I was an athlean-x viewer when I first started going to the gym during the pandemic, and had minimal gains. Found this channel and gains exploded over the last 2 years.
I came across the tiny Skeletor man about 5-6 years ago and bought into his tomfuckery for a time. He was the first fitness RUclips channel that I ever actually watched. It's funny to reflect on one's personal training journey and think of all the buffoonery one learns from and grows out of (hopefully).
Lol, Jeff and Dr. Mike agree on ~99.5 of stuff. Jeff supports the idea of working out to failure, with the caveat that it means less volume. Dr. Mike's celebrity training videos are like that too... Always to failure but less volume.
If i generally feel fine doing this, and am seeing my reps go up weekly (slowly) and am doing plenty of sets... do i need to freak out about this? Idk, im conflicted, ive been doing this for 6 months now with 2 deloads and while i felt a bit worn out at the start, the only fatigue i feel now is from dieting.
@@adamvifrye2690then it's fine. I pretty much train to failure, 0 RIR or 1 RIR on every lift I do. Absolutely manageable with the right volume and exercise selection
Fuck man, I get that doing more volume will lead to more gainz, but who has the time!? I’ve been bulking hard on zero sets a week and already put on 20lbs of mass, thats good enough for me
Dude I know he’s talking about 12 sets? TF? I do 4-5 sets and get full stretch to failure and it works what I want, still feeling sore the next day. And I barely have time to do my 4 sets going through supersets.
@@chriscarlisle6835 I usually do about 8-9 sets per workout. That is, within 7 days 16-18 sets. I do bro split and go to the gym 6 times a week. Probably not the most optimal, but I enjoy this very much
Dude that discussion about failure training not actually being any better than 1-2RIR is an eye opener. I feel like I'm leaving shit on the table when I don't fail, even though I know where I will fail I just feel like I GOTTA do it otherwise I'm not maximising my time in the gym. It's good to know that it ain't true. That last rep doesn't actually mean anything, it adds a whole lot of fatigue for negligible gains. The fact that it's actually better to do more sets at 2RIR than do fewer sets to failure is the real kicker here. If I stop before failing, I can do more sets, and that's actually gonna give me more gains than going to failure on every set. It's also good to know that my progression should be weekly, not in every workout. I bench 2-3 times a week, and I feel like I need to increase in reps in every workout - and I end up hitting failure super quickly, and feeling like I'm not getting as strong as I could. I think this adjusts my expectations and if I am benching 3 times a week, all 3 of those workouts can be basically the same and I should only increase in reps basically every week, not every workout. I am still trying to calibrate my expectations, and I really hope there will be a video on this one day to know if I am progressing as fast as i should be or if I am progressing too slowly.
Dr mike says the last is has the stimulus so do a slowww eccentric to really milk it. But you said at the end of your first paragraph that the last rep doesn’t really matter. Which one is it? Well what I do is I milk the last rep when I’m at 1-2 RIR
@@gcg8187 When I say the "last rep doesn't really matter" I'm referring specifically to the 0RIR rep. The failure rep, the one that I probably won't get. In this video, Dr Mike says that you don't need to train to failure, you can stop one or two reps shy and get the same results. Sometimes, when I'm at 1-2RIR, I decide I'm just going to do one more rep and go to failure as a result. That is the last rep that doesn't matter; I can stop without doing that last rep and therefore not go to failure. You are right to milk that last rep, when you're putting in that much effort and you're still not at failure, it's really good stimulus to go slow on that last eccentric before completing the rep. Good job, keep working hard!
@@cybersteel8 Rir training is fine, and you probably don’t need to actually fail every set every time, but keep in mind that dr Mike has a tendency to vastly overemphasize importance of fatigue because he is on steroids and literally has superhuman amount of muscle that can generate that much more fatigue than normal natural lifters can. Real overtraining is practically impossible with just lifting, it usually happens from too much hard cardio. Overtraining is mental, if you need a whole week to reset yourself okay but for me just a couple days does the trick.
Even though I have severe depression and having muscular pain in the gym is basically the only joy I experience, dr mike still can make me laugh from time to time. Thank you bro
Hi Dr. Mike! I’m a beginner lifter, but I feel like I’ve learned a lot more from watching yours and Jeff Nippards videos than I have from people at the gym. Thanks for the great and funny content and for teaching me how to best maximize growth and technique!
Great sources to find as a beginner, i was spinning my wheels with no program or tracking, looking for that one weird exercise, keeping my knees from going over toes on old bros advice for years before i found the good doc and j nips. Ill give a recommendation for a little geoffrey verity schofield and natural hypertrophy just for some different albeit similar views, and for more science greg nuckols and the beard boys from stronger by science are well worth nerding out on imo
@@rockyevans1584 thank you for the recommendations! I’ll check them out later. I feel really lucky, a friend got me to go to the gym with him for a while but he quit. I didn’t know what to do to improve so I just looked up videos and Jeff and Dr. Mike both ended up seeming the most reliable for what I wanted.
Dr. Mike knows his shit. Don’t listen to gym bro advice. It’s usually wrong. Here’s a good method: watch people’s technique and physique in the gym - if both suck they’re full of shit and have little value to offer.
I am 63 and have osteoarthritis among other things?Ankylosing Spondylitis and other spinal diseases.So,I absolutely cannot go really heavy with weight.I use high reps to get to exhaustion and that is NOT easy and can be time consuming.Being retired?All I have is time,so isn’t a problem for me.I see others my age at the gym basically NEVER training to exhaustion.They do these fast spastic reps that really do nothing except exhaust the joints.Technique is SO important.Quality reps are key in the type of training I do.Focus on the area you are working.Max it out with the reps.When I feel like I have only a few left?I do 5 more.Listen to your bod and focus on the area you are working.
I'm finally at a point in my life where I don't obsess over progressive overload for every single exercise of every workout. I'll still train with intensity and be mindful of progress. But if there are a few exercises I hit a plateau on, there are others I progress on. As well as other areas of fitness I keep improving on. So, as a whole, it's still a net positive. For years and years, I'd beat myself up if I wasn't hitting PR's on every exercise week to week in some way with reps, weight, or more ctrl. But now I have a lot better balance. 💯
Thanks to all your videos , I was able to start getting my life on track. First time I had lifted 50 pounds, and impressed my husband too whom I ve passed on what I ve been learning from you and also motivated him to start lifting too. Unfortunately, cant afford rp app rn but we ll surelly give it a shot when we will be able to afford it. Thank you so much Dr. Mike for all your great teachings!
After 30yrs of training, I can tell you that the average gym goer does not suffer from too much intensity and too little volume! RIR mentality is the mindset of the masses…
Thanks for your content. I’m just now buying some equipment and beginning to lift. Been cutting for 6 months and lost 50 lbs with your help. there are a lot of RUclips fitness folks but in the end I feel this is the best channel for me. It’s easy to digest and covers so much. Also most of it seems to be true which is wild for RUclips 😂. Keep the videos coming homie!
I've been working out for a month, mainly doing different types of pushups and situps for multiple days. And I've been taking it slow doing only a few sets starting out, because I'm new to working out and the results are slowly taking shape. The main thing I've learned while doing research and listening to RP is find a balance and take your time and recover when necessary and always be consistent. For example when starting out at 227 pounds I couldn't do regular pushups cause of how heavy I was, so I did inclined pushups for a few weeks and now I can max out at 20 regular pushups instead of 1 or 2. Case and point I'm much stronger than before and I now feel comfortable with doing 2 sets of regular pushups and of course now using dumbbells. I'm glad I could share my one month experience with someone new like me. Final note is to be consistent and slowly increase the amount of weight you work with as you get stronger and of course eat a lot of protein and also research good technique lol.
Thanks to Mike I got off keto and started being precise with my diet and training. 2 months in and the best Ive ever looked. Each day in the gym I add a rep or two on each exercise, while going to almost failure. So thankful.
This is the type of videos I wanna see on RUclips, so much information and so easy to memorise... as a beginner this is what I need to understand what to do and not do, amazing 💪🔥
Over 4 years of training here. I recently started lower volume...(2-4 less sets than normal per muscle group per session) and training with slightly heavier weights...(7-13 reps instead of 12-18) and I noticed failure training on every set is now manageable for more weeks than before with higher volumes. I'm also gaining strength faster than before and I get to eat more. I have always done 4 weeks of accumulation before deloading, and only 3-4 mesocycles before a maintanence phase.
"Why would you do less of something we know builds more muscle so that you can do more of something that may or may not build more muscle?" Really great point. Another point to consider is how the rep range affects the optimal RIR. One of the takeaways from the Robinson paper was that the heavier the weight (i.e. the lower the rep range), the less additional stimulus you get for going closer to failure. So for example, there's no measurable difference between sets of 5-10 at 3 RIR compared to sets of 5-10 at 0 RIR: the only thing you're accomplishing is accumulating more fatigue. On the other side, going from 3 RIR to 0 RIR in sets of 20-30 can make a noticeable difference. I also wanted to give a shout-out to an idea Brad Schoenfeld mentioned in a recent video with I think Milo Wolf: in response to the objection that failure training is bad because it harms performance on subsequent sets, you could take only your last set to failure. It's similar to Mike's advice to go crazy hard the last week of a meso, because who cares if performance would suffer the next week, you're doing deload training.
