I love the wiser and more experienced version of Alan. He’s tried the narrow minded approaches on for size, even becoming a SSC, and has emerged from the darkness a better coach. It’s been really interesting to watch the evolution.
There is another side to what I discussed in this video; deciding to be a "powerlifter" or "weightlifter" gives some people a feeling of belonging to a tribe, which motivates them to continue going to the gym. So, perspective is important here.
You looked like a fucking Viking carrying his ship with those farmer walks💪🔥 Dude, you are looking strong AF, lean & mean! I would love to come spectate at the event, but will have my boys with me if I do. They are well behaved 7 & 12 years old. Would that be a problem? Good luck either way🤘
The concepts of "extrinsic" v. "intrinsic" motivation apply strongly here. Tribe mentality falls firmly in the "extrinsic" category and can be helpful - but will only take you so far. Individuals need to identify what THEY THEMSELVES truly like about lifting (or exercising in general) and pursue those pathways, even if they run against the group's norm.
Love the message bro. From an older athlete that used to be relatively strong and highly conditioned for strength endurance. Many times its more important to just get to the gym rather than the work performed. Sometimes i go just to do light cardio foam roll and stretch in order to maintain consistency. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO! Not what you cannot do! Thanks brotha.
Frogger here is right. The act of going to the gym is the most important step. Unless it's your designated rest week, you'll be surprised what just going to the gym can achieve. It's usually the toughest step.
Showing up is half the battle. When I go, I always get something done. It may not be the full magilla, but it is something. Not every day is a killer day, and those days I feel I actually get my best work done. That work may not actually compare to my good days, but those days are always mental victory days, and they do add to the total.
Working out isn't a task or a job it is a leisure activity just like painting playing a guitar and wood cutting it can be something physicaly taxing but it heals the mind and soul. I used to have this mindset but forgotten about it for probably 2 months Thank you for making me remember a valuable lesson.
Even if you stick to the foundational stuff like squat/deadlift/press/bench a good technique to avoid mental burnout is just to mix up your rep range. People get stuck on 5x5 because Starting Strength RU-vid videos make it sound like everything else is sacrilege. But if you plateau and don't enjoy it anymore then switching to a bunch of 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps of the exact same exercises goes a long way to making it interesting again.
and also adding some fun exercises! for me as long as there is pump, I enjoy it. so i like to add some calf raises, curls, extensions, lateral raises, and some more isolation stuff. if people would this (add exercises they enjoy), they would do for sure make a lot of progress and have a lottt of fun.
I love the variety in my workouts. I love squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts, lunges, various rows, pull ups, farmer walks, hanging exercises, and more. I never feel bored during my workouts, and I’m currently the strongest I’ve been in my life. Definitely have fun lifting so that working out is not just a task to do.
Me too. I don't follow any specific program but I never get bored and every day when I get to the gym I'm like "and what do we get to work todayyy" (rubbing hands together) and just choose my few compound movements for the day and then go from there with the accessory movements wherever I feel the work is needed.
D Lish I still follow a program, but I program for myself. I definitely like to have variety in my programs though, both for fun and because there are benefits for having unilateral and bilateral exercises, as well as playing around with cables, dumbbells, and bands. I’m happy to hear you enjoy your workouts! As long as you feel great and are getting good exercises in, more power to you! Keep it up!
It's hard to follow a stringent plan when you go to a gym that is busy. There are lifts I want to do, and I prefer a certain order, but that plan is often thrown into disarray due to people using what I want. Doing my program backwards, sideways, or just doing something totally different actually helps to keep it fresh. Sometimes not knowing where I am in my plan on a given day is the best thing. Peace
I actually fought that burnout issue. I was working on regaining lost strength after 4 months of injuries to both knees. It just became not fun and more like another 90 or so minutes of work after walking in my garage gym. I found myself starting to make excuses for not finishing work outs. So I changed up my programming and started on the Juggernaut AI and it's now fun again.
