If there's anything I've learned about excercise selection, it's that no excercise is a "must do" or "must not do". You can use whatever and grow big if you hit a few points: As long as that excercise mechanically works the intended muscles (and you can feel it in the target muscle), is safe to perform, you can do it with good form and progressively overload, it works.
Yes but if you do nothing but machines like Smith squat 6 plates in total don't think your doing on a barbell. I seen guys blow out knees and get folded folded thinking that they can.
I've not stopped going barbell movements since this video dropped. 1 squat, 1 bench, 1 deadlift, 1 bent over row, repeat. I've been going for almost 8 hours now. Mike I think it's working. My girlfriend told me I look ridiculous. She means ridiculously huge I'm think. Thanks for the advice again Mike. See you at the top.
I was diagnosed with MS some years back and I found out that using barbells are a bit difficult. But using machines help me with mind muscle connection and getting a pump. I do deadlifts for my legs and back with no issue.
@@harvestblades I take Creatine, whey protein, fish oil, vitamin D3, and turmeric daily. Cannabis helps with pain and stiffness. I noticed an improvement when I smoke it.
I'm an intermediate lifter who's been training for about 3 years almost exclusively with barbells. Is my existence still valid? 😂 I actually just enjoy barbell training and their versatility for a garage gym can't be overstated. No doubt there are other ways to build muscle.
For a home gym barbells are definitely king. Here's an example: saying that a barbell OHP is "better" than a machine OHP is false. BUT: if I tell you a power rack with a barbell is better than the machine OHP, that would be true. Because you can do basically anything in that rack, and almost nothing with that machine. Barbells are versatile, and nobody (except for Dr. Mike with his unlimited trillions of dollars) is outfitting their home gym with 120 different one-purpose specific machines.
Wisdom! I'm all about dumbbells and cables (mostly) since my fucked up elbows and slightly fucked up shoulders really, really, appreciate being able to find the right angles through which to move without pain. Unfortunately, it's not about what has more muscle stimulus but even so, I'm 58, enjoy the hell out of my gym time, can keep consistently training since I remain relatively injury free and I look great. Can't realistically ask for more then that.
@@RenaissancePeriodization This is why you're my favorite person on this topic. You're actually nuanced and actually treat your audience like we have our own brains :)
It might be better if you investigate what is limiting your range of motion though.check out some kneesovertoes guy videos to see how to expand your range of motion
@@RenaissancePeriodization let me check your logic doc, you want to pick on, "intermediate powerlifters," and rip for zealous barbell talk and then you blast this: barbell compounds make all other lifts better for that muscle. which muscle? the compound muscle? is that compound muscle connected to the goofy head muscles you got? look at the horizontal furrows, vertical squinches and skeletor muscle running from cheek bone to chin, along the mouth to make that sweet pucker. 7:46 cause it is working. next time i see you i am working-in. show me how to flex my compound muscle. please.
I used to only do barbell work for about 10 years. For the past 3-4 years I’ve slowly moved towards other exercises because of injuries. I’ve made much more gains off machines and dbs. Only exercise I still like is RDL with the bar.
Haha. Even then, I’d go dumbbells over barbell. Barbell is just awkward. But yeah, I do zero barbell work. Along with a little ostarine, I have one of the best physiques in my gym as a result
As one of those ex intermediate powerlifters that gave up because of injury and recently started going back to the gym, I’ve started delving more into body weight movements, dumbbells and machines. The most annoying thing about machines is that not all machines are made equal. When you hit up a really good gym and they have amazing machines, it’s fantastic but most of the commercial gyms have dog shit machines. Whereas in most situations a barbell is a barbell.
Not all barbells are made equal, some are really great for Olympic style lifting annd are very springy others are really bad at it. It depends on the diameter.
When I was young, I did a lot of barbell training. Now that I am older and built a sold base, I use a lot of machines. I do understand the fundamentals of being strong on barbell work. However I also understand your body does not sit there and say "He's working out with a machine, let's not grow as much."
