When I was working a regular job, I wore my gym shorts and a tank top under my work clothes. I knew if I went home after work and then changed, I wasn't going to go to the gym. But if I drove right to the gym after work, stripped off my work clothes in the parking lot, and put on sneakers, I was going to workout. I did that for 15 years and got strong because I was consistent. Now that I'm retired I have established a gym routine that works for me. I also got my wife to be a regular gym rat. Being strong is a life-changing event as you age. I see other old guys who are weak and have bad posture while I'm deadlifting, bench pressing and rowing like a young man. Go to the gym, and get strong. Defy time and remain youthful in appearance and power.
My grandpa is 90 and still does push ups and stair climbs. He fended off prostate cancer in his mid-seventies. I want to be as sharp as he is at 90, and stronger/more fit than him at that age, too (not to outdo him, but only because I'm devoting more time to it earlier in life)
"It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit." - Socrates
I really dont want to take a break but ive fell ill twice and its due to situations out of my control. Theres no way im going to have the energy to recover from training with a high fever.
@@dynaspinner64 Illness is definitely an exception. You shouldn't be lifting if your body is down with illnesses like fever. As long as your body is fine though, consistency is key!
Yeah, depends on how ill are you. Sometimes, you can still go for just a simple walk, sometimes you can do a shorter and lighter session, but overall, yeah, there are a couple of exceptions here and there.
It's sad people can't cook a simple meal. When I was in school we had to take shop and home ec. Now I took more wood and metal shop classes but knowing my way around a kitchen has been valuable.
#4 don't take breaks. This one 100%. I am in this right now. I got sick a few weeks. I have been off and on and each time I am off it is really hard to get the momentum going again and I have equipment at home and I really enjoy lifting. I am someone who falls into all or nothing thinking. don't fall for the trap!
Number three for me without a doubt. I trained for years and years...... and years, writing nothing down. I never realised how much I was 'spinning my wheels' until a friend bought me a training log as a gift. It was a revelation. Recording everything was a game changer. I knew where I was. I knew what I had to do. I began improving in strength and currently my numbers are still going slowly but steadily upwards which pleases me greatly as most people my age have stopped getting appreciably stronger. I am 68.
Been watching Alan follow various goals across a decade including training into fatherhood, hope he does it forever and we get to follow as his goals change across the decades
Great stuff. My 11th commandment would be to find fellow travelers on your fitness journey. Friends who lift, gym with good community, sports with friends, sports with your kids, etc. Friends and family with similar goals can really help motivate you, teach you, inspire you and keep you going when things go sideways. Thanks Alan for helping to create an amazing community at his gym and also online!
Absolutely agree. It was my training partner who introduced me to the gym, then when our gym got closed by covid, we built one in his garage to continue, and now he has built a whole devoted gym at his property that myself and a few others have chipped in towards. We have done many comps together now, including national and international. If it wasn't for him, I don't know if I would have stuck with it this long and I probably wouldn't have got into it in the first place. I also use training time to make sure I socialise during the week, and if you are prone to depression, that is important. Also, it just makes training a hell of a lot more enjoyable if you're cranking the tunes and having a laugh with your mates while engaging in it!
In regards to commandment 10, what the gym has taught me is that doing something sort of well for a long time is nearly identical to doing something perfectly right away. With the added bonus that no-one ever does anything perfectly first time either.
It’s on my bucket list to train at Untamed Strength and get a form check with you Alan, it’s been a great 10 years watching and learning from your content. I send young blokes your squat and deadlift tutorials because they are so good. Cheers from down under!! 🇦🇺
Amazing video! The "Never take a break" is something that I realized mid 2023, after taking a small break of "just a couple of months"... that lasted 5 years, because ''next month I'll come back'', ''next year'', and so on. After going about 3 years strong, I took a 4 to 5 year break, it's amazing and scary how fast time just flies. Thankfully I realized that last year, came back and still going strong, even if one week or the other I can only go 2 days, I still go and make the most out of those 2 sessions, because now I understand that training is for life.
Just took 2 months off, moved house, sanded and polished all the floors in the house and painted most rooms with my partner and built and installed a new kitchen. Kids also just started school and I started a new job. Commandment 3 hit hard Allan 😭
Love this - you are an icon. Thanks for all your content. Just totally logical, no ego. My additions: 6.1 - make a meal plan. Plan out 3-4 meals and all their ingredients (make a list) before going to grocery store. Then you're all set for cooking. And you'll save $$ not buying things you don't need 7.1 - if you old, use a belt, knee sleeves, wrist wraps, etc, what helps with your weaknesses/pain. The older you are the harder it gets and easier it is to injure yourself (squats4life!) 8.1 Record yourself to check form. Get a cheap amazon tripod for your phone. Can even get one with a tiny remote to start/stop recording. 10.-1 - Agree with going all-in at the start. Learn everything you can, read online, read books, watch all Alan's videos, etc. Master the skills, which will take years (that whole 10,000 hours thing), but don't let it consume you forever. It's a hobby and has so many great benefits to life, but make sure you keep perspective and don't let it detract from other parts of life! Balance
I really like this, but I also like thinking of training as the "8-fold path" (ala Buddhism) - that is "right diet", "right programming", "right sleep", "right hydration", "right RPE", "right form", "right cardio", "right equipment". Staying on that path brings everything together. Then there's the "4 noble truths" - enthusiasm enables training, training leads to strength and hypertrophy, and something about "spice" and "folding time" ...
