Where Are You on the Genetic Scale? (probably not where you think...) 

People with amazing physiques in general overestimate their effort and dedication and underplay their genetics. People with shitty genetics tent over play the fact that it’s genetics and under play the hard work

“The more consistent you are, the fewer people you’re competing against” is very good life in general advice, not just lifting/fitness advice. 10:30

30 pounds of muscle in five years just to correct the information that would be qualified is very good or elite level genetics as in amazing genetics. In the course of a lifetime as per Jeff nippard’s video the average person can expect to gain 20 to 40 pounds of muscle and so if you gain 30 pounds of muscle in only five years you most certainly should expect to gain at least 40+ pounds of muscle throughout your life. Unless you start training at 15 years of age or are you start off as being someone who’s anorexic dating 30 pounds of muscle in five years is extra ordinary it’s amazing

Joe gradually morphing from the chad of the fitness industry to the dad of the fitness. Offering us sound advice and guidance that could save us years of frustration in every new upload. A metamorphosis I am thoroughly enjoying, btw.

Most of us prolly don’t need to be worrying about genetics too much. Put in a decade of consistent intense lifting on a proper program with a solid diet and we will prolly have a physique we can be proud of.

It took me a long time to accept that my “dream physique” was either, never gonna happen, or going to take an extremely long time. I’m 5’7” and for most of my 20’s, I was 220-240 pounds. Obese, not muscle. With diet an exercise, the lowest I got was 160, and even then, I had man boobs and couldn’t see my abs. During Covid, I crept up to 180, not in a good way, and re dedicated myself to training. Right now I’m 195, still around 30% fat, but I can do 8 pull ups, sumo DL 315lbs for 2-5 reps and bench 190 for 5. My resting HR dips into the 30s and my cholesterol is fantastic. As you probably guessed, at 30% fat, I’m nowhere near a beach bod. But I’m strong, healthy and comfortable in my own skin. Lately my goal has had nothing to do with physique. Just strength and longevity. I never want to be too tired to fix the house or play with my future kids or please my future wife.

Always solid, no-nonsense advice. Probably one of only three yt trainers I follow now...

“The more consistent you are, the less people you are competing with” that stuck with me man! Love your videos!

People who are highly suited to a particular sport generally start well ahead of where people who are poorly suited to that sport finish. That's how it works with bodies, brains, and pretty much everything else.

I've gained about 20lbs in my first year (~51kg-60.5kg), started out totally fresh, no experience or wisdom. I try to go to the gym every other day, and i read and watch a lot of content on fitness. Really enjoying the hobby!

I was getting disappointed on my physique as a huge hard gainer, but you gave my back again some hope. Gracias!❤

You've turned into an elite educator. Precise, on point, and entertaining. Joey Delany is my hero🎉

I started working out when I was 13, 5’5”, and 120ish pounds. Now I’m almost 22 and weigh around 160, 5’5” still lmao and at around a BMI of 10% or so. This video has helped me so much because I was definitely stuck in my own head for a long time thinking I wasn’t good enough compared to everyone. God bless man

This was such a great entry into the understanding of lifting and thinking about it healthily

I’m in the .1%. Bottom .1% 😂. It’s pretty wild down here. Takes forever to add strength or bulk. Shout out to my fellow no gainers!

Been a fan of the channel for many yrs and found the other channel and it's very nostalgic... Congrats man and if the Bambino is here then congrats man and if not still congrats.... #appreciationvibes.... Thank you sir and yea everyones hero. Have a good day ✌️

Thanks Joe Enjoy the content I like your diagrams and simple explanations

I'm not genetically gifted, but I take pride in being a natural athlete. At nearly 38 years old, I'm proud of the relentless effort I've put into my training. I dedicated myself to intense workouts from ages 20 to 30, which sculpted the foundation I've maintained today despite dealing with more frequent rest days and injuries.

Congrats on the baby Joe!!🥳❤️

Joey D and Great British Bake Off are the only things I watch religiously

you are an inspiration mate

Joe Delaney is my hero indeed.

Nothing to be gained from thinking about genetics, all we can do is train harder than last time and do it for a long time

Just keep turning up, excellent advice that newbies forget sometimes

Quality stuff. Thanks Joe!

