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I Researched BUILDING MUSCLE for 10 Years – Here’s Everything I Learned — Transcript

by Dr. Milo Wolf · 3,884 words · 573 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00I started studying exercise science in
0:022017. It's now been nearly 10 years and
0:05honestly, there's a lot of stuff I've
0:07learned and the field as a whole has
0:08learned about how to build muscle. And
0:10in this video, I'll give you 10 things
0:13exercise science can teach you about how
0:15to build muscle. The first major
0:16discovery in exercise science is that
0:18hard, consistent training beats nearly
0:21anything else when it comes to building
0:23muscle. Now, you might say, "That's not
0:25really a discovery, is it? People have
0:27been knowing about that." But well, you
0:29might be surprised. People have been
0:30arguing about low versus high volume for
0:32decades now. But in exercise science
0:35itself, the consensus is actually pretty
0:37well settled. Going back to nearly a
0:40decade ago now with the show andfeld met
0:42analysis on volume, more volume led to
0:44more growth. But the only data they had
0:47went up to just over 10 sets. So doing
0:50more than 10 sets per muscle per week
0:52led to more hypertrophy than doing fewer
0:54than 10 sets per muscle per week. But
0:57from there the science didn't just stay
0:59stagnant. In fact, a few years later, we
1:01had another meta analysis by Buzzval and
1:03colleagues this time which in this case
1:05compared moderate volumes of 12 to 20
1:07sets to higher volumes of 20 plus sets.
1:10And yet again, although the difference
1:12is only significant for one muscle, for
1:14all muscles doing more than 20 sets per
1:16muscle per week seemed directionally
1:18better. But again, exercise science
1:21didn't stop there. Just a year or two
1:23ago now we got the latest most
1:25comprehensive metanalysis volume yet pal
1:27and colleagues and yet again more volume
1:30led to more growth but this time the
1:31ceiling was pushed even higher 30 to 42
1:34fractional weekly sets led to more
1:36growth than anything lower than that 30
1:39to 42 sets per muscle. So as far as
1:42volume goes consistent hard training
1:45seems to beat less training. But notice
1:47I didn't just say train a lot
1:49consistently. I said train hard. And
1:51that's the second part of the major
1:53discovery. Training closer to failure is
1:55better for hypertrophy. Not by that
1:57much, but it is better. Let me explain.
2:00People often debate whether you should
2:01keep two reps in reserve or RA training
2:04or whether you should go to failure. And
2:06for a long time, even the science on the
2:07topic was somewhat murky with some older
2:09met analyses finding that both were
2:11similarly effective for growth. However,
2:13more recently, the most recent metal on
2:15the topic by Robinson colleagues when
2:17looking at the topic in a more
2:18continuous fashion, namely trying to
2:20answer how many reps away from failure
2:23should I train or should I go all the
2:24way to failure and thinking of that in a
2:26more continuous fashion. They found the
2:28closer a set is taken to failure, the
2:30more growth it causes. So, yes, harder
2:32train leads to more growth. However, the
2:35difference between say going to two reps
2:37in the tank and failure is actually
2:39relatively modest. So you really want to
2:41make sure you're close to failure. And
2:42yes, going to failure beyond failure
2:44will cause more growth, but it's really
2:46dose dependent. As long as you're close
2:47to failure, it's not going to be a huge
2:49difference. But for people who don't
2:50have much time to train, yes, training
2:52hard in the gym is a great way to get
2:53more stimulus. Number two, higher
2:56training frequencies are better, but not
2:58by much. Let me explain. Only a few
3:01years ago online and even today, matter
3:03of fact, you find countless debates
3:05about body part splits or upper or lower
3:08or full body every other day. But the
3:11truth is in exercise science, we found
3:13that frequency doesn't impact muscle
3:15growth that much. There is an exception
3:17though. For one, the most recent
3:19comprehensive analysis on the topic by
3:21Pel and colleagues did find a 91.3%
3:24probability that higher frequencies lead
3:27to more muscle growth, but the
3:28difference is relatively modest. And in
3:31addition, there are diminishing returns,
3:33meaning the higher you push frequency,
3:35the less of a benefit you get. So, you
3:37could genuinely argue that going past
3:38twice or three times a week isn't really
3:41worthwhile. That means a wide variety of
3:43training routines like upper or lower as
3:45long as you train four days a week, push
3:46pull legs, full body, they can all work
3:48just about as well as the next routine.
