If you DO have any (or many!) signs of low work capacity, it could very well be THE rate limiting factor for growth. Being generally active and in good shape is a HUGE step up when it comes to muscle growth. Shoveling down more protein or searching for the latest fad supplement when you can't put in the actual work needed to grow...probably ain't it. Cardio isn't sexy, but it could be the deciding thing that gets you to your goals. If you DON'T have any of these signs, cardio probably isn't the key to new gains, though it's still important for health and certainly worth doing. For more information on crushing your training goals, check out my books, linked below: Book 1: SWEAT (beginners/intermediates) www.verityfit.com/product-page/sweat Book 2: Ring Training For Hypertrophy (ring enthusiasts) www.verityfit.com/product-page/ring-training-for-hypertrophy Book 3: Resurrecting Your Gains (intermediates/advanced lifters) www.verityfit.com/product-page/resurrecting-your-gains-finding-your-muscle-growth-formula Can check the site for full Tables Of Contents of each book. Appreciate the support!
@@GVS great content. Not many cover this topic and something I try to prioritize. Especially because a lot of times don’t get the cardio in I’d like to
I was a couch potato most of my life. And I do work seated most of the day. This was the video I needed. Thanks, Geoff, you are of great help for the average lifter like me.
This is one of your best videos in my opinion; I strongly agree with your point that people that are not so durable/have pain that just seems to bounce around the body are usually just in very poor shape and it can be easily fixed. I’m 3/4 of the way in and there has not been a single thing that I don’t strongly agree with, fear of the interference effect has done more harm than the interference effect itself
The hard part is trying to convince those people to push into the discomfort a little and reduce their movement anxiety instead of going to see a DC or RMT for the 100th time.
Working exclusively in super/giant sets and having time and frequency restraints has put a wonderful pressure on my work capacity. I can definitely tell I'm able to put more work in the same time, and can't imagine sitting or standing around doing nothing after a set for 5 minutes. You can do freaking calves or something while recovering from a big movement people!
@@NEIGH6699 I can only think with them now. So much more effecient. And french press is a long time favorite of mine, I normally do standing dumbbell or ropes on the cable machine.
I think I'll start working on that, I spend way too long between sets more due to faffing around than poor work capacity. I suppose we can progressively shorten the time between sets to sort of progressively overload work capacity?
Disagree. Every set for any muscle should be taken to near failure, this places stress in your system as a whole, particularly the CNS. It's ok to rest. Also you don't want to be that guy. Who's hoping in every single equipment at the gym.
@@Viking_Raven you just have to be smart about it. You can't convince me that throwing some lateral raises or neck work after an RDL is gonna "fry your CNS"
At 34, I didn't realize how low my work capacity was until I worked out with my younger 22 yr old cousin. I realized I was not NEARLY working as hard as I could have. Been making incredible progress since upping my work capacity. Great topic; keep up with the good work!
It depends. Because I think fast twitch fibers are the more desirable ones that grow faster. But they fatigue quick. So it’s a double edged sword if you have that sort of blend. But everyone is different and it takes a lot of observation on yourself to even guess the mix of the fibers you have on endurance vs fast twitch. And the fiber types can adapt too. One rule of thumb they say if you can run fast you probably have more fast twitch fibers in the mix
I sometimes workout with people older than me like early to mid 30’s and they say I can’t handle your training; I’m out of breath. All the years of running cross country and track and full body training has made my work capacity unmatched. Im 20 by the way
@@jonathancontreras633I sometimes work out with people younger than me, like early to mid 20's, and they say I can't handle your training, you're too cool and smart. All the years of smokin up and guzzling beers has made my work capacity unmatched. I'm 36 btw
Strongly agree with formal cardio session. It’s been a tremendous help for me the past 6 months. My two cents: track and progress formal cardio like any other lift using double progression. My method has been incline treadmill walk at a set incline and pace for X time. Then I progress along time (sets), pace (reps), incline (weight). I’ve even brought a weighted vest (weight) to progress further without having to increase speed to a jog. I’ll measure outputted avg W and track that over time. Very satisfying to see progress like any other lift. Hope that helps others! Great vid cheers!
This is something we can all learn from (and i hate to say it) CrossFit athletes. No other athletes on earth can match their work capacity (granted the work is butterfly kipping pull ups and muscle ups). Having the ability to do more work in less time makes your whole physical organism more efficient and effective. I recently started working at a gym and leading spin classes as part of my shift work, from actually doing 3-4 spin classes per week my work capacity and rest period requirement between sets has decreased massively, I also recover much faster from workouts now as an added benefit! Great vid man thank you!
A general piece of advice I could chip in is to make sure you actually get sweaty in the gym. If you're doing a decent amount of weight, for more than 5 reps per set, at a good pace your heart rate should be elevated quite a bit above baseline for the duration of your session. For someone on a time crunch this is OK ish cardio on its own. Also, for isolation lifts there's absolutely no reason to not be supersetting or giant setting them. It's really not a big ask, but combine any isolation work into little circuits and you'll save time and get in slightly better shape. Plus, with all that extra time you can fit in the stuff you've been neglecting like abs and neck, and get even more work done!
I agree, to a point. A while back I had a fellow gym-goer (an older woman who'd lifted back-in-the-day, not a younger guy because obviously they would never compliment another dude) telling me that she admired my work ethic in-terms of always having a workout schedule in my hand, performing my exercises strictly and moving around the gym purposefully and quickly. The thing is, although the latter probably does keep the heartrate up, I was often tired and fell asleep later in the day. So, post-pandemic I've slowed things down somewhat, not intentionally actually, but I don't rush to move between the different exercises in my full-body splits now, and I rest after supersetted exercises when I used to go straight back to the first exercise and continue. But I'm less tired afterwards these days, so I'm sticking with it, although that may be partly a sign of my (middle) age tbh. The only problem is that slowing things down (not the actual sets though) probably adds an extra 10 or 15 minutes to my total workout time. As an aside, outside temperatures notwithstanding (the gym is large with a tin metal roof so the aircon struggles), I've never sweated much on resistance training days, but that may be just me.
Hey Geoff, I know this isnt a running channel but Ive always been fascinated by how long distance runners "get better" and what training looks like. Running further than last time probably isnt viable. would love to learn about how exactly you used to train
The basic idea there is to accumulate training volume in zone 1-2 this means low intensity that uses the aerobic system, and really making that system strong. If say you where a distance runner you would do most of you runs in this easy aerobic zone, and include a weekly long run. This is very similar to accumulating volume for muscle growth, as in you do not progress very far by maxing.
A bit like bodybuilding, there are a number of different camps. Some focus more on long slow distance like Lydiard, others like Coe focus on quality above all else. Lots of intervals, tempo runs, hill sprints, fartleks, progression runs, long runs, recovery runs...the ratio will vary for the individual though, and based on the distance being trained for. Lots of different philosophies. Periodization is much more commonplace compared to bodybuilding, there are usually distinct phases with different qualities emphasized (base, peaking, taper, etc). Then you throw in technique work, drills, core work, weight training and it's very quickly quite a lot of work. Most elite distance runners train twice a day multiple times per week. Many train three times, with some being recovery runs for blood flow. Mileage tends to go up across a training career, but it can really only go so high and can certainly be overdone. Injuries are very commonplace, throughout the entire kinetic chain, everywhere from toes (metatarsalgia) to feet (plantar fasciitis) to Achilles (tendonitis) to shins (splits) to calves (compartment syndrome) to knees (runners knee) to IT band to hamstring (pulls) to hips (bursitis) and even lower abs (sports hernia). I've had them all and more. Technique and fatigue management are things I would definitely change if I could go back in time.
@@its_james_fitness abdominal hernias are kind of a load vs load tolerance issue. If you do too much too soon or too much for too long you are more likely to get them, bodybuilder and powerlifters get them too. Everyone's body has a different idea of what is too much. Which is where having a good coach and autoregulation come into play.
Been watching YT fitness goin on 15 years and you've become my go-to in a few short months. Your videos made me realize the rut I was in for the last year or so with these super high rep sets (junk volume), and how I actually haven't reached my natural potential. Been using your Ravage program on Boostcamp and it's almost like I'm making newbie gains again, when I've been at it for half my life. So thanks, Geoff. ❤
Dude... Let me just go out of my way and say that you are a fucking genius! I've had ALL of these symptoms and a recent blood test I did showed that my triglycerides are EXTREMELY elevated along with lipids (despite the fact that I eat healthy, albeit huge portion sizes). I couldn't believe that I was out of shape because I could lift a lot and progressed a lot in the gym! For the longest time, I've been wondering why and you answered everything in this very video. Hell, you might've saved my life because I'd have continued the same way not knowing the exact culprit. Thank you.
This is something I need to work on. I bought a stationary bike and started doing short 30 minutes cardio sessions 3-4 times a week. I also live on the highest floor so i try to jump up the stairs instead of walking. Hope i will see some changes in a few months
Cycling is great to assess and develop work capacity If you have a wattbike in your gym, test your 5s, 15s and 30s sprints. Use high resistance and keep the cadence below 130rpm If you have a good bit of strength, you should be at least at 15w/kg on the 5s. Pay attention to how it drops off, how much do you lose on a 15s ? 30s ? Then test endurance How good are you on 1min ? 5min ? 20min ? If you are at or below 2w/kg on 20min you are unfit, 2,5w/kg means you are average and should do more cardio 3w/kg is good 4w/kg is great 5w/kg would have you win bike races, get a bike and a number.
