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science-based lifting is when you base
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your workouts around what the science
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says is best for muscle growth it's a
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relatively new style of training the
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opposite of the more old school Shut Up
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and lift approach science based lifters
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do optimized exercises track their
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weights and instead of always pushing
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their muscles as hard as possible they
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push themselves in a more controlled way
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hard enough to maximize the muscle
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stimulus but not so hard that you create
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too much fatigue this is basically how
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I've trained for the last 10 years but
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this style of training is clearly under
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attack the big channels now are all
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about the science based I'm really tired
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of the whole science-based training
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movement I don't think science Bas
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lifting is good and I don't think it's a
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good idea I'll be honest I find these
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criticisms a little frustrating but not
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for the reasons that you might think you
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see when you search science-based
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workout on YouTube I'm the first result
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if you search optimal training on Tik
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Tok it's me again so you might think
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these critiques frustrate me because an
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attack on science-based lifting is
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basically an attack on me but that's not
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why the real reason that I find these
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critiques frustrating is is that they're
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not entirely wrong I actually agree with
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some of the critiques about
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science-based lifting so in this video I
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want to set the record straight I'm
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going to show you all the things
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everyone thinks are science-based that I
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actually disagree with and then I'm
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going to show you the few things that
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are truly science-based and that I do
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agree with and by the end of the video
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you'll know exactly which aspects of
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science-based lifting you need to pay
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attention to and which aspects you can
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ignore all right let's start with the
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most popular science-based lifting
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advice that slow negatives are better
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for muscle growth anytime I hear anyone
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talk about science-based lifting the
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first thing I hear is that you need to
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slow down the negative that part of the
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lift where you're lowering the weight
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back down but do slow negatives actually
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build more muscle well let's see this
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study had people train their biceps with
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preacher curls for 7 weeks one group did
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a normal 1second negative the other
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group did a slow 4C negative after 7
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weeks both groups grew the same amount
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of muscle this study had people do
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squats with either a two second negative
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or a slow 4C negative both groups grew
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the same amount of muscle and this study
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had people do leg extensions one leg at
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a time one leg used a normal 1second
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negative the other leg used a slow 3se
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second negative both legs threw the same
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that's three studies showing that a
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normal 1 to2 second negative works just
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as well as a slower 3 to 4 second
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negative now some of you may object that
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Mike isrel preaches slow negatives and
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he's an
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expert slow slow slow slow and yes Mike
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is an expert and I value his opinion so
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I wanted to give him a call and ask him
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why so Mike uh based on the workouts
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we've had together I've gathered that
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you like to use slower negatives could
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you explain your rationale behind that
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yeah that's a great question there are a
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few layers of rationale it's a little
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bit nuanced and so sometimes I think I
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get understandably kind of interpreted
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by other people as like just cart blanch
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advocating slow negatives a lot of
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people will assume that I think there's
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a direct hypertrophy benefit to them and
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I don't think that but there are some
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good reasons to use a slower negative I
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can tell you like okay slowing down your
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negative doesn't directly cause any more
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muscle growth but it's substantially
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safer all of a sudden it's like okay so
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there's no downside really but there's
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an upside of safety like okay that
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sounds pretty cool that sounds like an
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interesting thing to really think about
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the other thing is a lot of people have
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trouble with a mind muscle connection
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they can't feel their pecs working their
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biceps working whatever their muscle the
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group they're doing it's a it's a
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situation and the mind muscle connection
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does not produce these crazy differences
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in hypertrophy but in some individuals