3:50However, there is one exception.
3:52Training frequency matters mostly as a
3:54distributor of volume. Meaning that if
3:57you're doing high training volumes,
3:58that's when you likely want higher
4:00frequencies to better spread out the
4:02volume across the week. A meta analysis
4:04by Remmer and colleagues looked at
4:05exactly this topic. Is doing too much
4:07per session volume actually beneficial
4:10for growth? Is there a point of
4:11diminishing returns or where you get no
4:13additional benefit from doing so much in
4:15a single session? And indeed, going past
4:1711 sets per workout per muscle, seem to
4:21not lead to any further growth. That
4:23suggests that if you're doing a ton of
4:25volume, but only in one or two sessions
4:26a week, you're probably not going to
4:28grow as much as you can. So, if you're
4:30doing higher volumes, higher frequencies
4:32are likely beneficial. But frequency in
4:34general doesn't play as large of a role
4:36as volume or proximity to failure.
4:39consistently training a lot and hard.
4:41Number three, recovery really isn't that
4:43complicated. Although you might see
4:45proathletes do a bunch of different
4:47complicated, expensive recovery
4:50routines, the truth is when it comes to
4:52lifting, recovery is actually really
4:53easy to assess. Simply put, is your
4:56performance in the gym this week as good
4:58or better than it was last week? If so,
5:01by definition, recovery has occurred.
5:04And in fact, you might even have
5:05adapted, gotten stronger. But the
5:07easiest way to tell that is actually
5:09surprisingly simple. Just look at your
5:11performance in the gym. How much did you
5:13bench this week versus last week? And
5:15when it comes to recovery itself, how do
5:17you improve your recovery? The truth is
5:19that the core fundamentals really make
5:21up the vast majority of what recovery
5:23is. That's good sleep. Ideally, sleep as
5:26much as your schedule allows for.
5:28Ideally, you wouldn't even wake up with
5:30an alarm clock if you can have that uh
5:32luxury, so to speak. But at least 7 to 8
5:35hours a night is probably good. Stress,
5:37manage it if you can. Although that
5:38device can be a bit difficult.
5:39Obviously, if now for argument sake, you
5:42have a very stressful job and you have
5:44the option to go to a less stressful
5:45job. Picking the less stressful one will
5:48probably make your recovery a little bit
5:49easier. Eat whole foods, plenty of
5:52micronutrients, fiber, etc. Hydrate.
5:55Those are really the fundamentals that
5:57will allow you to recover better. Then
5:58things like a higher protein intake can
6:00probably help with recovery somewhat.
6:01And carbs are slightly important when it
6:03comes to recovery in the gym, but
6:05they're not nearly as important as they
6:06would be for something like endurance
6:08running. So really, when it comes to
6:10assessing whether or not recovery is a
6:12bottleneck or constraint for you and
6:14ensuring you're optimizing your own
6:16personal recovery, they're both actually
6:18pretty simple. Supplements and the like
6:20don't really make much of a difference.
6:21So just focus on those simple things.
6:23And recovery shouldn't really be thought
6:24of much more than that.
6:29>> [groaning]
6:30>> What sort of circus am I doing
6:31right now? Well, I'm actually doing what
6:33might be the most science-based way to
6:36build muscle in the gym is. We have more
6:38research now on the stretch over the
6:40past decade than any other training
6:42variable in the gym. More data than for
6:45training volume, how many sets you do,
6:47more data than how close to failure to
6:49train, more data than what exercises to
6:51do, more data than how to progressively
6:53overload, you name it, any training
6:54variable in the gym for hypertrophy.
6:56There is less research for those than
6:58for the stretch. I'm not going to spoil
7:01the results, but we're conducting a meta
7:03analysis on the topic of the stretch
7:05currently. And simply put, we have 50
7:07studies now looking at the stretch in
7:10some way or another. And broadly
7:12speaking, the more stretched the form of
7:14training is probably the more growth it
7:16causes.
7:18That means three things. One, with your
7:21range of motion, make sure you at least
7:22use a full range of motion. So, no top
7:24end, half partials like on
7:26bench pressing or whatever. Same on the
7:28squat, make sure you at least get a full
7:30range of motion, get the deep stretch on
7:31each rep. Secondly, when it comes to
7:33range of motion, if you can do some
7:35partials, whether that's for the whole
7:36set or just doing partials the bottom
7:38end where the muscle stretched or after
7:41you hit failure at the full range.
