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Could you clarify the video with actual examples in some other video?. I understood something like lengthened partials with light weight but I'm not entirely sure. Thanks dude, you are the best (literally not figuratively)
Ребята, если бы сделали ещё немного больше, а именно - дали возможность выбирать язык, отличный от английского ( да, джефф знаменит не только в англоязычном сегменте ютуба), то я бы мог сейчас заниматься по вашей программе, которую я купил, а не пытался скормить искуственному интеллекту ваш сайт в попытке понять хоть что то из видео.
I sustained a knee injury when I fell down. It was really sore for almost 2 months. I came across Athlean, I started doing his exercises to strengthen my hip and leg muscles, and about 3 weeks later, my pain reduced to where I could walk up/down stairs, move without the searing pain. Now my knee is pain-free!!! This guy knows what he's talking about!!!
Well you start heavy. But when you can't do that anymore, instead of stopping, you go again but lighter, then again but lighter, until you can't even get 3lb up.
Clever analogy. Thank you. What you describe I first learned about from Bill Pearle's book "Getting Stronger". Periodization. 3 phases. 1 phase very low reps, very high weight. 1 phase medium reps, medium weight. 1 phase high reps, low weight. What I appreciate about your description is the high reps to failure discussion. It's not just sore or hard, you literally cannot do the next rep. That done with light weight (IMHO) is far less likely to produce an injury vs same idea with high weight (low rep). Always like your content, thanks again!
As a retired physician age 69 who has lifted weights since I was 16 years old that is one of the best explanation to increase muscle growth. Yu are spot on in your farmer analogy
Due to an accident and elbow surgery I've had to 'restart' at the gym with lighter weights, so I totally fixed my form and BAM ! GAINS ! I'm happy I can still even GO to the gym, but even happier now seeing results after truly cleaning up my diet.....anyone can do it !
I'm 57. Started doing Intermittent fasting & keto diet A little over a year ago. I change my lifting routine to myo reps with light weight in Feb of this year. I'm bigger leaner and more ripped than I have ever been. It works.
Had a job on a 140’ trawler up in Alaska, running the freezer crew. Each of us in that crew picked up and moved 80 tons everyday, in 30,60 and 90lb loads. 13 “workouts” of emptying the freezers and breaking the fish popsicle out of the aluminum pan, glazing the unit in fresh water, bagging it, and then stacking it in the hold that was twelve feet high, to the ceiling. Each freezer took about 45 minutes each, 13 of them over the course of a sixteen hour day, seven days a week, 120 days straight. Seven hours of sleep each night. All the food you could eat was ready for you at break time and it was meat, fish, chicken, rice, potatoes, veggies, eggs, cheese, all the basics. I did two 120 contracts with two weeks off between them. Put on about twenty five pounds of muscle. Realize that this was completely asymmetric work, on a relatively small boat in the Bering Sea and North Pacific in fall and winter and spring. The environment was moving all directions, all the time, sometimes very severely to the point where the “weights” would be sliding around the deck. You had to maintain your balance all the time while lifting, smashing, turning the torso and climbing with these loads in your hands and arms. Can you replicate this in the real world? Probably not. That constantly moving world, up and down and sideways under your feet coupled with completely three dimensional movement of the weights created a level of conditioning and total body strength that I still enjoy the benefits from, thirty five years later.
What was your age at the time you were doing that? Im 28 having a hard time putting up muscle, I don't know if the testosterone is the problem and I don't have money to get tested 😅
Jeff, I've gotta say one thing man. I remember I used to open UA-cam just to watch your videos when I started as a PT. Till date your information makes sense and I've applied for my personal growth 👍🙏
I really appreciated this analogy; with the over-saturation of fitness UA-cam channels, it's tempting to over-emphasize training modalities. Anyone who's been following videos like these for the last decade can probably accurately list the rotation of trending training styles year to year, but even so, it's easy for veteran lifters to over-emphasize whatever is most popular at the time, when trying to incorporate new knowledge into their routine. The key take-away here, as Jeff himself concludes at around 8:50, is to absorb this information, evaluate it, test it, apply it, and synthesize what you've learned; in doing so you'll be able to sustain a body capable of well-rounded and continued growth and consequently, one that is less prone to injury and fine-tuned for longevity. Learn and utilize all of the things and take what your favorite influencers and personalities say with a grain of salt. A ten-minute video that utilizes a farming analogy to explain anatomy and physiology is DEFINITELY not what you're going to get in the pipeline of trending fitness videos, and that fact alone is enough to highlight why Jeff's voice is so valuable in the community. It's way too easy to watch videos today from professionals who have already synthesized this information for you and deliver nice simple statistics and ideas to follow. But deep processing and understanding comes from the work your brain goes through when you force it to focus, and Jeff's methodology facilitates that. Tl;dr: Thanks Jeff and good luck to all of you in your fitness journeys!
Dropsets automatically give you a few sets with light weights. Pyramiding gives you light weights at the start and the end of a session. That's what I'm doing now and getting great results.
@@RealMcCoy303 Well I hit a plateau (not surprizing, I'm 71 years old) and tried going lighter only with high reps and that didn't work -- plus I really want to keep my strength. Now I train each muscle group about once every four days (because recovery is slower) and I start with very light weights... move to heavy then back to light. For example, for dumbell bicep curls: 1st set: 20 reps with 5Kg (basically a warm-up) 2nd, 3rd sets: as many reps as I can manage with 10Kg dumbells (about 1-2 RIR). 4th, 5th sets: as many reps as I can manage with 15Kg dumbells (about 1-2 RIR) 6th, 7th sets: lift to failure with 20Kg dumbells and throw in a couple of slow eccentric reps past failure. 8th, 9th sets: lift to failure with 15Kg dumbells plus two slow eccentric reps past failure. 10th, 11th sets: lift to failure with 10Kg dumbells plus two slow eccentric reps past failure. 12th set: lift to failure with the 5Kg dumbells This is a pretty hard routine and takes an extra 24-48 hours for recovery over what I was doing before but it certainly has stimulated an increase in strength and hypertrophy since I started this regime about 6 weeks ago.