I am someone who has gotten a lot more quad growth (in my mid to late 30s) from doing deep hack squats than I ever did with barbell squats. I'm not sure if it's my build, or if it's shoulder discomfort, or just the ability to better handle fatigue and push myself closer to my limits, but hack squats just work for me. If I get into a lot of barbell squatting volume, I get shoulder, low back/SI joint, or knee pain after a while, and my glutes get big but my quads don't grow. I finally said screw it, removed them from my workouts and replaced with hack squats exclusively and suddenly I've got a quad sweep, my knees feel better than ever, and my limiting factor is purely my quads and not my conditioning or pain tolerance. I can see why so many bodybuilders do leg press or hack squat. The SFR is definitely higher for me. I tried doing leg press for a while, but the fixed back position started to bug my low back as well, so will stick with hack squats.
This is just a simple matter of physics as the basic barbell back squat is mostly a “posterior” chain exercise, and needs modification to be quadricep dominant, such as the cyclist squat or the front squat.
Haven’t used a barbell for the majority of movements for years - ever since I ruptured my peck. Been using cables and dumbbells for years and maintained or got bigger. Forced me to stop bro-lifting and concentrate on form and contraction.
Barbell Bench Press hands down gives me the best stimulus for my chest so it’s always in my program. Good mornings and RDLs also work great on my hamstrings. With the other barbell compounds I find while they are still good they are not best stimulus for me. Chest supported machine rows hot my back the best and leg presses hit my quads the best. I still will rotate Barbell Rows, squats and OHP into programs every so often.
What he’s saying about coming back to a movement after it getting “stale” is actually huge and I’m just realizing it. My bench has ALWAYS improved when I took a small break from it and worked on other things. About 6 months ago I converted to low bar squatting and it felt AMAZING. Less knee pain, much stronger, more glute activation, low back held up totally fine. I never thought I’d do high bar again cuz this was just better. Recently I tried high bar in my plan as a replacement for front squats, and holy fck it feels so much better than it used to. I’m definitely stronger, my knee pain wasn’t as intense even without wraps, and depth was not a problem at all. I did get generally stronger, but I guess just improving technique and strength while taking a break from a movement can help out
I have a neck issue that prevents me from doing regular back squats. I want to do low-bar squats eventually but I need a good video to explain the form to me.
@@albertojaimes2985 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BUIu720DQH4.html Here’s a video that talks about the mechanics and such in detail, but for tips and tricks here’s what I got: 1. Lower the bar at least 1 notch down on the rack…. Don’t want to have issues re racking the bar 2. Make sure your upper back is flexed, place hands on the bar(probably wider than normal), and work the bar UNDER your traps, but above the rear delt. Note, you should be somewhat bent over, otherwise it’ll slip off your back when you try to lift off. 3. Step back, your stance doesn’t matter that much, it may be the same as a normal squat. More up to personal preference. 4. Don’t look up like you might in a regular squat. Imagine you’re keeping your spine in a neutral/straight line, and you’re already bent over a bit so you should be looking at the ground like 6 feet in front of you. 5. Squat like normal. Make sure your butt moves backward rather than your head moving forward throughout the motion.
I feel Barbell are better for beginners but as you discover what's best for you you are free to switch them up. I loved that you mentioned "barbells teach you how to use machine", it really is like that.
Agreed. I like my barbell compounds for the lower body, but I recently replaced bench pressing in favour of the lying hammer strength chest press machine and the potential for hypertrophy is incredible. At the end of the day, it all comes down to training sensibly in alignment with your own particular goals.
I always felt flat bench in my front delts rather than my chest. Didn’t see good results till I switched to incline bench, Dumbell flat bench, and a chest press machine.
