Excellent video Alex. Especially for slow to progress movements like weighted pull ups and OHP. I find that from a psychological perspective increasing a rep is a lot less stressful than weight.
Adding sets is another great way. For example, if you get 9 out of 10 reps on your third set, most of the time you can get 9 reps again for another one to two additionnal sets, given plenty of rest time. It has helped me with plateaus.
@@beesmongeese2978 There has to be a point where 'plenty of rest time' is just having a holiday though.. Unless like me you are doing 3 reps then anything more then a minute per rep is a rest day...
@@Jafmanz so if you are doing sets of 15 for squats you shouldnt take more than a minute? Maybe youd like a chance to edit that, seems like a silly comment unless ive missed the joke
Totally agree, and have long preached this. The idea of "totally owning" a given training load before even thinking about adding more weight. In my young days, always trying to add weight, just because I BARELY managed to get a certain a number of reps in my last workout, was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made. Leading to constant strength plateaus and injuries. Took me many years to realize that "totally owning the weight" BEFORE increasing resistance was a better, more sustainable approach to training. One which has a sort of "built in periodization" in that sometimes you're lifting to 100% failure, but other times you're purposely holding some reps in reserve. You figured this out much younger in life than I did. Good job.
In this past year I've started chasing performance metrics as a hole instead of just weight progression and it's worked wonders for me. Monitoring things such as time spent in the set, rep control, rep amount, speed during concentric, mentality and focus of the set and just overall outcome of my sets etc so now I have many factors to progress on session to session even if I don't manage to increase weight.
@@adriano1309 - I take notes, I also film my top sets and working sets of my primary movements (and sometimes my auxiliary work too) So I can see exactly how I'm performing my movements. I also focus a lot and have become very self aware of being in the set while I do the set so knowing my body positioning, how I'm moving and how accurately I'm using the targeted muscle. But yeah, predominately I write a lot of notes, i usually write my notes as soon as I've finished my set that way it's a completely honest opinion that's fresh vs waiting till I'm home and just thinking "ahh it wasn't a bad set it was alright"
You've basically described the "constant weight training" idea that John McKean wrote about approximately 20+ years ago. It's how I've been training. Very similar to Dan John and Pavels Easy Strength idea.
@@AlexLeonidas I think the article is still out on the net, Dragon Door may still have it. If you Google it you'll probably find it. Hermann Goerner use to train this way, probably because he run out of weight lol, but seriously he used to "avoid strain" training inside his limits. Presumably repeating and perfecting them until they feel really light, then adding a little more.
@@justsomeguywithahugepens8940 I've been using it for around 4 yrs. I haven't executed it perfectly (sometimes go too heavy) but managed to get close to my trapbar PR which I hadn't been nowhere close to for many years, I also set a new standing one arm shoulder DB press PR with 44kg. There are a lot of new lifts I've been doing like 1 arm inclines with a dumbbell. So I couldn't tell you what I could have done had I done the barbell lifts I'd done in the past.
If nothing else this teaches a very impatient generation of lifters the value of patience. Can confirm a 15% drop off in strength with the Bells of Steel SSB
Definitely a viable way to do things. I tend to do this on "feeder" lifts, that support the main movements. A proper strength training workout MIGHT improve strength by 1%, so being conservative is usually in the best interest of long term progress.
You know it brother, the strength gains can be so slow that we might as well just accept/extend that and let progressive overload naturally occur. Gets rid of the plateau mindset and definitely works great on those supportive lifts.
Progressive overload is maximizing the muscular effort, so it isn´t only adding more weight, it can be making more reps, improving technique, taking less rest time or approaching to failure too (like Calisthenics). Patience is key. Totally agree with this advice, recently discovered this channel with your OHP advice and shredded experience. Keep up bro
I used this concept for squat technique improvements and increased loads. I took a Rogue vest, inserted / strapped on all 3 weight plates on each side, and concentrated on touching a stool on the way down and staying upright on the way up. I remained at the same weight for several weeks, than my straight bar squat performance went up greatly.
I really needed this video right now. My atg squat has been plateaued for a while now. I like your approach to strength training the most. I've made the best gains when I've followed your advice and not overcomplicated everything
This was very inspiring and changed my view. I can say personally that bringing your previous 5 rep max up to 10 reps is insanely satisfying. Keep up the awesome videos
As a calisthenics athlete, I do this all the time. I try to master the position before making harder. It takes longer, but you're less likely to plateau, less likely for injury, and you're technique improves more. Patience is the key to continuous gainz
This is exactly what I was wondering like 1 year ago. I spend the whole lockdown with 35kg max. You can get stronger going to failure and increasing sets.
So, basically like a linear, with leverage based progression like with calisthenics, and conjugate and RPE put together. This actually sounds like a very nice way to integrate variations and sounds better on the joint fatigue perspective. I might tweak my program around
Bro can i just say........ watching natual bodybuilders before i saw your channel and others made me wanna quit... But jesus fucking christ did it make me wanna go back in again when i saw you. much love from sweden
I first heard about this approach from Natural Hyoertrophy and I was really impressed as it made a lot more sense to me than the traditional sandbaggin that always is really demotivating
What Alex explained is kind of what I used to do about 30 years ago. Master a weight till it gets easy then increase the weight by a significant amount.
Love this! I finally reached 225 3x10 on flat barbell, so I just switched over to incline. I can only hit 225 for 5 with 1 or 2 in reserve currently, but the goal is to reach a similar zone, and then see where my flat ends up! Cheers!