@@xjet 12 sets of ANY exercise is way, way, way too much. 3-4 sets is more than enough. Mess around with time under tension using lighter weight, slow eccentrics and keep doing the pyramids.
Jeff, thanks for your enthusiasm and professionalism. I've been training since last May with AthleanX, and I am in great shape and getting better. I'm 63, and I'm here to tell tell you all, Jeff's training works if you do!! I have gained muscle/weight and I feel awesome. Thanks mate ❤
I am 56. I have been consistently weight training 3 to 4 days a week for about 1.5 hours a day for a 1 year now and I am stuck in a plateau. Love Jeff's videos, but since I am a little older I not sure what programs makes sense for me. Any suggestions?
Respect. An easy breakdown. After reaching a sticking point of using "overload", change the exercises, after that, focus on full range and form, and then try lighter weight going to failure. All options are valuable.
@@Christina0925 when talking 'light weight' it's never meant in the extreme. Basically a weight that's light enough that you fail at around 12-14 reps (basically any rep number higher than 12 I count as 'light' myself)
@@jaybeebee9288 well technically he said "20 to 25 repetitions" But yeah I missed that on the first viewing. I think I was burnt out from making my way through his conflated farm analogy lol
Summary: Jeff Cavaliere from Athlean-X explains how to build muscle using light weights by comparing muscle growth to farming. He says that muscles, like crops, need proper resources (myonuclei or "farmers") to grow, and using light weights can stimulate those resources. There are three key muscle-building methods: progressive overload, eccentric overload, and lightweight training to failure, which causes metabolic stress and recruits satellite cells, driving muscle growth. He emphasizes the importance of balance and consistency in training, likening it to using an irrigation system on a farm for steady growth, rather than relying solely on heavy weights or other extremes. Lastly, he warns against shortcuts like steroids, comparing them to harmful pesticides.
Great analogy. I've had several shoulder injuries over the years while lifting or other sports. With that in mind I never go heavy anymore. I do change my workouts quite often. Different exercises, rep ranges, techniques, slower negatives, things like that. The other day, after hearing Dave Goggins mention it, I tried lowering the weight even more and performing 100 continuos reps ending in total failure. Damn I was sore for the next several days.
I just turned 62; I train weights 4 days a week Mon/Tue, take Wed off, then Thur/ Fri, I also get up at 6am and use a rowing machine and then a sesssion of yoga with iFIT Mon -> Fri, on weekends I ride my skateboards. Weights range from light to medium nothing crazy too hard on the joints. One day when i grow up I want to look like Jeff :)
If you skate at 62 you're probably in great shape, your legs and core have to constantly work to keep your balance so it's a great lower/mid body workout!
@@sidgar1 Age is just a number my friend; make staying in shape a lifestyle, eat clean I have been a strict vegitarian now for 12 years, and most importantly enjoy life becasue no one gets off this ride alive.
This was a good video, but could you do it again without the farming analogy please? I got lost somewhere between hiring more farmers and hypertrophy. LOL
Yes crop circles easy to explain a group of people late at night doing it at least 99% the 1% could be real.... They were reported in the 1870s ... Anyway got to go it's leg day😢💯🇬🇧🇯🇲👍
Actual farmer/rancher & lifter and you make a lot of sense with everything you've said today. Very impressed with your farming knowledge, not so much the drawing.🤦🏼♂️
This is awesome. Alot of things we hear..year after year are these concepts like light weights and reps etc.. but now I know why or at least have a mental picture for why I would go to muscle failure. It's really all about whats going through your brain when your doing sets. Well done much appreciated.
I once had a state champion wrestler I was working with on a seasonal gig in Alaska tell me you could get a world class body just by working out with 25 pound dumbbells. Every guy was like "no way" and started arguing about 35, 40, 45, 50 pound dumbbells, the wrestler just shrugged and was like "whatever"
It might have helped to display an example of a workout plan with these three components in mind, because now all I can think about is how sustainable my farmland is going to be.
The difference in pain tolerance of failing low reps vs high reps separates the men from the boys. I don't care what anyone says, low rep work might be impressive, dangerous, high focus on technique, safety concerns etc, but the actual PAIN in failing at a 5th rep vs 20 or 30 reps is worlds apart. And I happen to think that additional level of pain has to count for something, I cannot believe there would be such high degrees of pain for no gain. So yeh... high rep work (due to typically lower poundage's) is highly underrated and utilized, because the gym goers cannot stand the thought of repping out with such weak looking weights. Ego training time and time again halts the gains.
I've never done a 1 rep max in my life, always thought it was useless. I usually keep it in the 8-12 rep range but after this video, I'll be trying 12-20 for a while.
@@Axiomatic75 It's definitely something else to add to the tool box to try. Tom Platz loved his 100 rep squat sets. Just be sure to really make the failure kick in higher than normal. If you fail typically 12 reps but this new training sees you failing at rep 15, that's not a big difference. Fail at rep 25, that will be very different to failing at rep 8-12.
Disagree completely the best way to get bigger is to get stronger it forces growth and I'm sorry but 30 reps is ridiculous and unnecessary and it's already proven there is zero benefit to training beyond failure just focus on getting stronger with proper form and eating and resting enough max ot gave me the best results in my life
A problem with high reps is it takes longer and in a busy gym with lots of people wanting to use the kit you won't make yourself popular if you spend a long time on some equipment doing 20 reps per set.
@@badwrongbadong buddy you will grow up one day and realize that the only thing that matters is what works for YOU. "link me the science"....link your neurons together for a second.
I've gotten great results with drop sets to failure. I start with heavy weight. And go to failure. Then drop the weight and continue to failure. Then drop it again and go to failure. That's 1 set. Do 3 sets.
Takes a real tough man to use lighter weights to push oneself to actual failure. The burn you gotta push yourself through and all the self-talk telling you to stop is no joke. Takes serious mental toughness and discipline.