@@Inzane8 Hmm, pause reps do a lot to help me activate my chest. But I don't really feel my chest and lats despite putting some good size on them, so I wouldn't be concerned about that 💪
@@barcodeman3071 oh I’m not too worried these days. In the past, I used to be like the dudes that dr Mike is describing. If you didn’t benchpress, then you weren’t working out your chest! If you weren’t squatting, you’re not doing shit for your quads! Nowadays, I’ll use any exercise that I can progress with and feel the tension and stimulus in that muscle. For some movements that’s a barbell, for some muscles, I have a machine or Dumbell tbat works better for me.
I got squatting shoes, absolute game changer for back squats, I haven't programmed them for about a year, tried them with a pair of squatting shoes, insane results. Give it a try if you haven't
Yea, I do one compound barbell movement at the beginning of my workout. Squats on leg day, bent over rows and deadlifts on pull day, and bench on my push day. If I’ve worked out many days in a row and are feeling kind of tired, on occasion I’ll skip the compound movement. For beginners, I think it’s probably smart to teach them the compounds, and once they’ve built that baseline of muscle and strength, maybe you can ditch them if it doesn’t fit your goal.
Love the training videos with Dr Mike, Jared, and Charly. Absolutely no ego and hardly a barbell in sight - smith machines, machines, full ROM, controlled and consistent movements. Great to see all the theory and lectures put into practice.
Bench press and barbell rows always worked well for me. Unfortunately injuries make barbell rows difficult to do now, so I have to do machines and dumbbells. On the other hand, squats did nothing for me because of my knees and hips, and I made more progress in 6 months of leg press than 2 years of squats.
I've made great progress using dumbells with volume training - upper body only - because of a bad knee and herniated disks. 7 excercises total cover upper body completely. Do all 7 in a circuit - no rest between 1st and 2nd circuit. 20 - 25 reps (2-3 RIR). 2 minutes rest between 2nd and 3rd circuit. 20 reps (2 -3 RIR). 5 minutes rest between 3rd and 4th circuit 20 + reps. (1 - 2 RIR) Lifting over 9 tons (18,000lbs) in 50 minutes. 1 day on followed by 5 days off (63 years old). Started with incline dumbbell press at 20 lbs - now 16 weeks later incline dumbbell presses 1st circuit with 50 lb dumbbells for 25 - 30 reps. Went from 190 lbs (unknown bodyfat) to 200 lbs looking GREAT (upper body) and STRONG AS F***! Dr. Mike is my favorite and allows great gains from compounds with DUMBELLS TOO!
Ive made the best progress by ditching barbells over the last couple years. Too many injuries and I just never was able to find a position under a barbell that worked. Dumbbells have been amazing for me and of course mixing in some machines. I occasionally will setup under a barbell and immediatly remember why I stay away. I get a crazy mind muscle connection and ridiculous pump and burn with what I've found works for me. And thats what it comes down to is doing what works for you.
I watched this today because i have been lifting for about a year and within that year my legs have grown little if at all. I have tried barbell back squat probably 3 separate 2-month period of times. And i have been squatting this time with great technique for the last 2 months. This is the first time it felt somewhat comfortable, right, and i was making progress. However. Today, under the bar, i finished an 8th rep of 155 lbs and i realized "holy shit, ive been hitting legs twice a week for a year, watched every single video on this planet about squats, practiced and used every cue imagineable, tried multiple programs, and all i have to show for that is 155x8.(Less than my bench!!) " I racked the weight and went to do pause hack squats, and i immediately got a quad pump and felt great. I think i gave 100% into this exercise and it does nothing for me. I will be doing hack squats from now on. Thanks for the video, its hard to go against the barbell army.
@@cooldude70-13 Exactly. Also, people need to understand that the amount of people that are active on social media to begin with is pretty small on any country. So, social media talk is not real life talk.