7:43Second, tempo. In general, controlling
7:46the rep more as you reach into the full
7:47stretch, pausing briefly in the stretch,
7:49and trying to be explosive out of the
7:51stretch are all going to bias the
7:52stretch position more, which seems to
7:53build more muscle. Importantly, the
7:56research on tempo isn't quite that
7:57direct, but it makes sense
7:58theoretically. And third, and finally,
8:00pick exercises that target the muscle in
8:03the deep stretch. So, actually for the
8:04biceps, for example, get your arm behind
8:06you into full elbow extension. And two,
8:08have a decent amount of tension in that
8:10position. Those exercises are likely
8:12going to build more muscle than the ones
8:14that don't emphasize the stretch as
8:15much. That is really, in my opinion, the
8:18biggest muscle building discovery we've
8:20had in the field in at least a decade.
8:23Number five, it turns out you don't need
8:26to lift like a robot super slowly and
8:30super strictly. A wider range of
8:33techniques and tempos can actually build
8:34muscle likely just as effectively. We
8:37have two studies I want to talk about
8:38here. One is a study we conducted with
8:40Franchescoin leading the effort. So
8:42shout out which looked at the effects of
8:44using strict technique versus cheating
8:47specifically on the bicep curl and the
8:48cable tricep push down. With one arm
8:51participants were instructed to actually
8:52use body English to complete the
8:54repetition. With the other arm they were
8:56instrued to keep it as strict as
8:57possible. By the end of the study both
9:00arms grew similarly whether using a more
9:02cheating technique or a stricter
9:03technique. The second study I want to
9:04mention is actually a met analysis we
9:06conducted on the effects of lifting
9:07tempo on hypertrophy. In this case
9:11across all studies available looking at
9:13different tempos for for example the
9:14lifting portion. So going really fast on
9:15the way up or actually going slowly up
9:17and same with the lowering phase with
9:19the eccentric going slower versus going
9:21really fast. It turns out that how slow
9:23or fast you go doesn't really matter for
9:25growth. In fact contrary to what many
9:27people think that you need to be really
9:28controlled to build muscle like a lot of
9:30bodybuilders back in the day. If
9:33anything, going a bit faster on both the
9:35way up and the way down seemed
9:36potentially a bit more effective for
9:38hypertrophy. In my opinion, that might
9:40be because of the stretch, the last
9:41point we discussed where going faster on
9:43the way up usually means you're trying
9:45to accelerate as hard as possible even
9:47out of the stretch position. And
9:48likewise, when it comes to doing a fast
9:50eentric, most people will still kind of
9:52like catch the eentric than the bottom
9:54for fear of injury or because it's
9:55simply a relatively stretched position
9:57that can feel a bit daunting for some
9:59people. Regardless, it doesn't seem like
10:01either lifting tempo or how strict you
10:04are really matter that much for growth,
10:06and you certainly don't need to be a
10:08robot. So, yet again, exercise science
10:10taught us something. Point number six,
10:12longer rest times may make the workout
10:14feel easier, but they likely don't build
10:17more muscle. Now, over the past few
10:19decades, thinking all this has kind of
10:21gone back and forth. If you go back to
10:22the early 2000s, people would take short
10:24rest times for building muscle between
10:26sets because it elevated things like
10:28testosterone or growth hormone. Now, in
10:30reality, as we found out a few years
10:32later, those elevations don't last long
10:34enough and aren't large enough to really
10:36cause any difference in hypertrophy. So,
10:37then the thinking kind of flipped and
10:39people were all of a sudden doing really
10:41long rest times to maximize performance.
10:43And that's kind of where the thinking
10:44got stuck in my opinion because it turns
10:46out from the research side of things,
10:48longer rest times don't actually build
10:50more muscle even though they allow you
10:52to lift more weight typically per set.
10:55Specifically, we conducted a meta
10:57analysis on the topic of rest times for
10:58hypertrophy. And across nine studies,
11:00the best hypertrophy was actually seen
11:03with one to two minutes of rest between
11:05sets. Less than 1 minute between sets
11:07did compromise hypertrophy, but going
11:09higher than 2 minutes between sets
11:11didn't lead to any additional
11:12hypertrophy. So although resting for
11:14like 5 minutes between sets of squats
11:16does make it feel a lot more manageable.