You have dozens of videos about going to failure but I think it's time you had one of you working out and showing what that actually looks like. Notably, your bodyweight series from the covid year... I want to see you take bodyweight squats to failure and not get bored doing it.
@@shadowscion already did: ATHLEAN X Full Shoulder Workout (2023) The 1 SET Chest Workout (FAST CHEST GAINS!) The World’s FASTEST Chest Workout (INTENSE!)
Clever analogy. I've been playing with 25-30 rep sets lately. What are your thoughts on volume with high rep sets. (I've been doing 3-4x 25-30 reps) And what about frequency? Thanks, Jeff!
Since i started recovering from surgery i've been doing similar 20-25 reps 3 sets, lift 3 days take a day off sometimes 2 if I'm sore. Found this to be way better.
excellent video. I suffer heart failure, as well as multiple injuries from when I was in the army. My physio works with me in a similar way as you explained in this video. I am finding I am very slowly improving my muscles back to where they were many moons ago.
We don't need examples and shows and bells and whistles (we do need bells) like this just tell us the info, more reps, lighter weights and decent exercise execution. Done! Thank you!
I need to find something for my 66 yr old mom to Do. In the last 2 yrs she went from pushing wheelbarrows full of dirt in her yard like a mad woman to being unable to lift 15 lbs without pain.
69 year old woman here. Can she handle 5lbs weights? I’m recovering from bicep tendinitis and am using low weights with a lot of repetitions for my shoulders.
@@phoenixmassey yea she was using them today when I went to visit. Dr told her to go slow because she's "bottoming out" with feminine body parts causing issues. Prolapse or something. Hard watching my mom slow down.
Hey Jeff! Could you make a dumbbell only ab workout that doesn’t use any other equipment? I’ve been following your home ab workout and have seen great gains and hope I can improve on that
Get a floor wheel, start rolling out from your knees and work up to rolling out from your feet. By the time you're rolling out from your feet, your abs will be like steel.
Great analogy. Sad to hear for those that can't focus for a few minutes. Lol I think it was a great video and am going to start with it today! Am 56 and have grown 30 pounds of muscle through your channel.
1) Cycle 2 to 3 weeks on each: - light weight, 12 reps - medium, 10 reps - heavy, 8 reps ...as you cycle through your split. 2) Do reps slowly to incorporate moderate amounts of eccentric & isometric training (without locking out) keep safe form, and to become aware of which positions in the movement the muscle is weakest. 3) save failure for light and medium weights - failure at heavy weights is to prone to loss of form and invites injury. 4) stretching (not via excentric mivement) is as important as lifting and cardio. As muscles grow they shorten which leads to decreased range of motion and, therefore, declerating gains over time. The effect may be minimal, but it does exist. Plus stretching speeds recovery time (esp as we get older) and decreases liklihood of injury.
A very effective variation is to start with 10 reps and work towards 12 reps over the training sessions. Then raise the weight by 10% and to 8 reps and work towards 10 reps. Then when 10 is reached, raise the weight again with 10% and do 6 reps working toward 8 reps. When you finally reach 8 reps you start again with 10 reps but not with 5% less weight than when doing the last 6 up to 8 reps. Repeat the same "double progressions looping" again. Every training session should consist reverse pyramid training "A la Martin Berkhan" which consists of two sets per muscle group where you go to absolute failure (Try to do one rep more even if you are sure you reached failure on the last rep to be sure that it was failure). You must decrease the weight by 5% between the sets since you can't do the same number of reps the second set due to fatigue from the first "to failure" set. When you finally hit a wall and stays at the same reps for a given weight for 3 sessions in a row it is time to switch to lighter training. Myoreps is very effective here.
Metabolic stress/overload -- something I've been using since I heard Jeff talk about it YEARS ago....but it bears repeating and this video does a great job of explaining it in a new way. Thankis JC.
Switching between heavy and light weight for lateral raises (and switching between cable & dumbbell work) has done wonders for my shoulders. We don't always need to max out and do three sets of eight reps. Sometimes, you gotta burn out with light weights.
I read that that your delts recover the fastest therefore you can do a ton of sets. I'm a bouncer 6ft3 with broad ass shoulders. I'm gonna train my delts tomorrow till they burn out
Just yesterday I watched a video where a 76 year old female professional body builder was being interviewed. She had pretty impressive muscle gains! She said she never lifts heavy. She says a lot of people do ego lifting in the gym and it’s not necessary and can just cause injury. Interesting that I came across this video advocating for low weight high reps. I might try this as I have hypermobile joints so lifting heavy screws them up!
You watch pumping iron and the era of bodybuilders before that, that influenced Arny and Zane, and they were all massive and aesthetically well proportioned, without the plethora of “fitness influencer” knowledge. They just blasted ⚙️ 💉 put in the work, and chased the pump
60 years ago they were advertising cigarets as something very good for your health and that you SHOULD smoke, 30 years ago people were using asbest on their roofs and in plenty of different places. Things change.
Jeff, very funny analogy. As a coach - teacher - competitor for 35 years I see that we over complicate things. 1. Fuel your body with healthy food and enough protein. 2. Drink more than enough water. 3. Train with a plan, consistently, with a variety of reps - sets and overall volume. 4. Recover without sitting on a sofa eating donuts. 5. Train hard most of the time. Some sets need to go to failure or close to it. 6. Analyze your progress. Helping a client now who said, “I’ve been stuck at the same squat weight for years!” He has zero plan for success. As you mentioned, if you keep doing exactly the same thing over and over you’ll get really good, until you don’t. Variety is key. 7. Lastly, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Especially with younger people, they have no patience.
Agriculture and bodybuilding rolled into one. I'm unsure what's the best season to maximise gains in the gym and should I be incorporating farmer carries. Thanks for the video Jeff, much appreciated.
It isn't necessarily more complicated. Train hard and to failure, eat well, rest properly and you'll build muscle. Simple. It only gets complicated if you want to min-max.
If you're not smart enough to understand and contribute to the progress of the world, can you at least not whine about it and demand we go back to ignorance?