Wait, I think this might be it "It is by will alone I set my body in motion. It is by the programming of Thrall that motion acquires (proper) form, the body acquires DOMS, DOMS become a warning. It is by will alone I set my body in motion." Original from Frank Herbert's Dune Piter De Vries: It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
Going "all in" resonates with me. I understand that for a beginner who is unsure if they'll stick to it or enjoy it, it might seem to make sense to only train a bit or to only buy the cheapest equipment for your home gym. But then you never get good at it or you never enjoy owning quality equipment. 99% of the used equipment for sale is cheap junk. Not that investing in Rogue or better will guarantee adherence but going all in with your time and money tends to yield better results. And once you get results, it's easier to keep going.
The best in the game. Most relatable, no show off ,no bullshit practical information founded in a deep understanding of the movements and the whole process of working out. Most people have other more important priorities in their life such as family and work - watching allans process while struggling with the same priorieties is so helpfull. Thank you!
Alan, I've been watching you since 2014 as a highschooler trying to learn how to lift correctly in football weightlifting. Your channel has been so impactful for me to where I'm a personal trainer er now and my entire career path has changed and I owe a lot of where I am and going to you. Thank you Alan You're a Saint
I have every piece of gym equipment that I would call a necessity (straps, lifting belt, dip belt) or quite important (wraps, sleeves etc) but the one I price the highest along with the straps, are my heel elevated shoes. I love those things so much.
I agree with logging the training. I have used notebooks in the past, but now I put the information in my main planner. That way I can see everything for the upcoming week: work outs, work meetings, volunteer meetings, etc... A notebook is great, an excel spreadsheet is wonderful, but I just want to be able to see everything together.
Your most important video ever!! For me 20 years too late but as soon as one of my boys gets interested in any kind of physical activity, I'm going to show him this video as his first source of inspiration, education, motivation. Pure gold! Thank you very much!
I appreciate your guidance over the years. As someone whose training and goals tend to fall away when work or life gets crazy, #10 resonates with me the most - making sure my lifestyle supports my training and vice versa
I think number 9, never lie to yourself is my motto. For me, it's the root of being healthy and consistent in the gym. I am honest with myself about what I am eating, the work I am putting into the gym and what my goals are. I am also honest with myself because I know what my weaknesses are and I am always trying to improve my technique and strategy for my goals.
I agree with all that and would only add that the 'umbrella' commandment is commitment: be committed to diet, form, routine, be all in, achieving your goal(s) etc.
Damn I wish I could “Like” this video 17 times and subscribe to Untamed strength channel 43 times. This whole video is gold for training and even life in general. Pure wisdom-keep it up Alan!
Excellent summary! Commandment # 3 most important for me. I'm surprised how many people at the gym don't write anything down! I also prefer writing with a pen and notebook and not on the phone. I guess I'm old school. I've got about 20 years of archives I can go back to.
I thought for sure that number 10 would be to always remember to "Train Untamed" since you stated that it's the commandment that resonated the most with you personally
Yes dad 😋 Jokes aside, hands down good, pragmatic advice from a dad, a lifter and a coach. IMHO (working, lifting, studying, dad of two) the most accurate advice. I have been following your journey from the start and your dedication and your mentality motivates me. Keep it up 💪. PS: For the 10th commandment, I find going all in i.e. forming overall good habits, to be also easier: everything fits together like a jigsaw. Having spend multiple years in academic research (debilitating mentally, thus physically), having things click, with no conscious effort is paramount. PS2: Sick thumbnail 🤘🤘🤘
Never take a break, learn to cook (better ) and going all in more are all good ones for me. More of a runner here but love lifting and also try to use lifting to help my running. Love the content.
for anyone who has program adherence issues, write out a skelelon program, such as a leg day being a squat, a hinge, and a hamstring isolation. have like 3 movements for each pattern that you can pick between when you want, that way you can do different variations when you want, but it still keeps you doing a handful of movements frequently
Amazing, good stuff, but I say #4 can happen for different reasons. I've been in college and grad school and I take 2-3 weeks off or so for finals because I have to adapt to temporal fluctuations in priorities. For those weeks, school is more important and the period that his lasts is finite and delineated. Plan the breaks though, plan when you come back. Edit: I am a filthy casual but *not* a yo-yo / treading-water / no-progress lifter
Been there too but one thing Alan said that really resonated with me is I can still drop and do some pushups or air squats in between things and bonus, it probably helps counter all that sitting from studying etc.!