I’m a swimmer that uses a few free weights (super light) for strength stuff. As a NON body builder I love watching your videos to help me do the right technique and the right amount so I don’t get hurt. I’m old so can’t afford that. So far I’ve actually gained muscle and strength in swimming over the last 8months. Thanks bro!
Excellent video, RP team. I especially enjoyed the beginner, intermediate and advanced progression of information presented throughout. The beginner section was thought-provoking. I wonder, are we as individuals interested in hypertrophy perhaps taking the “beginner” phase of muscle gain for granted? The huge ramp up in ability to grow muscle is very special and not something we see again once a certain level of musculature has been reached. I wonder how robust the inquiry into specifically the beginning phases of hypertrophy has been.
Glad to see a video on this, as I started incorporating this literally two days ago. I’m six months into training so still a beginner and since I recover quickly, I thought I might as well push it harder and add a couple more sets. I’ve started splitting my training to a.m. and p.m. sessions so I can do the workload.
2 a days 6 months in? 2 a days are only needed for extremely advanced bbers man, you would likely progress faster from 4 to 5 max total sessions a week
@@rockyevans1584Honestly if he has the time and is not having any ill effects I say why not? Hopefully he's watching all of Mike's videos and is paying attention to his body signals but more power to him!
@AndrewPokornik just because you may not benefit from overturning stones before you need them. When you plateau, you need to add. Before you plateau, there's no need to add. If you've already added, once you plateau you're already going to be battling systemic fatigue vs stimulus, having to prioritize muscle groups to grow them while keeping others at maintenance, basically you just risk putting more effort for very little additional gain, and it may take you longer to get to your practical limit. No big deal if you're young enough and likely lifting for life, but time is important so thought it was worth mentioning
I feel like I have to go to failure because if I don't, I feel like my judge of RIR is way off. Maybe I'm just bad at RIR, and maybe I'll get better over time, but for now, it's every set to failure, and my recovery has been a lot better than what I thought it'd be.
An easy way to judge RIR is as your set progresses, does it become more challenging. If you hit 10 reps but feel you could do 1-2 more, stop, and that’ll be 1-2 RIR. It takes time to narrow it down for each exercise but using the same mentality to find it is easy to do.
A big thing that helped me was I go to "technical "failure so what's my technique becomes off I stop. So no cheat reps or anything like that. My recovery is great I still feel like I'm going to failure and if I ever misjudge a rep I don't have to ask for help because I can just jerk the way around like everyone else in the gym lol
I feel you. I was so used to going to failure, I takes will, but on the other hand a very easy rule. I always wondered why people have even specific Rep numbers, besides tracking progress of course. But now I have to see to find a repeatable earlier stopping point.
@CornFed_3 My problem was when I tried this (specifically for legs) I would say I was at RIR 2 but then later that week or even a later set I would go to failure and get an extra 2 to 4 reps over what I thought would be failure.
@@matmaster1142, and that’s where you decide to increase your weight and basically “start over” at figuring out where your true failure point is. It’s not an exact science and can take some tinkering, but it’s definitely possible. Again, paying close attention to form is also key in the overall equation. If you can pump out more reps above what you thought failure to be but your form isn’t crisp and damn near perfect, I wouldn’t count them. On legs specifically, if my quads or my booty meat start shaking, that’s what I consider my technique failure point, even if I could bust more out. My form and injury risk only go up from there.
This series is a blessing, dr mike! I know you've went through already all of this in a combination of previous videos, but this series is a crisp summary of all the info. Enjoying the chance to review and really ingrain the content! Thanks
I was talking to a few guys at the gym. They said working out is important, but diet and rest is the real workout. And for me the eating part of it is the hardest. Another great video though!
Training is so complicated - “failure” - I lift heavy and i get stronger but i don’t grow!! However focusing on 60% total PR 8-12 reps but focusing on slow eccentric tension and now my body is reacting, i’m growing and my joints feel so much better!! i’ve been training for over 12 years and only now i am only starting to understand my body’s limitation and not over training!
I like the way you just worded that. Until technique goes to crap. I tend to think of failure as in "no can move bar" but thinking about my last workout there were several times that technique went bad so I stopped. In reality, that was going until failure. My muscles couldn't do it anymore so they asked other muscles to tag in
Agreed. I get annoyed by listening to other people say how much weight or how many reps they did, then watching them use momentum and other muscles that shouldn't even be involved in the lift
It really depends on the muscle / joints involved and the indvidual, too. Can I bust out another bicep curl with a lean or swing? Yeah. Will it hurt me? Probably not. Can I force that last rep on dumbell overhead press? Sure can. Will it hurt me? Sure did... back to PT I go yet again. One day I'll learn...
@@Ryush806so true. I cant imagine leaving rir on single joint movements, and whenever ive tried hitting failure on compounds, particularly squats or deadlifts, i get like 2 to 3 day fatigue hangovers
Been using the hypertrophy app recently it’s been great it’s a little weird doing rir training always a little scared of undershooting but so far I’ve been feeling some soreness and having some decent pumps so hopefully I’m training hard enough here’s to hopefully the best gains of my training life
Finally, someone explained it. Common mistakes number 5. My thought that pushing too much through pain (despite good technique) will lead to injury, this was my barrier to attempting to progress. I understand now the difference between pain and the ability to do the physical movement. Thank you
My alarm bells start ringing when i'm ego lifting and that's pretty much thee main reason i get injured somewhere and i do not remember getting injured while doing things in proper form with the right amount of weight. Now to failure. I do failure on every last set of a given exercise and depends on the risk factors like compound movements i give that a 3 RIR 100% i don't brute force compounds like squat, deads, benches just nope. I do brute force but with great attempt of proper force for every last set of non compound exercises coz for me it's safer that way with little risks and i haven't been injured ever since but breaking plateaus is a different animal all together and i add reps before adding weight but that don't usually help faster so that's what im currently experimenting on how to break strength plateaus.
I have been training 4 days a week in the gym for 2 hours for the past 1 month and 2 days of kickboxing. I am at the intermediate stage ( I worked out at home with some light weights). I push every set to failure, drop weight and do that till failure. I am getting strong and also losing weight ( on a cut -1500 cal, 170 pounds -18% body fat). But I am only tired during the leg days, and I don't feel soreness in any muscles(I am cooked in the gym) after returning home from workouts. I don't know if too much volume is the problem; I follow PPL + 1 shoulder. PS: Thank you for educating me about fitness and diet, and you should try acting in a movie, Dr. Mike-RESPECT and love.
I have a similar workout life style 4 days a week 1 day muay thai 1 day jujitsu but I do 2 upper lower splits. Weird that you don't feel sore after work outs. I've been training seriously for around eight years and have pretty much always had a little soreness after working out for at least a day. May need to push yourself a little harder or switch out some exercises and find some that give you a better pump/mind muscle connection.
@@zachjennings5320 I get a shit ton of pump, I can't literally do 1 more set with a proper form even with a lighter weight. Although I can feel the fatigue after kick boxing and leg days. And I am getting stronger every lift week after week too.
Please keep up the good work. As an over 50yr old natty going to reps to failure is not quite so awesome. i will keep doing it, tho. Cannot run (menisceptomy on left knee) so walking with a weight vest around the neighborhood (or no vest on the elliptical in the unfinished basement).
I reduced the number of sets from 24 to 16 sets per workout. I did 4 supersets of 2 exercises, so 8 exercises in total with 3 sets for each exercice,with 1min rest between two consecutive sets for antagonists muscles. I did that 6 times a week in a kind of push pull legs. I was no longer gaining strength, and the nervous fatigue was real. I finally dropped from 3 sets per exercice to two but excellent form and real failure, as well as 1min rest even between antagonists set. I gained in 3 weeks insane strength, from 120kgs 1RM bench press to 130kgs, probably also due do better recuperation between workouts. My workout last as long (40-45 min maximum), are still extremely intense but the heart feels less stressed and the muscle more stimulated than annihilated compared to before. I'm natural lifetime, and 1m76 for 84kgs fairly lean (obliques well defined and abs with veins), I just don't have time to workout 1h+ hours and I don't need additional mass, I just want to feel good training and at least maintain.
Thank you for your commentary. It's always nice to get a different perspective. I'll probably be doing this in a few years myself but I got time and want to build more mass
But the lower volume was not what made your gains explode. The reason why that happened was actually the higher volume, you overreached and than backed off to supercompesate. That's basically the concept RP teachs, do it in waves. It comes a time when your body will only respond to higher volumes when you're advanced, but you cant hold that volume for too long. Search how to up your work capacity, so you can handle more volumes. I have a gigantic back as a natural and i can handle 25, 30 sets no problem. That seems impossible to a lot of folks, but thats because they train like powerlifters or never bothered with their work capacity. The old ditillo blog has a lot of information about the old school naturals, the ones before the steroids were even made. They look gigantic, much bigger than even steroid users. Believe me when i say they did not built their bodies with 20 sets per week per muscle group, the blog has some information about that. But again, what made you gain strength for 3 weeks and general gains was the high volume, the 24 sets per week part.