Just keep turning up. Amen to that.

Solid video as per usual.

Ive put on about 33 pounds or 15kg of muscle in 9 months, for reference im 6'4 260 pounds now at 20%bodyfat, when I started I was 255 pounds at 32% bodyfat. My bench went from 165 pounds to 297, my squat went from 245 to 485, and my deadlift went from 250 to 507 pounds. As of now my biceps unpumped are 18.5 inches they were 15, my forearms are 14 inches they were 13, my quads are 29.5 inches they were 26. Ive trained 6 days a week without ever skipping a session since 1st of February this year after being inactive and sedentary for the last 12 years.

Seen your Brazilian jiu-jitsu vid. Would love to see more of that

Joe Delaney is my hero!

Derek being part of the mob absolutely killed me 😂😂 that was top tier meme

Legend, thanks for this one!

Very helpful! I’m at the end of year 8 of consistent lifting. My training is the best it’s ever been and I’ve been able to effectively bulk and cut. Hit all my PL goals but it’s been hard realizing there’s not that much left. Just gotta do it cuz I love it but there aren’t 10 lbs to gain in a year anymore

Perfect video - this should be what more youngsters, and even older stalwarts in gyms - great advice, and also, give this to some PT's that fill people with utter shit in there heads. Good work Joe!

This is an awesome detailed video

This is why Joe Fazer is so great. He is the only fitness influencer out there, that I know of, with bad genetics. That makes him a realistic guy to compare to.

Joe delaneyy is my hero !! 💯

JOE DELANEY IS MY HERO

That point about muscle types is really interesting - I have naturally large and strong legs but have small and weak arms. But I also find that my legs tire much quicker when I swim compared to my arms

Every sentence sounded like a question! Well done!

A useful reminder for me to always allow for overall body composition. My wrist and ankle circumferences are identical to Joe’s, yet I look like a gangly string bean bag o’bones and he doesn’t. Congrats on the baby, and thanks for the vid. Good work 👍

The internet, and my mental health, needed this video 😅😅 great work Joey Dee 🤟🏼

I have been a runner for the past few years. I am 17 and have been skinny most of my life. I am 5'10 and have been lifting on and off since January ( about 7-8 months) . Pretty inconsistent though. (Due to lack of motivation at the start, and having to skip so it would not effect running workouts, also I was out of town like all summer). I started in maybe the high 130s ( according to some journal entry of mine) , and now I am sometimes in the low 160s. It is very weird though because I do not feel like I put on much weight. I am still pretty insecure about my size. I always feel like the small one, but I am hoping to put on a lot more muscle, and hopefully grow another inch or two. I do not know exactly why I am writing this, maybe because I am feeling very stressed right now about lots of things. But I hope my genetics are good enough to be able to be a very serious and natural lifter one day and it is good to know so many others are on similar journey to mine.

Appreciate this doesn't related at all to this video but I am currently in Singapore and looked at your vlog to see where to go. Probably going to head to vietnam or bali next.

Great informative video.

I’m lucky I got my dads genetics for muscle building. Went from 165 to 195 at 5’11”my freshman year of college, first year I actually lifted hard and ate like crazy after I stopped comp swimming.

1. Great video and great advice. Thank you. 2. Dr. Casey Butt is not "some dude", and he always made it clear that it is the theoretical maximum if everything is perfect. A VERY simplified explanation of it is, the amount of skeletal muscle humans can naturally hold are highly correlated to skeletal frame size and mass. Ankle and wrist circumference along with height are proxies for that. The last contributing factor is the amount of body fat, the more body fat you have (within reason) impacts the maximum amount of skeletal muscle tissue one can hold on to.

That Tekken reference had me howling. Great content as usual, Joe.

i started lifting at 14 (120 lbs) and 16 months later, im 170 ish pounds, give or take a few. i was getting to my head until i saw this video, thanks joe!

Been training consistently for 2 years. Love the gym. Have really only impressed people with my lats and hoping I can build a better physique all around

a friend in high school got us both into weight training. he started 6 months before me and then invited me along. in a few weeks i was benching more than he was. Funny thing was that I didn't even notice, we used the same bench and alternated and I just started taking off some weight for his set like it was totally normal since I knew how much he was doing, he was the one who pointed it out that it's unfair that he was working out for much longer than I had been and I was already seeing more gains. So yes genetics plays a role, but also so does psychology, some people just aren't going to notice for various reasons and therefore they will/won't get discouraged.