I know this video is old already but I just had to come back to it. Once I became an intermediate and decided I leaned more toward hypertrophy rather than strength this mindset is working wonders. Adding weight to an exercise is my last resort, I exhaust all methods I can think of before adding weight. More reps, pause reps, harder variation, harder hand grip, etc. Once I "conquered" that weight only then do I add weight. Usually once I do I have to add more than 5 pounds, sometimes 10 sometimes even 20. It also makes training way more fun rather than always thinking about trying to hit a certain number. "DO MORE WITH LESS WEIGHT" is something you always say and I've totally embraced that and it works wonders for my hypertrophy
Absolutely have to agree with this method of progression. I've been doing a linear progression style of programming for a while now and finally hit a plateau, but instead of dropping the weight to linearly climb back up again, I've dropped the weight to the weight of my working set when I started the linear progression and been experimenting with just doing harder variations with the same weight. So with the squat for example, I'm doing the same sets and reps as before when I used this weight but I'll do tempo squats instead with a 3 second eccentric. Then eventually I'll move onto 3 eccentric and paused in the bottom. I maxed out recently and found my sticking point is when my hips reach just above 90° coming out of the hole so the next variation I'll keep the eccentric at 3 seconds still but pause at my sticking point instead of the bottom. I think the best part of this style of progression is not only that the effort is kept high regardless of load on your joints, but that if you make the variations harder versions of the specific movements you're trying to get better at instead of a different stance/grip/implement you could swap out the general strength carry over for a strengthened technique with a focus on your weakness which means that you could use a style of your variation progression to favor different outcomes. For example a powerlifter could use the variations that improve his weak points and strengthen technique, someone after hypertrophy could use the variations to increase tut or favor specific muscles, some training for explosiveness could even use this style of progression by trying to move the weight quicker over time, eventually throwing on bands at the top. All of this to bridge different gaps in weaknesses for different types of outcomes without even bumping the weight up. Very interesting stuff you're onto here, bro. Really appreciate what you do for the community.
I heard the same strategy from dominik sky when he was talking about weighted calistenics, and i really agree, that way you will really master the mivement especially when it comes to calistenics it's the most practical strategy
Aside from making the exercise variation harder (via: slow eccentrics, pauses, sloped surfaces, axle instead of regular bar, no supportive equipment), resting less and trying to get the same amount of work done in shorter period of time is also a good strategy!
Hey Alex, video series suggestion. This would take a big commitment just as your cut did, but I think that on your next bulk that if you recorded daily workouts or weekly highlights of you doing a Westside style upper/lower 2x a week with your own twist on it. Everyone would love the extra content and the PL crowd would dig it too.
Good stuff! My gym has been closed for expansion these last couple months, and I’ve gone from using standard 45lb bar to an axle bar I got a couple weeks ago at home. The difference in grip for rdls, curls, over head press and using it for chin/pull ups has been amazing.
I’ve used things like weighted isometric holds at the most challenging part of a lift (say top holds on pullups, paused squats, sticking point on OHP, etc.) and it’s allowed me to fix deficits in my technique which in turn allows more potential progressive overload. I like what you had to say about reps in reserve and technique modification because I find myself running into the problem of pushing with a lot of intensity for too long without enough variation and inevitably running into fatigue management problems. Some of the methods you described gave me a better picture as to how I could milk out the progression for longer while throwing some strategic variation in the mix. Great video Alex!
Great advice Alex. I remember Eric helms speaking on a podcast about old school lifters using the same weight and for the same sets and reps and when they had more reps in the tank after a couple of weeks they then added weight.
Then get yourself a micro plate (0.25 0.5 1 1.25kg or a 2.5kg) And put the machine plate pin through the micro plate. You can then micro load cable/stack machines.
@@DDB-91 What's the practicality of carrying a load of micro plates? What if you forget one and someone takes it or breaks it etc. It's not that easy to tell someone to buy something and carry it around with them lol.
Hey Alex, I thought you were taking squats seriously again. Can you maybe make a video about increasing your squat and lower body training in general? Greetings from the Netherlands
The part about progressing to the point where having multiple reps in reserve on a given weight allowing you to make larger jumps in weight is in congruence with what Pavel Tsatsoulene teaches
This is exactly what I've been doing for the last 2 years. Hit a new PR and keep at it until it feels easy then increase the reps and sets. Once that feels easy then bounce up 10-20lbs and start over.
This has been the single most confusing topic for me as a beginner. The traditional advice on beginner templates is "add weight when you can do 5 reps for all 5 sets." Which caused me to overreach by jumping into weights I couldn't really handle, constantly being at 0 RIR to the point where I could no longer recover from the workouts in time and my beginner gains completely stalled out.
Matthew zlatt has a solid workout program for weighted callisthenics, it’s an easy progression and shouldn’t be too difficult or too easy. ua-cam.com/video/AeB4znuGuSo/v-deo.html
@@CrowandRaven building your own program #1 exercise and session selection at renaissance periodization. Wish i had this stuff when i was starting man, go get it!
I remember on your stream you were talking about your elbows extending more completely than other people’s, which makes OHP more difficult for you. I was wondering if it was normal to have the opposite problem, where my arm literally does not fully extend no matter what I do
It's definitely possible and some elite benchers actually have this. In the case of OHP though, it usually has to do with a lack of shoulder mobility which gives off the impression that the elbow can't lock out any further. Anyway if you literally cannot go any further no matter what exercise you do, then it's an anthropometry thing and there's not much you can do.
Yeah that probably has to do with tightness in the bicep or a weakness of the tricep. Stretching and strengthening these muscles should do the trick. Oh and also do lots of dead hangs.
One of my favourite ways is to manipulate rest. If I can take my 5x5 with 3 Min Rests down to 5x5 with 90 seconds rest, I’ve gotten both stronger and increased work capacity. Love it
Reminds me of one of the concepts used in Cody LeFever's General Gainz method. I currently use it for my training and it has been a game changer for me
People often talk about double progression schemes. I just wanna plant the idea of triple progression. Start with a weight and do 3x8, then next do 4 sets of 8, then 5 sets of 8, then back down to three sets of 9 reps, then 4 sets of 9 reps, then 5 etc. until you do 5 sets of 12. Then bump the weight. This will obviously be too slow for beginners when it comes to maxing gains, but it is something you can try if you're plateuing. This is how I "periodize" my accessory work (hack squats, incline bench, lat pulldowns, paused rows, one arm rows etc. etc.) Keep grinding folks.
