e.skimo
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Are YOU constantly getting mogged by Chads in photos?
Do YOU look at David Laid's physique and get a boner?
Do YOU want to make the best gains possible using science?
Well, you probably will still get mogged but fear not, because I am here to release the BEST gymcel guide on this site. No other guide comes close.
You may have been seeing the upper/lower (UL) and/or full body (FB) split getting popular on fitness social media. Well, I'm here to tell you that unlike most other fitness trends, it's actually for good reason. But here's the catch: you won't actually see any better gains on UL or FB unless you know how to program it right. In this post, I'll be telling you how to actually set up a good upper lower program that will skyrocket your fucking progress in the gym.
Firstly, a couple things to understand (TLDR is below):
Intensity:
According to this study by Brad Schoenfield and some other randoms, training to failure and leaving some reps in reserve cause similar gains.
However, another study that tested the same thing DID find a statistically significant difference.
Now, authors are actually unclear as to why this is. But something that BOTH studies stated was that when using light loads and high reps, going to failure was always necessary to maximise gains, whilst when using heavy loads and low repetitions, they actually found zero significant difference between going to failure and leaving 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR), which leads me to my next point.
Reps, sets and frequency:
Like I said before, training with heavy weights and low reps doesn't actually require you to train to failure, which can be convenient. It also causes less fatigue. I'll explain what fatigue is as well if you're interested, but it's kinda self-explanatory. So my recommendation is to train within the 4-9 rep range for EVERY EXERCISE. NO, you don't have to train in the 8-12 rep range for hypertrophy despite what you may have heard from the retards on social media.
If you don't believe me, think about it like this:
In a set that you take to failure, the 5ish reps are the ones that count to growth. If you're doing a set of 12, 15, 20 fucking reps, you don't actually start stimulating growth until after at least like 7 or 8 reps. These reps did NOTHING but cause more fatigue. So trust me and switch to lower reps. Yes, even on bicep curls, lateral raises and other isolation exercises you retard.
As for the number of sets you should do, commonly referred to as volume even though volume isn't actually only the number of sets you do, you should know this. While you do get more gains with the more sets you do, this relationship ISN'T LINEAR. It's more like logarithmic. For the retards, this means that there are diminishing returns for the number of sets you do and the gains you get out of it. However, the amount of fatigue you accumulate increase significantly with each successive set. Wow! Who would've thought?
This means we need to find a balance between fatigue and the growth stimulus we get out of a set. I personally only do 1-2 sets per movement personally.
READ THIS NEXT BIT. VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT.
None of the things above matter if you don't take this next bit into consideration. And it is that FREQUENCY IS KING when it comes to hypertrophy.
If you're not bothered to read the graph on the left, just look at the BIG red block. That's for training 3 times a times a week. All the other ones achieved WAY LESS gains (almost half). The graph on the right shows that each consecutive set in a session causes WAY LESS gains than the one before. It's a little less than half. This actually means that 8 SETS (yes, 8) is INFERIOR to 1 set twice a week.
TLDR: Low volume, high frequency (training every muscle 2x or 3x a week) is king for gainz.
Exercise selection:
The exercises you choose DOES actually have an effect on the gains you make. You may have heard Jeff Nippard says that machines and freeweights cause the same amount of growth. This actually ISN'T TRUE. Why? Well Jeff Nippard is a RETARD, that's why. I could go into detail about why he's wrong but I'll save you the hassle.
Choose STABLE exercises that allow you to take the target muscle to failure or close to it. STABILITY WILL ALWAYS BE KING when it comes to choosing an exercise, meaning that a machine chest press is better than a barbell benchpress. It doesn't make you a fucking pussy when your chest is bigger than the guy benching 315.
If you're questioning my statement of stability being king, go try do a set of overhead press while jumping on a trampoline, and get back to me.
You should also consider the resistance profile of the exercise, but this is less important. I'll cover it in a part two if you guys really want.
TLDR: Machines > Freeweights, stability is king.
Progressive overload:
You may think you understand progressive overload already but I'm willing to bet you're actually using and applying it wrong. So what is it? Put simply, progressive overload is essentially feedback that our program is working. Let's say in week 1 you managed to bench 100kg for 8 reps and then in week 2, you managed it for 9 reps. This is progressive overload. Alternatively, if you managed to get 105kg for 8 reps, this is also progressive overload. What ISN'T progressive overload is:
- Adding an extra set
- Doing your repetitions slower on purpose to make it "harder". This is NOT PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
- Improving technique
Now get this:
If you gained muscle, you HAD to have progressively overloaded. There IS NO WAY YOU CAN GAIN MUSCLE AND NOT ALSO GAIN STRENGTH.
This doesn't mean that if you gained strength, you grew muscle. This is because strength gains can actually be caused by other factors that aren't muscle gain. Sounds confusing I know, but I'm sure you'll figure it out.
I recommend aiming to progress in reps between the 4-9 rep range. So find a weight you can do for 4 reps than get up to 9 reps, then increase the weight and repeat.
No TLDR for this section please just read it you lazy fuck.
Fatigue
Now, above I was kinda just throwing the word fatigue around, but what is it actually? Well let's take a look at what the literature says.
Now by now, I know you're probably thinking what should i do then, you fucking retard?!
I haven't covered everything I know about strength training, because otherwise this page would be very long, but based off the information above the most "optimal" split you can do that is also easy to program is an upper lower split. This minimizes fatigue while maintaining excellent stimulus on every muscle.