After years on and off in the gym I would become discouraged because my appearance didn’t change as quickly as I liked. I realized if I focus on progressive overload and diet my motivation stays way up because now my goal is just adding weight after I’m able to do more reps. Then adding sets when the amount of sets feel easy. If reps, weight, and sets go up that’s progress.

Just keep turning up. I like that.

Amazing video... So down to earth and MADE TO THE NORMAL GUY, damn. Congrats

Good and bad genetics is relative. As a 5'9 man with a 6'1.5 wingspan I am CURSED when it comes to bench press/overhead press; but BLESSED when it comes to Boxing and Kickboxing. Skinny calves = bad for bodybuilding, explosive GOD for plyometrics. Someone born to be a world champion Strongman would feel pretty down about themselves if they loved Marathon Running and wished to pursue that.

Thank you big bro.

Great video!.. I have learned the hard way to be the best I can be for the body I have. TRT and other stuff is such a lie in this industry. I feel bad for the guy who never figure it out… thanks Joe

Basically don't compare yourself to anyone other than your own potential (and have the sense to know when you have hit your potential)

I agree muscle growth potential can vary across the body. My bi's aren't as good as yours but my chest is better and shoulders only slightly worse (less mass but structurally wider). I train bi's just as much just a weaker muscle group of mine (and then my calves, quads, hams, forearms and tris even weaker). My back width is alright though and I've a symmetrical six pack when around 10 percent so it's not all doom and gloom.

I like how you try to teach them critical thinking. Good on you Bro. Keep it up.

It's almost 2 years since I started lifting. Started with 4 friends who still go to the gym, I outpaced them all in the weights I was lifting, I wasn't the most aesthetic but I was able to do more reps with higher weights and even more reps on bodyweight excercises (despite me being heavier and taller). Right now at 18 my bench pr is 140kg, one of my friends has it at 90kg and the other three are stuck in the 70-80kg range. Also I was a gamer until I turned 17, basically I had no previous fitness activity and was skinny-fat (110kg) I am now at 104kg but a vastly different body composition. I am pretty thankful for my genetics, they may not be the best, especially for size (since I'm not THAT big, but that can be attributed to height too) I am, however, much stronger than my fellow gym bros.

Few people rarely approach their potential, so they shouldn't worry about it. Get close to your limit, and then go from there.

Left highschool at about 120 pounds, at the end of 6 month infantry basic I put on 40 some odd pounds, but I’ve been in the gym 5 days a week borderline without fail, eat two plates for breakfast, lunch, two dinners, and a protein shake everynight and struggle to put any weight on over a year later. I’ve actually lost weight since then, I sit just around 155 now

Really enjoying your content! Would be helpful to me if you include kg measures (maybe just on screen)

Keep turning up. Dial up the basics and develop good habits. Dial down the bad habits - those barriers to progress. The power of habit.

Hopefully joey get to 1m subs. Helps the fam innit 😉

I knew a buddy of mine was genetically gifted when he got shredded in 9 months, but he had signs before it. We work for the same entity and we get drug tested normally, so PEDs are out of the question. He was the elementary school bully because he was stronger than most of us (he didn't mean to bully people, he just had a bully type of personality towards his friends. He was nice to people he wasn't familiar with). Second, I was in track and field and he was overweight with less/almost no running experience, but he was running faster than me. 3rd, he was 5 foot 7, overweight, and was able to touch the basketball rim without playing sports or working out. This is something taller people have train to do and he did it like it was nothing.

Nice video, Joe. Just a comment: I personally started my strength training journey overweight. Not a lot of studies or advice from experts focus on this population.

Joe I’d like ya to give your opinion creatine on a slight cut/compo, was 14st and dropped to 13st 6 in about 6 weeks just on a slight deficit and more intense workouts. Been monitoring BF and lost a bit of muscle obviously and quite happy to just eat cleaner and work harder now and possibly maintain or cut a little bit more but I’ve no idea whether it’s worth taking creatine whilst doing this? Can’t find much info or anything on it. Cheers

I gained since last February about 21 lbs, I didn’t get fat, I got just big. My back and shoulders are much larger than last year and my biceps size have also increased tremendously.