Not sure if anybody else does this, but I like to do the following- Step 1- Perform an exercise for 8-10 reps per set with a dumbbell. Step 2- When you can't complete a full rep without significantly sacrificing form, put the same amount of weight on one end of a barbell, stand off center with the weighted side closest to your body and pump out sets and reps as before until you, again, are unable to complete a full rep without significantly sacrificing form. Step 3- Move one half of the weight to the other side of the barbell, stand at the center, and polish off the rest of your sets. Essentially, it's a technique for performing mechanical drop sets that uses the barbell to assist the targeted muscle to lift beyond the point of failure. Hope this helps someone. ;)
I’d imagine that pros like Phil Heath did compound barbell lifts at the beginning of their careers, and then moved away from barbell movements in favor of isolation movements later in their career once they had already built a substantial foundation of muscle. It’s one thing to be doing heavy squats and deadlifts in your late teens and early 20s. But to sustain that over the course of an entire career? It only makes sense that they switched to using machines and isolation movements to reduce the stress and strain on their joints while still maximizing the muscle tension.
Pleeaassee talk about gymnastic rings and their benefits/drawbacks. I’d love your expert knowledge on the subject and I’ve been really enjoying learning about them, the way they’ve helped my mind muscle connection and overall fulfilment from fitness has been astounding x
He's probably not the best person to talk about it. However he does say some really interesting stuff on the Frinks movement TV podcast about using bodybuilding concepts with calisthenics. Edit: added the correct channel
@@CaptainBrash I’d thought that he wouldn’t have the knowledge I was interested in, yeah - I didn’t know he was on that podcast! I’ll have to give it a look
@@robbiefletcher-hill437 wait, sorry It's not FitnessFAQ. It's frinks movement TV. It's a good podcast about how you can use bodybuilding programming to help with progression in calisthenics.
A barbell is a simple static equation for your body to apply a solution to. It is not elegant, but it does teach people how to use their entire body in ways that transfer great to exiting the novice stage and connecting to muscles more closely in isolation. There may be other more intelligent ways to teach movement, but the barbell is a pretty solid solution thus far in this regard. I really liked your vid on this Mike, and I agree completely.
Dr Mike, I'm a big fan of your videos and they've really helped to mould my understanding of weight training. A lot of what I know I've learned from or cross referenced with you and I will be applying to my dad who wants to start weight training in part because he's seen the progress I've made; he's in his 60s now. Thank you so much.
Dumbbells, bodyweight stuff, and machines will be important for your dad. I’m a few years younger, but have been training for years. In my 50’s and have given up most barbell exercises because they don’t get along with my tendons. You can make tremendous gains without barbells, even late in life.
Very cool! Be easy on dad and work in slow! And call him "old man" as often as possible! That last part is a joke, please don't get shot! lol - Dr. Mike
I like to think of the big four as a foundation, a good indicator of overall body strength. If you are getting stronger with the big four whatever programme you're following is probably working.
I have a homegym so barbell compounds are my bread and butter but I do miss some kind of machine for back or chest. Those pumps you just cannot get from rows or benches
Same man , I got the power rack and everything but it seems like I can’t target my back the way I want to etc , other than that . You can do everything it all depends on your grind and how much effort you put in etc .
I think this question gets framed from different perspectives… if we’re talking pure bodybuilding, then no, the big barbell movements aren’t as critical. But many people are looking to get big but also be able to perform and demonstrate strength on those big movements. If you want a big bench, squat, deadlift, etc… you have to bench, squat, deadlift, etc…. So it just depends on what someone’s overall goals are and reasons for training. That’s my 2 cents anyways.
I normally do chest with Incline Dumbbells and it works way better for me than Flat Barbell Bench. Honestly I only go back to Barbell whenever I seriously want to "refresh" my dumbbell movements.
Hack squats are just monster for me. Easy to do that controlled eccentric. Easier (by that I mean don’t fuck your shit up) to get that ass literally to the grass and pause for a second. My quad stimulus is always out of this world. I look forward to them and hate them and want to run away from them all at the same time every day I have to do them.