Hey Alex, greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪. Can you do a video about how to start the conjugate method? For someone that has never tried the conjugate method. Would you recommend it for me, a 17 year old that has been lifting for 2 years. Noob gains were over early on. Thanks you so much, really appreciate your work!
Crazy to see how far ur body has come.. I had some health problems and I couldnt train the past few months and I lost over 25 pounds. Im so scared and lazy at the same time to start again..the motivation is at an all time low and looking in the mirror right now sure doesnt help
Hey, i have CRPS, a nerve condition that atrophied my body. Building myself up right now, upper body by scratch! You can DO It!!! And it will help your body too !!!
@@Makmak-yf4dt thats awesome!! Thanks for the channel suggestion, ive been considering getting bands as im limited by dumbbells! One day imma buy them … one day lol
Ah benching is my weakness also working through a shoulder impingement. Been stretching a lot so back to benching now without pain. Gonna use these tips and work on these reps before constantly chasing the pr
When I try to lift too heavy too fast, my form breaks down and the muscles feel less stimulated. Anything lower than 5 rep sets to failure seems unproductive.
I find programming and periodization to be the most difficult elements of my training. I suspect I overthink things, but not sure. Currently I train six days a week using a push pull legs set-up. I usually run my block for 8 weeks, but there is often carryover of certain meat and potato movements from one block to the next. My previous block I was training 4 days a week with lower reps and higher intensity. This block I am using a daily undulating model for my movements. For instance, Push day 1, dumbbell bench, 3 sets and 6-8 reps, taking all sets close to or at failure. Once I reach the top of the rep range on all three sets, I will slow down the eccentric and continue at the same weight until I reach the desired rep range. From here I will go up in weight by small amounts. The next push day, I will choose a similar movement pattern with the same amount of sets, but more reps. I will follow the same progression scheme for the second movement. If my diet, sleep and recovery are all on point and progression stalls for more then a week, I take a deload week where I back off the intensity and volume and reset. This seems to be working as strength continues to increase, my injuries are limited and I keep growing. I do very much want to add different methods to maximize progression. These are fantastic methods and will start adding them to my training, thanks!
Very recently I was able to bench press (64kg) at bodyweight of (57kg)for one rep. I'm very happy because I was able to bench press more than my own bodyweight I know I know it's pretty weak but still it has brought me happiness Anyways good video ✌🤘
These are things I've had to learn because there are no 2.5 lbs plates in my gym. Squat&Deadlift is somewhat manageable in conventional ways, but try improving your OHP with 10 pound increases :/ Gotta up those reps and milk those negatives before jumping up the weight.
Look up fractional plates. They're very cheap and easy to bring along in a gym bag. Makes progressing much easier and more consistent instead of making large jumps in weight all the time
Another good way, is say, if you barbell curl a certain weight while fresh, do it after hammer curls for example, the weight you normally use for barbell curl will feel heavier and be harder to move the same reps etc. Pre fatiguing? I think it's called.
If 10,10,10, instead of adding weight and then it going 8,8,8, stick with weight for 10,10,10 but aim to turn that 0 RiR into 2RiR over time. Then when you hit that. You can tweak the variation by adding a pause for example.
Hello Alex, theres this youtuber named K Boges who makes fitness videos based on calisthenics and so far he sounds legit he also aproaches his videos with a straight to the point bo bullshit mentality. Not sure if you heard of him but he specializes in calsithenics and pretty much said something similar to what you said. He stated that to achieve progressive overload all you have to do is focus on the quality of the reps instead of the quantity and do it often. For example he does simple exercises like push ups, pull ups, body weight squats and rows but does them to failure or near failure. He switches the variations of the exercises in terms of leverages but generally targets the same muscle, and adds weights sometimes. So he gets alot more sets per week for the muscle group as opposed to working out 3 times a day. He works out everyday though and instead of rest days he has lighter days, this is so that he has shorter workouts instead of long ones but does them more frequently . Keep in mind he strictly does calisthenics and he advises to achieve near mastery on these basic movements to build a strong foundation. I would like you opinion on this as you are some of the few youtubers who is knowledgeable on conventional ways of working out AND calisthenics.
2:03 Legit thought you dyed your hair blonde. That’s some interesting lighting. As a novice, is this technique something I should consider if I have a plateau, particularly on the OHP? I haven’t been able to get a 5x6 for 95lb, so I’ve been resorting to increasing strength on the z press (with pins) and on the 3x10 OHP. Is this unnecessary, or would you recommend that for breaking the plateau?
When you stay at the same reps, weights, and sets, and over a few weeks, your exertion for that same workout goes down, then progressive overload must've occurred even though we want to think progressive overload must mean that you have to increase something. It seems that the ability to increase a variable like weight or reps may be a result of progressive overload rather than the driver of it.
Well put, having an easier time lifting the same weight demonstrates that progressive overload may not be the driver, but simply a side effect AFTER the adaptations have already taken place. So always trying to force it may not be the answer if it's automatically supposed to occur.
I mean sure, any kind of progression is progression. And to be fair, using the same weight for 3X10 till they become just too damn easy was pretty common before everyone wanted to be a powerlifter :)
im a big proponent of step loading. Its actually gotten me at a 100 lb weighted dip for reps when i weight 275 lbs. I actuallly use it for almost all my training. Its slow progress but ideally getting brutal strong is about patience anyway.
@@What-he5pr kind of. Its very simple actually. you start with a weight, any weight. Lets say 20 kgs at 3x3. Every workout you add one set. Once you get to 5x3, you then go back down but this time to 3x4, then 4x4 then 5x4. You do this until you reach 5x5 with 20 kg. Once you can do 20 kg at 5x5 you can then add weight 5-10 lbs. Keep repeating this process. Sometimes you may need to stay at a certain weight longer but the beauty is you eventually adapt. The reason i like this is because you can get practice with the same weight and gain confidence.