I can’t blame the training I’m following your app 😂🤪

Fyi bone structure determines your natural limit and also probably how quickly you can build muscle and how much you begin with. Both length and thickness of bones determine this.

Brilliant!

Before i started weight lifting.. i was an athlete pretty lean.. 70kg 5ft 8 inch height after proper weight training, growth was meh cuz most of it was due to the sheer amount of junk volume i was doing and the amount of cardio i was doing was just nuts.. After 5 Years and still going.. I'm 85kg not as lean as before maybe 2-3% more b.f... Guys just give it time, good genetics or bad genetics isn't an excuse, train consistently, follow a program, keep check of your nutrition u will achieve a great physique

My older cousins are tall and have great muscular builds. They worked in construction and physical labor since they were young. Now that I am older I wish I would've taken my workouts more seriously when I was younger. I'm pushing myself now but am definitely on an uphill battle 😬

Awesome video. As always. Is that the mirafit squat ramp? Been considering getting it for my skinny calfs raises but thought it might be too low. Just wondering if you recomend it? Cheers

I've seen people that in a few months gained the amount of muscle I gained in a year. The difference in genetics can be so big. And they start giving me advise as if I was doing it wrong or something, most of their advise are things I already know and apply. I'm not gifted in terms of strenght nor building muscle but I am gifted in agility speed and endurance so, i can play a hockey match without getting tired ever though I'm doing sprints all the time, which is something super cool to be able to do. Genetics are a weird thing.

Hi Guys I'm a 5ft 5 53 year old NATTY Powerlifter. Training since I was 17yrs old. I weighed 80lbs when I started training in 1985 age 15. I now weigh around 147lbs at 5ft 5in. I have never had the genetics for bodybuilding but managed to 'wander in' to Natty Powerlifting! My Best lifts are 462lbs- 320lbs -485lbs single ply @148lbs I know these aren't very impressive numbers , but I enjoy competing with myself. The more time passes the more I realise thatnatty training is NOT an exact science! There are so many ascending and descending factors that Influence my performance.. I can only tell you what is currently working for me. As recovery and inflammation are always an issue for me, I do the following ...... Sunday - Deadlift (rep range 1-5) ...ONLY bi Weekly! Alternating with a light varied Back & bicep workout in the weeks in between. Tuesday - Heavy Bench press (rep range 1-5) Thursday- Heavyish' squats (rep range 1-5) & Light Bench press 3 sets 10 reps...VERY LIGHT ! 30- 40 kg (just to keep the bench groove greased) The only thing that really changes is that if I get any grief from squats , I will dial it back for a week and of super light (EG: 20-40kg super strict for 3 x 5reps) What I have learned , is DON'T feel you have to stick to the program exactly - to listen to your body & don't be too proud to switch to the occasional light easy workout , If your CNS tells you to Good luck ...... Remember some times Less IS More!

Really good video, I havent realized my great genetics for years because it was normal for me. I probably gained around 60 pounds of muscles in 2 years which seems stupid but it is fr

What units did you use for that formula near the end, as in the height units and the ankle and wrist measurements units. Also did you include the % in the body-fat as in should you put 15 or 15%. Thanks:)

I started going to the gym just a few months ago, and in that period managed to gain 7-8 killograms. Still on the skinnier side, so I'm going to go ahead and assume that my genetics are pretty good

I remember the older men of my gym telling me they have never seen someone transform their body as fast as they saw mine transform

I'm upset I didn't get into fitness until 30. Turns out I have amazing genetics for it and I could have been a good "influencer". I've been lifting weights for about 4 months and I already look like I've been doing it for years in terms of muscle growth. I even have naturally huge calves which I didn't know until recently is a mostly genetic thing. So yeah, pretty mad at myself. But it's never too late to be healthy. At the end of the day it's health that matters over appearance and I was pretty unhealthy most my life

Id look at output gains (I lift so much more over such a time interval) rather than body weight gain as the useful metric.