An example upper/lower split can look like:
Upper A:
Do YOU look at David Laid's physique and get a boner?
Do YOU want to make the best gains possible using science?
Well, you probably will still get mogged but fear not, because I am here to release the BEST gymcel guide on this site. No other guide comes close.
You may have been seeing the upper/lower (UL) and/or full body (FB) split getting popular on fitness social media. Well, I'm here to tell you that unlike most other fitness trends, it's actually for good reason. But here's the catch: you won't actually see any better gains on UL or FB unless you know how to program it right. In this post, I'll be telling you how to actually set up a good upper lower program that will skyrocket your fucking progress in the gym.
Firstly, a couple things to understand (TLDR is below):
Intensity:
According to this study by Brad Schoenfield and some other randoms, training to failure and leaving some reps in reserve cause similar gains.
However, another study that tested the same thing DID find a statistically significant difference.
Now, authors are actually unclear as to why this is. But something that BOTH studies stated was that when using light loads and high reps, going to failure was always necessary to maximise gains, whilst when using heavy loads and low repetitions, they actually found zero significant difference between going to failure and leaving 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR), which leads me to my next point.
Reps, sets and frequency:
Like I said before, training with heavy weights and low reps doesn't actually require you to train to failure, which can be convenient. It also causes less fatigue. I'll explain what fatigue is as well if you're interested, but it's kinda self-explanatory. So my recommendation is to train within the 4-9 rep range for EVERY EXERCISE. NO, you don't have to train in the 8-12 rep range for hypertrophy despite what you may have heard from the retards on social media.
If you don't believe me, think about it like this:
In a set that you take to failure, the 5ish reps are the ones that count to growth. If you're doing a set of 12, 15, 20 fucking reps, you don't actually start stimulating growth until after at least like 7 or 8 reps. These reps did NOTHING but cause more fatigue. So trust me and switch to lower reps. Yes, even on bicep curls, lateral raises and other isolation exercises you retard.
As for the number of sets you should do, commonly referred to as volume even though volume isn't actually only the number of sets you do, you should know this. While you do get more gains with the more sets you do, this relationship ISN'T LINEAR. It's more like logarithmic. For the retards, this means that there are diminishing returns for the number of sets you do and the gains you get out of it. However, the amount of fatigue you accumulate increase significantly with each successive set. Wow! Who would've thought?
This means we need to find a balance between fatigue and the growth stimulus we get out of a set. I personally only do 1-2 sets per movement personally.
READ THIS NEXT BIT. VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT.
None of the things above matter if you don't take this next bit into consideration. And it is that FREQUENCY IS KING when it comes to hypertrophy.
If you're not bothered to read the graph on the left, just look at the BIG red block. That's for training 3 times a times a week. All the other ones achieved WAY LESS gains (almost half). The graph on the right shows that each consecutive set in a session causes WAY LESS gains than the one before. It's a little less than half. This actually means that 8 SETS (yes, 8) is INFERIOR to 1 set twice a week.
TLDR: Low volume, high frequency (training every muscle 2x or 3x a week) is king for gainz.
Exercise selection:
The exercises you choose DOES actually have an effect on the gains you make. You may have heard Jeff Nippard says that machines and freeweights cause the same amount of growth. This actually ISN'T TRUE. Why? Well Jeff Nippard is a RETARD, that's why. I could go into detail about why he's wrong but I'll save you the hassle.
Choose STABLE exercises that allow you to take the target muscle to failure or close to it. STABILITY WILL ALWAYS BE KING when it comes to choosing an exercise, meaning that a machine chest press is better than a barbell benchpress. It doesn't make you a fucking pussy when your chest is bigger than the guy benching 315.
If you're questioning my statement of stability being king, go try do a set of overhead press while jumping on a trampoline, and get back to me.
You should also consider the resistance profile of the exercise, but this is less important. I'll cover it in a part two if you guys really want.
TLDR: Machines > Freeweights, stability is king.
Progressive overload:
You may think you understand progressive overload already but I'm willing to bet you're actually using and applying it wrong. So what is it? Put simply, progressive overload is essentially feedback that our program is working. Let's say in week 1 you managed to bench 100kg for 8 reps and then in week 2, you managed it for 9 reps. This is progressive overload. Alternatively, if you managed to get 105kg for 8 reps, this is also progressive overload. What ISN'T progressive overload is:
- Adding an extra set
- Doing your repetitions slower on purpose to make it "harder". This is NOT PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
- Improving technique
Now get this:
If you gained muscle, you HAD to have progressively overloaded. There IS NO WAY YOU CAN GAIN MUSCLE AND NOT ALSO GAIN STRENGTH.
This doesn't mean that if you gained strength, you grew muscle. This is because strength gains can actually be caused by other factors that aren't muscle gain. Sounds confusing I know, but I'm sure you'll figure it out.
I recommend aiming to progress in reps between the 4-9 rep range. So find a weight you can do for 4 reps than get up to 9 reps, then increase the weight and repeat.
No TLDR for this section please just read it you lazy fuck.
Fatigue
Now, above I was kinda just throwing the word fatigue around, but what is it actually? Well let's take a look at what the literature says.
Now by now, I know you're probably thinking what should i do then, you fucking retard?!
I haven't covered everything I know about strength training, because otherwise this page would be very long, but based off the information above the most "optimal" split you can do that is also easy to program is an upper lower split. This minimizes fatigue while maintaining excellent stimulus on every muscle.
An example upper/lower split can look like:
Upper A:
