If you managed to suffer through this video, you'll definitely be able to force yourself to get through my book, too. Currently on sale, 50% off: >>> www.verityfit.com/product-page/sweat Appreciate the support and allowing me to keep making videos!
@@GVS Lol I'm just talking about how you transitioned into it. Nothing wrong with plugging your stuff. I mean, how else are you gonna sell them right? I just like to see when people seamlessly transition into a plug/sponsor/or subscribe kinda thing cause it's always funny. Like a smooth criminal 😂
@@helphowdoinputusername3571 yea it's smooth because I only remember when the book is actually relevant to what I just said haha. Otherwise I totally forget.
@@justhair17 I've been trying out 5s, 8s, 12s, 15s & 20s on small isolations (over years), I've found that 15 is the lowest that I get a mean pump from. BUT, that's ME.
Yup 100% good points. At one point I did 2 sets per bodypart per week to concentric failure and that's it. It was when I was really busy with life with zero time to spare. I still grew because I strived for progressive overload and got constantly stronger over time.
Glad to hear that style of workout was successful for you. Was doing exact same and was getting results slowly so have boosted volume to 2 sets of 2 exercise per body part to momentary muscular failure about every 8 days. Seeing some nice results but only been a couple months since the increase. As my spare time is very limited at the moment I'm planning on sticking with this for at least another few months. Hopefully the strength and size increases continue.
I would say throughout most of the year I hover around "technical failure,+1 intensity technique" rep speed failure is generally for program ramping and deload. Way beyond failure is 1-2 weeks before deload for me.
nice to see mentzer mentioned, his program of two working sets was similar to what you described, 5-10 rep set done in 4040 tempo to literal failure, then straight away - in 2 to 4 seconds - you go into a drop set, also done in 4040 tempo, and when you reach literal failure your partner helps you do a couple more 4-5 second eccentrics. id like to see people who say low volume is not enough try this.
For deadlifts I do 1x5 and see strength increases on par with all my other exercises when I typically do 3 or 4 sets. I feel like the lower volume is less stressful on my back. So my low back is mentzer and my arms are Arnold 😎
I'm currently doing one set to failure, followed immediately by a drop set to failure. I'm getting stronger, and seemingly putting on some mass. Letting go of the volume has been strange, but there have been results so far. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over time.
@@5milemacc737 Well, the years of heavy volume (together with the way I’m built and possibly some questionable posture) resulted in a full thickness tear of a supraspinatus tendon during 100lb decline dumbbell presses after my post. I have had rotator cuff surgery and I have been using the same training concept in recovery and beyond. I’m an old guy, and my focus isn’t hypertrophy, so much as overall strength and mobility. In my 50’s, I’ve actually put on some mass and gained strength using this post-surgery. There are exercises I no longer do to protect my shoulder, though. For example I don’t do standard deadlifts anymore, going with gentler (and lighter) Romanians. High pressing exercises are no longer a part of my life. 🙁 I miss the OHP, but not as much as I’d miss being able to carry a bag of groceries with my left arm. My lower body has seen more mass gain, but it was lagging behind upper body in the first place. I have more in my chest and shoulders, and my biceps are 1/4-1/2 inch bigger than before the shoulder injury. Again, size isn’t my focus, but I’ve seen some, anyway. For most exercises, I do a light warmup set and then a priming set of 6 reps at about 80 percent of my top weight. I then do a set to failure, followed by an immediate drop set to failure, followed by another immediate drop set to failure. (Squats don’t go to absolute failure, for obvious reasons.). Sometimes I’ll tack on an extra negative/static hold set if I’m feeling naughty. I do an upper/lower body split, going more or less every other day. I do stationary bike and swimming on off days, and I’ll take extra rest days when I feel the need. Is this approach optimal for pure hypertrophy? No idea. But it is increasing my strength (and even some size) in my 50’s, while I also do endurance and mobility training. One of my concerns is that the extra mass is making me a little less mobile (or maybe I’m just old). I used to do kickboxing, and now I feel like rusty aircraft carrier when changing direction. 😄 It may be worth a try. It’s great for me, but I’m just an old man trying to hold his body together for as long as possible.
@@shrexyboi1850 Steady, incremental gains. I was never going for pure mass, so I don’t have a bodybuilder lifestyle. I do a lot of cardio and mobility stuff, so everything is geared toward general fitness. I’m well into my 50’s, though, and I can still gain strength and some muscle while maintaining a general fitness routine. I don’t know if it’s optimal for pure hypertrophy, but for fitness and function (and some aesthetics), it’s still working well for this old guy.
Outstanding video! Great info which I hope everyone latches on to. I was around back in the day (age alert) when it was Mentzer vs Arnold. HIT vs Volume. That battle still exists to this very day and what each side fails to understand is it's not an "either/or" zero sum game. BOTH WAYS WORK. It's about how you program and what your mentality is. For me, when I hear someone saying do "one set to failure" or "15-20 sets a week" or you won't grow I have to take in consideration what kind of sets they are talking about because I know that volume and intensity are mutually exclusive and that both ways work. Well, unless your shooting up the breakfast of champions. I'm not talking Wheaties here. At that point all bets are off. Going to go for the book. After this video I'm curious as to what else you got to say. $15? I've paid more than that to watch naked women dance and woke up the next morning with a hangover and a blue set of stones. At least I'll get something out of this.
Yes and the 1980 Olympia just fueled the debate even more, I'm sure. You'll definitely enjoy the book. It's detailed yet readable, reviews have been really good, I've been blown away by the feedback!