When I was in late teens/early 20s I started BB. 6-7 years straight. Had no idea how much protein was needed (this was pre-social media/early social media days). Went up like 25kg in weight over that time. Mostly protein limited. Hard yakka. Took ten years off, now back at it again with all the experience and proper diet (supposedly you are too old in mid-30s to gain much muscle xD, I didn't get this memo).. ~6 months I managed 30lbs/15kg increase dirty bulking.. basically up there with roids level of gains. I've now cut fat a little further and put on a few extra kg while leaner at 9-10 months. I have above average bone size/density and obviously super lucky genetically (in past when I started when young I thought my genetics sucked.. nope.. it was how i was doing it). I always am conscious that the new guys looking at me in gym will struggle to get such results over years. Each journey is your own, don't think you're not going to get results looking at an outlier like me. P.s. Mike Mentzer approach IS THE WAY TO GO. Modern diet + his program you'll be going up weight/reps basically every week. Better for joints etc etc.

People who see rapid improvement at the gym have positive reinforcement to spend more time with it. Hitting 225x10 on bench within months of starting and gaining 40 pounds the summer before university definitely kept me going. I don't think most people who go will ever reach their potential and hard gainers that much more.

Good video Спасибо

it is good to point out that there could be a very high difference in explosive strength for sports based on genetics, if you have trained some martial arts, you have probably seen that yellow/orange belt guy that needs a special sparing partner because his punch has a knock back from how strong it is, besides bizarre cases with children, I personally gave a black eye to my father on accident when I was a few weeks old by doing a elbow strike from inside my cradle, and I am pretty sure I wasn't training boxing inside the womb.

Decent production values this

I've accepted that my chest is just genetically weak, after my push press exceeded my bench press when I was competing in strongman. But my legs, back and core? I'm very satisfied with.

I've been going to the gym 3 days a week for 3 months now (half of which was spent cutting the other half bulking) and during the bulk I went from 168 lbs to 172 lbs while my body fat stayed mostly the same. I think it would be reasonable to say I gained 8-10 pounds of muscle in 1.5-2 months would this be considered good?

I'm starting to like fitness channels with less frequent uploads more and more. Makes the content more relevant.

how is this guy only 23lbs more than me and I don't train for bodybuilding. I'm 16 as well.

Welcome back

i have problems with pituitary gland and it effects my test levels HUGHLY free test was 160 as 22years old. luckily i got meds for it and when i get them it should boost pituitary gland to work right and signal balls to make more test

I gained around 8kg‘s in my first year of training and went from 63 to 71 at 182. I was really skinny (still kinda am) before that. Wasn’t able to train for 2.5 months now because of the military and lost 5 kgs already, of course not just miscue but still feels like shit…

The cross-sectional graph for Biceps is a bit meta isn't it.

You hit the nail on the head Joe just a couple of minutes in when you said “if you’ve been training for 10 years hard” trouble is most gym goers don’t train hard and that’s why we see people don’t change or gain muscle from one year to the next. There’s a simple way to check the rate of muscle. 1 - concentrate on getting a good amount of protein in. 2 - train to COMPLETE failure using a HIT programme. They don’t come better than Mike Mentzers 3 - get enough rest and don’t fall into the “more is better” nonsense After 3 months you will have gained some muscle. It’s then down to genetics on how one person differs from the next.

Joe, I would love to hear your opinion on Mike Mentzers HIT workout.

im 1.67cm tall, my hands are smaller than the hands of my ex which was 1.58cm and on top of that asian (she has smaller hands than all her european friends is what im trying to say). my fingers are like skeletons and even though i have gone from 55kg to 81kg nothing really changes. just really thin bones and at the beginning didnt have muscle mass at all. but i can proudly say that with 5-6 meals a day each 40-50g protein, a shake, 1 1/2 hours of training a day, 8-9 hours of sleep a night and all the efforts i could possibly put into this, my friend who benched for 6 months and did 110kg 1 rep still beats me while i never managed to get there. 105kg for 2 was my best and 110 still seems impossible. been training for 4 years now but considering my friend drinks heavily 3-4 times a week and never trained before i can confidently say i got beta genetics! i achieved a lot this way but everyone compares even if its unintentional. comparison truly is the thieve of joy :D