I was in the best shape of my life about 6 months ago. I'm a short, middle aged woman so deadlifting 315 lb for reps and cycling 50 miles a stretch isn't anything to sneeze at. Then life happened and I was only able to work out maybe once or twice a week to maybe every other week. Now that things have settled and I'm able to get back consistently into the gym again, I found that I have completely lost everything I've gained over 5 years of hard, consistent work. It's enraging at how fast and easy you lose your strength and stamina. I just hope it doesn't take me another 5 years to get back to where I was.
Started doing 2x Runs (30-60min)every week for 3 months and my Work Capacity in the Gym is so much better(harder but easier at the same time)❤ This is really a Game Changer plus Super setting literally everything…Uff Gainz Gainz Gainz my friends
This is definitely something I've experienced recently, my friend is a professional cyclist who was just coming off getting hit by a car. For all intent and purposes is current state would be considered out of shape for his norm and aesthetic wise he was 40lbs overweight. Despite this he absolutely smoked me the entire session, we then did high interval training on the bike to finish off. 2 minutes at a resting pace, 1 minute going all out with the resistance turned up. After 20 minutes I was almost dying, unlike him who looked like he was just warming up. Don't neglect your cardio people.
4:14 I think 3 minutes is a short rest time, not because of cardio, but because the muscles need to recover. I hate doing sets where I know I could do 2, 3, maybe even 5 or more sets extra if I'd just waited another 2 minutes. 5 minutes is my target for compound movements and that does tend to be long enough unless I'm going really heavy. 3 minutes has worked fine for smaller movements, like unilateral db shoulderpress, but any less and I'm not muscularly recovered in time. I take unnecessarily long rest times at times because I am lazy. 😊It tends to be a lot worse if I've got the computer on, so I've decided not to use the computer very much anymore if I'm not programming. Especially at night/after my workout, because then I end up staying up late watching crappy Minecraft videos. 13:37 (nice) It could also be because of poor recovery - low protein, way too many high-glycemic and/or processed carbs, maybe insufficient calorie intake - only if you're skinny (although it's easy to overeat and be in this situation), and poor sleep. If you don't take that stuff seriously, you'll make a mind-bogglingly big impact on your performance. Eating and sleeping properly, especially going up to bulking calories, makes me able to do things I could only dream of when I'm cutting. Finally, I think 20% needs to stop being so mythologised as the threshold of being a fat piece of or whatever. It's not a special number, and I know I was in good shape at 22% at the peak of my bulk. I'm currently around 18 ½% at 203 lbs (as per a few days ago), and I am in great shape. I'm no cardio master, but I'm in way better shape than my 145 lb, 14-15% bodyfat friend who I got into lifting at the start of the year. 20% is a good limit if you're into aesthetics and don't want to have to cut for a long time to get your abs back, but 25% is the threshold for being overweight health-wise. 30% is obese. 20% isn't a specific threshold health-wise.
Number 6 is so true... It is not only a correlation, it is a causation to. The more you train to increase your work capacity the less you are in pain. Short rests, supersets, high volume builds tendon strength, warms up the body, you sweat more , you breath more...in the end is like your body armors it self against the multiple challenges and becomes more resilient.
The best thing I ever did for my work capacity was integrating supersets with compound movements, bench and pull-ups, dips and rows, or any kind of very high-effort movement paired with another also high effort movement!
I do pretty much exclusively supersets except for beginning of workout strength work. Most of them are unrelated and usually not upper-upper, lower-lower, and mostly not compound-compound. It’s still very demanding especially as the workout goes on.
Underrated form of cardio - sport. Play a recreational sport that gets your heart rate up. Sorry chess and esports. But in all seriousness, I believe it’s just as good as formal cardio. Fun, social benefits, getting outside and pushing your work capacity are some of many big benefits
I always liked pushing harder and reducing my rest times when lifting weights, it made me feel athletic and reminded me of cardio drills we used to do in high school sports. But the trade off was that I couldn't lift as much weight as the other guys in the gym, which sometimes made me feel pretty insecure tbh. I finally got my answer from this video: "Suck it up, buttercup."
Wow. 40bpm resting hr is an absolutely stunning number to me, especially at that weight. My rhr has always been higher and even when I was able to run half a marathon it dropped to about 50 at night and the upper 60s while awake. You are a specimen to me Geof.
@@Abdo.R.Mohamed Depends what you are measuring with and when you are measuring it. For example if you have a tracker on your wrist you can 1. Check on the internet how accurate users rate it to be 2. Make sure it fits tightly around your wrist because it can throw off reading if its not; or if you are using an app on your phone that would mean that you can only measure while awake, and for me my HR while awake and at rest is 10-20bpm over my lowest sleep reading. Also it matters whether you are sleep deprived or not, whether you are dehydrated, whether you are fighting off some illness or infection or recovering from a wound.
@@Abdo.R.Mohamed what you can do in this case then is to check your pulse manually for 15 seconds amd multiply that by 4 to get the result per minute and then take it again with the app. If its in about the same range you will know you can sort of trust the measurement. Then you can try getting a measurement when you wake up, before you get out of bed and see how much it is then - my guess is it whould be lower than what you've gotten so far
Can confirm. I've been out for almost four months due to a herniated disc combined with a very specific nerve issue, which made it near impossible to even walk in the end. Add opioids and all that fun stuff, and I've basically been entirely sedentary. I tried to continue some form of training, but it just wasn't doable, when even curls would add too much load on that area. Would do machines, but I couldn't walk to the gym. :( Microdiscectomy done (third time dammit), and.... work capacity is absolutely gone. Learning to walk straight took nearly a week, but lifting, oh man. Went in and deliberately did very little, with way too little weight, and was still totally destroyed, and awfully sore for 5 days. I'm talking squatting 40kg for two sets of 8 with reduced range of motion (because we don't wanna open that wound or compress the spine a lot yet), and it still felt like the glutes were ruined forever. Also, that was actually hard, struggled to breathe, and heart rate went up high. I would normally start with 60 as my minimum warmup weight, for 10-15 reps at the very least, maybe even for two sets. Oh well, did 3 sets of 15 a couple of days ago without any issue, not even sore. Trying to build work capacity before adding any load, it seems to be a sensible thing to do for an injured old lifter. Maybe four sets today then. Maybe even a gigantic leap to 50kg. 🤣
The rust gets knocked off quick. It sounds like you need to seriously alter your workouts. I no longer deadlift or back squat. My low back disc degeneration cannot take it.
And having a running background specifically is super underrated for recovery. The amount of muscle damage from running 50+ miles per week is so much more than any amount of squatting you could do. Jogging puts 3-4x bodyweight force through each leg. If we assume about 1500 steps/mile that’s 75,000 repetitive impacts in a week. And frequency is much higher with most runners spreading their mileage across >5 sessions per week. This is why I have never had sore legs from ANY leg workout. Even a workout that included 10 sets of split squats and 10 sets of Nordic curls.
Very good to raise this topic, it's not given enough attention ... aside from "looking jacked" what benefit is strength if you're good for just 2 minutes? [I think Dan John would agree.]. Specifically, in the "cardio" suggestion box you raised, I'd suggest almost everyone incorporate some strength-endurance components. There are many good ones of course: two that really work well are (1) sandbags routines and/or (b) kettlebells (particularly progressive EMOMs - snatches especially - and any kind double KB-combos.
Pretty solid points, people get surprised that I’ll go for long walks immediately after heavy deadlifts and squats with no issue. And I’m no freak but my deadlift is in the high 500s conventional so it’s not like I’m just sandbagging my lifts. As a D1 power athlete one of the most important lessons I learned was that even though our sport wasn’t much cardio, if you want to push strength hard you need to be able to do a lot of work. Heavy hard lifts shouldn’t be put on a pedestal. You should be very functional right afterwards and if you’re not, that’s a weakness. I’ve lost about 30lbs the last couple months but even at my heaviest of 326, 10k steps was a joke. Don’t even feel right if I’m not walking that
I've been doing supersets and giant sets with around 50-90 seconds rest in between each movement for a while now with no other cardio. Recently i've picked up running and tennis again and noticed that my work capacity and cardiovascular recovery is actually better than when i used to walk 10km per day to lose weight, seems like while supersetting doesn't burn calories like regular cardio, the gains in work capacity and cardio are still pretty good
Conversely, there's many people who are trying to shove a square peg in a round hole and beating themselves up because their body just can't handle the fatigue/volume that they *think* they need. Especially if you've been lifting a long while and have a history of injuries. Sometimes less is actually more.
I don't know man, lately I'm feeling exhausted 24/7, I took a slight rest from doing leg (almost a week) and yesterday I did some amazing lifts, so yeah, maybe I need to rest a little bit. Great video.