@@IvanM272im a Fan of keeping the Volume the Same becouse you never know If you Progress...more Progression is also more total Volume ....getting more Reps or weight is the Goal Not Doing more Junk Volume ..everybody can build the Work capacity to 30 Sets a week but i promise you you will Not Progress as a Natural on 30 Sets.......If you do hard Sets and AIM to your Muscle ...the sweetpot is 10-20 hard Sets Close to failure with Progress overload...If you are very strong and advanced you can never handle 30 Sets Bench a week Close to failure ...the Body will adapt and you Plateau or get weaker.....the Hardest Thing is to Progress in your workouts...you cant Progress Volume in Sets forever
What Mike describes reminds me alot of Arnold talking about the burn feeling like cooming, he's just talking about training to near failure when it's painful, so it's cool to hear the science behind why that actually works.
A few questions: 1. Let's say I'm doing 6 sets of my main exercise. Should I aim for 2 RIR on the first set, and that chosen weight "sets the tone" for the following 7 sets? Or should I be dropping the weight if I can no longer meet that rep number by set 4 or 5? I often find I'm pretty close to failure on my first couple of sets, but the later sets feel much harder and I can no longer maintain the amount of reps (usually I end up dropping the weight to keep it consistent with my rep ranges). 2. I'm only in the gym Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday (with an extra Friday if I feel I didn't adequately hit certain muscles, like triceps or shoulders). Given that my overall training is less frequent and my systematic fatigue is generally very low, can I just consistently train to failure as a sort of "no-brainer" approach to rep ranges, given the less frequent overall muscle training?
Dr. Mike, I stumbled across your videos a few months ago. I'm a former powerlifter who stopped lifted because my joints hurt and every so often would try training how I used to train and all my joints would immediately remind why jumping into lifting heavy shit after a long period of not lifting is quite stupid. I pivoted to try lose weight through diet and activity, but hated that I started to look smaller. I decided to try out your training methods and I first felt like the weakest little bitch on the planet being humbled by weights that my ego thought I should be lifting for a number of reps a powerlifter would consider cardio. I got over this quickly once I started to see and feel the difference in training and despite training hard 4 times/week, my joints felt BETTER. I really can't stress enough how much motivated you are to try when you aren't actively in pain. I'm getting the best pumps and mind muscle connection of my life, am leaner now than I've ever been in my life, and I actually enjoy weight training again. Thanks for the great content, my brother in iron.
I've been doing push/pull/legs 4-5 days a week. I do five lifts of 8-10 reps (bigger compound lifts) or 12-15 reps (smaller lifts). I try my best to have 1-2 RIR and often go to failure by accident. It works well for me, but sometimes I feel like I could do more lifts, and sometimes I do six or even seven if I'm feeling high energy by the end of the workout.
I also do cardio two or three times a week because I’m sort of “soft launching” a cut, haha. I’m 6’4’, 230 lbs, and I want to cut down as much as possible, but I’m not sure how much I can lose healthily. A couple of years ago (after a bad breakup), I cut down to 180 lbs, essentially eating nothing, and looking back at pictures, it seemed pretty unhealthy.
Relatively newer gym-goer but big dude. I've found that my nervous system is my biggest hurdle. It tries to protect me when I know I can do something. Progressive overload testing has really helped train it to chill out. One of the biggest examples is when doing like a calf raise and my body tries to tell me to not do like 200 lbs, when I weight over 250. Weird what your brain does when you are isolating a muscle group from its normal day-to-day usage, especially the ones that are under decent tension most of the time.
One of my biggest mistakes was taking every set to failure. I was getting such mixed results every week depending on sleep and how much work fatigued me (I work out right after my night shift job). Doing RIR has been so nice for seeing actual progress.
Can you make a video about how people who become unfit who were previously fit, still have some of their athleticism? Lot of blokes in the army who are a bit chubby but can still smash the fitness tests - is it a real thing or just a coincidence?
I feel like muscle memory is a factor there, and IIRC it becomes easier to get gains back after periods of not training after you've trained for a while.
I'd say a lot of it comes to mental conditioning. They have devolved the ability to "ignore" extreme physical discomfort from a younger age. Combine this with the amount of leftover athleticism
Oh yea dude, your muscles have a memory and they also have a tolerance meter that can be adjusted with introduction to hypertrophy and already expanded blood vessels and strong heart from previous training
Good video topic idea im real curious to know. I was super healthy and fit early in my military career until my depression got to me. Recently (thanks to Dr. Mike and KneesOverToesGuy) i got back into exercising and i was always a runner over lifter and the first 2 weeks of running was embarrassing. Out of nowhere 3rd week my stamina came back quick and i did a 5k in 25min. I can understand muscle memory but i want to know how stamina/endurance works in detail.
I’d love to hear about this, I just don’t know how much literature there is on the topic. I used to run when I was in school and quite after, but I will make insane cardio gains within just a couple weeks if I start running, even though I’ve not done it regularly in like 7-8 years. Same with muscle size and strength, I was pretty jacked in university then quit and got fat and lost most of my muscle over the next couple years but I’ve been back in the gym for just a couple months and my size and strength are shooting through the roof even though I’m in a pretty deep caloric deficit at the same time
Perfect timing for this video. I'm questioning myself right now. I don't feel that I I'm getting sore. But my working muscles are fatigued. Should I achieve a level of soreness? That's bearable or a little sore with lots of fatigue. Which is better? I don't generally train to failure. I feel that I probably could get an extra. Rap from set to set
I'll take this a little farther. I used to train regularly and 5 days a week, jujitsu. And over the last four years, I have trained nothing and dropped dead straight into a dad body
Maybe it would help to lower the weights, increase the reps/sets, and slow down your eccentrics, basically the RP strategy of training. I’ve been doing that for a few months now after being out of the gym for a couple years and I am basically permanently sore, just barely recovered for the next workout for that muscle group, I’m regaining my old mass super fast even though I’m losing weight quick too and I’m also more flexible than I’ve been since high school with my joints feeling the best they’ve felt in my life. It’s a massive ego check to be sweating and shaking with what used to be a light warmup for me, but the gains are good, the body feels good, and I’m less worried about one rep max strength at this point in my life.
@@BobbyHill26 yeah I'm going slow eccentrics with good form every rep. and trying not to drop that last one. as the last one is the one that is the most important :)
@@BobbyHill26 I was a gym rat years ago and father hood was winning. I'm eager to get back to training BJJ and lifting on a regular basis. started lifting only 3 weeks ago and trying to dial in my schedule. im 50 years old now and 300# 6'4" . ill cut down to 240# again as first major goal but just getting weekly schedule dialed in is the first minor goal
having a job and a kid thus very time limited. so the recent years i heavily reduced volume, but always go to failure. gives me also peace of mind and not having to worry if i was now really at 2 RIR or 4 RIR e.g.
I definitely fall into the camp of “is that 1 or 2 RIR? Better go to failure to find out where my true limit is…” 😂 but I’m starting a new meso cycle with lots of new exercises so trying to work them out really this week and next. BTW, love the reclining bicep curl - that is a real killer!
oh my god ive been doing a whole year of nothing. ive been binging videos on your channel and its like I've been exposed! ive been CONSTANTLY updating my program after each video. im currently experiencing that system fatigue youve talked about, due to poor SFR and ive been wondering why I havent been growing as expected
Perceiving training intensity will usually come with time. By that point, RIR is less relevant because you’re probably doing a lot of sets beyond failure. I’ll catch myself doing partials sometimes even before I have less than 1 rep in the tank. Harder to gauge then. For me, I go off how the pump feels relative to how optimal i’ve been eating that day and the day before. Been lifting for 6 years, not as strict on my diet as I used to be, just enough to maintain what i built. Adds a lot of variability into how much effort I can put into each session, so I had to just learn by experience. How “full” I feel is how hard I can push it, since i’ve been the same size and body fat % for a while. 185 lbs probably 14-16% bf. Fat enough I can have a bad day of eating or two (not enough carbs) and still train fine, but lean enough I’m still very responsive to carbs and absorb them easily without spillover.
My best most consistent natty gains came by consistent progress. When I started applying an old school Bill Pearl statement of "Leave the gym feeling strong, not weak" Tough to get used to, I know, but THAT is what kept the progress the most consistent for me over time. Max optimal work out to work out, probably not, but over months, absolutely. Another Mad Russian Scientist quote was "Do as much as you can, as hard as you can, while staying as fresh as you can". Bill Pearl was just less scientific.
So is going to failure on a superset the same as going to failure on a traditional set in this regard? ie- Bench with 1 RIR, 30second rest going to -2RIR with a Pushups?
Great info but feel like it could use a bit more distinction between building muscle vs. strength, for someone who is only focused on increasing strength I've always thought going to failure more often (potentially with fewer sets) was preferable. For example a wrestler / BJJ competitor may want to specificallly increase strength w/out increasing muscle mass so they can stay in their weight class. Maybe its a bit too niche but I would love to hear a discussion on situations like that.
Beginners, the "increases" are not exactly measured in inches. More like millimetres (often via ultrasound, the "dowsing rod" of 21st century sports science). "Group A did 50 sets and saw an increase in size of 1/2 of a millimetre over Group B, which only did 10 sets.". Chi-square shredded. Bayesian gains. Increasingly heavy weights in moderate rep ranges. 5-15 hard sets per body part, per week, and you'll be fine.
I hope more people that fall victim to the "AM I DOING ENOUGH VOLUME" fear see your comment. If someone is planning on training until they are old and decrepit, they better focus on making training work with their life and not against it and they'll get to that SACRED advanced phase.