Hey Alex, give an advise on a proper calisthenics routine. Whether to do push , pull and legs Splits or to do full body everyday ? Give your opinion on this brother.
Hmm don't you think that every time a person does a "good morning squat" it's because their quads have already reached 100% failure. I think lowbar squat works the quads just as much if not more than highbar because you can have that much more weight on. What do you think?
I used to think that until I started looking into N1 Education's work. Besides the quads failing, it could also be that they are a weak link. So the good morning form, although has more overload, is still less biased for quads. Not that you can't get massive with low bar though.
I had similar technique to overload my chest gradually, i started with a weight that i can do for 4-7 reps and did it with a kinda narrow grip (which is my strongest). Gradually i opened up my grip shifting more and more tension on the chest and when i was able to rep it out with minimum triceps work, i added weight! Seemed to work very good. Also difference of the starting grip and the last before weight addition is not extreme (3 fingers apart)
Alpha I have a question right up your alley that I can't find anyone talking about. How do you progress the same lift done more than once a week? Like if you bench twice a week, is it best to use different weights and rep schemes? I know you favor light and heavy days, which is similar to what I'm doing now. But sometimes I run into problems progressing the same lift twice a week: like dumbbell flies. I find using different exercises helps a lot but it's hard to replace staples like the bench press.
Mhm idk about this one. I was stuck on 180 lbs bench for a few months and didn‘t really get stronger staying in the 6-8 rep range. Was scared of injuries thats why i stayed at the weight to strengthen my build before going up. Post lock down i said fuck it imma just try to punch more in and exponentially threw up weight, after a few months of gradually increasing weight i‘m now repping 240 lbs twice. And 180 lbs 10-12 times. No beginner gains i‘ve been training for 6 years now. I think many just get tired and lazy with same weight without the drive to improve and give it 100%, once i had 2 plates lined up my adrenaline and motivation went through the roof allowing more strength for the moment. No pun attended but if i learned anything from that experience is to always reach for the stars weight wise and not stagnate if it isn‘t for injury or cuts. Since slowly entering „serious“ weight i just now became super euphoric and driven about the gym, was always consistent before but never really pumped about it. Just did it bc it was the right thing to do. Now i‘m for the first time thinking about serious goals to set and entered a new chapter so to say. I get your point but i think this only goes for the REAL advanced guys dealing with weights where they have to fight for every pound they put on. Beginners will probably not see great results with this. But thats coming from a bro gym guy i guess, can only talk about my journey and experiences.
Alex what to do when calories are dropped by a lot,cardio still being done but still not losing weight Btw trap foods like oil are counted so no problem there
You eat too many calories. Get a food scale. Weigh everything you eat. Take the weight of every article you eat times the estimated calories for that article and that equals the total calories when you sum it up. Example: 100 grams of uncooked rice = 360 kcal. If you eat 50 grams it's 0.5*360=180 kcal. 100 grams of uncooked chicken breast, no skin = 120 kcal. If you eat 150 grams that's equal to 180 kcal. Total (rice+chicken) = 360 kcal Weigh youself every morning so you know your weight. It will fluctuate, but over the course of a week you should drop in weight. If not, you eat to much compared to your activity level. Eat less or up your activity level. Use an app that tells you how many steps you take every day. Set a target of say 10 000 steps every day. GL! 😊
Excellent video Alex. Especially for slow to progress movements like weighted pull ups and OHP. I find that from a psychological perspective increasing a rep is a lot less stressful than weight.
I figured this out for exactly those two movements but was discouraged at first, glad this video is out now
Especially helpful for those lifts! Good point on the psychological element.
Adding sets is another great way. For example, if you get 9 out of 10 reps on your third set, most of the time you can get 9 reps again for another one to two additionnal sets, given plenty of rest time. It has helped me with plateaus.
@@beesmongeese2978 There has to be a point where 'plenty of rest time' is just having a holiday though.. Unless like me you are doing 3 reps then anything more then a minute per rep is a rest day...
@@Jafmanz so if you are doing sets of 15 for squats you shouldnt take more than a minute? Maybe youd like a chance to edit that, seems like a silly comment unless ive missed the joke
Totally agree, and have long preached this. The idea of "totally owning" a given training load before even thinking about adding more weight. In my young days, always trying to add weight, just because I BARELY managed to get a certain a number of reps in my last workout, was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made. Leading to constant strength plateaus and injuries. Took me many years to realize that "totally owning the weight" BEFORE increasing resistance was a better, more sustainable approach to training. One which has a sort of "built in periodization" in that sometimes you're lifting to 100% failure, but other times you're purposely holding some reps in reserve. You figured this out much younger in life than I did. Good job.
It’s as simple as making the same weight harder. I just recently started doing this and my body is responding well to it!
In this past year I've started chasing performance metrics as a hole instead of just weight progression and it's worked wonders for me. Monitoring things such as time spent in the set, rep control, rep amount, speed during concentric, mentality and focus of the set and just overall outcome of my sets etc so now I have many factors to progress on session to session even if I don't manage to increase weight.
how exactly do you monitor this? do you just take down notes in the moment
@@adriano1309 - I take notes, I also film my top sets and working sets of my primary movements (and sometimes my auxiliary work too) So I can see exactly how I'm performing my movements. I also focus a lot and have become very self aware of being in the set while I do the set so knowing my body positioning, how I'm moving and how accurately I'm using the targeted muscle. But yeah, predominately I write a lot of notes, i usually write my notes as soon as I've finished my set that way it's a completely honest opinion that's fresh vs waiting till I'm home and just thinking "ahh it wasn't a bad set it was alright"
You've basically described the "constant weight training" idea that John McKean wrote about approximately 20+ years ago. It's how I've been training. Very similar to Dan John and Pavels Easy Strength idea.
Pretty cool man!