Training full body and doing giant sets have help so much with this, il do it by doing a compund pull rest 30 seconds do a compound push rest 30 seconds and a lower compund exercise, also finish my routine in about 50 min
Run two miles or more once a week for time and slowly add incline and speed to make it faster. This is a great baseline to keep or exceed. Also you get to know you can run two miles for decent time which gives you a confidence bonus, knowing you are capable in running and strength training makes you believe you are ready for anything.
I like your point on shortening rest times. I’ve recently had success increasing my rest times (3 to 5 mins) to reach a desired number of reps and then shortening my rest time back down over a few workouts to 1.5 mins before increasing reps or weight again.
Have been waiting for this video. I'm still relatively new at the gym, and being a couch potato all my life I knew my work capacity was dogshit. Super helpful
Oh my god geoff has ads on his channel!! Nooooaoaoaoaaa!!! Btw great in depth video, its good to see you still put alot of work in your stuff, even tho your subs got higher
When I was younger I found work capacity training to be a MASSIVE boost to my overall strength and size. Looking back, it was likely so impactful for me precisely because I was in such poor shape so it was proportionately more beneficial for me. 01:26 Jesus Geoff 🤣🤣🤣
My resting heart rate is still around 45bpm even though I haven't rode my bike in years after what happened. Seems many of the cardio gains like to stick around😹
cardio really improved your overall health for years it's crazy. wouldn't be surprised if consistent cardio could add several years to a natural lifespan
@@ikealmighty1591 Well my original comment leaves out some added stuff. I was always and am an active type of person. My childhood was lot's of bike riding, walking, running, sports and stuff. Nowadays I'm much the same but all my activities are mostly cleaning, walking, working out. So not much has changed. I just don't ride my bike out on the roads anymore because it's to dangerous here for that. I do have a spin machine I enjoy. I use it most often between sets.
@@ikealmighty1591 yeah there are a lot of studies on it, but mainly on marathon runners. there are studies that try to find out the optimum number of miles to run in a week if you want to live as long as possible, because you can also do too much and it goes down (it's like a curve that goes up and then down), and the optimal amount seems to be between 10 and 20 miles of running a week adds about 10 years of life. translating that into other forms of cardio is tricky though, like how much time on the elliptical is that? we don't really know.
@@rinkuhero It's probably not too bad to translate into another form of cardio. Just look at your heart rate zone and duration for the given exercise and use that as a 'volume'. Adjust the load to get you in the right zone, and put in the time 💪
From my personal perspective as a relative beginner, my legs are pretty destroyed after my workouts. I spread my steps through the day with just a smidge after a workout. There are further benefits to getting a solid chunk of time outdoors in the morning sunlight and getting some cardio in after your meals. Most people will probably put in quite a bit more intensity in 3 x 30 minute walks through the day vs one 90 minute walk right after lifting.
Great video! I have recently spotted this particular issue in myself (sore for days, little aches and pains). I am working at my desk 8 hours a day, in 15 years i was doing nothing that was cardio related and decided that instead of 5-6 gym trainings a week i will go with 3 FBW and 3 runs weekly. Hope that this is a good idea, potentially will be a good material to include in your next book :D Thanks Geoff!
I'd like to share my experience of being in a terrible shape a year ago. I weighted 112 kgs (22m, 178 cm) and started doing my first workout with a couch who probably was a fun of crossfit. Basic sit ups, lunges, squats and push ups resulted in me getting extremely dizzy, wanting to puke, feeling that I am gonna pass out in a bit. My shape was so terrible that I barely was able to make it home and actually thought I might have some serious health issues. One workout in a week would destroy me and I would spend the following day in a bed. Right now I weigh 87kg and can feel the giant difference in the shape and work capacity. I am fine with 4 day upper-lower split, 7k-10k steps a day. I hope anybody who is in a bad shape can see that with a bit of grinding, it is possible to change drastically. And thanks to Geof, he has been one of my top 3 sources on anything related to gym.
I started my fitness journey a couple years ago - overfat, undermuscled and winded by ordinary activities. IMO work capacity is one of the most underdiscussed topics on weight training RUclips. Many lifts would simply empty my tank before I could get far enough to derive any benefit from them. I did couch to 5k and now I jog 30 mins 3x per week in addition to training 5 days a week. I’m still fat and weak but I feel like a barrier is starting to lift from my training, even in a calorie deficit. We all have to do cardio to live anyway, might as well start now.
I have started doing sprints after my heavy deadlifts in my first leg session every week, a couple of laps of running around my backyard every second leg session per week, and 10 minute runs once a month.
only box that checks for me is slow recovery, been lifting for 20 years, sometimes doing a lot of cardio along with training and at times very little. has not had any significant effect on my recovery. Slow recovery is real for some people. In my current program I do 4 sets of pressing and 2 sets of chest flies on monday, my frontdelts and chest are sore for 3 days and earliest I can hit them again is friday when I do just 4 sets of pressing so I can go again on monday. I cant Imagine adapting to the volume you use especially while going to failure. If I do more volume I need to deload every 3 weeks, now once every six weeks.
Also just to give my two cents, anytime I’ve trained and I noticed I couldn’t get the usual 10 reps or it’s harder for me to get there is because I didn’t get enough sleep. So in some cases not enough sleep can play a part as well! Make sure to get you’re sleep nattys!!!
@@mack0ka I haven't gotten rid of it completely, though it is significantly better now. CPAP didn't work for me. I've basically done a number of different things that have all helped. Breathing exercises, mouth taping, and mewing have all helped a lot. I've had to be very strict with myself, and go to sleep at the same time every night and also limit caffeine intake to the first part of the day. All those things combined have helped a lot. If you want any advice I'm happy to talk with you, because it's definitely a journey and I know how much it sucks.
You look great in that grey long sleeve shirt Geoffrey! This is a timely video. I often need long rest periods between sets to maximize my performance in the gym. I think it's a good time for me to work on my cardio.
If you think endurance training will make you small, you may not know that slow twitch fibers clear/recycle lactate for energy allowing you to go deeper on hard sets while lessening the burn/pain. You'll also rest a lot faster and have a higher base metabolism prone to rely on fat for energy. This allows you to go into a caloric surplus without adding much fat and being able to burn it rather than rely on glycogen stores from your muscles. Overall you'll be fitter, leaner and have more energy all day, everyday. I'm a track cycling sprinter and am doing a big endurance block this summer so I can add hundreds of watts to my sprint before next year. Less than a month in and I can already feel the difference in recovery time and the lactic delay I get on near-max efforts.
when you say you did long distance running what dose that mean? 5K, 10K, marathon, more? I think a lot of people would be interested in knowing. I think my work capacity might be bad. I try to take only 1 minute rests between sets but do notice a pretty big fall off after my first set as far as reps go. I've lost 20lbs in about 2 and a half months lifting basically every day and running somewhere between 5k and 10k a day(I'm going to cut this down to every other day as I feel like I'm starting to notice systemic overload). My 5K is finally at 31:33 which is like beginner running level for a 35 year old. I'm definitely going to try resting more between sets to see if this helps improve gains. Thanks for all the great content.
Thanks for the wake up call I've been making excuses since I walk 10-20K steps a day but I'm still in terrible shape I can't even do a single set of 10 on squats without a breath of air on rep 4,6, and 8
This vid's right on time. I've started to take swimming much more seriously so I can breathe better when under stress. I was great at running but took a break since I was wasting energy. Guess I should rest better at the right times so I'm not hungover from the last lifts
it'd be nice to have a specialized video on how to program in order to improve work capacity and reduce resting heart rate, other than just 'do more cardio'. like should we do progressive overload on cardio? is 30 minutes of it each day better than 2 hours of it twice a week? my resting heart rate is 55 so it's not terrible, but it'd like to get it down into the 40s if possible like some very conditioned people have it, and i've no idea how to do that.
The heart rate is an interesting point, I've always had a resting heart rate of 70-80 and would consider myself a hard gainer, never thought they might be related. I'd like to start doing some cardio and lower my heart rate, but I just hate it haha. How would you suggest I start, and what style of cardio is best to lower your heart rate?
what i'd suggest is a good way to start is use a treadmill, set it up on an incline (12-15 degrees), and walk 3 miles an hour on it. start with 15 minutes of that two times a week (or whatever you can handle) and try to build up to an hour of that two times a week. after you can do that for an hour twice a week, then increase the incline or speed a bit over time. that's what i've been doing and it's been working pretty well.
@@rinkuhero I've done that in the past and it certainly burns calories, but I'm not sure it will improve cardiovascular fitness (i.e., lower heart rate)
@@DarthNoshitam it lowered mine, but mine started already lower than yours (mine started at about 60, and doing what i describe brought it down to 55. not a major change, but still noticeable)
The only reason i used to puke during my leg days was because i had severe acid reflux. If you tend to puke more than normal, get your stomach checked.
all of my smaller isolation work is done in super and giant sets. just cause my forearms are spent in this set, doesn't mean I can't tack on a calf raise or something.
I work second shift so I go for my workout after an 8 hour shift in manufacturing. Having enough energy during my workouts has been a bit of an issue for me. I'm in good shape and very lean but regardless everyone gets fatigued. I've found that making sure I have a pre-workout meal makes a big difference for me. I have a 41P 25F 86C meal at 8 and get to the gym a bit after 10. Taking a pre-workout really helps me. I didn't realize until I forgot to bring it one night and could only do half my normal sets. I use Transparent Labs stim-free and it's great for night workouts.