I've been struggling with this for a while now because I really want to be good at the squat, but the more and more I do it the more I get tweaks in my back due to mobility issues. I have ankle and hip impingement which forces my hips to have to tuck under for me to get any kind of depth that stimulates the quads. I've also got longer femurs which further exacerbates the issue. I can't describe how frustrating it's been watching people with garbage form continue to progress in weight without injury, while I am anal as all hell about my form, yet continue to experience injury. For the longest time I've thought I could do little things to tweak my form, but I think I just need to accept that maybe I'll never be great at the barbell squat and that's ok. I'm not trying to be a competitive powerlifter at this point in my life. Started incorporating single leg exercises and my quads have never felt so stimulated. It's still hard to accept that I'll probably never really have a big squat, but at the end of the day no one else cares, so why do I care so much? Probably because it's been pounded in my head by so many other fitness sources, that you have to be able to squat, and that everyone can squat as long as their form is good.
I'm in a similar boat minus the injuries. My squat is trash but to be fair most of my lifts are hugely sub par. My problem is that my high bar looks like low bar because of how far i have to bend to keep mid foot and i don't feel glutes at all. I only feel my outer quads and inner thigh muscles closer to the knee (not adductors). It's a weird sensation and doesn't feel like muscle stimulus (despite sometimes having doms in quads/glutes the day after). Hip thrusts are something i enjoy doing and feel good doing but it doesn't replace squats unfortunately
@@FiveN9ne If you can, try using a safety squat bar. I have the same issue where high bar squats just feel like a shit, inefficient version of low bar, but SSB squats are fantastic. They're also a bit lighter, so less fatiguing. Unfortunately I only came to them fairly recently, but after a couple of sessions I was thinking 'where have these been all my life?'.
Even though I love barbells for heavy movements, I enjoy dumbbell or kettlebell exercises a lot for higher rep work. For me who’s had his lat partially cut in a heart surgery, I like db/kb for unilateral exercises, because they help me work against imbalances as my right side is always stronger than the left. And as I am currently training at home and don’t have access to barbells, I find it‘s even possible to build muscle without them as long as you apply the principle of overload. Of course that has to happen more though volume, but training 4 days a week for each 45-60 minutes I am currently able to build muscle. Let’s see how my strength looks when I hit the gym again.
There is also a thing that people don’t think about; arm length. I have long arm, thus shitty bench for strength but for hypertrophy amazing cause the barbell has to travel more, more tension, more stimulus.
Man, I ditched flat BB bench... Covid lockdown got me privy to weighted backpack push ups with handles and my chest exploded. Switched back to flat BB bench when gyms opened back up and my chest actually got smaller! So now I’m just on the push-ups indefinitely. I just pile up adjustable DB plates in a backpack and go to town. Funny thing is that the handles put me at a slight incline, so I guess that I’m emphasizing the lower part of my chest by like 5-6 inches, but my whole chest grows. But then I’ve also got dumbbell incline press and low to high cable crossovers for just below the clavicle... no barbells needed.
Honestly I think the reason some people turn barbells into a first-level issue is because they actually can't get dumbells into position. Stuff like shoulder presses and incline bench are GLORIOUS with dumbells but once you get to using 80+ pounds it gets really hard to get them in place safely. Most gyms don't have dumbell racks for this. I still do incline bench with dumbells but had to go to barbells for overhead press.
I only do squats with barbell cos there is no alternatives. But for chest and back, its dumbbell all the way. Recruits small balancing muscles, better less restrictive range of motion, thus less injury prone, more contraction. Need i say more?
Barbell is probably your best overall ROI. Squat and lunge, deadlift, bench press, bent and upright row, overhead press, curls and extensions. You can run a program with these for the rest of your life and you don't need anything else for strength and hypertrophy. I would only put the kettlebell (adjustable) above for best single piece of equipment.
Man thanks for this video Dr. Mike. I have been struggling with compounds. Way more fatigue than stimulus. I do need to take a step back. Dumbells it is.