Master your technique Absolutely. You never think about it , most movements feel quite intuitive and natural. I never considered the importance of technique until I got frustrated at my lack of shoulder development, and I said stop. That's it, I'm gonna stop chasing numbers and reps UNTIL I master my OHP and lateral raises technique. Before it felt like training to get tired, never truly targeting my deltoids, now I actually see with my own eyes the difference in strength and size.
What a great video! Superb breakdown. The problem is, in my specific case, I need another one for other fitness activities(running, tennis, etc), for career, for money, for relationships, for creativity, for education, for ethics, and for aging. And that’s just off the top of my head. So that’s like 80 more commandments to try to assimilate. So ungodly complicated but I will try. Thanks again for such a great effort to analyze one aspect of life. I would just love to talk to you at a party- for like three hours!
Congratulations on 10 years of uploading! Yep, 'focus on what you're excited about', 'don't take breaks' were very important when I was training well. Very true about momentum. Once lost, very hard to regain. White pill: easy to maintain once gained (I.e. 'go all in').
I promise I am not sucking up but #10 spoke most to me BECAUSE I really want to "go all in" but haven't. I am not a weekend warrior, I am very consistent with my training BUT I don't do other things that I think we really move me forward by going all in. I am doing it!!! I am going to get to that all in state, holidays - vacations - weekends!! Going all in and will be excited to see where I land a year from now :-) Thanks for the inspiration.
I completely experienced that with the lack of consistency, after travelling around I’d always find myself alone in a new gym whereas I used to train with a great gym buddy in my hometown, so not finding that same feeling all these years grew the distance between me and the gym (at least I’d go back to training for 6 to 8 months but stopping right after). Fortunately I’m now in a stable environment, found gym buddy and only now do I start building my consistency and resilience, like a second chance to do things right ! When it comes to food and diet, I used to be so scared of getting fat so instead of eating I’d practice fasting two days a week etc, now I’m finally no longer afraid (took me 10 years to overcome that fear!)
The don't take breaks and nutrition stuck with me the most, definitely. When I'm training, nutrition is not a problem. The problem is, during past year I got injured twice and couldn't train for prolonged periods of time. Adding to that my love for cooking and baking, I gained 5kg of body fat again. I hope this year will turn out differently.
I agree with the commandments. I would just say though that for commandment 10 goinging all in... I needed to start somewhere. I started my lifelong habit by going all in every Saturday. And i built my routine from there.
On logging, I used to log sleep time and quality and quality of the w/o. I started to see quality of the w/o is highly correlated to sleep, AND it reinforces the importance of sleep. Yeah, I need to start that again.
the one that resonated with me the most is "don't take breaks", I've always been very consistent with training, but since when I was little I trained with the school program, I preserved the bad habit of not training during summer, also I hate training in hot weather. I'm getting better with time, but still summer training is always a level under autumn winter and spring training and I want to change!
i think tip 3, logging your training, is the one that resonates the most woth me. I'm getting close to 13th year of lifting and ive never logged any of my training except for running which is automatic thanks to my watch, and also when i was training to do muscle ups i logged each attempt. I've always felt like its not completely necessary because i can just remember how much i can do in most lifts and what ive done last week. And while thats mostly true over any short time period, i realize how wrong it is over several years, and how useful that data could be. Also how logging training can help me see how many training sessions are good, and how many arent.
Do not take breaks - yes. Although I prefer to describe it as being consistent. After the objective, consistency is the most important thing. The objective is first as it essentially defines the program. As for consistency, I found that I needed to make trade-off decisions which you discussed. I was not making progress and I concluded it was lack of consistency. So I made a number of imperfect decisions to ensure consistency. For example, going to the gym and lifting 10lb dumbbells for the overhead press was a good thing! Ridiculous amount of weight but compared to not going - the difference is not even quantifiable. So i found that making these trade-offs which seem counterproductive actually ensured I was consistent and I started making significant progress. For example, I was doing 90lb trapbar deadlifts. A year later i was doing 230lbs (as a set of five reps).
Excellent. #2 is something I wish I'd understood early on. I love to optimize and learn. With so much fitness/lifting/nutrition information out there, I found myself watching more videos, getting new 'programs' from the algorithm,. and always second guessing and changing. I didn't really understand the relative importance of consistency and a how a mediocre plan vigorously and consistently implemented is better than changing horses all the time to find the perfect plan. This ties to #1 cause I let good ideas from different disciplines undermine my confidence in the current plan, not realizing that the differences were more about optimizing for specific goals I didn't really share anyway.