I have an almost 15 year old who's going absolutely nuts in the gym. He's off the charts in terms of size and strength - 6'3 and about 210lbs. He said he squated 300 for 3 reps in football conditioning the other day, which is more than most high schoolers and men can do. My concern is that he's only been doing serious lifting for not even a year, and he's only focusing on extremely high weight and low rep ranges. It's like he's trying to do power lifting, buts he's technically a beginner. I try to tell him he's going about it wrong, but he's on a euphoric high and won't listen. Am I wrong to say he should tone it down and do lower weight, and not go to failure so damn much? I know he is overtraining for sure.. he literally has football or basketball 5-6 days a week. Some days hes training for 5 hrs a day between both sports.. and he thinks he should be gaining mass.. he can't when training that damn much. But he refuses to understand it.
Dr Mike.....could you do a video on how to do a proper dload? I get a lot of confusing answers to it and I trust your opinion more then most. Not many people actually know how to dload correctly including me so I'd love to see a video on how to maximise the dload week for recovery of your system.
I like how its impossible and also table stakes. You can only get there on steroids, except every 12 year old in their middle school benches 250. Its overblown social media bullshit but those on social media are pathetic for only benching 405 lol
Did you mean 325? First time I ever maxed on bench was 8th grade for football and I did 205. Was 5’11” and about 165lbs. 225 is a very unimpressive bench unless you’re a female.for a trained individual that is. If some novice just threw up 225 I’d say that’s pretty good.
@@thorshammer5134 Go explore the comments on any of the "how much should you lift/bench" videos, and you'll see a very sad number of people who are struggling to get to 225, and think a "normal" person can't do it.
Never considered not even tracking RIR for beginner training before...crazy to think that the sensitivity to growth is so high that just training based on technique breakdown is enough for ideal gains. When I went to the gym for the first time ever, I was nervous and worried about looking like a clown trying to figure things out, so I hired a PT to teach me how to do things safely and effectively. It was a lot of fun, but that guy only had one setting...all sets to absolute failure then forced reps. Ended up bowing out and training on my own using Mike's RIR model after I kept picking up elbow and shoulder injuries. Been doing great since then.
I’m an advanced lifter. I almost feel guilty about not going to failure on my last set of an exercise. If I don’t I feel like I didn’t work hard enough that day or something. But I respond pretty well to it. Probably because I’m a lifelong natural and lift considerably lighter weight compared to my enhanced counterparts.
Hey Dr. Mike can you make a video explaining what is more important for muscle growth? A slow eccentric or putting the muscle in a maximum stretched position?
I tend to do up to15 reps x 3 per exercise & if I can't get that many I do a 5 to 10 second pause to get the last few done. Although sometimes 12 is it, especially when I'm pushing hard on leg day.
Me and the boys love going to failure once a month. You know how most of us hard-core lifters do things in the locker room or sauna after a good workout. Well, after having a session going to failure give yourself 30 minutes rest and then go enjoy it. It's insane how intense the climax can be with shakes sore legs. We got a new guy in the gym about to have his first failure session on Saturday. I'm excited he is still a newbie and say but we got him kissing, spooning and one finger type stuff. It's going to be the bomb when he relax and fits in with the boys
Question - really pertains more to the age related training video a week or so ago - I'm over 40, started back after a 10 year break last year, BUT, I've worked underground construction for 23 years, and can outwork pretty much any 20 something worker. Does the age thing, in relation to intensity and volume apply to blue collar workers who are used to doing a lot of physical activity, in the weather, day in and day out? And lastly - Awesome Content, Always - your content keeps me motivated and moving forward 👍
It still aplies especially to blur collar workers because the wear and tear is much more accumulated. But and that the big difference your lighter weights are much heavier than for a white collar worker the same age. So still try to get into the 10 to 15 reprange but do it realativly heavy weights. Conroled eccentric and all.
Dr. Mike, I've always wondered the following: for which set do we apply RIR? The first set, where I'm a lot stronger and can easily achieve say 12 reps at a given weight and could probably have done 3 more or the last set (3rd or 4th) where I can manage maybe 8-10? Which one of those is the RIR I'm looking for? I struggle with this because I'm that much stronger in the first set but I know that I wouldn't be able to keep that weight for the same amount of reps in later sets... My approach has been to take a bit of a lower weight that, although I have plenty left in the tank the first set, I know I will struggle on the last set to reach the desired rep count.
Hi Dr Mike, I broke a few ribs and haven't been able to train for a few weeks but having healed and returned I seem to have developed an imbalance. If I'm doing dumbell presses for instance my left side seems to be crapping out at 8 reps whereas my right feel like it can go for another 2 or 3, should I keep working the right until I feel its done or should I just stop at the point the left gives up?
Damn, I just realized that Kieser Training in Germany taught me to go to failures in EVERY SET a decade ago, but I just started out as a beginner again and wondered how people train their muscle groups so often. Guess time for my first deload and starting with Reps in Reserve for the first time.
I trained for 4 years doing multiple sets with different weight doing pyramid workout sets. I gained muscle but lately my workouts have been kind of dragging and my gains have slowed down since I started cutting to lose weight for ABs this summer. My triceps are the evidence of it. They got smaller. Is it ok to cut back on sets and just focus on time under tension workouts? Because that’s where I feel the DOMS more and I am not so exhausted after working. Example set: bench press 225x4, 185x6-8, 165x10 I superset in between bench press with 40lbs resistance bands flys for 20 reps, 25lbs dumbbell flys 10 reps. Total sets for entire bench press with supersets 3 sets.
How about just not doing pyramid sets and just doing 225x4 (4-5sets) and maybe not do super sets so you won’t fatigue. Either way, sounding solid and strong my dude. Keep it up
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
I love it when I'm watching a Dr Mike vid and a VShred commercial hits. The juxtaposition is sublime.
Same. Dr. Mike tells me how to get gains, but Vshred tells me how my mitochondria are actually just turned off.
@@ALovelyBunchOfDragonballz vshred has a few chromosomes turned off
Even worse when its the new advert with the pricks dad in it 😂
Vshred is actually in good shape
@@puertoricanpapi1356and Gwyneth Paltrow is pretty and has good skin. Doesn’t mean you should buy her “goop”
I was an athlean-x viewer when I first started going to the gym during the pandemic, and had minimal gains. Found this channel and gains exploded over the last 2 years.
I came across the tiny Skeletor man about 5-6 years ago and bought into his tomfuckery for a time. He was the first fitness RUclips channel that I ever actually watched. It's funny to reflect on one's personal training journey and think of all the buffoonery one learns from and grows out of (hopefully).
Some older guy at the gym was talking up Mr Jeff Cavalier to others and I didn't have the heart to tell him to stop the nonsense.
Well that definitely has nothing to do with the Athleanx content quality.
Lol, Jeff and Dr. Mike agree on ~99.5 of stuff. Jeff supports the idea of working out to failure, with the caveat that it means less volume. Dr. Mike's celebrity training videos are like that too... Always to failure but less volume.
Jeff stuff is solid, just his workout plans are not for bodybuilding
Going to failure every set is fun, but man I feel terrible after a few weeks of doing it. So glad I started doing RIR.
If i generally feel fine doing this, and am seeing my reps go up weekly (slowly) and am doing plenty of sets... do i need to freak out about this? Idk, im conflicted, ive been doing this for 6 months now with 2 deloads and while i felt a bit worn out at the start, the only fatigue i feel now is from dieting.
It's 100% less misery. Used to destroy my joints.
@@adamvifrye2690what is a deload? Sorry, newer into more advanced stuff.
I would go through weeks where I was getting weaker. Figured out it was pushing to failure too often. It’s hard not to though.
@@adamvifrye2690then it's fine. I pretty much train to failure, 0 RIR or 1 RIR on every lift I do. Absolutely manageable with the right volume and exercise selection
"I brought THE PEOPLE that brought you into this world". This explains a lot. The fact Mike's parents are brother and sister 🤔
😂. A very astute interpretation.
19:26 "keep going until you feel that shit gets hard" got it Dr. Mike! .... *unzip
Lolz
Me still being hard since last night: 😳 (dw it was a dude)
Dr. Mike is the master of edgemaxxing
Heard this one a few times 🤣
Noooo
Fuck man, I get that doing more volume will lead to more gainz, but who has the time!? I’ve been bulking hard on zero sets a week and already put on 20lbs of mass, thats good enough for me
Amazing work.
Dude I know he’s talking about 12 sets? TF? I do 4-5 sets and get full stretch to failure and it works what I want, still feeling sore the next day. And I barely have time to do my 4 sets going through supersets.
@@chriscarlisle6835 I usually do about 8-9 sets per workout. That is, within 7 days 16-18 sets. I do bro split and go to the gym 6 times a week. Probably not the most optimal, but I enjoy this very much
Ah! The Metzner approach. Make it intense enough and you can reduce your sets to zero.
12 set a week @@chriscarlisle6835
Dude that discussion about failure training not actually being any better than 1-2RIR is an eye opener. I feel like I'm leaving shit on the table when I don't fail, even though I know where I will fail I just feel like I GOTTA do it otherwise I'm not maximising my time in the gym. It's good to know that it ain't true. That last rep doesn't actually mean anything, it adds a whole lot of fatigue for negligible gains.