I know it sounds horrible but working out before job might be better...it worked for me, its still hard but it makes your day so much better after the workout
I’ve been programming with supersets and one “giant set” (3 exercises) per workout. I have little doubt that last exercise is not getting the TLC it could from a muscle building perspective, but there is doubtless a greater work capacity component to my workouts because of it beyond the rest of the supersetting. I just do normal cardio on “ off days”.
On the interference effect, is it just a, "I'm tired, therefore I will not work" or is it an actual physiological issue building tissue? I really doubt you're sabotaging a set of squats by following it up with 30 minutes of repeats or a tempo run unless there's something biological to it.
It's been measured. But usually the amount of endurance that has to be done is...excessive. Like...stuff almost no one actually does on a regular basis. Plus a lot of the studies are short term...I think it's possible to adapt to a lot.
This was definitely the video I needed today. My program is perfectly fine. Unfortunately, the "Bulk" went real bad. Now I can barely complete a workout. 😫 Time to start walking again.
I've often thought about the inherent decrease in mitochondrial and capillary density that comes with hypertrophy training. Seems like having a high density in the first place or a certain dose of cardo to help with this is a good idea for health and gains.
Fully agree and great video. As a separate point I do actually think there can be an upside to intentionally de-training at times. In other words reducing one’s “fitness” specific to weight training. I think of it as re-sensitising myself to volume. I’ve just come back from three weeks in Indonesia and while I took my rings and did 5 workouts over that time, I just looked to maintain rather than gain. I’ve come back to the real world and 3x6 pull ups with no external load yesterday ( while not difficult) has left me with a pleasant mild soreness today. So I can now start my next phase with nice low volume. So it’s sort of an intentional specific fitness loss.
Great video Geoff, have been incorporating myo reps in my workouts and now am going to look to increase my cardio capacity. Been doing incline walking and stairs, gonna try to up it to stair sprints w/ weights like we used to do for track n field
I started timing my workouts because they were taking too long. Best thing I ever did. Once my heart rate goes down it’s on to the next set. Now my workouts are semi-cardio and under 30 minutes. At 57, I push myself pretty hard.
I do dropsets , till failure , I sweat soo much while working out, sometimes I feel like taking my shirt off but I don’t want people looking at my body , I know they don’t care , but still I just don’t feel comfortable
Great video, Geoff. Lifters really need to do more cardio/conditioning. As an "aesthetics"-focused recreational lifter trying to improve my cardio on a cut while running RAVAGE (love the program), it would be great to know your thoughts on how to program both lifting and running simultaneously. Maybe an idea for a future video?
Natasha Oceane has good video as well as Dylan johnson. Oceane training program called hybrid really uses lots of peer reviewed research to optimize both as best as possible.
Just got that SWEAT e-book. Great information. A bit sad that my gym is missing one of the "essentials", but I'll make it work. Just wish that list of essential equipment was available for free, so people could check that bit before buying. Small setback. That book needs some serious rewrites. It doesn't work well on e-book readers, and it doesn't render correctly on many pdf- viewers. I don't know if you are making much money, but you might want to pour some of that into layout and typography. It's great information, it should be presented as such. My wife is a pro in that regard, just let me know 🤔😅👍
A year ago I was pretty PL focused and thought I was fine shape-wise etc. Then I had a hip flare up that was limiting DL and to a lesser extent SQ training so I kind of veered off into PB/Hypertrophy training (wouldn’t say BB) and I’ve been able to lose 20 lbs, maintain or increase BP/SQ (DL is still limited with hip pain at higher intensity especially) majorly increase cardio, and greatly reduce BF. Although nothing amazing, I’m in the best shape of my life and look the leanest I ever have at 35 ha. One of the main things for me was getting competitive with cardio session to session - making an effort to increase output over the same time typically. I didn’t before - I would do my 30 minutes 2x a week and be done with it. I changed my mindset to attack cardio like an amrap set or isolation work and learn to like it. Also lots of movement - 10 k steps minimum and just a lot of moving and not sitting except like at night before bed.
I think some of this is literally genetic lol. I was an Olympic Trial level swimmer growing up and through college, then began weightlifting with cardio 4x per week after college. After a few years of weight training for hypertrophy, I still get very sore after every workout, my joints constantly ache after workouts, my rep ability goes down from set to set and I have to be extremely mindful not to overtrain 😅 I promise I’m not out of shape but I think some people’s bodies are just more sensitive to training. It doesn’t automatically mean they’ve “failed at being in shape” 😭
Recently at around 3 years of lifting, I’ve been really struggling with doing too much in single workouts and being sore for 4-5 days after leg workouts. Cutting down the number of exercises/volume a little and making sure I’m eating more throughout the day (not necessarily trying to put on weight, just eating more protein and fresh stuff more often) has helped so far
Definitely is. People genetically suited to distance running for example will naturally have better work capacity and generally an easier time developing it even more.
Progressive Overload by increasing volume helped me a shitton, as well as limiting rest to a set number. I incorporated antagonistic supersets aswell and force myself to do any form of cardio after training for at least 15min
I walk an hour to and from the gym everyday. 17-22k steps a day for 15 months including rest days and It has never impacted my gym work in any meaningful way. I'll wake up the day after a hard leg session or after a couple sets of rdls and I feel sore af but when I get up and have my morning walk it pretty much subsides. I really do feel like walking helps with the recovery vs impacts it. You also get to eat a little bit more and I'm basically a bottomless pit when it comes to eating. I also want to add on there's only two exercises I've noticed that I get pretty big rep drop offs from and that's lying leg curls and Leg extensions. I'll have an extremely good first set and then the next set will have a large drop off with a normal rep drop off for the remainder sets any idea why that is ?
@@thmanoy home gym ftw. I've got no machines, but a squat/ bench rack, BB, adjustable DBs and a constructed cable system where I can hit some solid upper and lower isolation stuff. Two hours of walking is fine if you have tons of.extra time I guess
Totally agree. I used to be be in poorer shape and took longer breaks between sets then I started running 30 minutes a day and my recovery shot through the roof. As long as you separate by 4 hours or more I see no interference, in fact I recover faster between sets especially for the lower body. I tried to run more every day but at about 40 minutes running daily interfere does pick up substantially. 30 to 35 minutes a day , 4 to 5 miles is great, I am also in much better mood now even on a diet.
So how to incorporate cardio as a lifter? Do steady state and do like at a speed a little before jogging? Or do jogging or run for as long as you can, and actively trying rain more and more every time?
If you DO have any (or many!) signs of low work capacity, it could very well be THE rate limiting factor for growth. Being generally active and in good shape is a HUGE step up when it comes to muscle growth. Shoveling down more protein or searching for the latest fad supplement when you can't put in the actual work needed to grow...probably ain't it. Cardio isn't sexy, but it could be the deciding thing that gets you to your goals. If you DON'T have any of these signs, cardio probably isn't the key to new gains, though it's still important for health and certainly worth doing.
For more information on crushing your training goals, check out my books, linked below:
Book 1: SWEAT (beginners/intermediates)
www.verityfit.com/product-page/sweat
Book 2: Ring Training For Hypertrophy (ring enthusiasts)
www.verityfit.com/product-page/ring-training-for-hypertrophy
Book 3: Resurrecting Your Gains (intermediates/advanced lifters)
www.verityfit.com/product-page/resurrecting-your-gains-finding-your-muscle-growth-formula
Can check the site for full Tables Of Contents of each book. Appreciate the support!
I would like a video about how to alter training so that My volume and weights dont suffer from working towards More concice workouts
Can you create a shoulder pain root cause identification and solution post?
How much would you say poor sleep impacts work capacity?
@@rice2cu5881It would probably limit work capacity substantially.
If walking 10k steps per day feels like cardio you know you got some work to do lol
Yea when I hear people refer to steps as cardio I inwardly wince. It's just living.
This is me. -_-
Gotta go for a run...
@@GVS great content. Not many cover this topic and something I try to prioritize. Especially because a lot of times don’t get the cardio in I’d like to
This has to be said: Walking Is Not Cardio. It Is A Necessity For Survival.
@@BrawnyKingFitness So is breathing. 😃
I was a couch potato most of my life. And I do work seated most of the day. This was the video I needed. Thanks, Geoff, you are of great help for the average lifter like me.
And me.
And me
This is one of your best videos in my opinion; I strongly agree with your point that people that are not so durable/have pain that just seems to bounce around the body are usually just in very poor shape and it can be easily fixed. I’m 3/4 of the way in and there has not been a single thing that I don’t strongly agree with, fear of the interference effect has done more harm than the interference effect itself
The hard part is trying to convince those people to push into the discomfort a little and reduce their movement anxiety instead of going to see a DC or RMT for the 100th time.
100% Agree with the white Chinese guy
LMAO
Dude walking after a long session is such a vibe with some headphones
Yea man it's actually very relaxing. I'd say it helps recovery if anything.