I would add "Listen to your body and dont sustain injuries". Injuries accumulate and it is extremely important to not get injured to be able to keep beeing consistent through out life
Commandment #3 (logging my training) resonated with my experience. I started my fitness journey very obese, and during my first few years, I'd lose maybe 10-15 lbs each year. The first year after I started logging my weight and training, I achieved a 36 pound loss - more than double what I'd done before! I think it can contribute to following some of these other commandments as well - #2 and #9 in particular. Having that hard data can not only help keep you motivated during plateaus and slow patches (because they've happened before and been surmounted), but also call out when one is going on too long and prompt reviewing what might be going wrong.
Love it! Been taining is some way or another for most of my life and for sure the key is keeping it going during a setback like an injury or illness or other life circumstance. I alway say that anything is better than nothing and ramping back up from something is way easier than from nothing.
Consistency is king! Getting the training in at regular intervals over months and years. That's how progress is made. Videos and articles along the lines of "I did [insert activity here] for 30 days and this happened" has made people expect change to be near instant. A month is nothing to a human body. Maybe you only added 2.5kg (maybe a lot less) to the bar, but that "only" times twelve months times two years adds up to some serious weight.
I'm jealous of people who can say, "Well, things got in the way, so I stopped lifting." To me it means they got something else going on in their life other than picking up weights. I'll be going to the gym in the morning, and thats the highlight of my day.
I spent 10 years as a full time carer and my health and fitness went to shit. I tried to keep up swimming and some cycling and went to a weekly Pilates class (which was an expensive waste of time after recovering from a rotator cuff injury). What I really needed was someone to have been urging me to lift just twice a week for 45 minutes to hold the line. If anyone is in a similar situation, just being able to lift at minimum effective volume is going to protect your health.
Commandment addendum: Thou shalt build thy self a good home gym! I work crazy hours now and having a basic gym allows me to train with zero excuses. I have dumbells and trapbar and saving for power squat rack and cable gym machine.
#4 for me Been training for 10-15 years. Always been my main goal to DL 4 plates, squat 3, bench 2, and press 1..my PRs are all 5-30lbs away from those numbers...just keep de railing my progress by taking weeks or even months off..this is my year though! I'm 6'2 190lbs for reference
Commandment #1
Thou Shall *NOT MOVE THE BARBELL*
do not move the barbell!
When I was working a regular job, I wore my gym shorts and a tank top under my work clothes. I knew if I went home after work and then changed, I wasn't going to go to the gym. But if I drove right to the gym after work, stripped off my work clothes in the parking lot, and put on sneakers, I was going to workout. I did that for 15 years and got strong because I was consistent.
Now that I'm retired I have established a gym routine that works for me. I also got my wife to be a regular gym rat. Being strong is a life-changing event as you age. I see other old guys who are weak and have bad posture while I'm deadlifting, bench pressing and rowing like a young man. Go to the gym, and get strong. Defy time and remain youthful in appearance and power.
"Defy time and remain youthful in appearance and power." fuck yeah dude
My grandpa is 90 and still does push ups and stair climbs. He fended off prostate cancer in his mid-seventies.
I want to be as sharp as he is at 90, and stronger/more fit than him at that age, too (not to outdo him, but only because I'm devoting more time to it earlier in life)
"It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit." - Socrates
I am 25 now, I have a similar routine, I head to the gym right after work. I don't go home because I know the bed seems comfy after a long day😂
That's why your tips were so low at work, the gym shorts didn't look good underneath your Hooters uniform.
1. DO NOT. MOVE. THE BARBELL.
Never take a break has been the one that resonates the most. We are talking about the gym but really applied to all of life
Amen.
Art, exercise, etc.
I really dont want to take a break but ive fell ill twice and its due to situations out of my control. Theres no way im going to have the energy to recover from training with a high fever.
@@dynaspinner64 Illness is definitely an exception. You shouldn't be lifting if your body is down with illnesses like fever. As long as your body is fine though, consistency is key!
@@skibididapadada that's true but I still feel bored being sedentary all day haha
Yeah, depends on how ill are you. Sometimes, you can still go for just a simple walk, sometimes you can do a shorter and lighter session, but overall, yeah, there are a couple of exceptions here and there.
It's sad people can't cook a simple meal. When I was in school we had to take shop and home ec. Now I took more wood and metal shop classes but knowing my way around a kitchen has been valuable.
#4 don't take breaks. This one 100%. I am in this right now. I got sick a few weeks. I have been off and on and each time I am off it is really hard to get the momentum going again and I have equipment at home and I really enjoy lifting. I am someone who falls into all or nothing thinking. don't fall for the trap!