@@AlexLeonidas I think the article is still out on the net, Dragon Door may still have it. If you Google it you'll probably find it. Hermann Goerner use to train this way, probably because he run out of weight lol, but seriously he used to "avoid strain" training inside his limits. Presumably repeating and perfecting them until they feel really light, then adding a little more.
its very similar to step loading right?
The large weight jump reminds me of traditional russian kettlebells. I thought of Pavel as well.
@@justsomeguywithahugepens8940 I've been using it for around 4 yrs. I haven't executed it perfectly (sometimes go too heavy) but managed to get close to my trapbar PR which I hadn't been nowhere close to for many years, I also set a new standing one arm shoulder DB press PR with 44kg. There are a lot of new lifts I've been doing like 1 arm inclines with a dumbbell.
So I couldn't tell you what I could have done had I done the barbell lifts I'd done in the past.
If nothing else this teaches a very impatient generation of lifters the value of patience. Can confirm a 15% drop off in strength with the Bells of Steel SSB
Love your videos dude, as a fellow bald man, youre insane
Definitely a viable way to do things. I tend to do this on "feeder" lifts, that support the main movements.
A proper strength training workout MIGHT improve strength by 1%, so being conservative is usually in the best interest of long term progress.
You know it brother, the strength gains can be so slow that we might as well just accept/extend that and let progressive overload naturally occur. Gets rid of the plateau mindset and definitely works great on those supportive lifts.
@@AlexLeonidas 100% agree!
Progressive overload is maximizing the muscular effort, so it isn´t only adding more weight, it can be making more reps, improving technique, taking less rest time or approaching to failure too (like Calisthenics). Patience is key.
Totally agree with this advice, recently discovered this channel with your OHP advice and shredded experience.
Keep up bro
I used this concept for squat technique improvements and increased loads. I took a Rogue vest, inserted / strapped on all 3 weight plates on each side, and concentrated on touching a stool on the way down and staying upright on the way up. I remained at the same weight for several weeks, than my straight bar squat performance went up greatly.
I really needed this video right now. My atg squat has been plateaued for a while now. I like your approach to strength training the most. I've made the best gains when I've followed your advice and not overcomplicated everything
This was very inspiring and changed my view. I can say personally that bringing your previous 5 rep max up to 10 reps is insanely satisfying. Keep up the awesome videos
As a calisthenics athlete, I do this all the time. I try to master the position before making harder. It takes longer, but you're less likely to plateau, less likely for injury, and you're technique improves more. Patience is the key to continuous gainz
Preach, also this approach keeps you away from injuries which is the number 1 killer of gains
This is exactly what I was wondering like 1 year ago. I spend the whole lockdown with 35kg max.
You can get stronger going to failure and increasing sets.
So, basically like a linear, with leverage based progression like with calisthenics, and conjugate and RPE put together. This actually sounds like a very nice way to integrate variations and sounds better on the joint fatigue perspective. I might tweak my program around
Bro can i just say........
watching natual bodybuilders before i saw your channel and others made me wanna quit... But jesus fucking christ did it make me wanna go back in again when i saw you.
much love from sweden
I first heard about this approach from Natural Hyoertrophy and I was really impressed as it made a lot more sense to me than the traditional sandbaggin that always is really demotivating
dropping more knowledge than you favourite rapper! I love this guy and I appreciate what he is doing for all of us. Thank you Alex
One of the best videos you have ever made. It makes working out more fun with this method it seems. Thank you
This topic really reminds me of calisthenics and bodyweight training principles
Can learn a lot from calisthenics training principles
What Alex explained is kind of what I used to do about 30 years ago. Master a weight till it gets easy then increase the weight by a significant amount.
Love this! I finally reached 225 3x10 on flat barbell, so I just switched over to incline. I can only hit 225 for 5 with 1 or 2 in reserve currently, but the goal is to reach a similar zone, and then see where my flat ends up! Cheers!
Those back shots are looking great, motivated af to approach a cut like you did Alex. Not expecting to get as lean as you did but lets see how it goes
I know this video is old already but I just had to come back to it. Once I became an intermediate and decided I leaned more toward hypertrophy rather than strength this mindset is working wonders. Adding weight to an exercise is my last resort, I exhaust all methods I can think of before adding weight. More reps, pause reps, harder variation, harder hand grip, etc. Once I "conquered" that weight only then do I add weight. Usually once I do I have to add more than 5 pounds, sometimes 10 sometimes even 20. It also makes training way more fun rather than always thinking about trying to hit a certain number. "DO MORE WITH LESS WEIGHT" is something you always say and I've totally embraced that and it works wonders for my hypertrophy
How are you doing now man?
Absolutely have to agree with this method of progression. I've been doing a linear progression style of programming for a while now and finally hit a plateau, but instead of dropping the weight to linearly climb back up again, I've dropped the weight to the weight of my working set when I started the linear progression and been experimenting with just doing harder variations with the same weight. So with the squat for example, I'm doing the same sets and reps as before when I used this weight but I'll do tempo squats instead with a 3 second eccentric. Then eventually I'll move onto 3 eccentric and paused in the bottom. I maxed out recently and found my sticking point is when my hips reach just above 90° coming out of the hole so the next variation I'll keep the eccentric at 3 seconds still but pause at my sticking point instead of the bottom. I think the best part of this style of progression is not only that the effort is kept high regardless of load on your joints, but that if you make the variations harder versions of the specific movements you're trying to get better at instead of a different stance/grip/implement you could swap out the general strength carry over for a strengthened technique with a focus on your weakness which means that you could use a style of your variation progression to favor different outcomes. For example a powerlifter could use the variations that improve his weak points and strengthen technique, someone after hypertrophy could use the variations to increase tut or favor specific muscles, some training for explosiveness could even use this style of progression by trying to move the weight quicker over time, eventually throwing on bands at the top. All of this to bridge different gaps in weaknesses for different types of outcomes without even bumping the weight up. Very interesting stuff you're onto here, bro. Really appreciate what you do for the community.