The fact that it's actually better to do more sets at 2RIR than do fewer sets to failure is the real kicker here. If I stop before failing, I can do more sets, and that's actually gonna give me more gains than going to failure on every set.
It's also good to know that my progression should be weekly, not in every workout. I bench 2-3 times a week, and I feel like I need to increase in reps in every workout - and I end up hitting failure super quickly, and feeling like I'm not getting as strong as I could. I think this adjusts my expectations and if I am benching 3 times a week, all 3 of those workouts can be basically the same and I should only increase in reps basically every week, not every workout. I am still trying to calibrate my expectations, and I really hope there will be a video on this one day to know if I am progressing as fast as i should be or if I am progressing too slowly.
Couldn't relate more to a comment. If yapping isn't your thing, stay out of the comments@contentkeeper8769
@contentkeeper8769 cool story bro.
Dr mike says the last is has the stimulus so do a slowww eccentric to really milk it. But you said at the end of your first paragraph that the last rep doesn’t really matter. Which one is it? Well what I do is I milk the last rep when I’m at 1-2 RIR
@@gcg8187 When I say the "last rep doesn't really matter" I'm referring specifically to the 0RIR rep. The failure rep, the one that I probably won't get. In this video, Dr Mike says that you don't need to train to failure, you can stop one or two reps shy and get the same results. Sometimes, when I'm at 1-2RIR, I decide I'm just going to do one more rep and go to failure as a result. That is the last rep that doesn't matter; I can stop without doing that last rep and therefore not go to failure.
You are right to milk that last rep, when you're putting in that much effort and you're still not at failure, it's really good stimulus to go slow on that last eccentric before completing the rep. Good job, keep working hard!
@@cybersteel8 Rir training is fine, and you probably don’t need to actually fail every set every time, but keep in mind that dr Mike has a tendency to vastly overemphasize importance of fatigue because he is on steroids and literally has superhuman amount of muscle that can generate that much more fatigue than normal natural lifters can.
Real overtraining is practically impossible with just lifting, it usually happens from too much hard cardio. Overtraining is mental, if you need a whole week to reset yourself okay but for me just a couple days does the trick.
Even though I have severe depression and having muscular pain in the gym is basically the only joy I experience, dr mike still can make me laugh from time to time. Thank you bro
Freaking loved the grandma side-quest. Lmfao!
Came for the RIR.
Stayed for drop sets with MeMa.
Hi Dr. Mike! I’m a beginner lifter, but I feel like I’ve learned a lot more from watching yours and Jeff Nippards videos than I have from people at the gym. Thanks for the great and funny content and for teaching me how to best maximize growth and technique!
These are THE guys!
Great sources to find as a beginner, i was spinning my wheels with no program or tracking, looking for that one weird exercise, keeping my knees from going over toes on old bros advice for years before i found the good doc and j nips. Ill give a recommendation for a little geoffrey verity schofield and natural hypertrophy just for some different albeit similar views, and for more science greg nuckols and the beard boys from stronger by science are well worth nerding out on imo
@@rockyevans1584 thank you for the recommendations! I’ll check them out later. I feel really lucky, a friend got me to go to the gym with him for a while but he quit. I didn’t know what to do to improve so I just looked up videos and Jeff and Dr. Mike both ended up seeming the most reliable for what I wanted.
Dr. Mike knows his shit. Don’t listen to gym bro advice. It’s usually wrong. Here’s a good method: watch people’s technique and physique in the gym - if both suck they’re full of shit and have little value to offer.
@@dokho7idayhow do you track meso-cycles
I am 63 and have osteoarthritis among other things?Ankylosing Spondylitis and other spinal diseases.So,I absolutely cannot go really heavy with weight.I use high reps to get to exhaustion and that is NOT easy and can be time consuming.Being retired?All I have is time,so isn’t a problem for me.I see others my age at the gym basically NEVER training to exhaustion.They do these fast spastic reps that really do nothing except exhaust the joints.Technique is SO important.Quality reps are key in the type of training I do.Focus on the area you are working.Max it out with the reps.When I feel like I have only a few left?I do 5 more.Listen to your bod and focus on the area you are working.
Have you tried carnivore diet for your back problems?
I hope my wife looks like you at your age 🥲
@@WizzlyBearW0rms you'll never find happiness thinking that looks matter
@@anomaly3215based
Ankylosing spondylitis doesn't sound real but it very much is
God damn I'm used to all kinds of volume discussion but I didn't expect outro volume to blow my ears out
Underrated comment.
Crazy value all over the channel, and the humor just makes it invaluable 😂
Seriously I just discovered him and I could listen to him all day, he is hilarious!
Dr. Mike dropping loads of banger videos lately. Every single one as of late has changed my lifts effectiveness.
I'm finally at a point in my life where I don't obsess over progressive overload for every single exercise of every workout.
I'll still train with intensity and be mindful of progress. But if there are a few exercises I hit a plateau on, there are others I progress on. As well as other areas of fitness I keep improving on. So, as a whole, it's still a net positive.
For years and years, I'd beat myself up if I wasn't hitting PR's on every exercise week to week in some way with reps, weight, or more ctrl. But now I have a lot better balance. 💯
Thanks to all your videos , I was able to start getting my life on track. First time I had lifted 50 pounds, and impressed my husband too whom I ve passed on what I ve been learning from you and also motivated him to start lifting too. Unfortunately, cant afford rp app rn but we ll surelly give it a shot when we will be able to afford it. Thank you so much Dr. Mike for all your great teachings!
Try Hevy if you want an app to track workouts, I've been using it and it's fantastic. Pairs with WearOS as well if you have a smartwatch
After 30yrs of training, I can tell you that the average gym goer does not suffer from too much intensity and too little volume! RIR mentality is the mindset of the masses…
Yep. I mean look at Dr. Mikes Training. He claims 2-3 RIR for his sets but is training 5+ RIR based on his very low velocity loss during the sets.
Great information per usual, but the grandma bit had me laughing.
Thanks for your content. I’m just now buying some equipment and beginning to lift. Been cutting for 6 months and lost 50 lbs with your help. there are a lot of RUclips fitness folks but in the end I feel this is the best channel for me. It’s easy to digest and covers so much. Also most of it seems to be true which is wild for RUclips 😂. Keep the videos coming homie!
I really retain info with your teaching method. Love the humor in betweens
I've been working out for a month, mainly doing different types of pushups and situps for multiple days. And I've been taking it slow doing only a few sets starting out, because I'm new to working out and the results are slowly taking shape. The main thing I've learned while doing research and listening to RP is find a balance and take your time and recover when necessary and always be consistent. For example when starting out at 227 pounds I couldn't do regular pushups cause of how heavy I was, so I did inclined pushups for a few weeks and now I can max out at 20 regular pushups instead of 1 or 2. Case and point I'm much stronger than before and I now feel comfortable with doing 2 sets of regular pushups and of course now using dumbbells. I'm glad I could share my one month experience with someone new like me. Final note is to be consistent and slowly increase the amount of weight you work with as you get stronger and of course eat a lot of protein and also research good technique lol.
Thanks to Mike I got off keto and started being precise with my diet and training. 2 months in and the best Ive ever looked. Each day in the gym I add a rep or two on each exercise, while going to almost failure. So thankful.
This is the type of videos I wanna see on RUclips, so much information and so easy to memorise... as a beginner this is what I need to understand what to do and not do, amazing 💪🔥
Ego is a an interesting piece here, it is important that you can consistently follow a plan over a long period of time
Over 4 years of training here. I recently started lower volume...(2-4 less sets than normal per muscle group per session) and training with slightly heavier weights...(7-13 reps instead of 12-18) and I noticed failure training on every set is now manageable for more weeks than before with higher volumes. I'm also gaining strength faster than before and I get to eat more. I have always done 4 weeks of accumulation before deloading, and only 3-4 mesocycles before a maintanence phase.
My mom saw dr.mike on my screen and asked "is that john cena?" and i started choking on my food
That never happened
@@BroAreWeBroingRightNowBro it sounds so made up but i swear to god it happened 😭
I read that and choked on my drink (real story)
@@-ARCANN 💀
That’s a really weird thing to lie about. If this was John Cena, she wouldn’t have been able to see him.
"Why would you do less of something we know builds more muscle so that you can do more of something that may or may not build more muscle?" Really great point.
Another point to consider is how the rep range affects the optimal RIR. One of the takeaways from the Robinson paper was that the heavier the weight (i.e. the lower the rep range), the less additional stimulus you get for going closer to failure. So for example, there's no measurable difference between sets of 5-10 at 3 RIR compared to sets of 5-10 at 0 RIR: the only thing you're accomplishing is accumulating more fatigue. On the other side, going from 3 RIR to 0 RIR in sets of 20-30 can make a noticeable difference.
I also wanted to give a shout-out to an idea Brad Schoenfeld mentioned in a recent video with I think Milo Wolf: in response to the objection that failure training is bad because it harms performance on subsequent sets, you could take only your last set to failure. It's similar to Mike's advice to go crazy hard the last week of a meso, because who cares if performance would suffer the next week, you're doing deload training.