@@Grumpyoldman666 what happened? Surgery usually fixes most things. I ended up dealing with tendonitis in both knees that took 4 months to clear. The problem is after hobbling around for 4months I ended up with a hip issue which took another month plus to clear. Knee issues were from heavy training or so my orthopedic surgeon thought. Thankful for no structural damage given where some of the pain was and what type of pain it was. Nasty stabby pains. But after 4 surgeries in 10 years on my knees I kinda expected the worst. It set my training back big time. Before injuries I had a 500 kg total. Which for a complete amateur isn't that bad. I was making good progress for hitting my goal of 3-4-5. Or around 600kg. Now my bench is 295, my squat is 305 and my deadlift is 405. Which is 456 kg. I mean I am not far from where I was but it's frustrating knowing how much I lost from injury. And at age 39 it's not as easy as it was 5 years ago. Remember. Keep calm and carry on.
Truly appreciate these videos... Thank you so much... watching these videos has gotten me back to the gym after being gone for almost 20 years... Im slowly losing body fat and gaining strength and have totally changed to a healthier diet now that I am in my late 40's.... Age is no longer my excuse and I see myself making faster gains than when I was in my 20's when I did alot of powerlifting... Thank you again Alan.. respect to you and I know you will easily win your competition.....
5:48 I would love seeing how someone like you, with that broad approach of improving every ability in the gym, thus becoming a complete athlete (Wich is what Crossfit is supposed to represent) performs at his first Crossfit workout.
This sort of thing happens when people get militant and invest their emotions ( often through online debates and arguments) in one training methodology or sport. I've seen it happen many times in the past 35 years too. Especially in the realm of competitive bodybuilding, where many develop knee pain so can't hack squat or leg extension, yet if you suggest deadlift or stiff leg/Romanian deadlift, which is a more productive lift anyway, they simply CAN'T bring themselves to do it because they're not powerlifters! 😮 😆
I really relate to this video, it summarises why I like and respect you so much. Word for word I share your exact sentiments. You're a great figure in the community and an amazing resource
The burnout effect and specificity is real! I did strongman for a bit and loved the implements, events, and even athletic training like sleds. Moved to a town where none of that is present so I've been revamping my whole training approach to stay fit and healthy.
That's it, it's love for the gym. It becomes a true passion. An addiction kind of. You know it's for you when you still choose to lift after a major injury or something traumatic. You said it perfectly about when people decide to stop going to the gym altogether. Great video btw
I love the variety in my workouts. I love squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts, lunges, various rows, pull ups, farmer walks, hanging exercises, and more. I never feel bored during my workouts, and I’m currently the strongest I’ve been in my life. Definitely have fun lifting so that working out is just a task to do.
I subscribe to this advice completely, it can even be as subtle as changing the program, i personally have a tendency to get locked into a program for too long thinking i cant move on until ive milked it for all its worth, or hit the strength goals i set at the start of the program. I'll then end up getting slowly burnt out overtime and before u know it its been a year and u haven't made any progress due to inconsistency.
Blind Guardian? Judas, Slayer, Metallica, Maiden? An arm and a leg for hearing that at least once in my gym. Love the content bro, you are an inspiration. Each clip I ever saw, I always follow with you: "TRAIN UNTAAAAAAAAMEEEEEED" big love
Cross training is great. Learned that from martial arts. I went from calisthenics stuff to powerlifting to bodybuilding now, and it's been great. Going back to calisthenics my next training block. Keeps me from getting bored/discouraged when I hit a block, and I generally look better and find I do better on certain lifts/movements when I return to them.
Bill Pearl use to say he would " mix it up". Not just bodybuilding training but powerlifting for awhile, weightlifting for awhile, etc. I've always followed that advice and i'm in good shape at 67.
I like them. But Nightfall in Middle Earth isn't my go to for lifting. However the Iced Earth jam earlier in the video is a good thing. I do like "A Question of Heaven". Really good jam. I hear "Black Diamond" by Stratovarius as well around 2/3 through.
"... I think I get so much fulfillment out of it (lifting weights), that I want other people to also." Damn, and that right there is the reason I enjoy it all too
Great advice. I did the starting strength programme, I started that with the arbitrary target of being able to squat 1.5xbodyweight for 3x5 and I'd achieved that but I still felt lost when I was no longer able to add weight to the bar every session, all of my lifts had stalled and I didn't want to eat what I was thinking I'd need to eat to keep progressing - I'm over 40 and trust me, I can pack a gut just looking at food. In the end I started adding exercises to my sessions that were more isolation or that I'd seen on youtube videos thinking "hey, can I get the form right and be good at that? Let's find out". or "I wonder how big I can make my traps in 3 months?". I still squat, press, bench and deadlift because I think they're movements that are great for maintaining a foundation of strength but my training is based on what I'm enjoying at any given time. I feel better for it and importantly I'm in the gym 3 times a week every week. Life is good.