Working exclusively in super/giant sets and having time and frequency restraints has put a wonderful pressure on my work capacity. I can definitely tell I'm able to put more work in the same time, and can't imagine sitting or standing around doing nothing after a set for 5 minutes. You can do freaking calves or something while recovering from a big movement people!
@@NEIGH6699 I can only think with them now. So much more effecient. And french press is a long time favorite of mine, I normally do standing dumbbell or ropes on the cable machine.
I think I'll start working on that, I spend way too long between sets more due to faffing around than poor work capacity. I suppose we can progressively shorten the time between sets to sort of progressively overload work capacity?
@@harry_page definitely a good way of approaching it.
Disagree. Every set for any muscle should be taken to near failure, this places stress in your system as a whole, particularly the CNS.
It's ok to rest.
Also you don't want to be that guy. Who's hoping in every single equipment at the gym.
@@Viking_Raven you just have to be smart about it. You can't convince me that throwing some lateral raises or neck work after an RDL is gonna "fry your CNS"
At 34, I didn't realize how low my work capacity was until I worked out with my younger 22 yr old cousin. I realized I was not NEARLY working as hard as I could have. Been making incredible progress since upping my work capacity. Great topic; keep up with the good work!
It depends. Because I think fast twitch fibers are the more desirable ones that grow faster. But they fatigue quick. So it’s a double edged sword if you have that sort of blend. But everyone is different and it takes a lot of observation on yourself to even guess the mix of the fibers you have on endurance vs fast twitch. And the fiber types can adapt too. One rule of thumb they say if you can run fast you probably have more fast twitch fibers in the mix
I sometimes workout with people older than me like early to mid 30’s and they say I can’t handle your training; I’m out of breath. All the years of running cross country and track and full body training has made my work capacity unmatched. Im 20 by the way
@@jonathancontreras633I sometimes work out with people younger than me, like early to mid 20's, and they say I can't handle your training, you're too cool and smart. All the years of smokin up and guzzling beers has made my work capacity unmatched. I'm 36 btw
@@rockyevans1584 youll get there one day
Puking during arm day... what a tragic state to be in. Arm day almost feels like a rest day no matter how much I destroy my arms during the session.
Strongly agree with formal cardio session. It’s been a tremendous help for me the past 6 months.
My two cents: track and progress formal cardio like any other lift using double progression.
My method has been incline treadmill walk at a set incline and pace for X time. Then I progress along time (sets), pace (reps), incline (weight). I’ve even brought a weighted vest (weight) to progress further without having to increase speed to a jog. I’ll measure outputted avg W and track that over time. Very satisfying to see progress like any other lift.
Hope that helps others! Great vid cheers!
Broo I bet you’ll get big calves out of doing incline walks with a weighted vest
@@juanmejiagomez5514 Haven’t really been tracking but they feel more solid for sure day to day. Gonna start tracking measurements now!
This is something we can all learn from (and i hate to say it) CrossFit athletes. No other athletes on earth can match their work capacity (granted the work is butterfly kipping pull ups and muscle ups). Having the ability to do more work in less time makes your whole physical organism more efficient and effective.
I recently started working at a gym and leading spin classes as part of my shift work, from actually doing 3-4 spin classes per week my work capacity and rest period requirement between sets has decreased massively, I also recover much faster from workouts now as an added benefit!
Great vid man thank you!
A general piece of advice I could chip in is to make sure you actually get sweaty in the gym. If you're doing a decent amount of weight, for more than 5 reps per set, at a good pace your heart rate should be elevated quite a bit above baseline for the duration of your session. For someone on a time crunch this is OK ish cardio on its own.
Also, for isolation lifts there's absolutely no reason to not be supersetting or giant setting them. It's really not a big ask, but combine any isolation work into little circuits and you'll save time and get in slightly better shape. Plus, with all that extra time you can fit in the stuff you've been neglecting like abs and neck, and get even more work done!
I agree, to a point. A while back I had a fellow gym-goer (an older woman who'd lifted back-in-the-day, not a younger guy because obviously they would never compliment another dude) telling me that she admired my work ethic in-terms of always having a workout schedule in my hand, performing my exercises strictly and moving around the gym purposefully and quickly. The thing is, although the latter probably does keep the heartrate up, I was often tired and fell asleep later in the day.
So, post-pandemic I've slowed things down somewhat, not intentionally actually, but I don't rush to move between the different exercises in my full-body splits now, and I rest after supersetted exercises when I used to go straight back to the first exercise and continue. But I'm less tired afterwards these days, so I'm sticking with it, although that may be partly a sign of my (middle) age tbh. The only problem is that slowing things down (not the actual sets though) probably adds an extra 10 or 15 minutes to my total workout time.
As an aside, outside temperatures notwithstanding (the gym is large with a tin metal roof so the aircon struggles), I've never sweated much on resistance training days, but that may be just me.
Hey Geoff, I know this isnt a running channel but Ive always been fascinated by how long distance runners "get better" and what training looks like. Running further than last time probably isnt viable. would love to learn about how exactly you used to train
The basic idea there is to accumulate training volume in zone 1-2 this means low intensity that uses the aerobic system, and really making that system strong. If say you where a distance runner you would do most of you runs in this easy aerobic zone, and include a weekly long run. This is very similar to accumulating volume for muscle growth, as in you do not progress very far by maxing.
A bit like bodybuilding, there are a number of different camps. Some focus more on long slow distance like Lydiard, others like Coe focus on quality above all else. Lots of intervals, tempo runs, hill sprints, fartleks, progression runs, long runs, recovery runs...the ratio will vary for the individual though, and based on the distance being trained for. Lots of different philosophies. Periodization is much more commonplace compared to bodybuilding, there are usually distinct phases with different qualities emphasized (base, peaking, taper, etc).
Then you throw in technique work, drills, core work, weight training and it's very quickly quite a lot of work. Most elite distance runners train twice a day multiple times per week. Many train three times, with some being recovery runs for blood flow.
Mileage tends to go up across a training career, but it can really only go so high and can certainly be overdone. Injuries are very commonplace, throughout the entire kinetic chain, everywhere from toes (metatarsalgia) to feet (plantar fasciitis) to Achilles (tendonitis) to shins (splits) to calves (compartment syndrome) to knees (runners knee) to IT band to hamstring (pulls) to hips (bursitis) and even lower abs (sports hernia). I've had them all and more. Technique and fatigue management are things I would definitely change if I could go back in time.
I also think it would be really cool if he made a separate video on this. Also curious to know his race times as someone who has done cross country
@@GVS sounds like hell lol. Hernias freak me out. Can they even be avoided
@@its_james_fitness abdominal hernias are kind of a load vs load tolerance issue.
If you do too much too soon or too much for too long you are more likely to get them, bodybuilder and powerlifters get them too. Everyone's body has a different idea of what is too much. Which is where having a good coach and autoregulation come into play.
Been watching YT fitness goin on 15 years and you've become my go-to in a few short months. Your videos made me realize the rut I was in for the last year or so with these super high rep sets (junk volume), and how I actually haven't reached my natural potential. Been using your Ravage program on Boostcamp and it's almost like I'm making newbie gains again, when I've been at it for half my life. So thanks, Geoff. ❤
Dude... Let me just go out of my way and say that you are a fucking genius! I've had ALL of these symptoms and a recent blood test I did showed that my triglycerides are EXTREMELY elevated along with lipids (despite the fact that I eat healthy, albeit huge portion sizes). I couldn't believe that I was out of shape because I could lift a lot and progressed a lot in the gym! For the longest time, I've been wondering why and you answered everything in this very video. Hell, you might've saved my life because I'd have continued the same way not knowing the exact culprit. Thank you.
This is something I need to work on. I bought a stationary bike and started doing short 30 minutes cardio sessions 3-4 times a week. I also live on the highest floor so i try to jump up the stairs instead of walking. Hope i will see some changes in a few months
Cycling is great to assess and develop work capacity
If you have a wattbike in your gym, test your 5s, 15s and 30s sprints.
Use high resistance and keep the cadence below 130rpm
If you have a good bit of strength, you should be at least at 15w/kg on the 5s.
Pay attention to how it drops off, how much do you lose on a 15s ? 30s ?
Then test endurance
How good are you on 1min ? 5min ? 20min ?
If you are at or below 2w/kg on 20min you are unfit,
2,5w/kg means you are average and should do more cardio
3w/kg is good
4w/kg is great
5w/kg would have you win bike races, get a bike and a number.
I was in the best shape of my life about 6 months ago. I'm a short, middle aged woman so deadlifting 315 lb for reps and cycling 50 miles a stretch isn't anything to sneeze at. Then life happened and I was only able to work out maybe once or twice a week to maybe every other week. Now that things have settled and I'm able to get back consistently into the gym again, I found that I have completely lost everything I've gained over 5 years of hard, consistent work. It's enraging at how fast and easy you lose your strength and stamina. I just hope it doesn't take me another 5 years to get back to where I was.
You will regain everything in less than a year. But it will feel bitter sweet.