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it can produce substantial differences
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small but notable ones and that can help
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just out of curiosity like in your own
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training how long would you say each
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negative takes you on average 2 seconds
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maybe one to two seconds really okay
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that's not that slow though well yeah
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it's not it's just enough to control the
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load and enough for me to feel pretty
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safe okay perfect okay so we're actually
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there's not as much space between us as
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I as I thought on that um I think in our
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workouts you've probably instructed me
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to slow down because I'm I'm I am new to
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a lot of the techniques that you guys
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use so I think those are great reasons
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to use slower negatives and Mike and I
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are actually more alike on this than I
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realized even though slowing down the
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negative can help you lock in your
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Technique better for sure I think we
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both agree that controlling the negative
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is the most important thing it doesn't
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necessarily need to be super slow this
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year I was an author on a scientific
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review of optimal lifting technique and
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we found that as long as each rep lasts
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2 to 8 seconds in total you're good so
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here's what you need to know if your
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negatives last less than 1 second
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they're too fast you should slow them
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down and control the weight better if
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your negatives last 1 to 7 seconds or so
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you're in The Sweet Spot in this Zone I
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think it's up to your personal
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preference how slow you go but if your
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negatives last 8 seconds or longer
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they're probably too slow and you'd be
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better off speeding them up a bit so I'm
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not quitting on slow negatives
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altogether but I am quitting the idea
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that you need to go really slow to
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maximize hypertrophy another very
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popular science-based Trend involves
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technique tips and tweaks the idea here
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is that you modify exercises in a
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specific science-based way and you'll
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build more muscle I use some of these
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little tips and tweaks myself like
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setting the seat back on leg extensions
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staying in the stretched half on calf
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raises and raising the cable height on
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lateral raises but it goes well beyond
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that you cannot open social media
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without being flooded with a new spin on
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a common exercise so the question is are
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these tips and tweaks actually
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science-based and how much of a
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difference do they actually make well I
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think it depends on the specific tip in
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question some of these tips do work and
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are based on some direct peer-reviewed
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evidence some of them might work but are
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based on more indirect evidence and some
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probably don't work at all or at least
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aren't based on any science so to make
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this as clear as possible I made this
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table I took every queue I could find on
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social social media and put them into
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one of three categories cues that work
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and are based on science cues that might
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work and are based on indirect science
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and cues that probably don't work or at
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least don't have any science behind them
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I included the scientific reference for
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cues that have one and I'll highlight
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all the cues that I actually do myself
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in blue so you can pause and screenshot
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if you want to read but the reality is
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all of these tips and tweaks every one
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of them even the science-based ones will
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have a relatively minor impact on your
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gains and none of these tips and tweaks
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are as important as simply pushing
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yourself hard and doing enough volume
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but that's just the tip of the iceberg
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because it's not just tips and tweaks
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that people associate with science-based
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lifting science-based lifting has become
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synonymous with perfect technique in
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general let me prove that to you which
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of these two techniques looks more
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science-based to you I'm doing perfect
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strict technique on the left and Sam is
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doing loose cheating technique on the
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right most people would say that my
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technique is more science-based but why
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as of now there's never been a study
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comparing strict technique to loose
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technique future science could show that
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loose cheat reps actually cause more
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growth than perfect strict reps we don't
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know and until that study comes out it'd
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be misleading to say that perfect strict
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form is more science-based luckily we
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won't have to wait very long for that