Number three for me without a doubt. I trained for years and years...... and years, writing nothing down. I never realised how much I was 'spinning my wheels' until a friend bought me a training log as a gift. It was a revelation. Recording everything was a game changer. I knew where I was. I knew what I had to do. I began improving in strength and currently my numbers are still going slowly but steadily upwards which pleases me greatly as most people my age have stopped getting appreciably stronger. I am 68.
Algorithm boost. Alan is the man for anything fitness related, hope you do this forever!
Same
yuup❤
Same
Been watching Alan follow various goals across a decade including training into fatherhood, hope he does it forever and we get to follow as his goals change across the decades
Great stuff. My 11th commandment would be to find fellow travelers on your fitness journey. Friends who lift, gym with good community, sports with friends, sports with your kids, etc. Friends and family with similar goals can really help motivate you, teach you, inspire you and keep you going when things go sideways. Thanks Alan for helping to create an amazing community at his gym and also online!
Absolutely agree. It was my training partner who introduced me to the gym, then when our gym got closed by covid, we built one in his garage to continue, and now he has built a whole devoted gym at his property that myself and a few others have chipped in towards. We have done many comps together now, including national and international. If it wasn't for him, I don't know if I would have stuck with it this long and I probably wouldn't have got into it in the first place. I also use training time to make sure I socialise during the week, and if you are prone to depression, that is important. Also, it just makes training a hell of a lot more enjoyable if you're cranking the tunes and having a laugh with your mates while engaging in it!
Seems impossible to me
In regards to commandment 10, what the gym has taught me is that doing something sort of well for a long time is nearly identical to doing something perfectly right away. With the added bonus that no-one ever does anything perfectly first time either.
It’s on my bucket list to train at Untamed Strength and get a form check with you Alan, it’s been a great 10 years watching and learning from your content. I send young blokes your squat and deadlift tutorials because they are so good. Cheers from down under!! 🇦🇺
Amazing video! The "Never take a break" is something that I realized mid 2023, after taking a small break of "just a couple of months"... that lasted 5 years, because ''next month I'll come back'', ''next year'', and so on. After going about 3 years strong, I took a 4 to 5 year break, it's amazing and scary how fast time just flies.
Thankfully I realized that last year, came back and still going strong, even if one week or the other I can only go 2 days, I still go and make the most out of those 2 sessions, because now I understand that training is for life.
DO NOT MOVE THE BARBRELL!
good stuff Alan I’ve been watching you for years it is a amazing how far I’ve come thanks to you🎉
Just took 2 months off, moved house, sanded and polished all the floors in the house and painted most rooms with my partner and built and installed a new kitchen. Kids also just started school and I started a new job.
Commandment 3 hit hard Allan 😭
I love "master your technique." I was expecting "use the technique appropriate for your goals," but yours is great
Love this - you are an icon. Thanks for all your content. Just totally logical, no ego.
My additions:
6.1 - make a meal plan. Plan out 3-4 meals and all their ingredients (make a list) before going to grocery store. Then you're all set for cooking. And you'll save $$ not buying things you don't need
7.1 - if you old, use a belt, knee sleeves, wrist wraps, etc, what helps with your weaknesses/pain. The older you are the harder it gets and easier it is to injure yourself (squats4life!)
8.1 Record yourself to check form. Get a cheap amazon tripod for your phone. Can even get one with a tiny remote to start/stop recording.
10.-1 - Agree with going all-in at the start. Learn everything you can, read online, read books, watch all Alan's videos, etc. Master the skills, which will take years (that whole 10,000 hours thing), but don't let it consume you forever. It's a hobby and has so many great benefits to life, but make sure you keep perspective and don't let it detract from other parts of life! Balance
9.1: don't lie *or* bullshit yourself.
I really like this, but I also like thinking of training as the "8-fold path" (ala Buddhism) - that is "right diet", "right programming", "right sleep", "right hydration", "right RPE", "right form", "right cardio", "right equipment". Staying on that path brings everything together. Then there's the "4 noble truths" - enthusiasm enables training, training leads to strength and hypertrophy, and something about "spice" and "folding time" ...
Wait, I think this might be it "It is by will alone I set my body in motion. It is by the programming of Thrall that motion acquires (proper) form, the body acquires DOMS, DOMS become a warning. It is by will alone I set my body in motion."
Original from Frank Herbert's Dune
Piter De Vries:
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
@@fredrichardson9761 Get those Atreides gains
Fear is the mind killer!
Going "all in" resonates with me. I understand that for a beginner who is unsure if they'll stick to it or enjoy it, it might seem to make sense to only train a bit or to only buy the cheapest equipment for your home gym. But then you never get good at it or you never enjoy owning quality equipment. 99% of the used equipment for sale is cheap junk. Not that investing in Rogue or better will guarantee adherence but going all in with your time and money tends to yield better results. And once you get results, it's easier to keep going.
The best in the game. Most relatable, no show off ,no bullshit practical information founded in a deep understanding of the movements and the whole process of working out.