Lots of great feedback here, Luke!!
Your wise beyond your years.Always great advice and info.
I always add reps before weight. I can sometimes use the same weight for 4-5 weeks before i add only 2.5kg and start over
I heard the same strategy from dominik sky when he was talking about weighted calistenics, and i really agree, that way you will really master the mivement especially when it comes to calistenics it's the most practical strategy
Aside from making the exercise variation harder (via: slow eccentrics, pauses, sloped surfaces, axle instead of regular bar, no supportive equipment), resting less and trying to get the same amount of work done in shorter period of time is also a good strategy!
Hey Alex, video series suggestion. This would take a big commitment just as your cut did, but I think that on your next bulk that if you recorded daily workouts or weekly highlights of you doing a Westside style upper/lower 2x a week with your own twist on it. Everyone would love the extra content and the PL crowd would dig it too.
Good stuff! My gym has been closed for expansion these last couple months, and I’ve gone from using standard 45lb bar to an axle bar I got a couple weeks ago at home. The difference in grip for rdls, curls, over head press and using it for chin/pull ups has been amazing.
I’ve used things like weighted isometric holds at the most challenging part of a lift (say top holds on pullups, paused squats, sticking point on OHP, etc.) and it’s allowed me to fix deficits in my technique which in turn allows more potential progressive overload.
I like what you had to say about reps in reserve and technique modification because I find myself running into the problem of pushing with a lot of intensity for too long without enough variation and inevitably running into fatigue management problems. Some of the methods you described gave me a better picture as to how I could milk out the progression for longer while throwing some strategic variation in the mix.
Great video Alex!
Alex is still looking shredded such an inspiration
Great video idea as always Alex
Hey Alex, would you ever consider making a weighted pullup and front lever standards video?
Front lever probably not but for pull-ups.. check this out! Enjoy ua-cam.com/video/NtCVlzXa8rg/v-deo.html
Great advice Alex. I remember Eric helms speaking on a podcast about old school lifters using the same weight and for the same sets and reps and when they had more reps in the tank after a couple of weeks they then added weight.
Been using this method for 2 months, definitely works.
Especially because machines have 5kg jumps so adding 5kg per workout isn't realistic long term
Then get yourself a micro plate (0.25 0.5 1 1.25kg or a 2.5kg) And put the machine plate pin through the micro plate. You can then micro load cable/stack machines.
A lot of machines I've used before have only 7kg jumps 🙄
@@DDB-91
What's the practicality of carrying a load of micro plates? What if you forget one and someone takes it or breaks it etc. It's not that easy to tell someone to buy something and carry it around with them lol.
Alex weve been waiting a minute for a workout video
Would love to see a bench press tutorial Alex, that form is clean!
Perfect timing as I just hit the hypertrophy plateau you mentioned yesterday!
Great breakdown, love the very simple approach to lifting 👍
Hey Alex, I thought you were taking squats seriously again. Can you maybe make a video about increasing your squat and lower body training in general?
Greetings from the Netherlands
More squat/leg content on the way! I'm done with being lazy.
Stay tuned and much love from Canada
@@AlexLeonidas yesss
The part about progressing to the point where having multiple reps in reserve on a given weight allowing you to make larger jumps in weight is in congruence with what Pavel Tsatsoulene teaches
As a novice I was thinking about this myself. Thanks for the vid
First time I ever see you do barbell back squats
Many more clips & gains on the way
Very, very good information here.
This is exactly what I've been doing for the last 2 years. Hit a new PR and keep at it until it feels easy then increase the reps and sets. Once that feels easy then bounce up 10-20lbs and start over.
It would be crazy to train with you for a few months I feel like I’d get strong as hell
I am so going to use this!!!
Loving the videos🙏🏽
This has been the single most confusing topic for me as a beginner. The traditional advice on beginner templates is "add weight when you can do 5 reps for all 5 sets." Which caused me to overreach by jumping into weights I couldn't really handle, constantly being at 0 RIR to the point where I could no longer recover from the workouts in time and my beginner gains completely stalled out.
Id advise you to check out mike israetel, he spells it out for beginners very clearly. You shouldnt be near failure rn
@@rockyevans1584 which video do you recommend we check out?
Matthew zlatt has a solid workout program for weighted callisthenics, it’s an easy progression and shouldn’t be too difficult or too easy.
ua-cam.com/video/AeB4znuGuSo/v-deo.html
@@CrowandRaven building your own program #1 exercise and session selection at renaissance periodization. Wish i had this stuff when i was starting man, go get it!
@@rockyevans1584 thanks, I'll check it out.
Great video I think it’s an excellent strategy to building strength as well as muscularity.
I remember on your stream you were talking about your elbows extending more completely than other people’s, which makes OHP more difficult for you. I was wondering if it was normal to have the opposite problem, where my arm literally does not fully extend no matter what I do
Yes, happens to a lot of people
It's definitely possible and some elite benchers actually have this. In the case of OHP though, it usually has to do with a lack of shoulder mobility which gives off the impression that the elbow can't lock out any further. Anyway if you literally cannot go any further no matter what exercise you do, then it's an anthropometry thing and there's not much you can do.
Yeah that probably has to do with tightness in the bicep or a weakness of the tricep. Stretching and strengthening these muscles should do the trick. Oh and also do lots of dead hangs.
One of my favourite ways is to manipulate rest. If I can take my 5x5 with 3 Min Rests down to 5x5 with 90 seconds rest, I’ve gotten both stronger and increased work capacity. Love it
And you could point out that the risk of injuries is higher if you are increasing the weight. Beside of that great video
Is this channel and these followers the realest?
It's certainly up there for a fitness channel!