I have to admit, I fall into the 'must do barbell compound lifts every time'. But it's not because I believe you HAVE to do them to build muscle. I find them to be the best way for ME to get into the mood for a session. I could be super amped or half asleep when I walk into the gym, but once I've worked up a sweat hunting for plates, loading the bar, and staring at myself in the mirror for 10 minutes before I muster up the courage to stop being a little bitch, I get myself in position, I brace myself real good, them I dive in. Warm up sets first of course, but there's nothing that says 'wake up and be strong now' like a bar floating over your head that could kill you if you fuck up. Once I've shat myself into gear, I'm ready to destroy my muscles on whatever machines or dumbbells or cables I have lined up for that session. Let's say it's back/biceps (Yeah I do bro split, so what), I stack the bar with 60kg for 15 to warm up. I feel every muscle doing its job, my blood is flowing, I'm getting a good stretch, and that 'insecurity' of the free weight, and back breaking possibility looming... it's a recipe for a good work out session to come Chest/Triceps is even better, because I get all of the above, plus the knowledge that if I fail horrifically, I'm looking at cracked ribs, maybe a punctured lung or 2, and possibly even death, and that REALLY gets my blood flowing. Then I move on to the chest press or cable flyes or whatever's next on the agenda. But shoulders and legs are the biggest ones for me. OHP with the bar literally over my head... drop it and get folded... or squats with my spine under strict instruction to not snap in half... And as much as I don't enjoy legs, once you go down, you HAVE to get up. Whether it's ego, or fear of getting trapped, or whatever, I physically cannot commit to the eccentric without pushing back out, and it teaches me that my limits are beyond what my pussy boy brain tries to tell me.. I don't squat a lot of weight, 60kg for 8 reps is kind of where I'm at right now, but in my mind, I get to rep 7 and I'm not satisfied, so I go down for one more, and there's no way in hell I'm not getting back up. But right now, going down for that 9th scares me. Legs shaking, back starting to fatigue being braced the whole time... unsure of my ability to control the form for the eccentric, let alone the press...Next time 9th rep... Next time Probably shared more than I needed to. TL;DR. Barbells are good if you wanna do them. Personally I think they're amazing not only for building muscle but for getting the brain to do the thing... Thus concludes my TED Talk. Thanks for coming out, drive safe
I am that person! Did barbell compounds for years. Got hurt a lot from overuse. Was too dogmatic about it. Finally switched to a mix of dumbbells, machines, and occasional barbell-ish movements and I'm growing like a weed, injury-free now, body composition wayyyy better, feeling great, no more joint pain, I enjoy and look forward to the gym, no more back/elbow/wrist pain etc. Tbh back when I was using the big BB lifts, I was listening to this minimalist nonsense and wasn't listening to my body/joint pain/common sense as Mike is advocating here. So I could maybe add some back in now. But I'll wait til the DBs, machines, etc stagnate and then switch it up. Grateful for this channel. Lot of common sense and scientific insights here. Thank you
Now that you mention it. I'm not sure if my machine work became "better". But after doing powerlifter style training during the first lockdown in 2020, I subconsciously started doing the same sort of positioning on all machines and the weights in the same 10-15 rep range literally doubled for some of them....
I have started over the past year to do half the year barbell and dumbbell for chest , back and shoulders. I keep the barbell for squats and deadlifts but only once a week. In the spring and summer I work more with the barbell I my garage gym. Works for me.
I absolutely love the barbell compounds! As a dad of 3 little wildlings I really love the time savings of those. If I hurry up a bit I manage to do a good quality workout in an hour, getting tired af but it's fast and good quality. I usually only add isolation movements once something doesn't keep up strength wise.