💪💪💪 Started a farm. Planted the crops. Then followed your instructions and let me tell you. My farm is effing jacked. I’m worried though. I think the crops may pass me soon as the farmer and I will be the crop! Please add a video on how I can get these crops scrawnier?
You watch pumping iron and the era of bodybuilders before that, that influenced Arny and Zane, and they were all massive and aesthetically well proportioned, without the plethora of “fitness influencer” knowledge. They just blasted ⚙️ 💉 put in the work, and chased the pump
Excellent channel! It's not easy and not supposed to be but to apply yourself to achieve your very own Field of Dreams is worthwhile! Senior runner and incorporating weights, also. Lift for LIFE!
@@josedavidmelerosuso7276 It's clear you have no clue about the consequences of training and the goal of longevity. There's only "gains" in your head, otherwise you would have learnt...
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@@athleanx bet bet
Hi Jeff, ill be here following until you become face-wrinkled, muscle shriveled and turned grey haired.😁
Could you clarify the video with actual examples in some other video?. I understood something like lengthened partials with light weight but I'm not entirely sure. Thanks dude, you are the best (literally not figuratively)
Ребята, если бы сделали ещё немного больше, а именно - дали возможность выбирать язык, отличный от английского ( да, джефф знаменит не только в англоязычном сегменте ютуба), то я бы мог сейчас заниматься по вашей программе, которую я купил, а не пытался скормить искуственному интеллекту ваш сайт в попытке понять хоть что то из видео.
Instructions unclear, became an actual farmer
We farming gains, brother!
YEEHAW!!
Farming harder than last time!
Make them Grains
Same here but I ain't complaining, carrots growing like crazy 😂
Old style farming will definitely help you to grow muscles...or even just the farmer's carry
I sustained a knee injury when I fell down. It was really sore for almost 2 months. I came across Athlean, I started doing his exercises to strengthen my hip and leg muscles, and about 3 weeks later, my pain reduced to where I could walk up/down stairs, move without the searing pain. Now my knee is pain-free!!! This guy knows what he's talking about!!!
As a farmer of over 30 years i found this video on crop rotation and irrigation was a cool little detour into the world of bodybuilding.
Well at 2:15 he introduced some boobs for your low concentration …😂😳
"Light weight baby!!!" - Ronnie Coleman
Yes lightweight worked for Mike Mensa Doreen Yates and of course the king..
Like 3lb weights?
“YEEEEAAAHHH BUDDY!”
Well you start heavy. But when you can't do that anymore, instead of stopping, you go again but lighter, then again but lighter, until you can't even get 3lb up.
So drop sets?
Clever analogy. Thank you. What you describe I first learned about from Bill Pearle's book "Getting Stronger". Periodization. 3 phases. 1 phase very low reps, very high weight. 1 phase medium reps, medium weight. 1 phase high reps, low weight. What I appreciate about your description is the high reps to failure discussion. It's not just sore or hard, you literally cannot do the next rep. That done with light weight (IMHO) is far less likely to produce an injury vs same idea with high weight (low rep). Always like your content, thanks again!
Downside is it’s not very time efficient 🤷🏻♂️
As a retired physician age 69 who has lifted weights since I was 16 years old that is one of the best explanation to increase muscle growth.
Yu are spot on in your farmer analogy
Due to an accident and elbow surgery I've had to 'restart' at the gym with lighter weights, so I totally fixed my form and BAM ! GAINS ! I'm happy I can still even GO to the gym, but even happier now seeing results after truly cleaning up my diet.....anyone can do it !
you are resiliant, well done
Good stuff Otto. Keep it going.
I'm 57. Started doing Intermittent fasting & keto diet A little over a year ago. I change my lifting routine to myo reps with light weight in Feb of this year. I'm bigger leaner and more ripped than I have ever been. It works.
Shoulder surgery 2 years ago. Happy that I can shoulder press a 40lb dumbell now and little to no pain.
@@HiggyBaby0U812what’s your intermittent fasting routine like and at how many carbs do you eat max per day?
Holy crap, my farming knowledge is 100% more now than when I got here.
:))))))))))))))))))))
100% more of 0% is... 0% :-)
* Holy crop
I’m a farmer and believe me, the analogy is absolute garbage 🤣
I have no idea why he had to do this comparison, it makes no sense.
i didn't know farming was a pyramid scheme
Had a job on a 140’ trawler up in Alaska, running the freezer crew. Each of us in that crew picked up and moved 80 tons everyday, in 30,60 and 90lb loads. 13 “workouts” of emptying the freezers and breaking the fish popsicle out of the aluminum pan, glazing the unit in fresh water, bagging it, and then stacking it in the hold that was twelve feet high, to the ceiling. Each freezer took about 45 minutes each, 13 of them over the course of a sixteen hour day, seven days a week, 120 days straight. Seven hours of sleep each night. All the food you could eat was ready for you at break time and it was meat, fish, chicken, rice, potatoes, veggies, eggs, cheese, all the basics.
I did two 120 contracts with two weeks off between them. Put on about twenty five pounds of muscle. Realize that this was completely asymmetric work, on a relatively small boat in the Bering Sea and North Pacific in fall and winter and spring. The environment was moving all directions, all the time, sometimes very severely to the point where the “weights” would be sliding around the deck. You had to maintain your balance all the time while lifting, smashing, turning the torso and climbing with these loads in your hands and arms.
Can you replicate this in the real world? Probably not. That constantly moving world, up and down and sideways under your feet coupled with completely three dimensional movement of the weights created a level of conditioning and total body strength that I still enjoy the benefits from, thirty five years later.
Amazing story. I always like to read these
Finally, someone who’s done a proper job unlike these influencer mugs.
@@stephenjon3502 get out of your own head
Absolutely incredible!! 😮
What was your age at the time you were doing that?
Im 28 having a hard time putting up muscle, I don't know if the testosterone is the problem and I don't have money to get tested 😅
This was so confusing, but i focused and i think i got it.
Be a farmer and I'll grow light muscle.
lol i felt the same way
😂😂😂😂😂
Bullshit. Be a farmer and you'll get JACKED. Farmers are crazy.
