent interview. Dat sudden beard tho.
Yep, reminds me of the senior Ezio Auditore from Assasins Creed Brotherhood!
Economists do not use the term rational to mean that humans always make decisions based on objectivity. They use it to mean what humans value, from an economic perspective, is subjective. So someone that chooses to purchase a gaming system instead of paying rent that month would be making a rational economic decision because that person valued the gaming system over paying the rent. Subjective value. I hate when people try to make claims in other fields they don't even practice in.
I have no idea so ill just stay scilent:)
that's one beautiful beard Menno has
How often does Menno fap? Or does it interfere with his testosterone?!?!??!?!