For sure,people greatly underestimate how big of an impact on your physique can have just a few sets of bench,squat,deadlift,military press and some pull-ups/chinups😅
yeah, for my chest and posterior chain muscles, the barbell works great.... for more upper back and quads, barbells dont do as much for me... belt squats and machines work like charm for those muscle groups
Thanks for this. I’m a noob and I do dumbbell benchpress (coz I can just drop my dumbbell when I reach failure). My intermediate friends said I have to lift barbell benchpress to grow and do DB only as I advance.
Yeah, pro bodybuilders are also on a boat load of roids too. Any injury I've ever had came when using dumbbells for 15 reps. I have never had a problem when using a barbell for 8 -10reps and progressive resistance.
I am a big fan of the philosophy " You do exercises you like and you like the exercises you do" sounds dumb but what ibmean by that is the reason you do a certain exercise is because you can make them work well for you. I like dumbell press better than bench press. But I like incline bench press better than incline press. It comes down to your ability to make the weight work for you and have the weight go where you need it to go.
I prefer squatting with a safety squat bar or a cambered bar. It is easier on my back and shoulders and I still make gains with it. It is about the movement, not the equipment.
One of the biggest guys I've ever lifted around (at a gym that died during lockdown) almost never did barbells that I saw. Tons and tons of dumbbells and machines. Not for me but it sure worked for him and he could DB shoulder press 80-90 lbs/hand for reps which is a hell of a lot more than most people
I use heavy duty resistance bands for my compound exercises such as deadlifts,squats,and even rows,and I have seen growth in size and strength.I started because of RPSI in my lower back...They are also much easier on my joints,more versatile,portable,and take up virtually no space.I still use weights,too,but only when I want to get the most bang from reasonably low weight - such as reverse step-down goblet lunges w a 100 lb dumbbell instead of heavy loading a bar,or doing incline chest flies sitting on my butt and no back support.Such exercises most often require more stability muscles - so bw the modified lighter weight movements and the resistance bands,I am growing and getting stronger without destroying my joints.That's more results than I could have asked for at 44.
I used to do squats and deadlifts for my barbell exercises but unfortunately had to give up deadlifts. I injured my back twice despite not using heavy weights and focusing heavily on my form and still got injured so now just down to squats. Still making gains, getting stronger but I do miss deadlifts, hurt to give it up now we'll see how long I can keep doing squats, no injuries so far.
on the back and squat points, what helped me so much with barbell training for those two was setting the ego aside. so what if youre doing 115 on squats or 95 on rows if youre doing 15-20reps of that itll add up and when you do hit that 405 squat or that 315 row youll make the hulk look small
Like most people, ive been doing all exercises, lately ive focused more on dumbell presses and cables. Both of which i can progressive overload faster than barbells and feel good doing it. On barbells my progress is much slower and i do not feel comfortable that much, always hesitating, with dumbells ill be excited to try a heavier weight, and the pump that i get from cable flys is incredible.
Muscles don't know if it's a cable, dumbbell, machine, or barbell. As long as you go all out, you will grow. As I get older the most important things are safety and injury prevention.
My best back gains have been from cable machines in only 3 months in but was a gym bro 15 years ago. Feels good and doesn’t feel unsafe. Both shoulders feel sprained from a diabetic seizure two weeks ago
While stress can be achieved thru many methods; I feel that in certain exercises mechanical tension can be achieved better with a barbell. Like I can flat bench press 120lbs dumbbells for 1 rep but I can do 240 lbs barbell press for multiple reps. Other exercises like vertical presses it’s opposite due to the different range of motion: a military barbell press that starts from the chest is way more difficult and using dumbbells I can use heavier weight total. The thing I’m trying to say is that it depends on the individual body mechanics, on preference and on availability ... If a barbell is the only thing you have, u r gonna do that. Have a good day friends!