I think it's better for beginners to do higher volume with lower intensity simply because you have to learn to do the movements properly and practice, and as a beginner you can get results without pushing as hard as later down the road. Later on, I think going for more intensity and less volume is better for recovery. Good to see a video that says both can work. It really depends on the person. Too often, you see people stay in one camp and anyone else is wrong.
It's actually sad that noobs get exposed to such shit channes. It too me like 1.5 years to find you. Your content is so much fuckin better than all that garbage out there. Keep it up
Very helpful that you examined the various definitions of failure and how this plays into people misinterpreting prescribed volume in a given program. You also shed light on individual variation, muscle group variation and the caviot of rep range. This is the most comprehensive video I've seen yet on how volume and intensity play on each other... and how people debate this topic when really their training is more similar than they realize.
Big compound lifts become exponentially risky when taken to, or very close to, failure. That's why weightlifters and powerlifters don't do it with snatch, CJ, back squat, etc. At least routinely. But are still big and strong. Better approach is to use high enough weight above 80% of 1RM and use non failure sets. Every single rep at such loads is maximally effective right from first rep and failure is not needed for maximum fiber activation. Christian Thib has mentioned this point in one of his RUclips videos.
For me failure is when i grind a rep and i cannot get full ROM. Every time I start a new meso I tell myself "ok this time im gonna go 3-1 RIR", but I end up going to failure in pretty much every set anyway (isolation movements ofc), maybe i would get better results by holding off a bit, but it is so hard to stop 3 RIR, i feel like i'm not doing anything, barely a warm up.
I'm the same way. There's just something in my nature that really makes it hard to hold back. People think I'm doing a hard set for Instagram or a RUclips video but it's just a random set I had on my phone. I often get better results from moderate volume programs compared to high volume ones because of it. Ultimately, knowing yourself is key.
Excellent video! P.S.: Love the humour (esp. the self-deprecating & self-burns) and esp. the 2:25 to 2:45 bit! :-D P.P.S.: Am more than half-way through your book -- pretty good so far!! More power to you, Geoff!
So glad this channel isn’t monetized. They would demonitize this for the word “joint” immediately XD. Very informative content btw, bought ur book a couple weeks back. Keep it up!
All your videos have interesting topics and every time there is something to learn. It's very refreshing since a lot of the content on yt is just drama. Even your videos about yt and other influences are good. 👍 I dont mean to give you a cyber bj, but since you create really good content the least I could do is tell you I really like it.
Thanks for introducing the word cyber BJ into my life 😄, let's say the rest of YT fitness is so awful, it can hard not to feel the urge or cyber BJ-ing Geof or Sean Nal
2:45 I think most of the time, it's not a conscious decision, it's just when you get tired, your body will naturally try to shift away from the fatigued muscles, and it's something you need to train not to do.
Loaded shoulder whirlwinds to failure, got it! Also, agree that volitional "failure" is basically f@cking around and wasting time. Grindy rep is the sign that I may end the set, and that assuming that the exercise is not suited for going to failure. Otherwise I would wonder later if I actually trained and if you need to ask yourself such a question then probably the answer is "not hard enough".
Other RUclipsrs: “I can’t show that! It’s embarrassing!” Geoffrey: “that’s funny s#*+! Educational too. Definitely including that in the video” This man is legend.
The mass of an individual muscle/group matters for recovery as well. Muscles that are actually big take a bit longer to recover, which can cause problems trying to optimize work/rest periods if you’re working out with someone significantly bigger or smaller than you.
Actually calf tears (called achilles tendon tear/rupture) are some of the most common tendon ruptures especially in runners,sprinters,basketball players and soccer players.These people when competitive or training seriously have at least a 10% lifetime chance of achilles tendon rupture so it's extremely common
I use to train 6 days 2.5 hour sessions basically going to failure on everything and i was legitimately going to failure. I put on some muscle but overall i got to single digit body fat but lost so much muscle after years of that, i was 69 kgs like 8 years ago,now i do 2x low Volume to absolute failure and beyond on mostly everything and im 103 kg probably 19 to 22,% body fat rite now ,yet put on a good amount of lean mass so long story short low volume 3 sets for compounds to failure,on isolations ill do usually MYO reps combined with drop sets. Try everything once dont get dug down by dogma and modern trends, try all forms of training to see what works for u
@@welshdragon2927 i mean, if by hip hinges you mean kettlebell swings, good mornings or hip trusts, i could see it, but on any deadlift variation that sounds like hell to me
Is this an acceptable a safe way to figure your 1 RM: doing your 3-4 rep max and then dividing that? I lift alone mostly and a rep max for me means if I do the next rep my form will suffer more than its worth to do the rep. Its how I've been calculating it but idk what's generally accepted.
At 3:54, are those set recommendations weekly or per session? I'm assuming they're per muscle group (rather than exercise) because they go as high as 30+ sets.
Great video and yeah there's definitely a volume-intensity trade-off and the optimum lies somewhere differently depending on individuals and how you actually like to train. Personally my chest was lagging loads half a year ago and recently cutting my volume and focusing on fewer but intense sets has been great for progression and results. I know I definitely hid from doing intense sets but doing fluff volume which is shit for progress imo.
now that I think about it, the 45 sets rec could also be due to the subjects being newbies. I know that if a seasoned lifter who pushes his sets proper hard, 45 would be way too much. over a 5 days a week plan that's 9 sets per muscle group in each day. that amount is freaking wild. I'm on 6 sets per muscle group per week and it's hefty
Always remember it's a marathon not a sprint... Progressive overload over a long period of time never fails. Just focus on 1 more rep than last time. Once you get to 10 to 12 reps for 3 to 4 sets, add weight and start back a 5 reps. Yes it's slow but for natty guys it gives your tendons and ligaments time to recover and grow too. Been doing it for 20 years. No injuries. But my numbers keep going up. Year after year. Now that I'm closer to 100yo than 0yo, I'm in maintenance mode and still going strong...