It’s much easier to regain what you once had then to get it in the first place. You’ll be alright it’ll take a little time but nowhere near 5 years
“What’s up studs?” Thanks for the shoutout 😂❤
You are one of the “other people” he is talking about 😂
@@nikolaibocherov8107 highly possible 😂
Started doing 2x Runs (30-60min)every week for 3 months and my Work Capacity in the Gym is so much better(harder but easier at the same time)❤
This is really a Game Changer plus Super setting literally everything…Uff Gainz Gainz Gainz my friends
Found this channel from Fitnessfaqs video, great infomation while at the same time very enjoyable.
Thanks for the wake up call, I need it dearly.
With my workouts recently becoming way too long than it ought to be, number 4 hits close to home especially on being way too distracted
This is definitely something I've experienced recently, my friend is a professional cyclist who was just coming off getting hit by a car. For all intent and purposes is current state would be considered out of shape for his norm and aesthetic wise he was 40lbs overweight. Despite this he absolutely smoked me the entire session, we then did high interval training on the bike to finish off. 2 minutes at a resting pace, 1 minute going all out with the resistance turned up. After 20 minutes I was almost dying, unlike him who looked like he was just warming up.
Don't neglect your cardio people.
4:14 I think 3 minutes is a short rest time, not because of cardio, but because the muscles need to recover. I hate doing sets where I know I could do 2, 3, maybe even 5 or more sets extra if I'd just waited another 2 minutes. 5 minutes is my target for compound movements and that does tend to be long enough unless I'm going really heavy. 3 minutes has worked fine for smaller movements, like unilateral db shoulderpress, but any less and I'm not muscularly recovered in time. I take unnecessarily long rest times at times because I am lazy. 😊It tends to be a lot worse if I've got the computer on, so I've decided not to use the computer very much anymore if I'm not programming. Especially at night/after my workout, because then I end up staying up late watching crappy Minecraft videos.
13:37 (nice) It could also be because of poor recovery - low protein, way too many high-glycemic and/or processed carbs, maybe insufficient calorie intake - only if you're skinny (although it's easy to overeat and be in this situation), and poor sleep. If you don't take that stuff seriously, you'll make a mind-bogglingly big impact on your performance. Eating and sleeping properly, especially going up to bulking calories, makes me able to do things I could only dream of when I'm cutting.
Finally, I think 20% needs to stop being so mythologised as the threshold of being a fat piece of or whatever. It's not a special number, and I know I was in good shape at 22% at the peak of my bulk. I'm currently around 18 ½% at 203 lbs (as per a few days ago), and I am in great shape. I'm no cardio master, but I'm in way better shape than my 145 lb, 14-15% bodyfat friend who I got into lifting at the start of the year. 20% is a good limit if you're into aesthetics and don't want to have to cut for a long time to get your abs back, but 25% is the threshold for being overweight health-wise. 30% is obese. 20% isn't a specific threshold health-wise.
Number 6 is so true...
It is not only a correlation, it is a causation to.
The more you train to increase your work capacity the less you are in pain.
Short rests, supersets, high volume builds tendon strength, warms up the body, you sweat more , you breath more...in the end is like your body armors it self against the multiple challenges and becomes more resilient.
The best thing I ever did for my work capacity was integrating supersets with compound movements, bench and pull-ups, dips and rows, or any kind of very high-effort movement paired with another also high effort movement!
That stuff is great but incredibly demanding, very good to include but remember to take it slowly and gradually
@@Dude29 it’s pretty awesome when you get used to it! Worth checking out for a lot of people I think!
I do pretty much exclusively supersets except for beginning of workout strength work. Most of them are unrelated and usually not upper-upper, lower-lower, and mostly not compound-compound. It’s still very demanding especially as the workout goes on.
Underrated form of cardio - sport. Play a recreational sport that gets your heart rate up. Sorry chess and esports. But in all seriousness, I believe it’s just as good as formal cardio. Fun, social benefits, getting outside and pushing your work capacity are some of many big benefits
Yes, and it gives more performance based goals outside of lifting. Better life.
Geoff I gotta tell you, you inspired me a lot. You said you work out every day, I can probably do 5 days a week. I'm part workhorse.
I always liked pushing harder and reducing my rest times when lifting weights, it made me feel athletic and reminded me of cardio drills we used to do in high school sports. But the trade off was that I couldn't lift as much weight as the other guys in the gym, which sometimes made me feel pretty insecure tbh. I finally got my answer from this video: "Suck it up, buttercup."
There is an optimum window for restressing the same muscle group. Getting the heavy intense work demands extended rest.
It's just that most people shouldn't need more than 2mins. In that 2mins if your cardio is good you can stress a different muscle group.
Wow. 40bpm resting hr is an absolutely stunning number to me, especially at that weight. My rhr has always been higher and even when I was able to run half a marathon it dropped to about 50 at night and the upper 60s while awake. You are a specimen to me Geof.
My resting heart rate lying down is 70-80 ffs , i got some work to do i guess (or the app is not accurate haha)
@@Abdo.R.Mohamed Depends what you are measuring with and when you are measuring it. For example if you have a tracker on your wrist you can 1. Check on the internet how accurate users rate it to be 2. Make sure it fits tightly around your wrist because it can throw off reading if its not; or if you are using an app on your phone that would mean that you can only measure while awake, and for me my HR while awake and at rest is 10-20bpm over my lowest sleep reading. Also it matters whether you are sleep deprived or not, whether you are dehydrated, whether you are fighting off some illness or infection or recovering from a wound.
@@MercilessBreed ye it just an app on the phone basically u put your finger on the camera flash and it check your heart rate ..
@@Abdo.R.Mohamed what you can do in this case then is to check your pulse manually for 15 seconds amd multiply that by 4 to get the result per minute and then take it again with the app. If its in about the same range you will know you can sort of trust the measurement. Then you can try getting a measurement when you wake up, before you get out of bed and see how much it is then - my guess is it whould be lower than what you've gotten so far
40 resting heart rating is actually somewhat concerning, and likely a sign of over training and under eating. Even for well conditioned athletes.
Can confirm. I've been out for almost four months due to a herniated disc combined with a very specific nerve issue, which made it near impossible to even walk in the end. Add opioids and all that fun stuff, and I've basically been entirely sedentary. I tried to continue some form of training, but it just wasn't doable, when even curls would add too much load on that area. Would do machines, but I couldn't walk to the gym. :(
Microdiscectomy done (third time dammit), and.... work capacity is absolutely gone. Learning to walk straight took nearly a week, but lifting, oh man. Went in and deliberately did very little, with way too little weight, and was still totally destroyed, and awfully sore for 5 days. I'm talking squatting 40kg for two sets of 8 with reduced range of motion (because we don't wanna open that wound or compress the spine a lot yet), and it still felt like the glutes were ruined forever. Also, that was actually hard, struggled to breathe, and heart rate went up high. I would normally start with 60 as my minimum warmup weight, for 10-15 reps at the very least, maybe even for two sets.
Oh well, did 3 sets of 15 a couple of days ago without any issue, not even sore. Trying to build work capacity before adding any load, it seems to be a sensible thing to do for an injured old lifter. Maybe four sets today then. Maybe even a gigantic leap to 50kg. 🤣
The rust gets knocked off quick. It sounds like you need to seriously alter your workouts. I no longer deadlift or back squat. My low back disc degeneration cannot take it.
And having a running background specifically is super underrated for recovery. The amount of muscle damage from running 50+ miles per week is so much more than any amount of squatting you could do.
Jogging puts 3-4x bodyweight force through each leg. If we assume about 1500 steps/mile that’s 75,000 repetitive impacts in a week. And frequency is much higher with most runners spreading their mileage across >5 sessions per week.
This is why I have never had sore legs from ANY leg workout. Even a workout that included 10 sets of split squats and 10 sets of Nordic curls.
Fully agree. I have never gotten gassed from lifting weights
Absolutely outstanding video! Your work capacity especially as an elite natural lifter always inspires me greatly. Truly amazing work. 💪
Amazing use of a verb “powerliftering” 😂 🎉 keep up the great work
As someone who was concerned about his work capacity, this vid was surely needed 💓
Very good to raise this topic, it's not given enough attention ... aside from "looking jacked" what benefit is strength if you're good for just 2 minutes? [I think Dan John would agree.]. Specifically, in the "cardio" suggestion box you raised, I'd suggest almost everyone incorporate some strength-endurance components. There are many good ones of course: two that really work well are (1) sandbags routines and/or (b) kettlebells (particularly progressive EMOMs - snatches especially - and any kind double KB-combos.
I was a cyclist participating in races. You are completely right and I still built muscles with 61 years of age.
Pretty solid points, people get surprised that I’ll go for long walks immediately after heavy deadlifts and squats with no issue. And I’m no freak but my deadlift is in the high 500s conventional so it’s not like I’m just sandbagging my lifts. As a D1 power athlete one of the most important lessons I learned was that even though our sport wasn’t much cardio, if you want to push strength hard you need to be able to do a lot of work. Heavy hard lifts shouldn’t be put on a pedestal. You should be very functional right afterwards and if you’re not, that’s a weakness. I’ve lost about 30lbs the last couple months but even at my heaviest of 326, 10k steps was a joke. Don’t even feel right if I’m not walking that
I've been doing supersets and giant sets with around 50-90 seconds rest in between each movement for a while now with no other cardio. Recently i've picked up running and tennis again and noticed that my work capacity and cardiovascular recovery is actually better than when i used to walk 10km per day to lose weight, seems like while supersetting doesn't burn calories like regular cardio, the gains in work capacity and cardio are still pretty good
Getting called a stud by Geoffrey, I can finally feel proud of myself.