Most people have other more important priorities in their life such as family and work - watching allans process while struggling with the same priorieties is so helpfull.
Thank you!
Alan, I've been watching you since 2014 as a highschooler trying to learn how to lift correctly in football weightlifting. Your channel has been so impactful for me to where I'm a personal trainer er now and my entire career path has changed and I owe a lot of where I am and going to you.
Thank you Alan
You're a Saint
I have every piece of gym equipment that I would call a necessity (straps, lifting belt, dip belt) or quite important (wraps, sleeves etc) but the one I price the highest along with the straps, are my heel elevated shoes. I love those things so much.
Congrats on 10y anniversary!! Just about to go to the gym so will have to watch it later, and leaving a comment for the algorithm!
Back and watching it now :D
I’ve been watching Untamed Strength for about ten years now. And still learn something new every time.
I agree with logging the training. I have used notebooks in the past, but now I put the information in my main planner. That way I can see everything for the upcoming week: work outs, work meetings, volunteer meetings, etc...
A notebook is great, an excel spreadsheet is wonderful, but I just want to be able to see everything together.
Your most important video ever!! For me 20 years too late but as soon as one of my boys gets interested in any kind of physical activity, I'm going to show him this video as his first source of inspiration, education, motivation.
Pure gold! Thank you very much!
All start somewhere. It's never too late as long as you're above ground. Best wishes to you.
@@nathanielovaughn2145
Thanks mate. Still standing 😊
Best wishes!
S tier thumbnail. Congrats on 10 years Alan!
I appreciate your guidance over the years. As someone whose training and goals tend to fall away when work or life gets crazy, #10 resonates with me the most - making sure my lifestyle supports my training and vice versa
I think number 9, never lie to yourself is my motto. For me, it's the root of being healthy and consistent in the gym. I am honest with myself about what I am eating, the work I am putting into the gym and what my goals are. I am also honest with myself because I know what my weaknesses are and I am always trying to improve my technique and strategy for my goals.
I agree with all that and would only add that the 'umbrella' commandment is commitment: be committed to diet, form, routine, be all in, achieving your goal(s) etc.
Damn I wish I could “Like” this video 17 times and subscribe to Untamed strength channel 43 times. This whole video is gold for training and even life in general. Pure wisdom-keep it up Alan!
Excellent summary! Commandment # 3 most important for me. I'm surprised how many people at the gym don't write anything down! I also prefer writing with a pen and notebook and not on the phone. I guess I'm old school. I've got about 20 years of archives I can go back to.
Amazing ten years Alan and here is for another 10 and many more! : 3
I think I've been with you since 2013 when I was searching "how to squat" on RUclips. Thanks for great content, always, Alan.
I thought for sure that number 10 would be to always remember to "Train Untamed" since you stated that it's the commandment that resonated the most with you personally
Number 4, don't take breaks! So important!
Been following this man since the beginning. Algorithm boost plz
Nice, first the Sika Strength Lads and now you. Both are really Good guidelines to improve your training.
Number 2 is totally me. At the end of the day, you have to enjoy what you're doing.
Yes dad 😋 Jokes aside, hands down good, pragmatic advice from a dad, a lifter and a coach. IMHO (working, lifting, studying, dad of two) the most accurate advice. I have been following your journey from the start and your dedication and your mentality motivates me. Keep it up 💪.
PS: For the 10th commandment, I find going all in i.e. forming overall good habits, to be also easier: everything fits together like a jigsaw. Having spend multiple years in academic research (debilitating mentally, thus physically), having things click, with no conscious effort is paramount.
PS2: Sick thumbnail 🤘🤘🤘
Congrats on your anniversaries, Alan...thanks for sharing your knowledge/experience with us. 🙏👏👏
Never take a break, learn to cook (better ) and going all in more are all good ones for me. More of a runner here but love lifting and also try to use lifting to help my running. Love the content.
for anyone who has program adherence issues, write out a skelelon program, such as a leg day being a squat, a hinge, and a hamstring isolation. have like 3 movements for each pattern that you can pick between when you want, that way you can do different variations when you want, but it still keeps you doing a handful of movements frequently
Amazing, good stuff, but I say #4 can happen for different reasons. I've been in college and grad school and I take 2-3 weeks off or so for finals because I have to adapt to temporal fluctuations in priorities. For those weeks, school is more important and the period that his lasts is finite and delineated. Plan the breaks though, plan when you come back. Edit: I am a filthy casual but *not* a yo-yo / treading-water / no-progress lifter
Been there too but one thing Alan said that really resonated with me is I can still drop and do some pushups or air squats in between things and bonus, it probably helps counter all that sitting from studying etc.!
Learn how to cook is the best piece of advice here that you will not find anywhere else.