I find that my Quads are always about to explode even after doing just 1 to 2 medium intensity sets. Should I try doing just 1 set of ultra intensity on the squat or do you think more volume with lower intensity is going to suit me better? Will experiment with both in the long run but I would like to listen to your opinion first.
Do you have any plans about addressing anything related to nutrition or is that not your thing? Like I don't mean the basics like calorie deficit for fat loss but maybe something more nuanced or some tips about yourself and how you eat.
Have an entire playlist about it. Will occasionally be doing more. I have less interest in nutrition personally. I find it to be a dull topic, though of course have studied it in enough depth to effectively coach. It's important but also very individual. Will eventually have a book on it but before that will be the hormonal side of things.
@@jim7666 Think I got this, unless he gets a viral video (Josh Brett went ~1-2k to 30k+ with essentially one video, for example...and very well deserved indeed!). But yea...if NH beats me to 15k honestly that's a win for RUclips fitness anyway.
You know what? I have to take an L. I think I scolded you in some other videos before really delving into more of your content.... Not only was I wrong, I completely disagree with my initial assertions (i think i said something like "you say a lot without saying anything at all"). Now I see the value in your content is you keep it simple, to the basics, and unlike so many other influencers, you don't over-complicate things for the sake of standing out. This video is fundamental, back to the basics. Every lifter should see this video.
Yea a lot of it is individual, experiment and as long as you’re adhering to the most crucial principle of them all (progressive overload) you tailor it how you want. For example personally my back (mid and lats at least) hardly ever get sore so I can go ham there with volume but with hammies and bi’s (tho the back workload probably affects that one) I have to reel it in a little.
Hey Mr Geoffrey again.Because I know you're someone who likes to share his knowladge with others, I came to ask you a question.I found myself doing intermitent fasting indirectly, short, I am doing a 21/3 fasting window, but I am eating the calories I need to build muscle.Will that affect the rate of building muscle compared to eating 3-5 meals a day instead of 2 in a 3 hour eating window?
Almost certainly, it would have a negative impact. A missed protein feeding is a missed opportunity, you can't just scarf down 150g of protein (or whatever) in 3 hours and think that it makes up for it.
@@GVS in you're opinion what should I do?If I eat more than two meals in a day, I will usually find myself thinking more about food throught the day and obssesing over my calories which are 2500.It may sound stupid, but I have a large apettite and for me, eating in a 3 hour window worked the best(from a mental perspective of course).After I eat my main meals, I stop thinking about food or calories for the entire day
This all depends on each person. I have always been able to do high volume workouts Full body 3 times a week. 5-6 sets per exercise, 2 exercise per body part. 30-36 sets each week for a bodypart. Which by what all the studies say, I'm doing too much. I got nothing out of doing 10-15 hard sets each week. Failure was having a spotter help me finish 2 reps each set. But with my high volume sets, I'm pumped almost every day and muscles feel tight every day. No soreness because of the frequency I use. While others couldn't do that much volume in a week. I have worked out with guys doing bro splits and they couldn't believe I was doing the same exercises I just did 2 days before. And I was adding reps to my sets. No drugs just working hard on progressive overload. Adding reps to my sets each workout. 💪🏾
@@MultiDatura At the most 2 hours. You can't waste time talking or playing on your phone. If you do those things you will be in the gym for 4 hours. And if you didn't know, Steve Reeves would be in the gym for 4 hours straight doing workouts. Hopefully you know who he was.
@@MultiDatura Yep I'm not strong enough yet. I workout with 120lb dumbbells on the flat bench and do weighted chin-ups with 100lbs, Weighted Dips with 100lbs, and Weighted Pullups with 90lbs. I do 350lbs on the plate loaded Hack Squat machine and use 700lbs on the leg press. I'm working on adding reps every workout. When I hit my goal in sets, I add 5lbs.
Intensity doesn't just mean a higher weight....what Mike Mentzer and advocates of high intensity training mean is its the recruitment of motor units and the deep fatigue of muscle tissue at 100% effort to concentric failure....That can be done with a moderate weight and I can assure you that will gain muscle and strength.
Hey Coach Geoff, this comment is coming late, but I wanna know about your views of the mindvalley superhero body program or something in that sorta line. Is it legit or a far fetched scam as they claim to workout only 30 minutes a week for a superhero body. Getting ads of that quite a lot now. Anyway, very important and informative video, this is.👍
Why does rep range change volume? Because maximum reps are a nonlinear function of load. That means that if you cut the weight by half you can do much more than twice as many reps. Total work is going to be proportional to load and reps, so someone working with 60% of their 1RM for 20 reps is going to do about... - 60% or 1.6x more work as someone working with 75% of their 1RM for 10 reps - 90% or 1.9x more work as someone working with 80% of their 1RM for 8 reps - 170% or 2.7x more work than someone working with 90% of their 1RM for 5 reps - 320% or 4.2x more work than someone working with 95% of the 1RM for 3 reps These lifters all go to failure, but the one doing lower weight for higher reps burns much more energy per set and creates much more metabolic stress per set. And these values are probably an underestimate, since with lighter weights people usually go closer to failure, use a larger range of motion, and move the weight faster on the concentric and slower on the eccentric. All this means they are actually burning proportionally even more energy than expected from reps and weight alone. And since they have greater ROM and slower eccentric they are probably creating more muscle damage too.