11:17You can go into the next set feeling
11:19recovered and all it probably doesn't
11:21increase growth. And that's kind of a
11:23disconnect between how well you perform
11:24and how much muscle you build. So
11:26summarizing long rest times feel nicer
11:29but don't probably build more muscle.
11:31Number seven, almost any rep range can
11:33actually build muscle. And in fact
11:35almost any rep range is nearly
11:37equivalent when it comes to how much
11:38muscle you build. If you go back to the
11:40early 2000s and early 2010s, I would say
11:42many programs still really focused on
11:44that 8 to 12 rep range, the hypertrophy
11:46rep range. But it turns out studies have
11:48consistently shown similar hypertrophy
11:51when training between four reps per set
11:53and all the way to 50 reps per set. So
11:56whether you go light or heavier, you can
11:58build muscle all the same, provided you
12:01go to failure. Now, importantly, if you
12:03go super light like this 2 and a half kg
12:04dumbbell here, you'll find it difficult
12:06to go to failure. You'll do so many reps
12:08that you'll get out of breath, get a lot
12:09of discomfort in the muscle, etc., etc.,
12:11which based on our own research can
12:13actually make it difficult to go close
12:14to failure. However, because one, the 8
12:18to 12 rep range is not the deacto
12:20hypertrophy rep range, you should
12:22probably use more variety, and two,
12:24there might actually be some benefits to
12:26using more variety than just that 8 to
12:2812 rep range. Let me explain. One,
12:31certain exercises just kind of feel
12:32better with different rep ranges. Fine.
12:34But two, more importantly, some recent
12:36research actually suggests that lower
12:38reps might work better slightly for
12:41faster twitch muscle fibers, so type two
12:42muscle fibers, whereas higher reps work
12:44better for slow twitch muscle fibers, so
12:46type one muscle fibers. Mixing rep
12:48ranges, doing most of your work in that
12:50kind of like 4 to 12 rep range where
12:52it's easy to push close to failure, and
12:54some of your work in that higher rep
12:55range to target more slow twitch muscle
12:57fibers might be best. But at the very
12:59least, one thing we've learned over the
13:01past decade or so of exercise science is
13:04that yes, the 8 to 12 rep range is not
13:06the only effective hypertrophy rep
13:07range. It's much broader than that. Four
13:09to roughly 50 reps. And mixing rep
13:12ranges has its own benefits. Number
13:13eight, which exercises you select is
13:16actually largely preference-based. If
13:18you go back a decade or two, you'll see
13:20many lifters advocate for one exercise
13:22super heavily, promising insane results
13:25based on one exercise. Now, don't get me
13:27wrong. There are certain exercises that
13:28are likely better than others. And
13:30there's a few things that we've
13:31discovered might be important when it
13:34comes to building muscle, but the
13:35research on this stuff is actually
13:37surprisingly limited. My own personal
13:39checklist when it comes to selecting
13:40exercises has the following: stretch
13:42emphasis, loadability, stability,
13:45specificity, time efficiency, and
13:47fatigue. Importantly, of those six
13:49criteria, only one or two really have
13:52much evidence. Specifically, like I
13:54mentioned, the stretch emphasis, whether
13:56it puts the toy muscle into a stretch
13:57with plenty of tension, and two,
13:59loadability, making sure you can
14:01actually get between four and 50 reps
14:03per set, are really the only two
14:04criteria we have much evidence for being
14:07important when it comes to building
14:08muscle. Things like stability, we really
14:11don't have much research on.
14:13Specificity, making sure the target
14:15muscles are actually the limiting factor
14:16versus your breathing or other muscles,
14:19is also relatively limited. And then
14:20finally, time efficiency and fatigue are
14:23more so practical considerations.
14:24Believe it or not, we don't have a lot
14:26of research on which exercises are most
14:27fatiguing in the gym. So really what it
14:29comes down to is does it [snorts] make
14:31you feel more fatigued? Because if so,
14:34you won't be able to do as much of it in
14:35likelihood. And likewise, when it comes
14:37to time efficiency, that's not really a
14:39science-based variable as much as it is,
14:41does it generally train the toy muscle
14:43pretty well based on the other factors?