Conversely, there's many people who are trying to shove a square peg in a round hole and beating themselves up because their body just can't handle the fatigue/volume that they *think* they need. Especially if you've been lifting a long while and have a history of injuries. Sometimes less is actually more.
Gotta say the tricep development in the thumbnail is a beautiful work of art. Looks sick.
I don't know man, lately I'm feeling exhausted 24/7, I took a slight rest from doing leg (almost a week) and yesterday I did some amazing lifts, so yeah, maybe I need to rest a little bit.
Great video.
Just today I talked to my friend in the gym about my work capacity needing to be higher
Training full body and doing giant sets have help so much with this, il do it by doing a compund pull rest 30 seconds do a compound push rest 30 seconds and a lower compund exercise, also finish my routine in about 50 min
Run two miles or more once a week for time and slowly add incline and speed to make it faster. This is a great baseline to keep or exceed. Also you get to know you can run two miles for decent time which gives you a confidence bonus, knowing you are capable in running and strength training makes you believe you are ready for anything.
I like your point on shortening rest times. I’ve recently had success increasing my rest times (3 to 5 mins) to reach a desired number of reps and then shortening my rest time back down over a few workouts to 1.5 mins before increasing reps or weight again.
Have been waiting for this video. I'm still relatively new at the gym, and being a couch potato all my life I knew my work capacity was dogshit. Super helpful
Oh my god geoff has ads on his channel!! Nooooaoaoaoaaa!!! Btw great in depth video, its good to see you still put alot of work in your stuff, even tho your subs got higher
When I was younger I found work capacity training to be a MASSIVE boost to my overall strength and size. Looking back, it was likely so impactful for me precisely because I was in such poor shape so it was proportionately more beneficial for me.
01:26 Jesus Geoff 🤣🤣🤣
My resting heart rate is still around 45bpm even though I haven't rode my bike in years after what happened. Seems many of the cardio gains like to stick around😹
cardio really improved your overall health for years it's crazy. wouldn't be surprised if consistent cardio could add several years to a natural lifespan
@@ikealmighty1591 Well my original comment leaves out some added stuff. I was always and am an active type of person. My childhood was lot's of bike riding, walking, running, sports and stuff. Nowadays I'm much the same but all my activities are mostly cleaning, walking, working out. So not much has changed. I just don't ride my bike out on the roads anymore because it's to dangerous here for that. I do have a spin machine I enjoy. I use it most often between sets.
@@ikealmighty1591 yeah there are a lot of studies on it, but mainly on marathon runners. there are studies that try to find out the optimum number of miles to run in a week if you want to live as long as possible, because you can also do too much and it goes down (it's like a curve that goes up and then down), and the optimal amount seems to be between 10 and 20 miles of running a week adds about 10 years of life. translating that into other forms of cardio is tricky though, like how much time on the elliptical is that? we don't really know.
@@rinkuhero It's probably not too bad to translate into another form of cardio. Just look at your heart rate zone and duration for the given exercise and use that as a 'volume'. Adjust the load to get you in the right zone, and put in the time 💪
@@nmnate Good idea👍
From my personal perspective as a relative beginner, my legs are pretty destroyed after my workouts. I spread my steps through the day with just a smidge after a workout. There are further benefits to getting a solid chunk of time outdoors in the morning sunlight and getting some cardio in after your meals. Most people will probably put in quite a bit more intensity in 3 x 30 minute walks through the day vs one 90 minute walk right after lifting.
Great video! I have recently spotted this particular issue in myself (sore for days, little aches and pains). I am working at my desk 8 hours a day, in 15 years i was doing nothing that was cardio related and decided that instead of 5-6 gym trainings a week i will go with 3 FBW and 3 runs weekly. Hope that this is a good idea, potentially will be a good material to include in your next book :D Thanks Geoff!
I'd like to share my experience of being in a terrible shape a year ago.
I weighted 112 kgs (22m, 178 cm) and started doing my first workout with a couch who probably was a fun of crossfit. Basic sit ups, lunges, squats and push ups resulted in me getting extremely dizzy, wanting to puke, feeling that I am gonna pass out in a bit. My shape was so terrible that I barely was able to make it home and actually thought I might have some serious health issues. One workout in a week would destroy me and I would spend the following day in a bed.
Right now I weigh 87kg and can feel the giant difference in the shape and work capacity. I am fine with 4 day upper-lower split, 7k-10k steps a day. I hope anybody who is in a bad shape can see that with a bit of grinding, it is possible to change drastically. And thanks to Geof, he has been one of my top 3 sources on anything related to gym.
I started my fitness journey a couple years ago - overfat, undermuscled and winded by ordinary activities. IMO work capacity is one of the most underdiscussed topics on weight training RUclips. Many lifts would simply empty my tank before I could get far enough to derive any benefit from them.
I did couch to 5k and now I jog 30 mins 3x per week in addition to training 5 days a week. I’m still fat and weak but I feel like a barrier is starting to lift from my training, even in a calorie deficit. We all have to do cardio to live anyway, might as well start now.
#2 fat loss advice is pure Gold and truth 😂🎉❤Love it!
I have started doing sprints after my heavy deadlifts in my first leg session every week, a couple of laps of running around my backyard every second leg session per week, and 10 minute runs once a month.
only box that checks for me is slow recovery, been lifting for 20 years, sometimes doing a lot of cardio along with training and at times very little. has not had any significant effect on my recovery. Slow recovery is real for some people. In my current program I do 4 sets of pressing and 2 sets of chest flies on monday, my frontdelts and chest are sore for 3 days and earliest I can hit them again is friday when I do just 4 sets of pressing so I can go again on monday. I cant Imagine adapting to the volume you use especially while going to failure. If I do more volume I need to deload every 3 weeks, now once every six weeks.
Also just to give my two cents, anytime I’ve trained and I noticed I couldn’t get the usual 10 reps or it’s harder for me to get there is because I didn’t get enough sleep. So in some cases not enough sleep can play a part as well! Make sure to get you’re sleep nattys!!!
For the algorithm
Great video by the way
I used to get winded going up a flight of stairs and I looked in shape. Realized I had to get some cardio in lmao
Good to see you doing some weighted pull ups, my work capacity is shit, will take your advice and make it a priority
I have sleep apnea and before I started treating it almost all of these applied to me lol
how did u get rid of it?
@@mack0ka I haven't gotten rid of it completely, though it is significantly better now. CPAP didn't work for me. I've basically done a number of different things that have all helped. Breathing exercises, mouth taping, and mewing have all helped a lot. I've had to be very strict with myself, and go to sleep at the same time every night and also limit caffeine intake to the first part of the day. All those things combined have helped a lot. If you want any advice I'm happy to talk with you, because it's definitely a journey and I know how much it sucks.
You look great in that grey long sleeve shirt Geoffrey!
This is a timely video. I often need long rest periods between sets to maximize my performance in the gym. I think it's a good time for me to work on my cardio.
The Big Boy's back!
#6 big time. Completely true.
If you think endurance training will make you small, you may not know that slow twitch fibers clear/recycle lactate for energy allowing you to go deeper on hard sets while lessening the burn/pain.
You'll also rest a lot faster and have a higher base metabolism prone to rely on fat for energy. This allows you to go into a caloric surplus without adding much fat and being able to burn it rather than rely on glycogen stores from your muscles.
Overall you'll be fitter, leaner and have more energy all day, everyday.
I'm a track cycling sprinter and am doing a big endurance block this summer so I can add hundreds of watts to my sprint before next year.
Less than a month in and I can already feel the difference in recovery time and the lactic delay I get on near-max efforts.
when you say you did long distance running what dose that mean? 5K, 10K, marathon, more? I think a lot of people would be interested in knowing. I think my work capacity might be bad. I try to take only 1 minute rests between sets but do notice a pretty big fall off after my first set as far as reps go. I've lost 20lbs in about 2 and a half months lifting basically every day and running somewhere between 5k and 10k a day(I'm going to cut this down to every other day as I feel like I'm starting to notice systemic overload). My 5K is finally at 31:33 which is like beginner running level for a 35 year old. I'm definitely going to try resting more between sets to see if this helps improve gains. Thanks for all the great content.
Thanks for the wake up call I've been making excuses since I walk 10-20K steps a day but I'm still in terrible shape I can't even do a single set of 10 on squats without a breath of air on rep 4,6, and 8
Yea I think steps are good for health and burning calories but to increase work capacity/cardiovascular shape...definitely not enough.
Are you trying to do a 10 rep squat sets without any breathing in between reps?
@@drschwandi3687 no I'm breathing in between reps and bracing properly
@@GVS what would you recommend starting out? Do I just add cardio on top of my steps?