one reason people dont understand where failure is, is because of terms like beyond failure. Its not actually technically possible to push a muscle past failure; so ergo, failure is not reached. Try benching 100kg to "fail", then do instant dropset to 90 then 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20kg.. Now we are closing in on actual muscular failure, but we wont reach it until we go down and fail at benching lol 10-9-8-7-6--1kg, and in the end cant lift our arms. Benching just arms to failure, lol hahaha.. Ive inspired myself, ill try
Ok I'm starting to get what you mean. You're saying that most people don't actually reach failure. But why would failure be a goal? Let's say i do all of my sets with 1 rep in reserve and i do 30 sets per week - i still completed all my sets and got gains. So why is it bad to have a rep in reserve compared to going full psycho masochistic mode on every set and doing less sets?
If you are doing 30 sets per week, it's not low volume. And thus there's not as much need to go close to failure. And even WITH lower volume training, most people don't need to go near failure, it's just if you are more advanced. Generally speaking PROGRESSION is more important than failure.
I do most of my sets stopping just short of failure (0-1 reps in reserve), sometimes using short pauses for the last rep. But I do my last set for each muscle in a session going well past failure, usually doing like a 50 rep dropset with the same starting weight (5X10).
What about using the rest pause approach with lighter loads, like the myo-rep approach? Aren't you going to failure with lighter loads, thereby getting growth while keeping the joints fine?
Yes that can work. Myo reps is essentially using metabolic stress to increase fatigue and thus muscle activation, getting more effective reps in less time with weights that won't beat you up.
If you managed to suffer through this video, you'll definitely be able to force yourself to get through my book, too.
Currently on sale, 50% off: >>> www.verityfit.com/product-page/sweat
Appreciate the support and allowing me to keep making videos!
Smooth and shameless plug.
@@helphowdoinputusername3571 hey, at least I'm not plugging my book on other videos like some RUclipsrs do...
@@GVS I totally don't know who you are talking abouter than last time.
@@GVS Lol I'm just talking about how you transitioned into it. Nothing wrong with plugging your stuff. I mean, how else are you gonna sell them right?
I just like to see when people seamlessly transition into a plug/sponsor/or subscribe kinda thing cause it's always funny. Like a smooth criminal 😂
@@helphowdoinputusername3571 yea it's smooth because I only remember when the book is actually relevant to what I just said haha. Otherwise I totally forget.
Low volume + high intensity on big compounds, higher volume + lower intensity on variations/assistance exercises is the perfect mix.
Yeah, thats also pretty much what I do, tho I rarely go very high reps, because I absolutely hate doing sets above 15 reps
@@justhair17 I've been trying out 5s, 8s, 12s, 15s & 20s on small isolations (over years), I've found that 15 is the lowest that I get a mean pump from. BUT, that's ME.
@@Horus-Lupercal I agree that it gives you a better pump, but 1. pump =/= muscle growth. 2. Sets above 15 reps burn like crazy
@@justhair17 The rep range you avoid is usually the one you need after a while.
@@Oyashio202 yeah, there is some truth to that, thats why I try to do at least one exercise with like 15 reps per muscle group
Raises hand! Coach? I don’t fail. I’m not a failure!
Was that from the Broffesor
16:20 "a 20x20", I see you've been doing your Jeff Cavalier squats
Grow 20 inch on your quads every 20 days
@@KingdomHarvestCinema Damn. I'd be down for doing that once, but that's it. 44" thighs would be insane! Especially on a 5'8 frame!
Yup 100% good points. At one point I did 2 sets per bodypart per week to concentric failure and that's it. It was when I was really busy with life with zero time to spare. I still grew because I strived for progressive overload and got constantly stronger over time.
Yup overload is really key.
Glad to hear that style of workout was successful for you. Was doing exact same and was getting results slowly so have boosted volume to 2 sets of 2 exercise per body part to momentary muscular failure about every 8 days. Seeing some nice results but only been a couple months since the increase. As my spare time is very limited at the moment I'm planning on sticking with this for at least another few months. Hopefully the strength and size increases continue.
This channel has become my absolute favorite! I actually enjoy learning about workingout without the drama.
Thanks! :)
3:34 time to slow down the video so I can write down your whole book
Ha, if you can manage that, I'd be OK with it actually lol.
Or, ya know...15 bucks.
I would say throughout most of the year I hover around "technical failure,+1 intensity technique"
rep speed failure is generally for program ramping and deload.
Way beyond failure is 1-2 weeks before deload for me.
nice to see mentzer mentioned, his program of two working sets was similar to what you described, 5-10 rep set done in 4040 tempo to literal failure, then straight away - in 2 to 4 seconds - you go into a drop set, also done in 4040 tempo, and when you reach literal failure your partner helps you do a couple more 4-5 second eccentrics. id like to see people who say low volume is not enough try this.
For deadlifts I do 1x5 and see strength increases on par with all my other exercises when I typically do 3 or 4 sets. I feel like the lower volume is less stressful on my back.
So my low back is mentzer and my arms are Arnold 😎
Is it low volume when intensity technique is used
Top tier RUclips channel , Geoff. Up there with Geoff Nippard, Jeremy Ethier , AlphaDestiny and Renaissance periodisation, to name a few.
Thanks, honored to be on that list!