😂😂👏
You got it right.
Work the muscle, feed the muscle, rest the muscle, grow the muscle, repeat.
KISS
love the muscle
@@jellojiggler1693 have intercourse with the muscle
Eat the mussel
Bonus: experiment with progressive overloads
Something tells me Jeff just bought a tractor and needed to find a way to have it tax deductible
😂👊🏻
😂👊🏻
He at least bought the tire
🤣
😂
Being consistent and switching things up!! Eat better and be more disciplined than you ever have and you’ll look and feel better than you ever have!!
@bigmikeobama5314 I agree with you, however muscles look even bigger without the fat hanging hanging around though.
Both things can be true though.
Jeff, I've gotta say one thing man. I remember I used to open UA-cam just to watch your videos when I started as a PT. Till date your information makes sense and I've applied for my personal growth 👍🙏
The beginning of an Athlean-gardening channel.^^
😂😂😂
I really appreciated this analogy; with the over-saturation of fitness UA-cam channels, it's tempting to over-emphasize training modalities. Anyone who's been following videos like these for the last decade can probably accurately list the rotation of trending training styles year to year, but even so, it's easy for veteran lifters to over-emphasize whatever is most popular at the time, when trying to incorporate new knowledge into their routine. The key take-away here, as Jeff himself concludes at around 8:50, is to absorb this information, evaluate it, test it, apply it, and synthesize what you've learned; in doing so you'll be able to sustain a body capable of well-rounded and continued growth and consequently, one that is less prone to injury and fine-tuned for longevity. Learn and utilize all of the things and take what your favorite influencers and personalities say with a grain of salt. A ten-minute video that utilizes a farming analogy to explain anatomy and physiology is DEFINITELY not what you're going to get in the pipeline of trending fitness videos, and that fact alone is enough to highlight why Jeff's voice is so valuable in the community. It's way too easy to watch videos today from professionals who have already synthesized this information for you and deliver nice simple statistics and ideas to follow. But deep processing and understanding comes from the work your brain goes through when you force it to focus, and Jeff's methodology facilitates that. Tl;dr: Thanks Jeff and good luck to all of you in your fitness journeys!
Dropsets automatically give you a few sets with light weights. Pyramiding gives you light weights at the start and the end of a session. That's what I'm doing now and getting great results.
Can you give more details, I'm struggling and need a fresh start
@@RealMcCoy303 Well I hit a plateau (not surprizing, I'm 71 years old) and tried going lighter only with high reps and that didn't work -- plus I really want to keep my strength. Now I train each muscle group about once every four days (because recovery is slower) and I start with very light weights... move to heavy then back to light. For example, for dumbell bicep curls:
1st set: 20 reps with 5Kg (basically a warm-up)
2nd, 3rd sets: as many reps as I can manage with 10Kg dumbells (about 1-2 RIR).
4th, 5th sets: as many reps as I can manage with 15Kg dumbells (about 1-2 RIR)
6th, 7th sets: lift to failure with 20Kg dumbells and throw in a couple of slow eccentric reps past failure.
8th, 9th sets: lift to failure with 15Kg dumbells plus two slow eccentric reps past failure.
10th, 11th sets: lift to failure with 10Kg dumbells plus two slow eccentric reps past failure.
12th set: lift to failure with the 5Kg dumbells
This is a pretty hard routine and takes an extra 24-48 hours for recovery over what I was doing before but it certainly has stimulated an increase in strength and hypertrophy since I started this regime about 6 weeks ago.
@@xjet 12 sets of ANY exercise is way, way, way too much.
3-4 sets is more than enough. Mess around with time under tension using lighter weight, slow eccentrics and keep doing the pyramids.
@@Industrious420 3-4 weekly sets is way too little
@@technolus5742 But he was talking about training about every 4 days, not once a week.
Jeff, thanks for your enthusiasm and professionalism. I've been training since last May with AthleanX, and I am in great shape and getting better. I'm 63, and I'm here to tell tell you all, Jeff's training works if you do!! I have gained muscle/weight and I feel awesome.
Thanks mate ❤
I am 56. I have been consistently weight training 3 to 4 days a week for about 1.5 hours a day for a 1 year now and I am stuck in a plateau. Love Jeff's videos, but since I am a little older I not sure what programs makes sense for me.
Any suggestions?
Respect. An easy breakdown. After reaching a sticking point of using "overload", change the exercises, after that, focus on full range and form, and then try lighter weight going to failure. All options are valuable.
Like 3 lbs?
@@Christina0925. Drop your working sets by 20 to 30% and then focus on higher reps slow and controlled but still good to failure
@@Christina0925 when talking 'light weight' it's never meant in the extreme. Basically a weight that's light enough that you fail at around 12-14 reps (basically any rep number higher than 12 I count as 'light' myself)
@@papaspaulding No he said 25 reps. I even provided the timestamp for you, as a man of data: 06:39
@@jaybeebee9288 well technically he said "20 to 25 repetitions" But yeah I missed that on the first viewing. I think I was burnt out from making my way through his conflated farm analogy lol
Takeaway: Lifting light weights can build muscle, but only if you do reps to the point of "failure", where you can no longer lift.
Summary: Jeff Cavaliere from Athlean-X explains how to build muscle using light weights by comparing muscle growth to farming. He says that muscles, like crops, need proper resources (myonuclei or "farmers") to grow, and using light weights can stimulate those resources. There are three key muscle-building methods: progressive overload, eccentric overload, and lightweight training to failure, which causes metabolic stress and recruits satellite cells, driving muscle growth. He emphasizes the importance of balance and consistency in training, likening it to using an irrigation system on a farm for steady growth, rather than relying solely on heavy weights or other extremes. Lastly, he warns against shortcuts like steroids, comparing them to harmful pesticides.
AI text summary? 😂🤩 anyway thx bro 👊
Wow great summary! Thanks!
So I shouldn't draw grass on myself and lay outside in the rain and wait for a farmer?
Team3DAlpha been saying this for more than a decade
The summary was nearly as unnecessarily long winded as the video 😄
My summary: lower the weights until failure.