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study because I'm helping run it now at
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Leman College in New York now of course
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when you do any exercise there are a few
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basic technique guidelines that you
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should follow so you can do the exercise
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safely and effectively for example on a
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squat you don't want to fall backward or
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fall forward so you should try to keep
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the bar in line with the middle of your
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foot you should try to keep a relatively
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neutral spine although a little buttwink
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at the bottom isn't worth freaking out
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about and you should get as deep as you
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comfortably can because squatting deep
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does seem to cause more quad growth and
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glute growth but the exact angle you
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point your toes in the specific stance
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width you take and whether you put your
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thumb on top or bottom will in all
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likelihood have a very small impact on
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your gains these things can help you
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feel more comfortable with the lift but
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the reality is if you're in the gym
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squatting with a High effort each week
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your legs are going to grow the same
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goes for the lap pull down many science
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based lifters think that if they just
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take the perfect grip width and point
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their elbows in exactly the right
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direction they're going to unlock a
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whole new level of gence probably not
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grab the bar lock yourself into the seat
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pull the bar down to your chest control
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the weight on the way up and push the
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set hard if you do that your back is
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going to grow and technique refinements
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beyond that are ultimately just guesses
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I personally don't have a problem with
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people making those guesses especially
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if they're educated guesses there's
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nothing wrong with telling someone to
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take a closer grip to Target their lats
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from a different angle or to lean back a
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bit more to Target the midback but if
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we're being real pretty much all of
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training technique is so much more of an
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art than it is a science at least for
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now but coaching should be a blend of
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Science and experience so that's okay
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but there's an element of perfect
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technique that isn't okay and it's this
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unrealistic expectation that there
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should never be any change in your
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Technique from your first rep to your
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last rep let's say on rep one you get
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the bar all the way down to your chest
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by the time you get to rep 10 you can't
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quite get the bar all the way down it's
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about 1 in away that means rep 10 looks
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a little different from rep 1 so as a
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science-based lifter you end the set
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there but if you do that you're leaving
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quite a few reps in the tank in my
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opinion just because the range of motion
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was one in less doesn't mean you need to
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terminate the set that's why I love Sam
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solic style of lap pull Downs where he
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keeps going even after he can't complete
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a full rep when you're pushing really
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hard some of your reps might look a
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little ugly in my book that's totally
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fine but I do think you should still
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keep your form somewhat consistent from
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week to week for tracking progress if
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your Technique gets sloppier and
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sloppier over time you'll still make
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gains but you're probably not
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progressing the target muscle as much as
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you think now out of everything
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science-based lifting is most famous for
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optimal exercises optimal exercises
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claim to be better for muscle growth
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based on scientific studies but what are
00:09:51
those studies exactly well let's see by
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comparing two very different back
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exercises the half kneeling one arm
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cable appp pull down and the over
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barbell row most people think of the one
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arm Cable app pull down as the more
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science-based exercise and the barbell
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row as the more hardcore exercise maybe
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that's understandable after all in my
00:10:09
back tier list video I put the one arm
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half kneeling lap pull down in s tier
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and the barbell row in B tier and that
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led to reactions like this one that's s
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tier that's s tier on the movement that
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is not s tier that reaction kind of
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makes sense honestly because the way I
00:10:24
ranked these exercises many people
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understandably thought that I think You'
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be build a bigger back with the one arm
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cable pull down than with the barbell
00:10:32
row but I don't think that and I didn't
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think that when I made the tier list
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video if you were forced to do just one
00:10:38
of these exercises for the rest of your
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life I would 100% pick the barbell row
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that's because it's a compound movement
00:10:44