I'm currently doing one set to failure, followed immediately by a drop set to failure. I'm getting stronger, and seemingly putting on some mass. Letting go of the volume has been strange, but there have been results so far. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over time.
How did it work out?
How it go
@@5milemacc737 Well, the years of heavy volume (together with the way I’m built and possibly some questionable posture) resulted in a full thickness tear of a supraspinatus tendon during 100lb decline dumbbell presses after my post.
I have had rotator cuff surgery and I have been using the same training concept in recovery and beyond. I’m an old guy, and my focus isn’t hypertrophy, so much as overall strength and mobility.
In my 50’s, I’ve actually put on some mass and gained strength using this post-surgery. There are exercises I no longer do to protect my shoulder, though. For example I don’t do standard deadlifts anymore, going with gentler (and lighter) Romanians. High pressing exercises are no longer a part of my life. 🙁 I miss the OHP, but not as much as I’d miss being able to carry a bag of groceries with my left arm. My lower body has seen more mass gain, but it was lagging behind upper body in the first place. I have more in my chest and shoulders, and my biceps are 1/4-1/2 inch bigger than before the shoulder injury. Again, size isn’t my focus, but I’ve seen some, anyway.
For most exercises, I do a light warmup set and then a priming set of 6 reps at about 80 percent of my top weight. I then do a set to failure, followed by an immediate drop set to failure, followed by another immediate drop set to failure. (Squats don’t go to absolute failure, for obvious reasons.). Sometimes I’ll tack on an extra negative/static hold set if I’m feeling naughty. I do an upper/lower body split, going more or less every other day. I do stationary bike and swimming on off days, and I’ll take extra rest days when I feel the need.
Is this approach optimal for pure hypertrophy? No idea. But it is increasing my strength (and even some size) in my 50’s, while I also do endurance and mobility training. One of my concerns is that the extra mass is making me a little less mobile (or maybe I’m just old). I used to do kickboxing, and now I feel like rusty aircraft carrier when changing direction. 😄
It may be worth a try. It’s great for me, but I’m just an old man trying to hold his body together for as long as possible.
Bro died of hyper-hypertrophying. Muscles blew up so big he couldn’t reach his mouth with a knife and fork. RIP
@@shrexyboi1850 Steady, incremental gains. I was never going for pure mass, so I don’t have a bodybuilder lifestyle. I do a lot of cardio and mobility stuff, so everything is geared toward general fitness. I’m well into my 50’s, though, and I can still gain strength and some muscle while maintaining a general fitness routine.
I don’t know if it’s optimal for pure hypertrophy, but for fitness and function (and some aesthetics), it’s still working well for this old guy.
Outstanding video! Great info which I hope everyone latches on to.
I was around back in the day (age alert) when it was Mentzer vs Arnold. HIT vs Volume. That battle still exists to this very day and what each side fails to understand is it's not an "either/or" zero sum game. BOTH WAYS WORK. It's about how you program and what your mentality is.
For me, when I hear someone saying do "one set to failure" or "15-20 sets a week" or you won't grow I have to take in consideration what kind of sets they are talking about because I know that volume and intensity are mutually exclusive and that both ways work. Well, unless your shooting up the breakfast of champions. I'm not talking Wheaties here. At that point all bets are off.
Going to go for the book. After this video I'm curious as to what else you got to say. $15? I've paid more than that to watch naked women dance and woke up the next morning with a hangover and a blue set of stones. At least I'll get something out of this.
Yes and the 1980 Olympia just fueled the debate even more, I'm sure.
You'll definitely enjoy the book. It's detailed yet readable, reviews have been really good, I've been blown away by the feedback!
I think it's better for beginners to do higher volume with lower intensity simply because you have to learn to do the movements properly and practice, and as a beginner you can get results without pushing as hard as later down the road. Later on, I think going for more intensity and less volume is better for recovery. Good to see a video that says both can work. It really depends on the person. Too often, you see people stay in one camp and anyone else is wrong.
One thing I learned from this:
Geoff loves his joints
It's actually sad that noobs get exposed to such shit channes. It too me like 1.5 years to find you. Your content is so much fuckin better than all that garbage out there.
Keep it up
Very helpful that you examined the various definitions of failure and how this plays into people misinterpreting prescribed volume in a given program. You also shed light on individual variation, muscle group variation and the caviot of rep range. This is the most comprehensive video I've seen yet on how volume and intensity play on each other... and how people debate this topic when really their training is more similar than they realize.
Great topic! Optimal volume & failure are 2 of the most misunderstood training concepts.
Your whirlwind failure attack edit was hilarious pal! 😂
Big compound lifts become exponentially risky when taken to, or very close to, failure. That's why weightlifters and powerlifters don't do it with snatch, CJ, back squat, etc. At least routinely. But are still big and strong.
Better approach is to use high enough weight above 80% of 1RM and use non failure sets. Every single rep at such loads is maximally effective right from first rep and failure is not needed for maximum fiber activation. Christian Thib has mentioned this point in one of his RUclips videos.
Here's a comment for those engagement stats. A sacrifice for Algorithmus the Great.
21:28 The rack pull killed me 😂
Lol editing is gold😂😂
Quadruple drop set on deficit deadlifts sound like a cool idea. Maybe I’ll try them next leg session.
Prepare for hell!
@@GVS I was kidding, but this comment has actually got me pumped to try. 💪 Don’t worry, I’ve been lifting for years, I’ll be careful.