Great analogy. I've had several shoulder injuries over the years while lifting or other sports. With that in mind I never go heavy anymore. I do change my workouts quite often. Different exercises, rep ranges, techniques, slower negatives, things like that. The other day, after hearing Dave Goggins mention it, I tried lowering the weight even more and performing 100 continuos reps ending in total failure. Damn I was sore for the next several days.
3 farmers remind you of the original Total Recall like it did me?
Three tits🐐🐐🐐
Bruh, get out of my head! I was thinking “why does Jeff’s farm have 3 boobs??”😂😂
Lol
😂😂
I came to the comments just to see who thought that. 😂😂😂
I just turned 62; I train weights 4 days a week Mon/Tue, take Wed off, then Thur/ Fri, I also get up at 6am and use a rowing machine and then a sesssion of yoga with iFIT Mon -> Fri, on weekends I ride my skateboards. Weights range from light to medium nothing crazy too hard on the joints. One day when i grow up I want to look like Jeff :)
If you skate at 62 you're probably in great shape, your legs and core have to constantly work to keep your balance so it's a great lower/mid body workout!
@@sidgar1 Age is just a number my friend; make staying in shape a lifestyle, eat clean I have been a strict vegitarian now for 12 years, and most importantly enjoy life becasue no one gets off this ride alive.
You're still young, you'll get there eventually
I'm a similar age , and also love the surfskate style boards for a nice, leg and core workout, when I'm not surfing
This was a good video, but could you do it again without the farming analogy please? I got lost somewhere between hiring more farmers and hypertrophy. LOL
😂
So what are we supposed to do. Only light weights?
@@dancindavey1515I think you should mix it up is the goal of the video.
Came here to build muscles, built a farm instead.
Hey - it’s the chick from the bar in Total Recall!
"Baby you'll wish you had three hands"
Glad I'm not the only one seeing this
😂😂😂😂 my thoughts exactly!
Thank you for saying it so I didn't have to! 😀
Lmao!!
Can you explain crop circles next
He doesn't dare risk the wrath Alien's wrath.
Yes crop circles easy to explain a group of people late at night doing it at least 99% the 1% could be real.... They were reported in the 1870s ... Anyway got to go it's leg day😢💯🇬🇧🇯🇲👍
You're not ready for the explanation
@@mohammadiaa got me there
😂😂😂
Actual farmer/rancher & lifter and you make a lot of sense with everything you've said today. Very impressed with your farming knowledge, not so much the drawing.🤦🏼♂️
Do 10 sets of artistic drawing each day for 10 years and then apply to become this channel's artist
This is awesome. Alot of things we hear..year after year are these concepts like light weights and reps etc.. but now I know why or at least have a mental picture for why I would go to muscle failure. It's really all about whats going through your brain when your doing sets. Well done much appreciated.
I once had a state champion wrestler I was working with on a seasonal gig in Alaska tell me you could get a world class body just by working out with 25 pound dumbbells. Every guy was like "no way" and started arguing about 35, 40, 45, 50 pound dumbbells, the wrestler just shrugged and was like "whatever"
I always feel more soreness with light weight . Not all of us can maintain Jeff's form with heavy weight !! . Thanks Jeff
It might have helped to display an example of a workout plan with these three components in mind, because now all I can think about is how sustainable my farmland is going to be.
Thanks Jeff. Really appreciate your content. Keep it up. Always motivating
Reminds me of my uncle when he'd try to explain life's 'mysteries' after smoking weed and gettin all philosophical back in the day 😂
Everything you explaine make sense ! I totaly agree with your perspective of progress building muscle !😊
I'm 97 and Jeff's program really makes sense to me.
You’re 97?
You sir have been blessed.
Really cool.
One of your best videos Jeff
The difference in pain tolerance of failing low reps vs high reps separates the men from the boys. I don't care what anyone says, low rep work might be impressive, dangerous, high focus on technique, safety concerns etc, but the actual PAIN in failing at a 5th rep vs 20 or 30 reps is worlds apart. And I happen to think that additional level of pain has to count for something, I cannot believe there would be such high degrees of pain for no gain. So yeh... high rep work (due to typically lower poundage's) is highly underrated and utilized, because the gym goers cannot stand the thought of repping out with such weak looking weights. Ego training time and time again halts the gains.
I've never done a 1 rep max in my life, always thought it was useless. I usually keep it in the 8-12 rep range but after this video, I'll be trying 12-20 for a while.
@@Axiomatic75 It's definitely something else to add to the tool box to try. Tom Platz loved his 100 rep squat sets.
Just be sure to really make the failure kick in higher than normal. If you fail typically 12 reps but this new training sees you failing at rep 15, that's not a big difference. Fail at rep 25, that will be very different to failing at rep 8-12.
Disagree completely the best way to get bigger is to get stronger it forces growth and I'm sorry but 30 reps is ridiculous and unnecessary and it's already proven there is zero benefit to training beyond failure just focus on getting stronger with proper form and eating and resting enough max ot gave me the best results in my life
@@Axiomatic75 So you have no idea what your personal best is on anything?
A problem with high reps is it takes longer and in a busy gym with lots of people wanting to use the kit you won't make yourself popular if you spend a long time on some equipment doing 20 reps per set.
2 sets of every routine should be to exhaustion at 50% of pr and 90% of pr. Thats gotten me the best results.
Can you give me some examples? I’d like to try this.
Provide the study or evidence to support This. Enough bro science exist already…
@@badwrongbadong buddy you will grow up one day and realize that the only thing that matters is what works for YOU. "link me the science"....link your neurons together for a second.
I've gotten great results with drop sets to failure. I start with heavy weight. And go to failure. Then drop the weight and continue to failure. Then drop it again and go to failure. That's 1 set. Do 3 sets.
@@steadyrow , can you give me some examples of what you do for this so I can try it out?
This was an excellent analogy. I heard that variety in exercise was needed to break through plateaus but this brings it full circle. Thanks!
2:18 "Total Recall" easter egg.