Master your technique
Absolutely. You never think about it , most movements feel quite intuitive and natural. I never considered the importance of technique until I got frustrated at my lack of shoulder development, and I said stop. That's it, I'm gonna stop chasing numbers and reps UNTIL I master my OHP and lateral raises technique. Before it felt like training to get tired, never truly targeting my deltoids, now I actually see with my own eyes the difference in strength and size.
Number one is a great point. There is so much variation out there! I love mixing it up with different complementary activities
#8 was important to me. I came to this older and very much out of shape. So mastering my tech helped give me discipline and less prone to injury
What a great video! Superb breakdown. The problem is, in my specific case, I need another one for other fitness activities(running, tennis, etc), for career, for money, for relationships, for creativity, for education, for ethics, and for aging. And that’s just off the top of my head. So that’s like 80 more commandments to try to assimilate. So ungodly complicated but I will try. Thanks again for such a great effort to analyze one aspect of life. I would just love to talk to you at a party- for like three hours!
Congratulations on 10 years of uploading!
Yep, 'focus on what you're excited about', 'don't take breaks' were very important when I was training well.
Very true about momentum. Once lost, very hard to regain. White pill: easy to maintain once gained (I.e. 'go all in').
I promise I am not sucking up but #10 spoke most to me BECAUSE I really want to "go all in" but haven't. I am not a weekend warrior, I am very consistent with my training BUT I don't do other things that I think we really move me forward by going all in. I am doing it!!! I am going to get to that all in state, holidays - vacations - weekends!! Going all in and will be excited to see where I land a year from now :-) Thanks for the inspiration.
Wow can’t believe it’s been 10 years. I remember when I first started watching your videos, crazy to think it’s been this long. Time flies!
I completely experienced that with the lack of consistency, after travelling around I’d always find myself alone in a new gym whereas I used to train with a great gym buddy in my hometown, so not finding that same feeling all these years grew the distance between me and the gym (at least I’d go back to training for 6 to 8 months but stopping right after). Fortunately I’m now in a stable environment, found gym buddy and only now do I start building my consistency and resilience, like a second chance to do things right !
When it comes to food and diet, I used to be so scared of getting fat so instead of eating I’d practice fasting two days a week etc, now I’m finally no longer afraid (took me 10 years to overcome that fear!)
The don't take breaks and nutrition stuck with me the most, definitely. When I'm training, nutrition is not a problem. The problem is, during past year I got injured twice and couldn't train for prolonged periods of time. Adding to that my love for cooking and baking, I gained 5kg of body fat again. I hope this year will turn out differently.
I agree with the commandments. I would just say though that for commandment 10 goinging all in... I needed to start somewhere. I started my lifelong habit by going all in every Saturday. And i built my routine from there.
On logging, I used to log sleep time and quality and quality of the w/o. I started to see quality of the w/o is highly correlated to sleep, AND it reinforces the importance of sleep. Yeah, I need to start that again.
the one that resonated with me the most is "don't take breaks", I've always been very consistent with training, but since when I was little I trained with the school program, I preserved the bad habit of not training during summer, also I hate training in hot weather. I'm getting better with time, but still summer training is always a level under autumn winter and spring training and I want to change!
Thank you Alan for all your videos over the years. They've really helped me a lot!
i think tip 3, logging your training, is the one that resonates the most woth me.
I'm getting close to 13th year of lifting and ive never logged any of my training except for running which is automatic thanks to my watch, and also when i was training to do muscle ups i logged each attempt.
I've always felt like its not completely necessary because i can just remember how much i can do in most lifts and what ive done last week.
And while thats mostly true over any short time period, i realize how wrong it is over several years, and how useful that data could be. Also how logging training can help me see how many training sessions are good, and how many arent.
As someone whos leaving powerlifitng and tryung to do more bodybuilding and cardio, thank you!!
Do not take breaks - yes. Although I prefer to describe it as being consistent. After the objective, consistency is the most important thing. The objective is first as it essentially defines the program. As for consistency, I found that I needed to make trade-off decisions which you discussed. I was not making progress and I concluded it was lack of consistency. So I made a number of imperfect decisions to ensure consistency. For example, going to the gym and lifting 10lb dumbbells for the overhead press was a good thing! Ridiculous amount of weight but compared to not going - the difference is not even quantifiable. So i found that making these trade-offs which seem counterproductive actually ensured I was consistent and I started making significant progress. For example, I was doing 90lb trapbar deadlifts. A year later i was doing 230lbs (as a set of five reps).
Great stuff Alan. Awesome that it’s been 10 years of untamed strength
Appreciate you always providing a balanced, nuanced perspective
Excellent. #2 is something I wish I'd understood early on. I love to optimize and learn. With so much fitness/lifting/nutrition information out there, I found myself watching more videos, getting new 'programs' from the algorithm,. and always second guessing and changing. I didn't really understand the relative importance of consistency and a how a mediocre plan vigorously and consistently implemented is better than changing horses all the time to find the perfect plan. This ties to #1 cause I let good ideas from different disciplines undermine my confidence in the current plan, not realizing that the differences were more about optimizing for specific goals I didn't really share anyway.