Reminds me of one of the concepts used in Cody LeFever's General Gainz method. I currently use it for my training and it has been a game changer for me
People often talk about double progression schemes. I just wanna plant the idea of triple progression. Start with a weight and do 3x8, then next do 4 sets of 8, then 5 sets of 8, then back down to three sets of 9 reps, then 4 sets of 9 reps, then 5 etc. until you do 5 sets of 12. Then bump the weight. This will obviously be too slow for beginners when it comes to maxing gains, but it is something you can try if you're plateuing. This is how I "periodize" my accessory work (hack squats, incline bench, lat pulldowns, paused rows, one arm rows etc. etc.)
Keep grinding folks.
I have access to very limited amount of weights, so I need to make the movements harder and harder!
Hey Alex, greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪. Can you do a video about how to start the conjugate method? For someone that has never tried the conjugate method. Would you recommend it for me, a 17 year old that has been lifting for 2 years. Noob gains were over early on. Thanks you so much, really appreciate your work!
No matter how many times I say this to my friends, they only think that heavy weights are the only way
Crazy to see how far ur body has come.. I had some health problems and I couldnt train the past few months and I lost over 25 pounds. Im so scared and lazy at the same time to start again..the motivation is at an all time low and looking in the mirror right now sure doesnt help
Hey, i have CRPS, a nerve condition that atrophied my body. Building myself up right now, upper body by scratch! You can DO It!!! And it will help your body too !!!
@@Makmak-yf4dt thats awesome!! Thanks for the channel suggestion, ive been considering getting bands as im limited by dumbbells! One day imma buy them … one day lol
Ah benching is my weakness also working through a shoulder impingement. Been stretching a lot so back to benching now without pain. Gonna use these tips and work on these reps before constantly chasing the pr
When I try to lift too heavy too fast, my form breaks down and the muscles feel less stimulated. Anything lower than 5 rep sets to failure seems unproductive.
I find programming and periodization to be the most difficult elements of my training. I suspect I overthink things, but not sure. Currently I train six days a week using a push pull legs set-up. I usually run my block for 8 weeks, but there is often carryover of certain meat and potato movements from one block to the next. My previous block I was training 4 days a week with lower reps and higher intensity. This block I am using a daily undulating model for my movements. For instance, Push day 1, dumbbell bench, 3 sets and 6-8 reps, taking all sets close to or at failure. Once I reach the top of the rep range on all three sets, I will slow down the eccentric and continue at the same weight until I reach the desired rep range. From here I will go up in weight by small amounts. The next push day, I will choose a similar movement pattern with the same amount of sets, but more reps. I will follow the same progression scheme for the second movement. If my diet, sleep and recovery are all on point and progression stalls for more then a week, I take a deload week where I back off the intensity and volume and reset. This seems to be working as strength continues to increase, my injuries are limited and I keep growing. I do very much want to add different methods to maximize progression. These are fantastic methods and will start adding them to my training, thanks!
This has to be the first time in years we see alex squatting with a straight bar on his back
I like the sound of this… I only have 350 lbs and rather not buy more… Plus I’m dealing with tendinitis issues
This will work out great for you, especially with those tendon issues.
@@AlexLeonidas appreciate it thanks
You should experiment with palm cooling it, supposedly it helps increase volume, lowers fatigue and makes recovery better
Very recently I was able to bench press (64kg) at bodyweight of (57kg)for one rep. I'm very happy because I was able to bench press more than my own bodyweight I know I know it's pretty weak but still it has brought me happiness
Anyways good video ✌🤘
I’ve only been training for two years but for my age I’m pretty big because this is how I train
red looks dope on u brother
These are things I've had to learn because there are no 2.5 lbs plates in my gym. Squat&Deadlift is somewhat manageable in conventional ways, but try improving your OHP with 10 pound increases :/ Gotta up those reps and milk those negatives before jumping up the weight.
Look up fractional plates.
They're very cheap and easy to bring along in a gym bag. Makes progressing much easier and more consistent instead of making large jumps in weight all the time
Another good way, is say, if you barbell curl a certain weight while fresh, do it after hammer curls for example, the weight you normally use for barbell curl will feel heavier and be harder to move the same reps etc. Pre fatiguing? I think it's called.
If 10,10,10, instead of adding weight and then it going 8,8,8, stick with weight for 10,10,10 but aim to turn that 0 RiR into 2RiR over time. Then when you hit that. You can tweak the variation by adding a pause for example.
Really useful info, thanks
Hello Alex, theres this youtuber named K Boges who makes fitness videos based on calisthenics and so far he sounds legit he also aproaches his videos with a straight to the point bo bullshit mentality. Not sure if you heard of him but he specializes in calsithenics and pretty much said something similar to what you said. He stated that to achieve progressive overload all you have to do is focus on the quality of the reps instead of the quantity and do it often. For example he does simple exercises like push ups, pull ups, body weight squats and rows but does them to failure or near failure. He switches the variations of the exercises in terms of leverages but generally targets the same muscle, and adds weights sometimes. So he gets alot more sets per week for the muscle group as opposed to working out 3 times a day.
He works out everyday though and instead of rest days he has lighter days, this is so that he has shorter workouts instead of long ones but does them more frequently . Keep in mind he strictly does calisthenics and he advises to achieve near mastery on these basic movements to build a strong foundation. I would like you opinion on this as you are some of the few youtubers who is knowledgeable on conventional ways of working out AND calisthenics.
This is called step loading right? I heard it on the Pavel Tsatsouline podcast with Joe Rogan. I've been wanting to give it a shot for some time
Double progression method""
2:03 Legit thought you dyed your hair blonde. That’s some interesting lighting.
As a novice, is this technique something I should consider if I have a plateau, particularly on the OHP? I haven’t been able to get a 5x6 for 95lb, so I’ve been resorting to increasing strength on the z press (with pins) and on the 3x10 OHP. Is this unnecessary, or would you recommend that for breaking the plateau?
I thought it was a different guy altogether until i looked at it the second time
For a split second I thought "who's that" 🤣
Could you do a video like this on how to progress curls? I can't seem to get any stronger on them.
I did this over the summer for my bench and needless to say it helped.