Much needed video. Going though such a phase. Variety FTW. Limiting exercises to the big three is great in the short-term to chase numbers, but it loses its charm quickly. After this video, will try to have more fun with lifting and less of number chasing on certain movements.
I'm mostly do body building to help me get lean (down 60lbs out of maybe 150ish so far) but watching your channel I could see getting hyped for some strong man stuff at some point down the road.
I'm a recreational lifter, that means lifting is a hobby of mine, there is no such thing as a bad workout, I failed all my lifts today but I still left the gym happy.
+Alan Thrall Love your videos man, found myself getting burnt out training my deadlift in search of a weight/rep goal, took some time to get back to enjoying lifting with some accessory lifts and smashed a pb the other day and got more satisfaction from it than I had in so long. Thanks as always Luke
This happened to me. I tend to consider myself a barbell trainee, when I got injured I almost leaved the gym because I couldn't squat anymore. it's hard but one must continue and remember why they started.
I wish I could have gyms like yours in my area. Where i live (Southern Poland) there is no strong man gyms,only fancy fitness clubs taking over old fashioned and hardcore gyms from 90'.Also music at those clubs is terrible i appreciate Blind Guardian in background ;) Good luck in Your weightlifting and bringing "no bullshit" motivation to people,huge channel fan here .
Actually just started doing farmer's walks as I want to get some extra conditioning in and drop the body fat. Currently lifting 15 kg's on each side of each handle. Not a lot of weight, compared to some of you guys - all I can say so far though is props to baggage handlers.
Oh yeah, I've even seen an occasional Untamed Strength shirt pass by here in Finland. Watching and supporting.🤘 Edit: Stratovarius - Black Diamond spotted. There's some finnish classics for you
I agree with variety in your lifts. I feel like if you have variety in your lifts it crosses over to others. Me, for example. I would like to learn the Olympic lifts. I love the way the snatch and the clean and jerk look. The explosiveness you learn from those lifts might actually help to increase your other lifts. Look at Joey Szatmary. He has his hand in just about EVERYTHING.
I think it’s that variety that makes strongman so much fun and so interesting. Powerlifting with its same three lifts every time just seems a bit boring. I guess it’s more for the purists that want to break it down to just very focused pure strength.
I just always go to workout. Nothing fancy, nothing special. The weights don't care about the lifter and their thoughts, so I just try to train with intent and not worry about the "identity" so much
I got burnt out on the environment of a globo gym. I can't explain how much I hated LA Fitness. The facility was fine, but going at the same time and genuinely never seeing the same people, getting that little nod/acknowledgement/solidarity affected me way more than I thought it would. Stoked to be in an amazing gym environment and I don't at all care that it's weightlifting instead of powerlifting.
I used to identify as a powerlifter, then hurt my glute and couldnt back squat. Having the time of my life doing extra bench/DL and learning how to front squat
I was stuck in a body builder esque split mentality for about ten years and it created no progress. Weights were fun but minimal progress then injury then no progress. Keep it fun.
I enjoy sticking to the basic compound lifts and increasing my numbers in those, but I can also see how that might become mind-numbingly boring for someone else.
I 100% identify with this. I used to total around 1700 until a car crash two years ago. I couldn’t do real weight at all. I stopped everything for most of the last two years. Now, I’m not at all what I was, but I’m finally back with significantly less weight and a lot of yoga. At least I’m back. Lockdowns definitely didn’t help.
Dont get me wrong but variety can also be bad for beginners because they wont see any significant gains in any aspect and they might also leave the gym because of that. Not everybody wants to "have fun", sometimes you have lifetime goals. If you hate squats for example but you are a powerlifter then suck it up, you know. And if you fail to reach your goals and you quit you are not a real competitive athlete. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you learn.
I think that is just the type of person. You should do all find what you like most and go with that. I do strongman and bodybuilding. Someday I want to focus on more strength some I want more volume. Then just sometimes I want that high you get from when you push you limits to the edge of what you can do.