Nice
Nice
😂
Took me a sec (.)(.)(.)
( * )( * )( * )
Takes a real tough man to use lighter weights to push oneself to actual failure. The burn you gotta push yourself through and all the self-talk telling you to stop is no joke. Takes serious mental toughness and discipline.
You have dozens of videos about going to failure but I think it's time you had one of you working out and showing what that actually looks like. Notably, your bodyweight series from the covid year... I want to see you take bodyweight squats to failure and not get bored doing it.
@@shadowscion already did:
ATHLEAN X Full Shoulder Workout (2023)
The 1 SET Chest Workout (FAST CHEST GAINS!)
The World’s FASTEST Chest Workout (INTENSE!)
ATHLEAN X Full Shoulder Workout (2023)
The 1 SET Chest Workout (FAST CHEST GAINS!)
The World’s FASTEST Chest Workout (INTENSE!)
💯 My exercise philosophy EXACTLY! Thank you, Jeff 😎😎
Clever analogy.
I've been playing with 25-30 rep sets lately. What are your thoughts on volume with high rep sets. (I've been doing 3-4x 25-30 reps) And what about frequency? Thanks, Jeff!
Since i started recovering from surgery i've been doing similar 20-25 reps 3 sets, lift 3 days take a day off sometimes 2 if I'm sore. Found this to be way better.
excellent video. I suffer heart failure, as well as multiple injuries from when I was in the army. My physio works with me in a similar way as you explained in this video. I am finding I am very slowly improving my muscles back to where they were many moons ago.
The farming metaphors and principles here are actually pretty spot on. Nice job.
Nah its more confusing
love the post man. as always those eye-catching biceps are proof of what you are talking about.💪💪💪💪💪👍👍👍👍👍👍
We don't need examples and shows and bells and whistles (we do need bells) like this just tell us the info, more reps, lighter weights and decent exercise execution. Done! Thank you!
Jeff, first rate presentation as always. I didn't, however anticipate a farming analogy, but it was effective.
I need to find something for my 66 yr old mom to Do. In the last 2 yrs she went from pushing wheelbarrows full of dirt in her yard like a mad woman to being unable to lift 15 lbs without pain.
69 year old woman here. Can she handle 5lbs weights? I’m recovering from bicep tendinitis and am using low weights with a lot of repetitions for my shoulders.
@@phoenixmassey yea she was using them today when I went to visit. Dr told her to go slow because she's "bottoming out" with feminine body parts causing issues. Prolapse or something. Hard watching my mom slow down.
@@Dreoilin I’m so sorry to hear this. I hope she will be on the mend soon.
Then address the pain first, Jeff already covered tons of this
@@Dreoilin Pelvic floor physical therapy might help with the prolapse.
I have always enjoyed your science based videos, but this one combines science with a most creative and easy
to understand presentation. Thanks.
Hey Jeff! Could you make a dumbbell only ab workout that doesn’t use any other equipment? I’ve been following your home ab workout and have seen great gains and hope I can improve on that
Get a floor wheel, start rolling out from your knees and work up to rolling out from your feet. By the time you're rolling out from your feet, your abs will be like steel.
@@USS-SNAKE-ISLAND Thanks!
If you use his Six Pack Promise app, you can specify the kind of equipment you want to use, so you can get dumbell-only ab workouts that way.
Great analogy. Sad to hear for those that can't focus for a few minutes. Lol
I think it was a great video and am going to start with it today!
Am 56 and have grown 30 pounds of muscle through your channel.
1:45 Progressive overload
4:15 Eccentric damage
6:25 Metabolic stress
9:00 💉
And where Is light Wright!
Nice
Thanx Jeff, gonna start on it right away.
1) Cycle 2 to 3 weeks on each:
- light weight, 12 reps
- medium, 10 reps
- heavy, 8 reps ...as you cycle through your split.
2) Do reps slowly to incorporate moderate amounts of eccentric & isometric training (without locking out) keep safe form, and to become aware of which positions in the movement the muscle is weakest.
3) save failure for light and medium weights - failure at heavy weights is to prone to loss of form and invites injury.
4) stretching (not via excentric mivement) is as important as lifting and cardio. As muscles grow they shorten which leads to decreased range of motion and, therefore, declerating gains over time. The effect may be minimal, but it does exist. Plus stretching speeds recovery time (esp as we get older) and decreases liklihood of injury.
A very effective variation is to start with 10 reps and work towards 12 reps over the training sessions. Then raise the weight by 10% and to 8 reps and work towards 10 reps. Then when 10 is reached, raise the weight again with 10% and do 6 reps working toward 8 reps.
When you finally reach 8 reps you start again with 10 reps but not with 5% less weight than when doing the last 6 up to 8 reps. Repeat the same "double progressions looping" again.
Every training session should consist reverse pyramid training "A la Martin Berkhan" which consists of two sets per muscle group where you go to absolute failure (Try to do one rep more even if you are sure you reached failure on the last rep to be sure that it was failure). You must decrease the weight by 5% between the sets since you can't do the same number of reps the second set due to fatigue from the first "to failure" set.
When you finally hit a wall and stays at the same reps for a given weight for 3 sessions in a row it is time to switch to lighter training. Myoreps is very effective here.
Metabolic stress/overload -- something I've been using since I heard Jeff talk about it YEARS ago....but it bears repeating and this video does a great job of explaining it in a new way. Thankis JC.
3:00 Bruce Lee wants to know your location
Always great information
Seems that Jeff played Manor Lords recently
Great stuff. I like hearing abut the science behind athletic development and you keep up with the latest info for us.
Switching between heavy and light weight for lateral raises (and switching between cable & dumbbell work) has done wonders for my shoulders. We don't always need to max out and do three sets of eight reps. Sometimes, you gotta burn out with light weights.
I read that that your delts recover the fastest therefore you can do a ton of sets. I'm a bouncer 6ft3 with broad ass shoulders. I'm gonna train my delts tomorrow till they burn out
Extremely detailed and helpful. Thanks for sharing, Jeff!