Never actually got myself to do it 😂
@@darthghitza8037 go for it
If anyone saw this and felt blue balled go check out Eddie hall death by deadlift
For me failure is when i grind a rep and i cannot get full ROM. Every time I start a new meso I tell myself "ok this time im gonna go 3-1 RIR", but I end up going to failure in pretty much every set anyway (isolation movements ofc), maybe i would get better results by holding off a bit, but it is so hard to stop 3 RIR, i feel like i'm not doing anything, barely a warm up.
I'm the same way. There's just something in my nature that really makes it hard to hold back. People think I'm doing a hard set for Instagram or a RUclips video but it's just a random set I had on my phone.
I often get better results from moderate volume programs compared to high volume ones because of it. Ultimately, knowing yourself is key.
This is spot on I’m the same way and I don’t know why I’m like this
Awesome channel! One of my favorites, someone linked you in Lyle's facebook group, glad I found you
Oh cool. Welcome to the channel!
Good video Geoffrey! Your channel has quickly become one of my favorites because you give so much good information!
Thanks :)
Lowkey falling in love with your videos definitely worth the watch
Always look both ways before crossing the street, and before cheating on bicep curls. That was a classic set, lol. 🏋️♂️
Gotta make sure there are enough people around to notice how perfect my cheating is.
Excellent video!
P.S.: Love the humour (esp. the self-deprecating & self-burns) and esp. the 2:25 to 2:45 bit! :-D
P.P.S.: Am more than half-way through your book -- pretty good so far!!
More power to you, Geoff!
Appreciate the support!
Your editing has leveled up for sure. Great vid as always
So glad this channel isn’t monetized. They would demonitize this for the word “joint” immediately XD.
Very informative content btw, bought ur book a couple weeks back. Keep it up!
Appreciate the support!
Appreciate the support!
All your videos have interesting topics and every time there is something to learn. It's very refreshing since a lot of the content on yt is just drama. Even your videos about yt and other influences are good. 👍 I dont mean to give you a cyber bj, but since you create really good content the least I could do is tell you I really like it.
Thanks for introducing the word cyber BJ into my life 😄, let's say the rest of YT fitness is so awful, it can hard not to feel the urge or cyber BJ-ing Geof or Sean Nal
I really appreciate the quality of your content Geoff 🏔
Much appreciated!
Thanks Coach. One set has worked great for me. 💪🏽😎
Thisis quality content geoff that chart is amazing and i was searching for something like this
Awesome video. Very informative and I've been lifting for over 30 years!
Appreciate that!
This level of stubble looks flattering
Geoff loves joints! (even more than the editor)
2:45 I think most of the time, it's not a conscious decision, it's just when you get tired, your body will naturally try to shift away from the fatigued muscles, and it's something you need to train not to do.
Yes this is a big downside of some compounds for some people, they don't work the area they want very easily.
Commenting for the algorithm 👍💪
Really liked it bro and really informative.
Your edits are just so hilarious lol
Geoffrey, you are loo king good in this hairstyle and trimmed beard 👍👍
Another great video, Geoff. Thank you.
Very welcome!
Loaded shoulder whirlwinds to failure, got it!
Also, agree that volitional "failure" is basically f@cking around and wasting time. Grindy rep is the sign that I may end the set, and that assuming that the exercise is not suited for going to failure. Otherwise I would wonder later if I actually trained and if you need to ask yourself such a question then probably the answer is "not hard enough".
Yup, if someone can't tell the difference between a warmup set and working set, probably not really a working set.
I'm totally stealing "Mentzer Failure" I love that.
Loved this one !
Really enjoy your videos! Thanks so much!
Bar speed failure is often used in weightlifting, where athletes need to be explosive
From what I've seen you consider it failure after the 6th grinder and the third popped blood vessel
Other RUclipsrs: “I can’t show that! It’s embarrassing!”
Geoffrey: “that’s funny s#*+! Educational too. Definitely including that in the video”
This man is legend.
You should make a seperate video on Mentzer sets, the pros & cons, it's application etc.
The mass of an individual muscle/group matters for recovery as well. Muscles that are actually big take a bit longer to recover, which can cause problems trying to optimize work/rest periods if you’re working out with someone significantly bigger or smaller than you.
Actually calf tears (called achilles tendon tear/rupture) are some of the most common tendon ruptures especially in runners,sprinters,basketball players and soccer players.These people when competitive or training seriously have at least a 10% lifetime chance of achilles tendon rupture so it's extremely common
Usually problems come at the achilles before the calf but yea I'll admit they are probably more common than some other muscles (trap, forearms, etc)
Makes me miss my Shenzhen days...
Great video.
My ideal volume is about the mid-point, music is loud enough to motivate me but not enough to cause tinnitus
Ziiiing
This is a great video. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I use to train 6 days 2.5 hour sessions basically going to failure on everything and i was legitimately going to failure. I put on some muscle but overall i got to single digit body fat but lost so much muscle after years of that, i was 69 kgs like 8 years ago,now i do 2x low Volume to absolute failure and beyond on mostly everything and im 103 kg probably 19 to 22,% body fat rite now ,yet put on a good amount of lean mass
so long story short low volume 3 sets for compounds to failure,on isolations ill do usually MYO reps combined with drop sets. Try everything once dont get dug down by dogma and modern trends, try all forms of training to see what works for u
MYO reps?
I can confirm sets of 5 get my hams super sore on deficit deadlifts.
I do not understand how Mike Isreatel says you can survive 16 sets of hip hinges per week. Like dafuq?
