I deadlift over 700 and can row over 400, when I want to isolate my back I will use straps to help engage lats. Stop acting like what you do is impressive.
Training with Renaissance Periodization is always the real deal. Thanks again for training me and showing what the basics done right can do. I genuinely learned a lot and now pay even further attention to strict technique. Let the more out of less weight gains continue!
I still have the page open, for the article that you did for outalpha (several years ago). Coming from someone who has lower back issues. The information has helped me to some degree. Nevertheless it's a good eye opener. Thank you 😊😊😊
@@BlumChoi “dark side” or not there really isn’t a difference in training principles. Recognize what your own goals and what you want out of lifting and do your own thing. If competing in the IFBB is what you want and you have the genetics for it, power to you to pursue that. If you just want to improve your physique and look better naked go ahead and pursue that. Dark side or not it’s an individual choice with different consequences and considerations.
@@Chabby888 This is super true but at our core we still have that little bit of japanese high school girl. If we see more people normalising steroids we are going to be more inclined to do so as well.
@@Chabby888yes there is. Your muscle grows at a faster pace when you’re on gear. A lot of gear users train in a specific way as to not injure themselves (their joints). AAS don’t heal tendons the way they do muscles. This is why you see them warm up so much and use pre exhaustion (especially with leg workouts) so they can limit how much load they need for a good stimulus. It’s also why many of them use higher reps and shorter rest periods (but more sets). All to limit load. This is not something a natural needs to worry about, their muscles don’t rapidly grow beyond their joints recovery capacity the same way. They are 2 completely different training requirements.
Bro traded bear mode for wendigo mode. Deathface is real. But really Alex did an amazing job and earned a medal. I love seeing him back to gaining muscle. Happier.
He was on the tail end of a massive cut in his last appearance on RP. He even explains why on a separate video. Doing a true cut like that is no joke, it takes a lot out of ya. No energy, day in day out.
6:03 Obviously not as lean (but also much paler too tbf) but damn... the amount of size Alex has when standing next to an advanced enhanced lifter like Dr Mike is so impressive. Alex is such an inspirational natty. Absolutely smashing preconceptions about "limits" that so many people impose on themselves and either give up or jump on the gear. Everyone can stay natty! Alex isn't special, he's just worked his a** off
People blame it all on the gear because they are too lazy to put in the work themselves. "But bodybuilders were always small before drugs" Yeah they also had zero access to information about health and exercise. NONE OF THEM KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT BODYBUILDING SCIENCE. They were out here doing the most ineffective workouts you could imagine. THAT is why they were small
GCN 🚲 has some vids about the track sprinters n their impressive quads. The bicycle crowd consisting in no small part of stick figures that reject muscle mass cause it ain't aero and weighs something was quick to blame that on roids too. When I honestly think 🤔 I got that size of legs almost. Not sure. Too fat. Still. Totally doable. That's not saying cyclists ain't doped and it might be very tough with cycling training on top but perfectly achievable pretty big legs. .... everything I don't have and want is roids. It's odd though. First time I saw someone legpress 310 kg with good form I thought aha it's doable. First time I saw some guys bench 200+ kg my mind immediately jumped to roids before I took a closer look and. Still thought so.
We have to thank Alex for breaking through the fitness dogma of "striking distance from stage ready" and making people understand that is really only viable for enhanced individuals who don't need glycogen stores or natural individuals who are doing multiple shows in a row but plan to go back on a bulk
You can tell Alex has so much to say on this topic, which you would know if you’re a watcher of his channel. It’s also fun to see him get competitive, he’s very Canadian about it but he definitely loves to raise to a challenge. RP training is known for being strict, rigorous and brutal so it’s great to see how someone like him takes it on considering he’s one of the strongest natural lifters on the platform.
Literally my favourite set of lads to be entertained by. When it comes to all things gains. Dr Mike's knowledge and humour and Alex's chill but serious nature when it comes to training.
First time I saw you guys ... very inspiring stuff. I"m older so I'm not going to get to a young man's level, but this inspires me to push myself to my best with that perfect form you demonstrated. Great instructional video guys, thanks.
Watching the videos on this channel has given me so much great workout information. It's really obvious to me now that I've only ever been moving weight around instead of getting the maximum amount of stimulus. keep up the awesome work!
Loving that Alex is finally making it into the major fitness scene. He was always a natty icon, but seeing him on bigger channels as a respected figure brings me unfathomable joy.
Happy to see Alex on here!! Have watched this man grind for YEARS and evolve, glad to see the fitness community giving him the recognition he derserves!
Just did this workout and let me say my lats r on fire. I usually go heavier and feel a good heavy weight pump but I’m literally drenched with this and it’s been 35 minutes.
@@psyche1182 I would say use the assisted pull up machine. If you don't have access to it, I legit used bands on the pullup/dip bar setup and wrapped them around the dip bars to put my feet on them so it can assist me upwards. If you don't have that, but have a squat rack, you can do the same thing. Putting the bands around the safety bars around knee height.