Just yesterday I watched a video where a 76 year old female professional body builder was being interviewed. She had pretty impressive muscle gains!
She said she never lifts heavy. She says a lot of people do ego lifting in the gym and it’s not necessary and can just cause injury.
Interesting that I came across this video advocating for low weight high reps. I might try this as I have hypermobile joints so lifting heavy screws them up!
Great analogy, sir! Thank you for all you do.
King Ronnie already taught us this... Lightweight baby! 😂
Appreciate the content ❤ lots of hardwork and effort behind the screen.Thank you.
I found it very difficult to concentrate with those circles with the dot in the middle, dirty mind, dirty mind
Thanks for the training info 👍
For ten years, I've been learning all the secrets of building muscle, but UA-cam says otherwise it seems.
You watch pumping iron and the era of bodybuilders before that, that influenced Arny and Zane, and they were all massive and aesthetically well proportioned, without the plethora of “fitness influencer” knowledge. They just blasted ⚙️ 💉 put in the work, and chased the pump
And used a shit load of Steroids!
@@rj5822 and the steroids.
Their fitness influencer was called steroids
60 years ago they were advertising cigarets as something very good for your health and that you SHOULD smoke, 30 years ago people were using asbest on their roofs and in plenty of different places.
Things change.
This has to be the best allegory for training I've ever seen. Jeff is simply amazing!
That's quite a farm....😂
Thank you 🙏 good analogy. My crops about to get an extra set to failure.
I love the videos Jeff, very educational. Thank you
At 2:30 I thought Jeff was sketching that stripper from total recall
Hahaha! You beat me to it! Makes me wish I had 3 hands! 😂😂😂
@@1Maohi1 get your ass to mars!
It makes sense. Consistency is key thanks for your honesty about farming.
Jeff, very funny analogy. As a coach - teacher - competitor for 35 years I see that we over complicate things.
1. Fuel your body with healthy food and enough protein.
2. Drink more than enough water.
3. Train with a plan, consistently, with a variety of reps - sets and overall volume.
4. Recover without sitting on a sofa eating donuts.
5. Train hard most of the time. Some sets need to go to failure or close to it.
6. Analyze your progress. Helping a client now who said, “I’ve been stuck at the same squat weight for years!” He has zero plan for success. As you mentioned, if you keep doing exactly the same thing over and over you’ll get really good, until you don’t. Variety is key.
7. Lastly, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Especially with younger people, they have no patience.
Noted. Will recover in the recliner eating donuts instead 😂
Yeah, no 1 size fits all. Some people grow more with heavy sets, some do with lighter, need to experiment on you
Farmer Jeff leading the way with this knowledge! 👏
ALL WEIGHT IS LIGHTWEIGHT, BABY! 💪💪💪
Except your mom
Drops sets helped me the most
Why you didn't say them in a straight way?what's the deal with the farm thing I didn't understand anything
This is your best video to date Jeff!
Wtf… I stopped at 1:48
guys hurting for new ideas for content
Agriculture and bodybuilding rolled into one.
I'm unsure what's the best season to maximise gains in the gym and should I be incorporating farmer carries.
Thanks for the video Jeff, much appreciated.
you took nearly 10 mins to explain what ....Heavy till exhaustion , then Lighter to exhaustive higher rep failure ???
Pretty much. Just explained the mechanics and the why as well. Which is informative.
Sometimes it's not about what you say, but how you say it.
He explained why you need all 3 of them
Excellent Jeff!
a very good analogy for the "masses" and plebs.
Great content as always, thank you Jeff Cavaliere! You are the man.
Watching you in 1.5x is a trip but doable lol
why has it got so much more complicated these days rather than just simplifying it to training and eating consistently? its too much science
Story telling is a way other humans learn
It isn't necessarily more complicated. Train hard and to failure, eat well, rest properly and you'll build muscle. Simple.
It only gets complicated if you want to min-max.
if you don't like "science", maybe don't follow a channel who's motto is "putting the science back into training"
If you're not smart enough to understand and contribute to the progress of the world, can you at least not whine about it and demand we go back to ignorance?
I feel the same but really it's a lot of words and a good try but miss. The farmer analogy c'mon man...know many farmers.
Great video as always! Thanks Jeff
If you want to build muscle, you're going to have to use lightweights
That’s wrong so much, if you want mass quick it’s heavy. My chest is crazy big compared to other part and it’s cus I lift only heavy on that area.
And you skip leg day@@nickhaa
@@Elwin-w3v Him: What's leg day? Lol!
How light? 3lbs?
@@nickhaacongrats, you’ve trained your brain to failure.
💪💪💪 Started a farm. Planted the crops. Then followed your instructions and let me tell you. My farm is effing jacked. I’m worried though. I think the crops may pass me soon as the farmer and I will be the crop! Please add a video on how I can get these crops scrawnier?
You watch pumping iron and the era of bodybuilders before that, that influenced Arny and Zane, and they were all massive and aesthetically well proportioned, without the plethora of “fitness influencer” knowledge. They just blasted ⚙️ 💉 put in the work, and chased the pump
Wow. Very valuable analysis.
Coincidentally, I grew up on a farm and all the strongest people I’ve known were farmers.
Excellent channel! It's not easy and not supposed to be but to apply yourself to achieve your very own Field of Dreams is worthwhile! Senior runner and incorporating weights, also. Lift for LIFE!
I'll stick to Mike Mentzer's ways.
Too much of one thing is not a good thing, haven't you learnt?
@@LittleBpaulmuller-Owners That's the point. Mike Mentzer's HIT is for naturals. Intense workoit, low repetitions, less time in the gim.
@@josedavidmelerosuso7276 And what about the consequences of keep doing high intensity?
That's not the point whatsoever, you still haven't learnt.
@@LittleBpaulmuller-Owners It's clear you have no clue about Mentzer's HIT. Otherwise, you wouldn't be saying that...
@@josedavidmelerosuso7276 It's clear you have no clue about the consequences of training and the goal of longevity. There's only "gains" in your head, otherwise you would have learnt...