@@welshdragon2927 i mean, if by hip hinges you mean kettlebell swings, good mornings or hip trusts, i could see it, but on any deadlift variation that sounds like hell to me
Is this an acceptable a safe way to figure your 1 RM: doing your 3-4 rep max and then dividing that? I lift alone mostly and a rep max for me means if I do the next rep my form will suffer more than its worth to do the rep. Its how I've been calculating it but idk what's generally accepted.
weightrainer.net/mrcalc2.html
I use that. Works quite well.
At 3:54, are those set recommendations weekly or per session? I'm assuming they're per muscle group (rather than exercise) because they go as high as 30+ sets.
Hey.....what do you have against quadrupeds? My dog is insulted.
my thoughts are hit them all , sprinkle the different volume to intensity techniques into your programming .
Yea that's definitely an option!
Great video and yeah there's definitely a volume-intensity trade-off and the optimum lies somewhere differently depending on individuals and how you actually like to train.
Personally my chest was lagging loads half a year ago and recently cutting my volume and focusing on fewer but intense sets has been great for progression and results. I know I definitely hid from doing intense sets but doing fluff volume which is shit for progress imo.
now that I think about it, the 45 sets rec could also be due to the subjects being newbies. I know that if a seasoned lifter who pushes his sets proper hard, 45 would be way too much. over a 5 days a week plan that's 9 sets per muscle group in each day. that amount is freaking wild.
I'm on 6 sets per muscle group per week and it's hefty
Always remember it's a marathon not a sprint... Progressive overload over a long period of time never fails. Just focus on 1 more rep than last time. Once you get to 10 to 12 reps for 3 to 4 sets, add weight and start back a 5 reps. Yes it's slow but for natty guys it gives your tendons and ligaments time to recover and grow too. Been doing it for 20 years. No injuries. But my numbers keep going up. Year after year.
Now that I'm closer to 100yo than 0yo, I'm in maintenance mode and still going strong...
I have heard of calf tears in rugby league, it's not super common, but it does happen.
I find that my Quads are always about to explode even after doing just 1 to 2 medium intensity sets. Should I try doing just 1 set of ultra intensity on the squat or do you think more volume with lower intensity is going to suit me better? Will experiment with both in the long run but I would like to listen to your opinion first.
Do you have any plans about addressing anything related to nutrition or is that not your thing? Like I don't mean the basics like calorie deficit for fat loss but maybe something more nuanced or some tips about yourself and how you eat.
Have an entire playlist about it. Will occasionally be doing more. I have less interest in nutrition personally. I find it to be a dull topic, though of course have studied it in enough depth to effectively coach. It's important but also very individual. Will eventually have a book on it but before that will be the hormonal side of things.
@@GVS I see even with the increase in subscribers, you take the time to reply. You are a good dude with quality content. All the best to you.
@@vishnudas00 Thanks man I'll probably be responding till comments well towards 100k if not more.
hey geo quick question so is periodization important when it comes to hypertrophy or is it jut for performance type athletes and very specific goals ?
Will do a full video. Think it can help but not 100% necessary for most people.
I know this is an old video, but can the DC low volume approach work with a full body routine 2-4 times a week?
Great initial greeting lmao
Amazing video
Thanks!
Just got the SWEAT book. Nice bargain at $15. A lot of good info and work went into it.
Yup took a few months of basically just that. Appreciate the support!
Didn’t notice congrats on 13k
Thanks :) things are accelerating should hit 14k in a few days.
@@GVS You still gotta beat natural hypertrophy to 15k tho.
@@jim7666 Think I got this, unless he gets a viral video (Josh Brett went ~1-2k to 30k+ with essentially one video, for example...and very well deserved indeed!).
But yea...if NH beats me to 15k honestly that's a win for RUclips fitness anyway.
@@GVS
So it’s a win-win then
You know what? I have to take an L. I think I scolded you in some other videos before really delving into more of your content.... Not only was I wrong, I completely disagree with my initial assertions (i think i said something like "you say a lot without saying anything at all"). Now I see the value in your content is you keep it simple, to the basics, and unlike so many other influencers, you don't over-complicate things for the sake of standing out. This video is fundamental, back to the basics. Every lifter should see this video.
Got confused…thought volume was in reference to music…now I can’t hear anything!!!! Hahahaha
just stopping by to feed the almighty algorithm
“What’s up bipeds” glad we’re not excluding the feathered men here
4:50 ahem, wtf
Intensity, bro.
Yea a lot of it is individual, experiment and as long as you’re adhering to the most crucial principle of them all (progressive overload) you tailor it how you want. For example personally my back (mid and lats at least) hardly ever get sore so I can go ham there with volume but with hammies and bi’s (tho the back workload probably affects that one) I have to reel it in a little.
This man has a brain!
Hey Mr Geoffrey again.Because I know you're someone who likes to share his knowladge with others, I came to ask you a question.I found myself doing intermitent fasting indirectly, short, I am doing a 21/3 fasting window, but I am eating the calories I need to build muscle.Will that affect the rate of building muscle compared to eating 3-5 meals a day instead of 2 in a 3 hour eating window?
Almost certainly, it would have a negative impact. A missed protein feeding is a missed opportunity, you can't just scarf down 150g of protein (or whatever) in 3 hours and think that it makes up for it.