I’m a swimmer that uses a few free weights (super light) for strength stuff. As a NON body builder I love watching your videos to help me do the right technique and the right amount so I don’t get hurt. I’m old so can’t afford that. So far I’ve actually gained muscle and strength in swimming over the last 8months. Thanks bro!
Excellent video, RP team. I especially enjoyed the beginner, intermediate and advanced progression of information presented throughout. The beginner section was thought-provoking. I wonder, are we as individuals interested in hypertrophy perhaps taking the “beginner” phase of muscle gain for granted? The huge ramp up in ability to grow muscle is very special and not something we see again once a certain level of musculature has been reached. I wonder how robust the inquiry into specifically the beginning phases of hypertrophy has been.
Many scientific studies are done one people that would classify as beginners for strength training. Often students.
Should have figured as much!
Glad to see a video on this, as I started incorporating this literally two days ago. I’m six months into training so still a beginner and since I recover quickly, I thought I might as well push it harder and add a couple more sets. I’ve started splitting my training to a.m. and p.m. sessions so I can do the workload.
2 a days 6 months in? 2 a days are only needed for extremely advanced bbers man, you would likely progress faster from 4 to 5 max total sessions a week
@@rockyevans1584Honestly if he has the time and is not having any ill effects I say why not? Hopefully he's watching all of Mike's videos and is paying attention to his body signals but more power to him!
These advice are usually for very advanced lifters. You can train 3-4 times a week at your stage and lose nothing@@rockyevans1584
@@rockyevans1584 hey if i can recover from more volume than why not. And yes pushing to failure.
@AndrewPokornik just because you may not benefit from overturning stones before you need them. When you plateau, you need to add. Before you plateau, there's no need to add. If you've already added, once you plateau you're already going to be battling systemic fatigue vs stimulus, having to prioritize muscle groups to grow them while keeping others at maintenance, basically you just risk putting more effort for very little additional gain, and it may take you longer to get to your practical limit. No big deal if you're young enough and likely lifting for life, but time is important so thought it was worth mentioning
Simultaneously one of the funniest and most valuable monologue-style episodes yet.
How is it that the exact right video from you keeps popping up at the exact right time for me? Thanks dude
I feel like I have to go to failure because if I don't, I feel like my judge of RIR is way off. Maybe I'm just bad at RIR, and maybe I'll get better over time, but for now, it's every set to failure, and my recovery has been a lot better than what I thought it'd be.
An easy way to judge RIR is as your set progresses, does it become more challenging. If you hit 10 reps but feel you could do 1-2 more, stop, and that’ll be 1-2 RIR. It takes time to narrow it down for each exercise but using the same mentality to find it is easy to do.
A big thing that helped me was I go to "technical "failure so what's my technique becomes off I stop. So no cheat reps or anything like that. My recovery is great I still feel like I'm going to failure and if I ever misjudge a rep I don't have to ask for help because I can just jerk the way around like everyone else in the gym lol
I feel you. I was so used to going to failure, I takes will, but on the other hand a very easy rule. I always wondered why people have even specific Rep numbers, besides tracking progress of course. But now I have to see to find a repeatable earlier stopping point.
@CornFed_3 My problem was when I tried this (specifically for legs) I would say I was at RIR 2 but then later that week or even a later set I would go to failure and get an extra 2 to 4 reps over what I thought would be failure.
@@matmaster1142, and that’s where you decide to increase your weight and basically “start over” at figuring out where your true failure point is. It’s not an exact science and can take some tinkering, but it’s definitely possible. Again, paying close attention to form is also key in the overall equation. If you can pump out more reps above what you thought failure to be but your form isn’t crisp and damn near perfect, I wouldn’t count them. On legs specifically, if my quads or my booty meat start shaking, that’s what I consider my technique failure point, even if I could bust more out. My form and injury risk only go up from there.
This series is a blessing, dr mike! I know you've went through already all of this in a combination of previous videos, but this series is a crisp summary of all the info.
Enjoying the chance to review and really ingrain the content! Thanks
Just thank you Professor Mike. This one is going to help alot 👍
I was talking to a few guys at the gym. They said working out is important, but diet and rest is the real workout. And for me the eating part of it is the hardest. Another great video though!
Definitely helped me get into my lifetime best shape and still going. I was just 298 6 months ago, I am now 237. Thank you!
u gotta love this guy and his impressions
Hey Dr Mike, you've changed my lifting journey massively for the best, best fitness influencer on the platform
No lie, most informative and hilarious metaphor filled episode ever! 😂
Training is so complicated - “failure” - I lift heavy and i get stronger but i don’t grow!! However focusing on 60% total PR 8-12 reps but focusing on slow eccentric tension and now my body is reacting, i’m growing and my joints feel so much better!! i’ve been training for over 12 years and only now i am only starting to understand my body’s limitation and not over training!
I like the way you just worded that. Until technique goes to crap.
I tend to think of failure as in "no can move bar" but thinking about my last workout there were several times that technique went bad so I stopped. In reality, that was going until failure. My muscles couldn't do it anymore so they asked other muscles to tag in
Agreed. I get annoyed by listening to other people say how much weight or how many reps they did, then watching them use momentum and other muscles that shouldn't even be involved in the lift
Still you shoudent be a complete robot, its fine to swing a bit the last 2 reps of a bicep curl or hunch a bit the last rep of a row.
It really depends on the muscle / joints involved and the indvidual, too. Can I bust out another bicep curl with a lean or swing? Yeah. Will it hurt me? Probably not. Can I force that last rep on dumbell overhead press? Sure can. Will it hurt me? Sure did... back to PT I go yet again. One day I'll learn...
@@jarlwhiterun7478dont get annoyed, you get what you put in if its recoverable, quality work. Theyre only cheating themselves
@@Ryush806so true. I cant imagine leaving rir on single joint movements, and whenever ive tried hitting failure on compounds, particularly squats or deadlifts, i get like 2 to 3 day fatigue hangovers
Been using the hypertrophy app recently it’s been great it’s a little weird doing rir training always a little scared of undershooting but so far I’ve been feeling some soreness and having some decent pumps so hopefully I’m training hard enough here’s to hopefully the best gains of my training life
Finally, someone explained it. Common mistakes number 5. My thought that pushing too much through pain (despite good technique) will lead to injury, this was my barrier to attempting to progress. I understand now the difference between pain and the ability to do the physical movement. Thank you
My alarm bells start ringing when i'm ego lifting and that's pretty much thee main reason i get injured somewhere and i do not remember getting injured while doing things in proper form with the right amount of weight.
Now to failure. I do failure on every last set of a given exercise and depends on the risk factors like compound movements i give that a 3 RIR 100% i don't brute force compounds like squat, deads, benches just nope. I do brute force but with great attempt of proper force for every last set of non compound exercises coz for me it's safer that way with little risks and i haven't been injured ever since but breaking plateaus is a different animal all together and i add reps before adding weight but that don't usually help faster so that's what im currently experimenting on how to break strength plateaus.
I have been training 4 days a week in the gym for 2 hours for the past 1 month and 2 days of kickboxing. I am at the intermediate stage ( I worked out at home with some light weights). I push every set to failure, drop weight and do that till failure. I am getting strong and also losing weight ( on a cut -1500 cal, 170 pounds -18% body fat). But I am only tired during the leg days, and I don't feel soreness in any muscles(I am cooked in the gym) after returning home from workouts. I don't know if too much volume is the problem; I follow PPL + 1 shoulder. PS: Thank you for educating me about fitness and diet, and you should try acting in a movie, Dr. Mike-RESPECT and love.
I have a similar workout life style 4 days a week 1 day muay thai 1 day jujitsu but I do 2 upper lower splits. Weird that you don't feel sore after work outs. I've been training seriously for around eight years and have pretty much always had a little soreness after working out for at least a day. May need to push yourself a little harder or switch out some exercises and find some that give you a better pump/mind muscle connection.
@@zachjennings5320 I get a shit ton of pump, I can't literally do 1 more set with a proper form even with a lighter weight. Although I can feel the fatigue after kick boxing and leg days. And I am getting stronger every lift week after week too.
Please keep up the good work. As an over 50yr old natty going to reps to failure is not quite so awesome. i will keep doing it, tho.
Cannot run (menisceptomy on left knee) so walking with a weight vest around the neighborhood (or no vest on the elliptical in the unfinished basement).
Dr Mike's best video yet! And that's saying something when you're talking about the best lifting channel on RUclips
I reduced the number of sets from 24 to 16 sets per workout. I did 4 supersets of 2 exercises, so 8 exercises in total with 3 sets for each exercice,with 1min rest between two consecutive sets for antagonists muscles. I did that 6 times a week in a kind of push pull legs. I was no longer gaining strength, and the nervous fatigue was real. I finally dropped from 3 sets per exercice to two but excellent form and real failure, as well as 1min rest even between antagonists set. I gained in 3 weeks insane strength, from 120kgs 1RM bench press to 130kgs, probably also due do better recuperation between workouts. My workout last as long (40-45 min maximum), are still extremely intense but the heart feels less stressed and the muscle more stimulated than annihilated compared to before. I'm natural lifetime, and 1m76 for 84kgs fairly lean (obliques well defined and abs with veins), I just don't have time to workout 1h+ hours and I don't need additional mass, I just want to feel good training and at least maintain.