When you stay at the same reps, weights, and sets, and over a few weeks, your exertion for that same workout goes down, then progressive overload must've occurred even though we want to think progressive overload must mean that you have to increase something. It seems that the ability to increase a variable like weight or reps may be a result of progressive overload rather than the driver of it.
Well put, having an easier time lifting the same weight demonstrates that progressive overload may not be the driver, but simply a side effect AFTER the adaptations have already taken place. So always trying to force it may not be the answer if it's automatically supposed to occur.
I mean sure, any kind of progression is progression. And to be fair, using the same weight for 3X10 till they become just too damn easy was pretty common before everyone wanted to be a powerlifter :)
im a big proponent of step loading. Its actually gotten me at a 100 lb weighted dip for reps when i weight 275 lbs. I actuallly use it for almost all my training. Its slow progress but ideally getting brutal strong is about patience anyway.
What's step loading? Just getting comfortable with a same weight for a few weeks?
@@What-he5pr kind of. Its very simple actually. you start with a weight, any weight. Lets say 20 kgs at 3x3. Every workout you add one set. Once you get to 5x3, you then go back down but this time to 3x4, then 4x4 then 5x4. You do this until you reach 5x5 with 20 kg. Once you can do 20 kg at 5x5 you can then add weight 5-10 lbs. Keep repeating this process. Sometimes you may need to stay at a certain weight longer but the beauty is you eventually adapt. The reason i like this is because you can get practice with the same weight and gain confidence.
I love your blouse in this video Alex!
Pulled my Abs today.
Hurts like a M F.
Have you ever had a foot cramp? Imagine that in your abs... 🤕
Dam that sux, I actually almost did mine. I cramped but thankfully nothing pulled
Perfect video
Hey Alex, give an advise on a proper calisthenics routine. Whether to do push , pull and legs Splits or to do full body everyday ? Give your opinion on this brother.
It seems like aplying calisthenics progression to a gym workout 🙂
You can also cut weight.if you can drop weight but keep the same weight and reps works too
Hmm don't you think that every time a person does a "good morning squat" it's because their quads have already reached 100% failure. I think lowbar squat works the quads just as much if not more than highbar because you can have that much more weight on. What do you think?
Ayo benjamin! Good to see you around here too :D
I used to think that until I started looking into N1 Education's work. Besides the quads failing, it could also be that they are a weak link. So the good morning form, although has more overload, is still less biased for quads. Not that you can't get massive with low bar though.
I had similar technique to overload my chest gradually, i started with a weight that i can do for 4-7 reps and did it with a kinda narrow grip (which is my strongest). Gradually i opened up my grip shifting more and more tension on the chest and when i was able to rep it out with minimum triceps work, i added weight! Seemed to work very good. Also difference of the starting grip and the last before weight addition is not extreme (3 fingers apart)
Very interesting method
You did the video on this, but Reverse Grip Bench helps too.
Alpha I have a question right up your alley that I can't find anyone talking about.
How do you progress the same lift done more than once a week? Like if you bench twice a week, is it best to use different weights and rep schemes?
I know you favor light and heavy days, which is similar to what I'm doing now. But sometimes I run into problems progressing the same lift twice a week: like dumbbell flies.
I find using different exercises helps a lot but it's hard to replace staples like the bench press.
Mhm idk about this one. I was stuck on 180 lbs bench for a few months and didn‘t really get stronger staying in the 6-8 rep range. Was scared of injuries thats why i stayed at the weight to strengthen my build before going up.
Post lock down i said fuck it imma just try to punch more in and exponentially threw up weight, after a few months of gradually increasing weight i‘m now repping 240 lbs twice. And 180 lbs 10-12 times. No beginner gains i‘ve been training for 6 years now. I think many just get tired and lazy with same weight without the drive to improve and give it 100%, once i had 2 plates lined up my adrenaline and motivation went through the roof allowing more strength for the moment.
No pun attended but if i learned anything from that experience is to always reach for the stars weight wise and not stagnate if it isn‘t for injury or cuts. Since slowly entering „serious“ weight i just now became super euphoric and driven about the gym, was always consistent before but never really pumped about it. Just did it bc it was the right thing to do.
Now i‘m for the first time thinking about serious goals to set and entered a new chapter so to say.
I get your point but i think this only goes for the REAL advanced guys dealing with weights where they have to fight for every pound they put on. Beginners will probably not see great results with this. But thats coming from a bro gym guy i guess, can only talk about my journey and experiences.
500lb squat- were waiting
Working hard on these legs! Deadlift is probably going to come up really fast first, squats can take some time.
bro said
Answered my question. 🤟🤟🤟👍👍👍
Realised this 2yrs after training
Alex, what's your opinion on Box Squats? Is it good, any benefits?
I love box squats, they're even in the novice program. For detailed information on the exercise, look into Louie Simmons' work.
Alex, what is your advice for people who loose strength/energy on a cut and can't progress
Alex what to do when calories are dropped by a lot,cardio still being done but still not losing weight
Btw trap foods like oil are counted so no problem there
try a diet break and then lower calories again after a week or two
You eat too many calories.
Get a food scale. Weigh everything you eat. Take the weight of every article you eat times the estimated calories for that article and that equals the total calories when you sum it up.
Example: 100 grams of uncooked rice = 360 kcal. If you eat 50 grams it's 0.5*360=180 kcal. 100 grams of uncooked chicken breast, no skin = 120 kcal. If you eat 150 grams that's equal to 180 kcal. Total (rice+chicken) = 360 kcal
Weigh youself every morning so you know your weight. It will fluctuate, but over the course of a week you should drop in weight. If not, you eat to much compared to your activity level. Eat less or up your activity level. Use an app that tells you how many steps you take every day. Set a target of say 10 000 steps every day.
GL! 😊
@@jaghad do i weigh everything?
Alex when we get novice program 2.0?
Is it just me, or is this the first time alex does some barbell squats on camera?