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Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

mennohenselmans.com

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Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#161

Post by 12345hn6789 »

epistemer wrote: post #66
jasondigitized wrote: post #7

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

I have lifted for 30 years. The standard bullshit line in the fitness industry has always been "everyone else is wrong". Practically what every single trainer ever in the world has said. The reason is because of all the things I have done in my life, lifting is the most trivially simple activity there is. It is as complex as shoveling dirt. The only way to differentiate if trying to make money is to bullshit. Pick th…

I mean sure you can say this about the majority of things.

Programming is just typing away and compiling your program. It's not that complicated.

If you want to be proficient at BB / power lifting / , doing more research and optimizing is important

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#162

Post by iamacyborg »

jeltz wrote: post #143
cratermoon wrote: post #44

"total training volume is what matters most" That's it. That's the conclusion.

As a runner I agree. Sure there is more to it but volume is the single most important factor.

I still have no idea how folks can manage 100+ mile weeks. I struggle staying uninjured hitting ~10km a day.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#163

Post by voytec »

epistemer wrote: post #66
jasondigitized wrote: post #7

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

I have lifted for 30 years. The standard bullshit line in the fitness industry has always been "everyone else is wrong". Practically what every single trainer ever in the world has said. The reason is because of all the things I have done in my life, lifting is the most trivially simple activity there is. It is as complex as shoveling dirt. The only way to differentiate if trying to make money is to bullshit. Pick th…

> The standard bullshit line in the fitness industry has always been "everyone else is wrong". Practically what every single trainer ever in the world has said.

I find YouTube trainers' flame wars quite enjoyable. They tend to get triggered by comments or other trainers' videos and publish angry (to me - funny) videos in response. Recent clip from Athlean-X (something about "worst fitness youtuber") is a good example. So much energy wasted on nagging.

When I want to listen to someone who appears to know their shit, I put dr. Mike from Renaissance Periodization[1] on.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/c/RenaissancePeriodization

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#164

Post by borroka »

n4r9 wrote: post #149
borroka wrote: post #41

I have been weight training for almost 30 years. I've tried just about every program, split and variation under the sun, and I've seen and practiced for a time fads that have come and gone. In the last six months, I have changed things up. I now train with low volume per muscle group (on average, 4-6 sets per muscle group, reps per set between 6 and 12, pushing very hard, close to exercise, not muscle, failure, which…

How do you know whether your increased strength comes from the lower volume, as opposed to just the increase in protein and addition of magnesium supplements?

It is difficult to say with certainty. I would say it is more about the intensity and longer rest periods than the lower volume.

I had in the past periods of high P consumption, but I did not see this noticeable increase in strength and size. The increase in strength and size was noticeable before I started with the heavy magnesium supplementation.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#165

Post by DantesKite »

One of the reasons why I love the Fitbod iOS app and a lot more "sophisticated" apps that use algorithms in general is because they can potentially detect these patterns and incorporate it into a workout.

If you read the Fitbod blog, they have an article or two about some of the patterns they've picked up over the course of observing millions of data points over the past few years.

It's not perfect and perhaps doesn't directly correlate to the size of one's muscles, but they have pretty good insights into what makes a human stronger.

Part of my obsession with this is using algorithms and data to make our lives easier, in a seamless way, without having to constantly check or reread articles (unless it's for fun).

And in such a way that's not intrusive (none of this streaks stuff or constantly checking in to an app every couple of hours).

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#166

Post by nkozyra »

Vt71fcAqt7 wrote: post #61
CyberDildonics wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't eat carbs for the pump. It's right there in the paragraph -- you eat carbs to have glycogen, so you can lift more. Then you stop eating carbs to get shredded. Your own quote just says it is an effect, not that it's the purpose.

And he's saying the article is wrong. People love hate bro science but most bodybuilders go through a lot of trial and error to find the right diet. And they don't meassure success by looks* but by performance (eg. new PR). The article basically thinks that bodybuilders don't actually know what they are doing when most actually do. Maybe not all understand the exact science (although some certainly do) but they do kn…

> And they don't meassure success by looks* but by performance (eg. new PR)

A great many actually don't care about strength and don't pay a lot of attention to PRs, 1RMs, etc. The goal is, after all, purely a subjective evaluation, and strength in a particular lift is no guarantee that the resulting physique will address the things a bodybuilder is trying to address.

In other words, for competitors the mirror is largely the only tool in the toolbox at the end of the day. I don't think it's as unusual as you suggest.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#167

Post by AlwaysRock »

epistemer wrote: post #66
jasondigitized wrote: post #7

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

I have lifted for 30 years. The standard bullshit line in the fitness industry has always been "everyone else is wrong". Practically what every single trainer ever in the world has said. The reason is because of all the things I have done in my life, lifting is the most trivially simple activity there is. It is as complex as shoveling dirt. The only way to differentiate if trying to make money is to bullshit. Pick th…

Yup. Everything else is either bull shit or an attempt to optimize. Unless you are a body builder or a pro athlete you really should focus on consistency more than optimization.

Getting 1% better results for the average person is going to be nullified by the beers they drink on the weekend/the multiple days they skip because they dont feel like working out/any number of other normal life actives that are not optimal.

Find a way to exercise that you enjoy it and do it often. After that don't think about it too much.

Recently I've been riding an exercise bike after work while playing a video game on my computer with an xbox controller. Every 5 minutes I hop off the bike and do some weight training then get back on the bike. I ride for an hour. Doing this most weekdays has lead to far better results than when I used to go to the gym because I actually do it everyday/most days and I don't rdread it.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#168

Post by mountainb »

leidenfrost wrote: post #116
klyrs wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I don't wanna look like a bodybuilder but if I could stay skinny and shark the highland games I'd be tickled pink.

This. I want to look athletic enough so I can put a shirt on without having my belly being the part that stands out the most. I don't want to look BIG necessarily.

You have to put in so much effort to look big that it just does not happen by accident. If you just want to lose the belly all you have to do is stop eating. No exercise required. Resume eating when your body finishes eating the belly.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#169

Post by nathanvanfleet »

You really have to respect that Hacker News now has a website offering a free course for working out on its main page. But really I get it, he's worked out in 50 countries and people ask him "how they train in Taiwan or Ecuador." This isn't just a regurgitation of anything you could find in Men's Health. It's new information.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#170

Post by voytec »

halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #106
_trackno5 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment makes no sense in the context of Menno’s work. He’s a bodybuilder, coaches bodybuilders, and his content targets bodybuilders. You’ve just built a straw man argument. When you say “then you stop eating carbs to get shredded” is just bollocks. No real bodybuilder stops eating carbs to get shredded. We (I say we because I am a contest bodybuilder) tend to reduce carb intake during a cut or show prep becaus…

You don't have to stop eating carbs, but not eating carbs has the possibility[1] to save off some gluconeogenesis by subbing fat for muscle while in ketosis, retaining more gains from the bulk. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1373635/

Keto is terrible for gains. I call it a "no gainz diet".

Source: I'm on long-term keto for reasons unrelated to weight.

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