Thank you for your commentary. It's always nice to get a different perspective. I'll probably be doing this in a few years myself but I got time and want to build more mass
But the lower volume was not what made your gains explode. The reason why that happened was actually the higher volume, you overreached and than backed off to supercompesate. That's basically the concept RP teachs, do it in waves. It comes a time when your body will only respond to higher volumes when you're advanced, but you cant hold that volume for too long. Search how to up your work capacity, so you can handle more volumes. I have a gigantic back as a natural and i can handle 25, 30 sets no problem. That seems impossible to a lot of folks, but thats because they train like powerlifters or never bothered with their work capacity. The old ditillo blog has a lot of information about the old school naturals, the ones before the steroids were even made. They look gigantic, much bigger than even steroid users. Believe me when i say they did not built their bodies with 20 sets per week per muscle group, the blog has some information about that. But again, what made you gain strength for 3 weeks and general gains was the high volume, the 24 sets per week part.
That's a lot of work for questionable result. Not sure if better than basic approach with plenty of rest in between.
He talked about sets per workout not week
@@IvanM272im a Fan of keeping the Volume the Same becouse you never know If you Progress...more Progression is also more total Volume ....getting more Reps or weight is the Goal Not Doing more Junk Volume ..everybody can build the Work capacity to 30 Sets a week but i promise you you will Not Progress as a Natural on 30 Sets.......If you do hard Sets and AIM to your Muscle ...the sweetpot is 10-20 hard Sets Close to failure with Progress overload...If you are very strong and advanced you can never handle 30 Sets Bench a week Close to failure ...the Body will adapt and you Plateau or get weaker.....the Hardest Thing is to Progress in your workouts...you cant Progress Volume in Sets forever
What Mike describes reminds me alot of Arnold talking about the burn feeling like cooming, he's just talking about training to near failure when it's painful, so it's cool to hear the science behind why that actually works.
A few questions:
1. Let's say I'm doing 6 sets of my main exercise. Should I aim for 2 RIR on the first set, and that chosen weight "sets the tone" for the following 7 sets? Or should I be dropping the weight if I can no longer meet that rep number by set 4 or 5? I often find I'm pretty close to failure on my first couple of sets, but the later sets feel much harder and I can no longer maintain the amount of reps (usually I end up dropping the weight to keep it consistent with my rep ranges).
2. I'm only in the gym Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday (with an extra Friday if I feel I didn't adequately hit certain muscles, like triceps or shoulders). Given that my overall training is less frequent and my systematic fatigue is generally very low, can I just consistently train to failure as a sort of "no-brainer" approach to rep ranges, given the less frequent overall muscle training?
Learned a lot! Thnx Doc!
Dr. Mike, I stumbled across your videos a few months ago. I'm a former powerlifter who stopped lifted because my joints hurt and every so often would try training how I used to train and all my joints would immediately remind why jumping into lifting heavy shit after a long period of not lifting is quite stupid. I pivoted to try lose weight through diet and activity, but hated that I started to look smaller. I decided to try out your training methods and I first felt like the weakest little bitch on the planet being humbled by weights that my ego thought I should be lifting for a number of reps a powerlifter would consider cardio. I got over this quickly once I started to see and feel the difference in training and despite training hard 4 times/week, my joints felt BETTER. I really can't stress enough how much motivated you are to try when you aren't actively in pain. I'm getting the best pumps and mind muscle connection of my life, am leaner now than I've ever been in my life, and I actually enjoy weight training again. Thanks for the great content, my brother in iron.
I love these videos that really breakdown terminology for beginners. It’s very helpful!
the Grandma bit LOL, how can you not love Dr. Mike, what a legend!
I've been doing push/pull/legs 4-5 days a week. I do five lifts of 8-10 reps (bigger compound lifts) or 12-15 reps (smaller lifts). I try my best to have 1-2 RIR and often go to failure by accident. It works well for me, but sometimes I feel like I could do more lifts, and sometimes I do six or even seven if I'm feeling high energy by the end of the workout.
I also do cardio two or three times a week because I’m sort of “soft launching” a cut, haha. I’m 6’4’, 230 lbs, and I want to cut down as much as possible, but I’m not sure how much I can lose healthily. A couple of years ago (after a bad breakup), I cut down to 180 lbs, essentially eating nothing, and looking back at pictures, it seemed pretty unhealthy.
I find that following the Hypertrophy app to the letter puts me at an ideal intensity for growth 💪🏼
I go to failure every set, every workout and I grow strength and muscle. I love to train like this
Fatigue - but short term gains +
Wow! Really appreciate getting learnt - Thanks Dr!
Relatively newer gym-goer but big dude. I've found that my nervous system is my biggest hurdle. It tries to protect me when I know I can do something. Progressive overload testing has really helped train it to chill out. One of the biggest examples is when doing like a calf raise and my body tries to tell me to not do like 200 lbs, when I weight over 250. Weird what your brain does when you are isolating a muscle group from its normal day-to-day usage, especially the ones that are under decent tension most of the time.
Thanks Mike, this is great actionable information
Would you be able to do a video on working out early in the morning and nutrition tips surrounding working out instantly upon waking? Thanks!
One of my biggest mistakes was taking every set to failure. I was getting such mixed results every week depending on sleep and how much work fatigued me (I work out right after my night shift job). Doing RIR has been so nice for seeing actual progress.
Can you make a video about how people who become unfit who were previously fit, still have some of their athleticism? Lot of blokes in the army who are a bit chubby but can still smash the fitness tests - is it a real thing or just a coincidence?
I feel like muscle memory is a factor there, and IIRC it becomes easier to get gains back after periods of not training after you've trained for a while.
I'd say a lot of it comes to mental conditioning. They have devolved the ability to "ignore" extreme physical discomfort from a younger age. Combine this with the amount of leftover athleticism
Oh yea dude, your muscles have a memory and they also have a tolerance meter that can be adjusted with introduction to hypertrophy and already expanded blood vessels and strong heart from previous training
Good video topic idea im real curious to know. I was super healthy and fit early in my military career until my depression got to me. Recently (thanks to Dr. Mike and KneesOverToesGuy) i got back into exercising and i was always a runner over lifter and the first 2 weeks of running was embarrassing. Out of nowhere 3rd week my stamina came back quick and i did a 5k in 25min. I can understand muscle memory but i want to know how stamina/endurance works in detail.
I’d love to hear about this, I just don’t know how much literature there is on the topic. I used to run when I was in school and quite after, but I will make insane cardio gains within just a couple weeks if I start running, even though I’ve not done it regularly in like 7-8 years. Same with muscle size and strength, I was pretty jacked in university then quit and got fat and lost most of my muscle over the next couple years but I’ve been back in the gym for just a couple months and my size and strength are shooting through the roof even though I’m in a pretty deep caloric deficit at the same time
I think I’m addicted to Mike🥰👀 I’ve been binge watching his videos 4 days straight
The balance between volume, muscle damage and recovery/fatigue is something I'd like to see more research on.
Always look forward to new uploads. Perfect balance of knowledge and comedy
Really love this channel, and this particular ep was one of the best one yet. Cheers!
Perfect timing for this video. I'm questioning myself right now. I don't feel that I I'm getting sore. But my working muscles are fatigued. Should I achieve a level of soreness? That's bearable or a little sore with lots of fatigue. Which is better? I don't generally train to failure. I feel that I probably could get an extra. Rap from set to set
I'll take this a little farther. I used to train regularly and 5 days a week, jujitsu. And over the last four years, I have trained nothing and dropped dead straight into a dad body
Maybe it would help to lower the weights, increase the reps/sets, and slow down your eccentrics, basically the RP strategy of training. I’ve been doing that for a few months now after being out of the gym for a couple years and I am basically permanently sore, just barely recovered for the next workout for that muscle group, I’m regaining my old mass super fast even though I’m losing weight quick too and I’m also more flexible than I’ve been since high school with my joints feeling the best they’ve felt in my life. It’s a massive ego check to be sweating and shaking with what used to be a light warmup for me, but the gains are good, the body feels good, and I’m less worried about one rep max strength at this point in my life.
@@BobbyHill26 yeah I'm going slow eccentrics with good form every rep. and trying not to drop that last one. as the last one is the one that is the most important :)
@@BobbyHill26 I was a gym rat years ago and father hood was winning. I'm eager to get back to training BJJ and lifting on a regular basis. started lifting only 3 weeks ago and trying to dial in my schedule. im 50 years old now and 300# 6'4" . ill cut down to 240# again as first major goal but just getting weekly schedule dialed in is the first minor goal
Can you make a video about the fastest way(s) to increase cardiovascular and respiratory efficiency and endurance in athletic exercise?
Dr. Mike can you also make a video on greasing the groove technique and if there are any benefits of using it for hypertrophy
having a job and a kid thus very time limited. so the recent years i heavily reduced volume, but always go to failure. gives me also peace of mind and not having to worry if i was now really at 2 RIR or 4 RIR e.g.
I definitely fall into the camp of “is that 1 or 2 RIR? Better go to failure to find out where my true limit is…” 😂 but I’m starting a new meso cycle with lots of new exercises so trying to work them out really this week and next.
BTW, love the reclining bicep curl - that is a real killer!