@@GVS in you're opinion what should I do?If I eat more than two meals in a day, I will usually find myself thinking more about food throught the day and obssesing over my calories which are 2500.It may sound stupid, but I have a large apettite and for me, eating in a 3 hour window worked the best(from a mental perspective of course).After I eat my main meals, I stop thinking about food or calories for the entire day
@@oldgeneration1585 maybe supplement earlier in the day with protein shakes or small protein heavy lower carb meals
This all depends on each person. I have always been able to do high volume workouts Full body 3 times a week. 5-6 sets per exercise, 2 exercise per body part. 30-36 sets each week for a bodypart. Which by what all the studies say, I'm doing too much. I got nothing out of doing 10-15 hard sets each week. Failure was having a spotter help me finish 2 reps each set. But with my high volume sets, I'm pumped almost every day and muscles feel tight every day. No soreness because of the frequency I use.
While others couldn't do that much volume in a week. I have worked out with guys doing bro splits and they couldn't believe I was doing the same exercises I just did 2 days before. And I was adding reps to my sets. No drugs just working hard on progressive overload. Adding reps to my sets each workout. 💪🏾
So you spend 3-4 hours in the Gym each workout ?
@@MultiDatura At the most 2 hours. You can't waste time talking or playing on your phone. If you do those things you will be in the gym for 4 hours.
And if you didn't know, Steve Reeves would be in the gym for 4 hours straight doing workouts. Hopefully you know who he was.
@@72Dexter72Manley72 you cant be very strong then if You can do all those sets in a workout.
@@72Dexter72Manley72 or maybe those 4-6 sets include warm up sets?
@@MultiDatura Yep I'm not strong enough yet. I workout with 120lb dumbbells on the flat bench and do weighted chin-ups with 100lbs, Weighted Dips with 100lbs, and Weighted Pullups with 90lbs. I do 350lbs on the plate loaded Hack Squat machine and use 700lbs on the leg press.
I'm working on adding reps every workout. When I hit my goal in sets, I add 5lbs.
Wish you had used a clip of Jeff Nippard on RiR 0 vs attempting that final rep (which fails) 🤣
I've seen him go to failure before, on squats, no less.
Intensity doesn't just mean a higher weight....what Mike Mentzer and advocates of high intensity training mean is its the recruitment of motor units and the deep fatigue of muscle tissue at 100% effort to concentric failure....That can be done with a moderate weight and I can assure you that will gain muscle and strength.
Hey Coach Geoff, this comment is coming late, but I wanna know about your views of the mindvalley superhero body program or something in that sorta line. Is it legit or a far fetched scam as they claim to workout only 30 minutes a week for a superhero body. Getting ads of that quite a lot now.
Anyway, very important and informative video, this is.👍
I'm not familiar with them. Sounds like more marketing than substance.
Why does rep range change volume? Because maximum reps are a nonlinear function of load. That means that if you cut the weight by half you can do much more than twice as many reps. Total work is going to be proportional to load and reps, so someone working with 60% of their 1RM for 20 reps is going to do about...
- 60% or 1.6x more work as someone working with 75% of their 1RM for 10 reps
- 90% or 1.9x more work as someone working with 80% of their 1RM for 8 reps
- 170% or 2.7x more work than someone working with 90% of their 1RM for 5 reps
- 320% or 4.2x more work than someone working with 95% of the 1RM for 3 reps
These lifters all go to failure, but the one doing lower weight for higher reps burns much more energy per set and creates much more metabolic stress per set. And these values are probably an underestimate, since with lighter weights people usually go closer to failure, use a larger range of motion, and move the weight faster on the concentric and slower on the eccentric. All this means they are actually burning proportionally even more energy than expected from reps and weight alone. And since they have greater ROM and slower eccentric they are probably creating more muscle damage too.
one reason people dont understand where failure is, is because of terms like beyond failure. Its not actually technically possible to push a muscle past failure; so ergo, failure is not reached.
Try benching 100kg to "fail", then do instant dropset to 90 then 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20kg.. Now we are closing in on actual muscular failure, but we wont reach it until we go down and fail at benching lol 10-9-8-7-6--1kg, and in the end cant lift our arms. Benching just arms to failure, lol hahaha.. Ive inspired myself, ill try
Ok I'm starting to get what you mean.
You're saying that most people don't actually reach failure.
But why would failure be a goal?
Let's say i do all of my sets with 1 rep in reserve and i do 30 sets per week - i still completed all my sets and got gains.
So why is it bad to have a rep in reserve compared to going full psycho masochistic mode on every set and doing less sets?
If you are doing 30 sets per week, it's not low volume. And thus there's not as much need to go close to failure. And even WITH lower volume training, most people don't need to go near failure, it's just if you are more advanced.
Generally speaking PROGRESSION is more important than failure.
I do most of my sets stopping just short of failure (0-1 reps in reserve), sometimes using short pauses for the last rep. But I do my last set for each muscle in a session going well past failure, usually doing like a 50 rep dropset with the same starting weight (5X10).
Brilliant
For the algorithm 💪🏻
👊👊👊
This video is also applicable to some extent to calisthenics athlete.
The collar seems calmer today.
I miss that broken clock...
Maybe I can try to hang it on the backdrop haha
What about using the rest pause approach with lighter loads, like the myo-rep approach? Aren't you going to failure with lighter loads, thereby getting growth while keeping the joints fine?
Yes that can work. Myo reps is essentially using metabolic stress to increase fatigue and thus muscle activation, getting more effective reps in less time with weights that won't beat you up.
It seems like I stick my butt out way more when I’m doing a RDL. Maybe I’m wrong?
We gotta colapse and die to get some sweet ass gainzzz
2:22 GVS's failure on biceps curl
I figured that this is probably true; a frequency threshold... Most likely no more than 3× a week - maximum effective frequency.
Something like that. I got good gains from smolov (4x a week) but it's not sustainable.