I think that there is a lot of confusion in terms of the goal. Starting strength and similar programs are designed more for athleticism than pure physique, and in that regard compound movements are usually superior. Knee extensions might grow your quads the same amount as squats in terms of physique, but they will have very different effects on sports performance
My understanding is muscle growth is determined by the intensity and the amount of work that muscle has done over time which is what is causing the muscle damage (recovery held constant). From a physics perspective just an equation of work completed, which is greatest at full range of motion, increasing with intensity over time. Since this is the case the method of resistance used to stimulate the muscle is not a key variable in the equation but the intensity and quantity of work are the key variables with ability to recover held constant
This might be more specific: but the grip width on the barbell can drastically change the exercise. EG for incline barbell bench press I like the little markers for a very wide grip so I can get that stretch at the bottom of the movement, but for seated barbell overhead press prefer a super tight and close in grip to target my front delts.
I’m a big proponent of chins and dips for upper body. I Don’t do any BB movements at all for upper body. Hard not to for legs though. BB squats hurt my back so i stick with kettlebell or BB front squats.
Similar to the ‘no rest days’ clique at the gym, ironically the same people who complain the program they are doing is too much volume for certain muscle groups (but yet they still follow it).
I just think bang for your buck or results for your time rather. Compounds tend to hit larger groups of muscle. Also very easy to track progressive overload with 5 or so main lifts
I think something a lot of people forget is that there’s a time and place for almost every exercise. There’s no sense in going crazy deciding which is optimal right now because the shit won’t be optimal forever anyway and that movement or machine you’ve been avoiding will be your savior at some point. Maybe in a month, maybe in a couple years, when it’s time to switch things up you’ll get great gains doing all sorts of different exercises. Most people who want to answer the question of which is better should just try it for a couple months. There’s always time to switch back later. There’s a V squat machine at this gym I’ve been going to for almost 2 years and I never touched it. I just really wanted to push my barbell squats, low bar high bar and front. They were great but they’ve slowed down and it was time to shake things up. Been finally doing that V squat machine and getting amazing quad pumps from it. I don’t think it’s better or worse than squats, I haven’t left the way of the barbell behind or some shit, I’m just changing it up for some time and when I need to scratch the barbell itch again later, I’ll be right back.
When I first started lifting in HS, I was in love with leg extensions. I did an upper body/lower body split for football twice weekly. I was doing back squats and front squats of course, but those leg extensions really got me going. I think I managed to get them up to around 250 for sets of 10. If I skipped a week due to no school, it felt like bare steel on my shins, lol. It was a plate loaded machine.
I agree mike but from what I see most people (referring to the natty fitness space) and myself find that embracing the basics lead to the most amount of gains, but of course learning good programming will help u grow on any form of resistance training
Reply good topic. While there is no must do exercise or must use equipment, you do make a few great points that I agree with. When I’m training a novice lifter, I always prefer for them to learn the basic barbell compound movements. And keep it somewhat simplistic. If you can learn how to barbell squat and RDL correctly, you’ll know how to perform basically any lower body movement (at least quicker than you’d otherwise learn). And learning 2 exercises and getting stronger at them is a much easier concept to grasp for newbs than having them learn 10 different leg exercises. Not saying I ONLY have them do those 2 but it makes up the bulk of their programming Same concept for upper, if one can get proficient at barbell benching, bb rows, pull-ups, dips, etc then every other movement they learn afterwards will have a similar movement pattern. And once again, it’s a lot easier for a novice to learn 3-4 movement rather than a dozen. And these movements of course are the easiest to add reps/weight on at first. So it just makes programming and progressing much easier That’s my reasoning for personally having a tendency to use barbells mostly for novices. Do cables, machines, dumbbells work? For sure. And I still have novices use them. But my goal is to have everyone be self proficient and not rely on me for every little thing. And after 3-6 months of ‘heavy’ (relatively speaking) barbell compound movements, they likely have build some muscle and confidence…enough to where learning other exercises or other more complex methods (besides simply adding weight/reps every workout) is much easier
Thanks for the info! I’ve broken my right shoulder twice skating and frequently run into issues with free-weight chest presses. Happy to hear I can build a decent chest with machine/cable variations.