@@DCJayhawk57i get annoying lower back pumps after 3 sets of deads. I’ve minimized it on squats by enhancing ankle mobility and using heels with ATG rom. I heard about some sauce gives crazy back pumps, guess I can never take them.
The fact that Alexander Fucking Leonidas used the weights he did here and his back still got fucked up from it in all the right ways really goes to show how big of a difference proper RP technique makes
When he did the rows you could really see how hyper-extended his elbows are! I was wondering how he managed to make that stretch at the bottom of the weighed pull-up look so graceful. Does that hyper-extension require any different focus of muscle activation or additional cues to stabilize the joint during these exercises, especially since the tough eccentric portion of the movement moves him into hyper-extension? Or all’s well so long as he doesn’t feel undue joint pain? Love your videos thank you for the great information!
Here’s my back/shoulders workout I do 1X/WK (also hit back and shoulders in full body and upper body workouts) Warmup: YTAs 1. Superset: close grip pullups/pulldowns, front raise X4 2. Superset: wide grip pull-ups (or unilateral cable pull-ins), lateral raise 3. Superset: wide grip row (or facepulls), incline fly 4. Circuit: pullovers, reverse flys, cable adduction (iron cross)
Great video. Huge fan of Alex. Not to say I learned anything new since I've been a long time follower of both channels, but this video condensed and reaffirmed a lot of the info I've come across
Love me some weighted pullups. I usually don't warm up with pulldowns (the station is usually busy), but I'll do some hammer curls and sometimes cable pullovers before hopping into body weight. Just enough to see how things are feeling and then start adding some plates. I could definitely improve my technique with a better pause at the bottom. 💪 It took me having a good mirror in a hotel to realize how damn well these weighted pullups are working. Normally it's hard for me to see my width 😅
Thanks for teaching this old dog new nuance. I've been warming up my pull-ups with assistance bands on my heavy days and doing pull-downs on light days. I'll try warming up with lat pull-downs, then using them again for down sets. Also, that technique of adjusting mid-rep to a position less taxing on the low back as a means of going further into barbell rows also makes a lot of sense.
The best video ever. Pure gold. Truth about pull ups. I love it. All these guys that crNK out high pull up numbers with shitty form have really no clue. Happy Dr. Mike was honest no direct as always
I know you will probably never see this Dr. Mike, but I have to thank you for all of your instructional videos, I have really paid attention to my technique and have made some serious gains in the last two months. You are a God amoungst men.
people always give me dumb comments when im barbell rowing 95lbs super strict form like this and slight pause at the bottom stretching out my back and then contract for sets/reps. YET these same people are the people who ask me how i got such meaty thick back lol.
THIS. The with the speed and momentum Alex was using, it looked like he would have been better served with 95 lbs. Weight was clearly too heavy for him.
What a fantastic video. There are so many essential things that you don't read in the magazines, plus the challenge that you have to go down with the weight so much when you do these exercises really well. Thanks a lot guys!
This is ok, advice, but if you want a true Hunchback of Notre Dame back you need to follow Jason Blaha's advice. Sure this will give you a thick and wide back, but what about that intimidating hunch? What about that neck growing out the front of your chest look? Why would you want your neck to not come out of your body at a 90 degree angle? That's what I want. I want to scare women and children and look like I should be locked in a bell tower. That medieval look. #teamblaha
Kassem Hanson of N1 Training/Education which is largely biomechanics focused, doing stuff like single arm cable pulldowns to bias certain divisions of the lats (specifically what Mike is referring to). If you look him up you'll probably see what he means
exactly, I was knocking out 25 pullups straight. Watched Alex how he does pullups, now im at 10-15 with the same effort. Hate it but love it. Muslceups are a thing for me now. I couldnt do one pullup, not too long ag
Long ago I read of Curd Emmons and his dad who had the world record (of over a1000 chin-ups)..both were rail thin and no exceptional lat development. This looks like a good lat work-out. Thanks for video.
Yeah Alex definitely humbled himself for this session, he's using straps too and shit I never see him use straps, especially not on weighted pullups with 1 plate when he normally uses up to 4 plates lol
I completely agree with you that all you need is the basics, that’s legit. After 15 years of lifting though I get bored awful fast and really enjoy new equipment/machines just for the sake of a new stimulus.
Biomechanics is important. Muscle actions, internal leverages, and working sarcomere lengths give us powerful clues into what exercises are going to best stimulate that muscle. Combine this knowledge with subjective sensation (muscle stretch/squeeze, muscle burn, muscle pump, muscle soreness, joint pain/discomfort) to narrow down exercises for individual. Example: for back we want to incorporate pulling movements in all three anatomical planes. This means one shoulder extension movement (elbows done and back), one adduction movement (elbows down and in), and one horizontal abduction movement (elbows back). Everyone should do an exercise for each of these exercises. What you choose for each depends on individual factors.