This vid's right on time. I've started to take swimming much more seriously so I can breathe better when under stress. I was great at running but took a break since I was wasting energy. Guess I should rest better at the right times so I'm not hungover from the last lifts
it'd be nice to have a specialized video on how to program in order to improve work capacity and reduce resting heart rate, other than just 'do more cardio'. like should we do progressive overload on cardio? is 30 minutes of it each day better than 2 hours of it twice a week? my resting heart rate is 55 so it's not terrible, but it'd like to get it down into the 40s if possible like some very conditioned people have it, and i've no idea how to do that.
Thank you for this, my work capacity has been limiting me for a while
The heart rate is an interesting point, I've always had a resting heart rate of 70-80 and would consider myself a hard gainer, never thought they might be related. I'd like to start doing some cardio and lower my heart rate, but I just hate it haha. How would you suggest I start, and what style of cardio is best to lower your heart rate?
what i'd suggest is a good way to start is use a treadmill, set it up on an incline (12-15 degrees), and walk 3 miles an hour on it. start with 15 minutes of that two times a week (or whatever you can handle) and try to build up to an hour of that two times a week. after you can do that for an hour twice a week, then increase the incline or speed a bit over time. that's what i've been doing and it's been working pretty well.
@@rinkuhero I've done that in the past and it certainly burns calories, but I'm not sure it will improve cardiovascular fitness (i.e., lower heart rate)
@@DarthNoshitam it lowered mine, but mine started already lower than yours (mine started at about 60, and doing what i describe brought it down to 55. not a major change, but still noticeable)
The only reason i used to puke during my leg days was because i had severe acid reflux. If you tend to puke more than normal, get your stomach checked.
all of my smaller isolation work is done in super and giant sets. just cause my forearms are spent in this set, doesn't mean I can't tack on a calf raise or something.
I work second shift so I go for my workout after an 8 hour shift in manufacturing. Having enough energy during my workouts has been a bit of an issue for me. I'm in good shape and very lean but regardless everyone gets fatigued. I've found that making sure I have a pre-workout meal makes a big difference for me. I have a 41P 25F 86C meal at 8 and get to the gym a bit after 10. Taking a pre-workout really helps me. I didn't realize until I forgot to bring it one night and could only do half my normal sets. I use Transparent Labs stim-free and it's great for night workouts.
I know it sounds horrible but working out before job might be better...it worked for me, its still hard but it makes your day so much better after the workout
I’ve been programming with supersets and one “giant set” (3 exercises) per workout. I have little doubt that last exercise is not getting the TLC it could from a muscle building perspective, but there is doubtless a greater work capacity component to my workouts because of it beyond the rest of the supersetting. I just do normal cardio on “ off days”.
Liking this guys content good information and no bull
Yup
On the interference effect, is it just a, "I'm tired, therefore I will not work" or is it an actual physiological issue building tissue? I really doubt you're sabotaging a set of squats by following it up with 30 minutes of repeats or a tempo run unless there's something biological to it.
It's been measured. But usually the amount of endurance that has to be done is...excessive. Like...stuff almost no one actually does on a regular basis. Plus a lot of the studies are short term...I think it's possible to adapt to a lot.
@@GVS Interesting, didn't know they were short term but makes sense as a limitation. Thanks for the reply!
Ooo what a nice relatable topic! Thank you man.
Love the content geoff thank you
This was definitely the video I needed today. My program is perfectly fine.
Unfortunately, the "Bulk" went real bad. Now I can barely complete a workout. 😫 Time to start walking again.
I've often thought about the inherent decrease in mitochondrial and capillary density that comes with hypertrophy training. Seems like having a high density in the first place or a certain dose of cardo to help with this is a good idea for health and gains.
Fully agree and great video. As a separate point I do actually think there can be an upside to intentionally de-training at times. In other words reducing one’s “fitness” specific to weight training. I think of it as re-sensitising myself to volume. I’ve just come back from three weeks in Indonesia and while I took my rings and did 5 workouts over that time, I just looked to maintain rather than gain. I’ve come back to the real world and 3x6 pull ups with no external load yesterday ( while not difficult) has left me with a pleasant mild soreness today. So I can now start my next phase with nice low volume. So it’s sort of an intentional specific fitness loss.
Great video Geoff, have been incorporating myo reps in my workouts and now am going to look to increase my cardio capacity. Been doing incline walking and stairs, gonna try to up it to stair sprints w/ weights like we used to do for track n field
I started timing my workouts because they were taking too long. Best thing I ever did. Once my heart rate goes down it’s on to the next set. Now my workouts are semi-cardio and under 30 minutes. At 57, I push myself pretty hard.
Thank you, i really needed to hear this harsh truth
literally was looking into conditioning earlier, then you upload this :3
I do dropsets , till failure , I sweat soo much while working out, sometimes I feel like taking my shirt off but I don’t want people looking at my body , I know they don’t care , but still I just don’t feel comfortable
thanks my conditioning is bad and yes it does really hold me back
Great video, Geoff. Lifters really need to do more cardio/conditioning. As an "aesthetics"-focused recreational lifter trying to improve my cardio on a cut while running RAVAGE (love the program), it would be great to know your thoughts on how to program both lifting and running simultaneously.
Maybe an idea for a future video?
Natasha Oceane has good video as well as Dylan johnson. Oceane training program called hybrid really uses lots of peer reviewed research to optimize both as best as possible.
Just got that SWEAT e-book. Great information. A bit sad that my gym is missing one of the "essentials", but I'll make it work. Just wish that list of essential equipment was available for free, so people could check that bit before buying. Small setback.
That book needs some serious rewrites. It doesn't work well on e-book readers, and it doesn't render correctly on many pdf- viewers. I don't know if you are making much money, but you might want to pour some of that into layout and typography. It's great information, it should be presented as such.
My wife is a pro in that regard, just let me know 🤔😅👍
A year ago I was pretty PL focused and thought I was fine shape-wise etc. Then I had a hip flare up that was limiting DL and to a lesser extent SQ training so I kind of veered off into PB/Hypertrophy training (wouldn’t say BB) and I’ve been able to lose 20 lbs, maintain or increase BP/SQ (DL is still limited with hip pain at higher intensity especially) majorly increase cardio, and greatly reduce BF. Although nothing amazing, I’m in the best shape of my life and look the leanest I ever have at 35 ha.
One of the main things for me was getting competitive with cardio session to session - making an effort to increase output over the same time typically. I didn’t before - I would do my 30 minutes 2x a week and be done with it. I changed my mindset to attack cardio like an amrap set or isolation work and learn to like it. Also lots of movement - 10 k steps minimum and just a lot of moving and not sitting except like at night before bed.
I think some of this is literally genetic lol. I was an Olympic Trial level swimmer growing up and through college, then began weightlifting with cardio 4x per week after college. After a few years of weight training for hypertrophy, I still get very sore after every workout, my joints constantly ache after workouts, my rep ability goes down from set to set and I have to be extremely mindful not to overtrain 😅 I promise I’m not out of shape but I think some people’s bodies are just more sensitive to training. It doesn’t automatically mean they’ve “failed at being in shape” 😭
Recently at around 3 years of lifting, I’ve been really struggling with doing too much in single workouts and being sore for 4-5 days after leg workouts. Cutting down the number of exercises/volume a little and making sure I’m eating more throughout the day (not necessarily trying to put on weight, just eating more protein and fresh stuff more often) has helped so far
Definitely is. People genetically suited to distance running for example will naturally have better work capacity and generally an easier time developing it even more.
Progressive Overload by increasing volume helped me a shitton, as well as limiting rest to a set number. I incorporated antagonistic supersets aswell and force myself to do any form of cardio after training for at least 15min
I walk an hour to and from the gym everyday. 17-22k steps a day for 15 months including rest days and It has never impacted my gym work in any meaningful way. I'll wake up the day after a hard leg session or after a couple sets of rdls and I feel sore af but when I get up and have my morning walk it pretty much subsides. I really do feel like walking helps with the recovery vs impacts it.
You also get to eat a little bit more and I'm basically a bottomless pit when it comes to eating.
I also want to add on there's only two exercises I've noticed that I get pretty big rep drop offs from and that's lying leg curls and Leg extensions. I'll have an extremely good first set and then the next set will have a large drop off with a normal rep drop off for the remainder sets any idea why that is ?
Damn I want my gym to be as close to my house as possible. My gym is 5 minutes walk away. I can't imagine walking to it for an hour.
@@thmanoy home gym ftw. I've got no machines, but a squat/ bench rack, BB, adjustable DBs and a constructed cable system where I can hit some solid upper and lower isolation stuff. Two hours of walking is fine if you have tons of.extra time I guess
@@rockyevans1584 time is definitely a big factor.
Totally agree. I used to be be in poorer shape and took longer breaks between sets then I started running 30 minutes a day and my recovery shot through the roof. As long as you separate by 4 hours or more I see no interference, in fact I recover faster between sets especially for the lower body. I tried to run more every day but at about 40 minutes running daily interfere does pick up substantially. 30 to 35 minutes a day , 4 to 5 miles is great, I am also in much better mood now even on a diet.
So how to incorporate cardio as a lifter? Do steady state and do like at a speed a little before jogging? Or do jogging or run for as long as you can, and actively trying rain more and more every time?
Alan Thrall has a great video on running and lifting, and how lifters dramatically overestimate how much running eats into their gains