that'll activate all the muses in your
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back by contrast the one arm lat pull
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down will specifically isolate one
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muscle in your back your lats these are
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different tools for different jobs I'd
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pick the barbell row if I was training
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someone limited on time and who needed
00:10:57
to get the most bang for their buck
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especially pick it if they were trying
00:11:00
to get stronger but I'd pick the one arm
00:11:02
lap pull down for someone who's already
00:11:03
hit their basic compound lift and needed
00:11:05
a little extra volume for their lagging
00:11:07
lats that one arm lat pole will add more
00:11:09
lat volume for basically no fatigue it's
00:11:12
perfect for that the reason I put the
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barbell row in B tier is because I think
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there's a better tool for the same job
00:11:18
the deficit penl row does the same job
00:11:20
as the barbell row plus a bigger stretch
00:11:22
and a more standardized range of motion
00:11:24
and a chest supported machine row does
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the same job as the barbell row but with
00:11:28
more stability and less fatigue in
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retrospect I just wasn't clear enough on
00:11:32
what the tiers meant so a lot of people
00:11:34
thought that the S tier exercises were
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the most science-based exercises at
00:11:38
exercises were a little less
00:11:39
science-based and BTR and Below were
00:11:41
basically just Bro Science that's not
00:11:43
true though there's honestly just not
00:11:44
much science on exercise selection at
00:11:46
all it may shock you to learn that
00:11:48
there's never been a single study that
00:11:50
has measured back muscle hypertrophy
00:11:52
directly not one there's just
00:11:54
biomechanics research and EMG studies
00:11:56
and we don't even know if EMG predicts
00:11:58
hypertrophy so my tier list rankings
00:12:00
mainly came from indirect evidence and
00:12:03
personal experience and now having done
00:12:05
the series I think it'd be more accurate
00:12:07
to think of the tier list as going from
00:12:08
slightly more effective to slightly less
00:12:11
effective but you need to realize that
00:12:13
as long as you take any exercise to
00:12:14
failure or close to failure that
00:12:17
exercise will build muscle from there
00:12:19
you can fine-tune Things based on
00:12:20
stretch tension overload and what feels
00:12:22
good but I do think the exact exercises
00:12:25
you pick are less important than simply
00:12:27
training hard and doing enough volume
00:12:30
training hard and doing enough volume is
00:12:32
what hypertrophy science is really all
00:12:34
about I mean just look at all the
00:12:35
hypertrophy studies on training volume
00:12:37
alone and compare that to all the
00:12:39
hypertrophy studies on the optimal bench
00:12:41
angle for PEC
00:12:44
growth so I'm going to go a little
00:12:46
deeper on these two topics training hard
00:12:48
and doing enough volume when it comes to
00:12:50
training hard this is what the science
00:12:52
shows the latest meta analysis took 15
00:12:54
studies pulled them together and
00:12:56
compared the muscle growth from groups
00:12:57
going to failure versus group not going
00:12:59
to failure this graph shows their
00:13:01
overall findings as you can see as you
00:13:03
get closer and closer to failure you do
00:13:05
get more muscle growth but there's a
00:13:07
point where too much failure training
00:13:09
can cause recovery issues I think as
00:13:11
long as you're getting one to three reps
00:13:13
shy of failure you're good but the
00:13:15
problem is if you always leave three
00:13:17
reps in the tank you might accidentally
00:13:19
be leaving five or six reps in the tank
00:13:21
without realizing it that under exertion
00:13:23
will cost you gains so I like to play it
00:13:25
a little safe and get a little closer to
00:13:27
failure than I probably need to they
00:13:29
usually leave one or two reps in the
00:13:30
tank on most sets and then push my last
00:13:32
set all the way to failure assuming it's
00:13:34
an exercise I can fail safely on how
00:13:37
hard you push is your training quality
00:13:39
how many sets you do is your training
00:13:41
quantity you need both quality and
00:13:43
quantity for maximum gains so for
00:13:46
maximum gains how many sets should you
00:13:48
do well in the research this is called
00:13:50
training volume and it's the number of
00:13:52
hard sets you do per muscle per week for
00:13:55
example if you do five sets for your
00:13:57
chest per week you do low volum volume
00:13:59
training if you do 10 sets for your
00:14:01
chest per week you do moderate volume
00:14:03
training and if you do 20 plus sets for
00:14:05
your chest per week you do high volume
00:14:07
training I'd call 30 plus sets per
00:14:09
muscle per week ultra high volume
00:14:11
training luckily we Now understand the
00:14:13
relationship between volume and muscle
00:14:15
growth so much better than ever before a
00:14:18
brand new training volume meta analysis
00:14:20
was just published a few weeks ago with
00:14:22
a ton of super impressive data analysis
00:14:25
across 35 studies they found that doing
00:14:27
more volume did in fact cause more
00:14:30
muscle growth and that was true all the
00:14:32
way up to 42 sets per muscle per week
00:14:35
that's an insanely high borderline in
00:14:38
practically high level of volume and the
00:14:40
gains are diminishing but it's
00:14:41
nonetheless true that the more work you
00:14:43
do the better gains you get at least in
00:14:45
the short term and that's the crucial
00:14:47
caveat with this research it's still
00:14:49
unclear how these different volumes play
00:14:51
out over the long term that's because
00:14:53
most of these studies only last 6 to 10
00:14:55
weeks so for 6 to 10 weeks or so yeah
00:14:59
doing high volume causes more gains but
00:15:01
we don't know for sure if that's true
00:15:03
over time for that reason I think the
00:15:05
volume sweet spot is still in this range
00:15:07
for most people 8 to 20 sets per muscle
00:15:10
per week if you really want to bring up
00:15:12
a lagging body part like your chest for
00:15:14
example you could blast it with super
00:15:16
high volume for a month or two going as
00:15:17
high as 30 sets per week and as long as
00:15:20
you reduce your volume for other body
00:15:21
parts you should recover fine and make
00:15:23
some sweet pet gains but remember if you
00:15:25
don't have all day to train the research
00:15:27
still shows that even just four sets per
00:15:30
muscle per week can get the job done as
00:15:32
long as you push those sets hard and if
00:15:34
you take one message away from this
00:15:35
video I hope is that your training
00:15:37
doesn't need to be perfect to be
00:15:38
effective I know some people in my
00:15:40
audience get paralysis by analysis they
00:15:42
want to figure out every little thing
00:15:43
about training before getting to work I
00:15:45
think it's cool to try to figure out
00:15:46
every little thing I do that myself but
00:15:48
the reality is the best program isn't
00:15:51
always the most optimal one it's the one
00:15:53
you'll actually stick to so it's totally
00:15:55
fine if you drop your strict RP
00:15:57
adherence and do some Feld based sets
00:15:59
every now and then it's also totally
00:16:01
fine if you do some workouts that are
00:16:02
suboptimal on paper but just more fun in
00:16:04
the gym it's cool if you do some sheet
00:16:06
reps at the end of some sets because it
00:16:07
helps you get in the zone none of these
00:16:09
things are in conflict with smart
00:16:11
training because smart training is
00:16:13
mostly about training hard and being
00:16:14
consistent I start my new book the
00:16:16
muscle ladder with a chapter on
00:16:18
sustainability and then there's a big
00:16:20
chapter on mindset these two principles
00:16:22
form the rails of the ladder and then
00:16:24
all the other variables like technique
00:16:25
exercise selection effort and volume
00:16:28
make up the 10 rungs of the ladder it's
00:16:30
a huge hard cover book with super high
00:16:33
quality print full color images and
00:16:35
diagrams plus 20 training programs so
00:16:37
I'll link it in the description box down
00:16:39
below I also want to quickly mention
00:16:40
that my nutrition app macr factor is
00:16:42
doing a massive $100,000 transformation
00:16:45
contest starting January 1st to enter
00:16:48
all you need to do is download macro
00:16:49
factor and enter the contest through the
00:16:51
link below the person with the best
00:16:53
transformation will win $50,000 and then
00:16:55
100 other people will also win a $500
00:16:58
cash prize it's a huge opportunity to
00:17:00
not only transform your Physique in the
00:17:01
new year but also have a pretty good
00:17:03
shot at winning some cash so I'll link
00:17:05
that in the description box as well all
00:17:06
right that's it for this one guys don't
00:17:07
forget to leave me a thumbs up if you
00:17:09
enjoyed the video subscribe if you
00:17:10
haven't already and I'll see you all
00:17:11
here in the next one
