Switch hands now and again?
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I’ve made much better progress and enjoyed my time in the gym much more when I started lifting by myself vs lifting with jacked friends. Experimenting with, and incorporating advice from articles, forums posts, and training logs has been transformational for me.
I’m kinda glad I had to learn these things though, so I don’t know if I wish I knew them when I started… but in no particular order:
-Focus on compound lifts for 2 years before worrying about any isolation work
-Don’t be afraid of barbells because you’re weak.
-Deadlift
-Loaded Carries
-Training is a journey and not a short term fix
-Know what you eat and make improvements based on research and experimentation
-Crazy prework sups with a gazillioni mg’s of caffine and N.O. are lame. A cup of coffee and a nice little breakfast are just fine.
-Cardio is important but it takes time to figure out what works best for you
-Don’t freak out if life gets in the way of diet and training for a little while but keep at it.
-Being stronger and healthier will benefit your life in ways you can’t even imagine
edit: These are to myself, these may not apply to everyone 
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I agree with all those points! Especially the loaded carries and not freaking out if life gets in the way because it will!
Another thing I wish I would have known is you can definitely get strong lifting 2x a week. So many weeks I blew it because I didn’t think it was possible.
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I’ve heard that makes you gay tho??
Hey flip,
So since you use the same weights, do you do the same sets and reps then and avoid failure on movements like bicep curls and triceps extensions? Like would you go in and just think “I’m gonna get 50 reps” and then do like 5x10 with a weight you know you can get 5x10 with? Or would you just pick a weight and do as many sets to failure as necessary to get to 50 reps?
I’ve asked similar questions to people (and you I think) over the years but what you and others are saying still just does not make sense to me yet it clearly works. I can’t for the life of me wrap my head around how doing something like 5x10 with 20 lbs squeezing super hard and MMC for months/years on end would result in progress. If I can do 5x10 with 20lbs (as an example) today already while getting a good MMC, how does that lead to growth to keep doing it every week and month? Clearly I’m misinterpreting something you guys are saying and I’m still trying to figure out what.
You’re not misinterpreting what I’m saying. You’re just guessing wrong at the results. Just because ‘you can’t imagine it working’ doesn’t mean it isn’t true. You simply don’t understand how arm growth actually works. Again, the bulk of the stimulus comes from the major compound movements. The direct arm work is simply for added volume. It is not meant to even be particularly taxing. I don’t generally go to failure. The first, say, 12 reps may not do anything, then maybe reps 13-17 burn, and then maybe I’ll stop. I don’t get bogged down in the details. I’ll do 3-5 sets, until I just feel done. You and duke are just putting WAY too much stock in how things feel. The key that you’re missing is that your biceps will grow, even if they don’t hurt the next day, and even when you don’t go to failure, ever. Go to failure on rows or pullups. Don’t do it on curls. TRUST THE PROCESS.
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I told you man, I really don’t think most beginners will be able to grasp this yet. I totally agree with you on what you wrote about light weights(I use the 30s-40s for curls myself nowadays but I can probably use the 60s if I need to impress some Emma Stone lookalike in yoga pants) but I’m very sure most of them will just going to be going through the motions and using very high reps to be able to get sufficient stimulation and a pump.
On the other hand, I really want to see if it’s possible to teach this to them at this stage. It will save a lot of joints in the long run.
Do you know how to REALLY FLEX your biceps?
^Try the flex behind the head thing. Remember that feeling. When you do a curl, do not think about moving the weight. Think about flexing the bicep. You will probably only be able to lift half of what you are using if you do it right.
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Is this a joke? You’re literally half as strong as me, at best. Your self-image is baffling to me. I’m a competitive strongman. You don’t think I have good bicep strength?
I’m going to rephrase this in a way you might understand, by relating my own experience as a young lifter.
When I was a teen and in my early 20’s, I saw the biggest guys in the gym curling 20-25 lbs dumbbells, and I thought they were idiots. I was half their size, and I could curl 35-40 lbs dumbbells! I thought they were either lazy, stupid, or just taking so much steroids that it didn’t matter what they do. I thought to myself, ‘man, if they’d start curling heavier weights, they’d REALLY see progress!’ You know, kind of the way you seem to be thinking now.
But then I grew up. I gained experience in the gym. And now, I get to see guys like you in the gym curling heavier than me, wondering why I’m working with such light weights, while I keep seeing great results and they stay small. If I wanted to, I bet I could curl 60 lbs dumbbells, maybe more, for a set of 10. And it would produce a pump. And I would be sore the next day. And it would hinder my growth, because that is not a good way to train biceps. I would seriously be better served by lifting 15 lbs dumbbells for sets of 25 than lifting 60 lbs dumbbells for any rep range.
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Yeh I agree testing your 1RM every so often is useful. I should’ve worded differently - It was fine to test my 1RM, but when i got a huge PR I took my new TM off the new PR and my progress stopped. I should have listened to the old saying ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. I guess you could say i forgot one of the principles of 5/3/1 - to stay light and progress will come. I guess also since I’ve never competed I haven’t hit a proper PR, just a gym PR.
I was pretty good with pull-ups in my younger years. At 140lbs I could strap a 45lb plate on and bang out 12 reps with a wide overhand grip and touch my upper chest
Somehow I too suck at pull-ups now tho. Maybe we both need train them more to get better at them. ALOT of people struggle with chins and pull-ups
meh. a pr is a pr. if you lifted it, it’s not essential that it was on a stage or whatever. especially as far as training is concerned.
but thanks for the clarification.
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Think of it like this-
Workout tile abc:
X sets of Y pullups
A sets of B deadlifts @ whatever
C sets of D barbell rows @ what ever
E sets of F dumbell rows @ what ever
Finish with 3 sets of 12 dumbell bicep curls at 25 lbs ea. ← you’ll feel that.
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It’s not very helpful, but I’ve done a tonne of dumb shit in the gym and learned from every bit of it. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Outside the gym I do wish I’d grown up playing sports. Strength and size seem so much easier to gain than coordination and overall athleticism. I know @T3hPwnisher talks about the value of this, and I think it would have benefitted me a tonne.
But otherwise, I’m quite happy with all the mistakes I’ve made.
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Interesting point and a bit of an eye opener for me.
When I was in my late teens I could easily curl 45lb Dumbbells with good form. Oddly enough my arms are bigger now and 25lbs or even 30lb Dumbbells feel heavy to me. Not that I dialled back on purpose or anything.
You have me committed to rethink my arm training
Interestingly enough I’ve already applied this type of theory to my calf training and already seeing results in a short period of time with lighter weight, more frequency and volume. Everyone else at my gym is on the standing calf raise machine doing partial reps with a ton of weight and giving it like they’re having sex for the first time
Squeak, squeak, squeak…
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Thanks man this helps alot. I always thought i had to work them so much to feel them sore the next day.
. I dont even think im as close to being as strong as you. Im just not advanced enough to make a super light weight do anything yet
Will do! Cheers.
8kg for db curls at your current strength levels is not super light weight for you. That is almost a third of what you are benching. If you are finding it too easy, you are not doing the exercise right.
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Don’t use the RPE scale. Use the no. of reps in the tank left for measure (as a proportion of total no. of reps that can be lifted).
Squatting 100 for 3 and you find it easy but no strength left for 4 VS 100 curls at a very high rpe but with 10 more reps in the tank would be similar in terms of difficulty I think.
Flipcollar stated that he uses weights that i use for curling . So I was saying anything lighter then 8 kilo is to light for me to get anything out of. Me being not advanced enough i was meaning im (obviously) not even close to flipcollars level and i cant make use of a curl in the way flipcollar can.