These are all non-negotiable, however, My favorite is not taking a break… consistency is the key to life.
#10 for sure! Once you realize how it all affects you, then you keep on the straight and narrow. If you’re gonna do it go all in!
Your channel is the best. Been following you forever. Self honestly and consistency are key!
You’re an amazing service the weightlifters, with sound and applicable advice. Amazing video!
so cool to see your vids go from stronglifts preacher to zen master
I would add "Listen to your body and dont sustain injuries". Injuries accumulate and it is extremely important to not get injured to be able to keep beeing consistent through out life
Commandment #3 (logging my training) resonated with my experience. I started my fitness journey very obese, and during my first few years, I'd lose maybe 10-15 lbs each year. The first year after I started logging my weight and training, I achieved a 36 pound loss - more than double what I'd done before! I think it can contribute to following some of these other commandments as well - #2 and #9 in particular. Having that hard data can not only help keep you motivated during plateaus and slow patches (because they've happened before and been surmounted), but also call out when one is going on too long and prompt reviewing what might be going wrong.
Yo dude you were my number 1 resource when I started lifting back in 2019. Love the direction you've taken things man! Train untamed 😎
11. DO NOT MOVE THE BARBELL.
Alan, thank you for all your great advice. Its also somewhat comforting knowing that there are other people who are obsessed and not ashamed of it :)
A 42 min video on the philosophy of training from The Most Untamed? *sips coffee* Don’t mind if I do!
Love it! Been taining is some way or another for most of my life and for sure the key is keeping it going during a setback like an injury or illness or other life circumstance. I alway say that anything is better than nothing and ramping back up from something is way easier than from nothing.
Consistency is king! Getting the training in at regular intervals over months and years. That's how progress is made.
Videos and articles along the lines of "I did [insert activity here] for 30 days and this happened" has made people expect change to be near instant. A month is nothing to a human body. Maybe you only added 2.5kg (maybe a lot less) to the bar, but that "only" times twelve months times two years adds up to some serious weight.
Great video, and congrats on 10 years! Not taking time off is the commandment that resonates with me most.
I'm jealous of people who can say, "Well, things got in the way, so I stopped lifting." To me it means they got something else going on in their life other than picking up weights.
I'll be going to the gym in the morning, and thats the highlight of my day.
Well, "things got in the way" could also be the onset of multiple sclerosis so no need to be jealous
Always good to hear some wise words from you dude
Number 8 hits for me. I need to be self-aware in my consistency as I push my lifts.
Bless me Alan, for I have sinned. I violated the fourth commandment, and now I'm having a hard time breaking my break.
#2 resonated with me, last year was very challenging in life and i program hopped all year and made almost no progress. This year will be different
We're here for the long videos. Congrats on 10 years!
Can you do a video on not caring about what others say about you, what always puts me off is family members telling me not to go to the gym.
For me it’s definitely taking breaks. I need to be more consistent. Thanks for these great videos!
And number 10) Always remember: TRAIN UNTAMED!
great video as usual Alan! Cheers from Argentina, been following you since 2014 ♥
#6 learning to cook.. absolutely
#7 my Pioneer belt just arrived today! Already have decent squat shoes
Good stuff as usual Allen. Ive been baking cookies for so long I have the recipe memorized.
These are all good points. I would say it's a lot harder for people with mental illnesses and a few more key points could probably be added for that.
Alan is the best gym youtuber
Just droppin a comment to support the goat!
I spent 10 years as a full time carer and my health and fitness went to shit. I tried to keep up swimming and some cycling and went to a weekly Pilates class (which was an expensive waste of time after recovering from a rotator cuff injury). What I really needed was someone to have been urging me to lift just twice a week for 45 minutes to hold the line. If anyone is in a similar situation, just being able to lift at minimum effective volume is going to protect your health.
Commandment addendum: Thou shalt build thy self a good home gym! I work crazy hours now and having a basic gym allows me to train with zero excuses. I have dumbells and trapbar and saving for power squat rack and cable gym machine.
Ty for all the videos! I've learned alot from you over the last five years or so.
Always love your Insight Alan you've been a huge inspiration for me In my fitness journey
#4 for me
Been training for 10-15 years. Always been my main goal to DL 4 plates, squat 3, bench 2, and press 1..my PRs are all 5-30lbs away from those numbers...just keep de railing my progress by taking weeks or even months off..this is my year though! I'm 6'2 190lbs for reference
Thats one of the best thumbnails I've seen
wow this is the bible!!!! thank you Alan!!!