14:44And can you do a lot of sets in not much
14:47time? So really, we don't have that much
14:49hard data on which exercises are best.
14:52We can speculate, but a lot of exercise
14:54selection actually comes down more so to
14:56an educated guess and preference. So if
14:59two exercises perform similarly for you
15:02based on these criteria, but you prefer
15:04one, it is totally fine to pick that one
15:06based on the research. Number nine,
15:08aggressively bulking. The yolo dreamer
15:10bulk, the bulk where you go gain 100
15:12pounds in a few months. Unfortunately,
15:16probably doesn't help you. At my
15:17heaviest, I weighed around 250 pounds
15:19because I really thought that gaining
15:21more weight and gaining weight faster
15:23would be the key to helping me build
15:24muscle. But it turns out I kind of just
15:26got that. And that's what the research
15:28says as well. Although there isn't much
15:30of it, the studies we do have around
15:32four to six studies now seem to show
15:34that bulking faster mostly just makes
15:36you gain more fat and not much more
15:38muscle if any. Now, sure, if you're in a
15:41great condition to be building muscle,
15:43you're a beginner, you're hopping on
15:44steroids, whatever it might be, then
15:46yes, bulking a bit faster can make
15:48sense, but bulking your way to more
15:51muscle growth is usually just going to
15:53make you fat. Keeping it more moderate,
15:55is the better approach. Specifically,
15:57between about half a percent to 1% of
15:59your body weight per month, depending on
16:01how well positioned you are to build
16:03muscle, let's say, is the range I would
16:06default to. So maybe 1% for beginners
16:08and half a percentish for more advanced
16:10lifters. That'll be enough to facilitate
16:12recovery, help you build muscle without
16:15piling all unnecessary fat. Number 10,
16:18hit a high protein intake. It matters
16:20more than you think for hypertrophy. And
16:22importantly, a high protein intake might
16:24not be what you think it is. You might
16:26think 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram
16:29of body weight is enough. Or you might
16:30think a gram per pound is definitely
16:32enough. Might even be overkill. In
16:34reality, the latest research seems to
16:37suggest that even higher protein intakes
16:38are beneficial. Personally, what I would
16:41recommend based on the research we do
16:42have is around 2.35 gram per kilogram
16:46per day for men or more than that. Like
16:482.35 to three is what I would aim for or
16:512.05 to around 2.6 for women.
16:54Specifically, aiming for the higher end
16:56of that range if you're in a calorie
16:57deficit or you just want to make sure
16:59that you're getting whatever is there.
17:01While we thought about a decade ago with
17:03the release of one infamous meta
17:05analysis that gotten over a thousand
17:06citations that 1.6 was all you needed,
17:09it turns out that higher protein intakes
17:10do in fact help. Interestingly enough
17:13though, that's in contrast to how many
17:15people have thought about macronutrients
17:17and if it fits your macros over the past
17:19few decades, where they really focused
17:21on the percentage split between carbs,
17:23fats, and protein. In reality, how many
17:26carbs and fats you have doesn't really
17:27matter, provided calories are equated
17:29and you're hitting the minimums for
17:31those macronutrients. For carbs, that's
17:33likely around 1 g per kilogram per day.
17:36For fats, again, around 1 g per kilogram
17:38for most people, you can go down to 0.5
17:41g per kilogram, but that's mostly in a
17:43calorie deficit. As long as you're
17:44hitting those minimums, having say 40%
17:46of your calories from carbs versus 20%
17:48probably doesn't matter for hypertrophy.
17:50The only thing that matters is likely
17:52total calorie intake and protein intake.
17:55Get those things right and you'll build
17:57muscle. You thought we were done, but
17:59you were wrong. Bonus point 11. The more
18:01exercise science I've learned and in
18:02general, the more exercise science is
18:04advanced in my opinion, the simpler
18:06training gets. Do more sets if you can.
18:08Train harder if you can. Pick stretch
18:10biased exercises. Eat enough calories.
18:12Have plenty of protein. Make sure you
18:14sleep every once in a while. Manage your
18:16stress. And that's mostly it. So really
18:20things are pretty simple and I would say
18:22exercise science is a great tool to make
18:23training simpler rather than more
18:25complicated and more effective and more
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