Great video! I appreciate your insightful content. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Scott. I was going to be so upset if no one acknowledged the Mr Hanky likeness
no wonder i keep cutting down my sets i keep going to failure every single time gonna try this 3 RIR method and increase total sets ty
oh my god ive been doing a whole year of nothing. ive been binging videos on your channel and its like I've been exposed! ive been CONSTANTLY updating my program after each video. im currently experiencing that system fatigue youve talked about, due to poor SFR and ive been wondering why I havent been growing as expected
Me too bro I’m way more jacked now than I was back in college
I love going with an RPE 7 8 and 9!
Perceiving training intensity will usually come with time. By that point, RIR is less relevant because you’re probably doing a lot of sets beyond failure. I’ll catch myself doing partials sometimes even before I have less than 1 rep in the tank. Harder to gauge then. For me, I go off how the pump feels relative to how optimal i’ve been eating that day and the day before. Been lifting for 6 years, not as strict on my diet as I used to be, just enough to maintain what i built. Adds a lot of variability into how much effort I can put into each session, so I had to just learn by experience. How “full” I feel is how hard I can push it, since i’ve been the same size and body fat % for a while. 185 lbs probably 14-16% bf. Fat enough I can have a bad day of eating or two (not enough carbs) and still train fine, but lean enough I’m still very responsive to carbs and absorb them easily without spillover.
My best most consistent natty gains came by consistent progress. When I started applying an old school Bill Pearl statement of "Leave the gym feeling strong, not weak" Tough to get used to, I know, but THAT is what kept the progress the most consistent for me over time. Max optimal work out to work out, probably not, but over months, absolutely. Another Mad Russian Scientist quote was "Do as much as you can, as hard as you can, while staying as fresh as you can". Bill Pearl was just less scientific.
So is going to failure on a superset the same as going to failure on a traditional set in this regard? ie- Bench with 1 RIR, 30second rest going to -2RIR with a Pushups?
The shooter game analogy was actually really good. You should use that in the future.
Great info but feel like it could use a bit more distinction between building muscle vs. strength, for someone who is only focused on increasing strength I've always thought going to failure more often (potentially with fewer sets) was preferable. For example a wrestler / BJJ competitor may want to specificallly increase strength w/out increasing muscle mass so they can stay in their weight class. Maybe its a bit too niche but I would love to hear a discussion on situations like that.
Beginners, the "increases" are not exactly measured in inches. More like millimetres (often via ultrasound, the "dowsing rod" of 21st century sports science).
"Group A did 50 sets and saw an increase in size of 1/2 of a millimetre over Group B, which only did 10 sets.". Chi-square shredded. Bayesian gains.
Increasingly heavy weights in moderate rep ranges. 5-15 hard sets per body part, per week, and you'll be fine.
I hope more people that fall victim to the "AM I DOING ENOUGH VOLUME" fear see your comment.
If someone is planning on training until they are old and decrepit, they better focus on making training work with their life and not against it and they'll get to that SACRED advanced phase.
I have an almost 15 year old who's going absolutely nuts in the gym. He's off the charts in terms of size and strength - 6'3 and about 210lbs. He said he squated 300 for 3 reps in football conditioning the other day, which is more than most high schoolers and men can do. My concern is that he's only been doing serious lifting for not even a year, and he's only focusing on extremely high weight and low rep ranges. It's like he's trying to do power lifting, buts he's technically a beginner. I try to tell him he's going about it wrong, but he's on a euphoric high and won't listen. Am I wrong to say he should tone it down and do lower weight, and not go to failure so damn much? I know he is overtraining for sure.. he literally has football or basketball 5-6 days a week. Some days hes training for 5 hrs a day between both sports.. and he thinks he should be gaining mass.. he can't when training that damn much. But he refuses to understand it.
Dr Mike.....could you do a video on how to do a proper dload? I get a lot of confusing answers to it and I trust your opinion more then most.
Not many people actually know how to dload correctly including me so I'd love to see a video on how to maximise the dload week for recovery of your system.
He’s got a video on this bro
@@rossbrown2888 ok sweet I'll try find it :)
Based on the number of youtube comments who think a 225 bench press is unattainable, I think most people don't know what effort and failure are.
I like how its impossible and also table stakes. You can only get there on steroids, except every 12 year old in their middle school benches 250. Its overblown social media bullshit but those on social media are pathetic for only benching 405 lol
Did you mean 325? First time I ever maxed on bench was 8th grade for football and I did 205. Was 5’11” and about 165lbs. 225 is a very unimpressive bench unless you’re a female.for a trained individual that is. If some novice just threw up 225 I’d say that’s pretty good.
@@thorshammer5134 Go explore the comments on any of the "how much should you lift/bench" videos, and you'll see a very sad number of people who are struggling to get to 225, and think a "normal" person can't do it.
Not unobtainable but definitely unnecessary. Imaginary goals that don't mean anything.
Wait who says that?
Never considered not even tracking RIR for beginner training before...crazy to think that the sensitivity to growth is so high that just training based on technique breakdown is enough for ideal gains. When I went to the gym for the first time ever, I was nervous and worried about looking like a clown trying to figure things out, so I hired a PT to teach me how to do things safely and effectively. It was a lot of fun, but that guy only had one setting...all sets to absolute failure then forced reps. Ended up bowing out and training on my own using Mike's RIR model after I kept picking up elbow and shoulder injuries. Been doing great since then.
You are the best . Since i started using you advice my body gives me a different result resul
Could you please do superhero workout plan videos for Captain America, Spider-Man, Aquaman, and Deadpool or Wolverine.
I’m an advanced lifter. I almost feel guilty about not going to failure on my last set of an exercise. If I don’t I feel like I didn’t work hard enough that day or something. But I respond pretty well to it. Probably because I’m a lifelong natural and lift considerably lighter weight compared to my enhanced counterparts.
Hey Dr. Mike can you make a video explaining what is more important for muscle growth? A slow eccentric or putting the muscle in a maximum stretched position?
Going to failure is too fun, but yeah I burnt out doing it. Learned it the hard way
I tend to do up to15 reps x 3 per exercise & if I can't get that many I do a 5 to 10 second pause to get the last few done. Although sometimes 12 is it, especially when I'm pushing hard on leg day.
Me and the boys love going to failure once a month. You know how most of us hard-core lifters do things in the locker room or sauna after a good workout. Well, after having a session going to failure give yourself 30 minutes rest and then go enjoy it. It's insane how intense the climax can be with shakes sore legs. We got a new guy in the gym about to have his first failure session on Saturday. I'm excited he is still a newbie and say but we got him kissing, spooning and one finger type stuff. It's going to be the bomb when he relax and fits in with the boys
Question - really pertains more to the age related training video a week or so ago - I'm over 40, started back after a 10 year break last year, BUT, I've worked underground construction for 23 years, and can outwork pretty much any 20 something worker. Does the age thing, in relation to intensity and volume apply to blue collar workers who are used to doing a lot of physical activity, in the weather, day in and day out?
And lastly - Awesome Content, Always - your content keeps me motivated and moving forward 👍
It still aplies especially to blur collar workers because the wear and tear is much more accumulated. But and that the big difference your lighter weights are much heavier than for a white collar worker the same age. So still try to get into the 10 to 15 reprange but do it realativly heavy weights. Conroled eccentric and all.
@@thor498 makes sense, hadn't considered the wear and tear. That does accumulate 👍
Hey, as someone who lives right near Kelloggs Hq… Post is right nearby 😂 and they’re both the reason we in Michigan aren’t body builders
Yup. Gotta love the smell of fruity pebbles in the air when I drive past Post.
Dr. Mike, I've always wondered the following: for which set do we apply RIR? The first set, where I'm a lot stronger and can easily achieve say 12 reps at a given weight and could probably have done 3 more or the last set (3rd or 4th) where I can manage maybe 8-10? Which one of those is the RIR I'm looking for?
I struggle with this because I'm that much stronger in the first set but I know that I wouldn't be able to keep that weight for the same amount of reps in later sets... My approach has been to take a bit of a lower weight that, although I have plenty left in the tank the first set, I know I will struggle on the last set to reach the desired rep count.
Hi Dr Mike, I broke a few ribs and haven't been able to train for a few weeks but having healed and returned I seem to have developed an imbalance. If I'm doing dumbell presses for instance my left side seems to be crapping out at 8 reps whereas my right feel like it can go for another 2 or 3, should I keep working the right until I feel its done or should I just stop at the point the left gives up?
Damn, I just realized that Kieser Training in Germany taught me to go to failures in EVERY SET a decade ago, but I just started out as a beginner again and wondered how people train their muscle groups so often. Guess time for my first deload and starting with Reps in Reserve for the first time.
I trained for 4 years doing multiple sets with different weight doing pyramid workout sets. I gained muscle but lately my workouts have been kind of dragging and my gains have slowed down since I started cutting to lose weight for ABs this summer. My triceps are the evidence of it. They got smaller. Is it ok to cut back on sets and just focus on time under tension workouts? Because that’s where I feel the DOMS more and I am not so exhausted after working. Example set: bench press 225x4, 185x6-8, 165x10 I superset in between bench press with 40lbs resistance bands flys for 20 reps, 25lbs dumbbell flys 10 reps. Total sets for entire bench press with supersets 3 sets.
How about just not doing pyramid sets and just doing 225x4 (4-5sets) and maybe not do super sets so you won’t fatigue.
Either way, sounding solid and strong my dude. Keep it up