I agree with a lot of this article. I’ve used Squats, Bench, Weighted Chins, and Deadlifts as the core components of my workouts for years. They are definitely among the most effective exercises for all of your stated goals.
I’m not so sure about your recommendation of 4 repetitions per set as the optimal end point. Conventional wisdom in the weightlifting community is that anything in the 3 rep and below range is not as effective as 5 reps for building strength. (3 primarily works neuromuscular connections, whereas 5 recruits more fast-twitch muscle fibers) Recommending shooting for 4 reps seems like cutting it close and if someone is unable to complete the 4th rep, they will not be working in an optimal rep range to build strength. What do you think about this?
Additionally, people don’t actually work all the way to failure on many exercises and some exercises seem to respond better to slightly higher rep ranges. For example, actually failing on a squat is dangerous unless you know what you’re doing and have your safety bars set up properly. Also, when people get close to failure on squats, they often start lifting with their back in almost a “good morning” motion. When it gets really hard, people will often stop even if they have one or two more in the tank. ( I usually do 5 rep squats for my top set, depending on where I am in my progression) It might be best to recommend a 5 − 8 rep range for squats so that more of the reps are “effective” (full muscle fiber recruitment) to compensate for the fact that most people are not working all the way to failure.
Also, I can’t quite agree with the claim that after this, people will be as informed as most personal trainers. You didn’t really talk about progression strategies, the difference between working up to the point of failure and actually failing on a rep, having a spotter, etc. It seems a bit dangerous to give people that kind of overconfidence.
If buying weightlifting shoes is a blocker for anybody, they’re really only necessary for exercises during which you’re standing. On these lifts, you can simply take your shoes off. I used to wear flat, rigid-sole pumas for lifting which were great, and then five-fingers, but now I squat, dead-lift, and overhead press barefoot (wearing socks of course). If your gym doesn’t yell at you for this and there’s no danger of other people dropping their weights on you, it’s great.
I agree that trying to implement a nutrition plan at the same time is not a good idea from a habit formation standpoint, but you really should point out that people should eat some protein after working out (or at least that day). You need protein to rebuild your muscles after working out. A whey protein shake, a piece of chicken or steak, some eggs, whatever.
The core principles of the article are sound and you make good exercise selection recommendations, but I would like some additional information on some of the recommendations (specifically the 4x4 instead of 3x5 rep recommendation). Also, I’d like to see a simple “eat some protein” recommendation and a simple progression plan. For example, Ripptoe gives “as soon as you can hit 5x5 with a weight, increase it the next session by 5lbs” for the core lifts in Starting Strength.
The review on weight training studies says that as people become trained they need higher intensity to stimulate a response. This is consistent with the experience/recommendations of professional coaches. So newbies are working at 60%, experienced people are working 80-85%, and elite level lifters have more complicated programs, but generally do do lots of 90%+ work. I’m recommending trying to follow this curve optimally, stepping down from 4x10, to 4x8, 4x6, then 4x4 which is going to be solidly in the 80-85% range. Going higher than that is going to require a more complex program than I am prepared to discuss here, as this is about health, not maximum performance after years of training.
It seems a bit dangerous to give people that kind of overconfidence.
My experience is that people are under confident about exercise and this acts as a significant impediment. Considering that the base rate of injury in weightlifting is incredibly low, even though that average includes all the people doing stuff with terrible form, I do not think there is much danger. I should probably mention something about ego in the post though. You’re right that I neglected to mention how to increase weights session to session, I’ll fix that.
you can simply take your shoes off.
I hear this a lot and I strongly disagree. If you’ve never done squats/cleans in a shoe with a proper heel you should really try it and see the huge difference. This doesn’t typically matter for powerlifters since they low bar their squats, but low bar squats use the back which is what I am avoiding by recommending highbar squats.
You need protein to rebuild your muscles after working out.
Americans get sufficient protein to build muscle. No benefit has been recorded above .64g/lb bodyweight, and that’s a max, it’s not like you get no benefits below that. Meal timing likewise doesn’t seem to have much of an effect. The exception is that leucine before bed does seem to make a difference.
Thanks for your response Romeo. I have a few responses and a couple questions I hope you’d answer.
I’m recommending trying to follow this curve optimally, stepping down from 4x10, to 4x8, 4x6, then 4x4 which is going to be solidly in the 80-85% range.
That makes sense. I think I must not be understanding the timescale on which your progression is supposed to take place. It sounded like you were recommending starting at 10 each time and then as soon as you couldn’t do 10, changing it to 8, then when you fail on 8, go to 6, then when you fail on 6, go to 4. For completely untrained individuals, it seems like they would get some benefit from staying around 6 for a bit longer, but that might be my personal experience biasing me. Anecdotally, I’ve gotten much more mileage out of working in the 5 rep range than in 4 and I’m fairly well trained. I seem to plateau much more often when I train at 4 reps and have to drop weight and increase my reps for a few sessions to break it whereas it’s more of a smooth curve when I train at 5.
You’re right that I neglected to mention how to increase weights session to session, I’ll fix that.
Great! That will be helpful and make it more actionable.
If you’ve never done squats/cleans in a shoe with a proper heel you should really try it and see the huge difference. This doesn’t typically matter for powerlifters since they low bar their squats, but low bar squats use the back which is what I am avoiding by recommending highbar squats.
I never realized there was a difference in optimal shoe between high-bar and low-bar squat. I know shoes can be helpful for cleans and snatches. I’ve always squatted low-bar and I don’t do much olympic lifting. I’ve never had official lifting shoes, though I lifted in puma speedcats for a long time. Would official lifting shoes be better? What benefit would you say you get? I feel completely stable barefoot and don’t have any inward knee movement when I squat barefoot, but that could be because I’ve just built up stabilizers after doing it for a long time. I would expect someone who has always used lifting shoes would feel unstable if they switched without an adjustment period.
Americans get sufficient protein to build muscle. No benefit has been recorded above .64g/lb bodyweight, and that’s a max, it’s not like you get no benefits below that. Meal timing likewise doesn’t seem to have much of an effect. The exception is that leucine before bed does seem to make a difference.
All very true. I wasn’t advocating a large amount of protein, just thinking you should mention it for people who might not get enough like vegetarians or people who just don’t eat much meat. A 165lb person should still have about 100g of protein each day using the .64g/lb bodyweight measure which is actually not trivial for some people.
I really don’t mean to nitpick, I think it’s a great article overall. Just wanted to address a few things that ran counter to what I’ve learned. Thanks for putting this together.
Thanks, and don’t worry, I interpret detailed responses as positive feedback.
whereas it’s more of a smooth curve when I train at 5.
this is interesting and potentially important feedback. Quite a lot of routines based simply on what coaches saw as working seem to revolve around multiple sets of 5. People doing 4 rep routines is a lot less common so we have less data. The comparison is also not directly 5 reps vs 4 reps exactly since most newbie programs start at 5 and I am recommending starting at 10. I wouldn’t hazard guesses for trained people, since they basically require periodization to advance optimally.
Would official lifting shoes be better?
Not for low bar. Shoes allow your shin to attain a greater angle without being limited by ankle dorsiflexion, which opens the hip more.
vegetarians or people who just don’t eat much meat.
true, I use whey powder just to reach the 100g or so I want, so I should probably mention it.
If you’ve never done squats/cleans in a shoe with a proper heel you should really try it and see the huge difference.
I think what’s relevant here are your terminal goals. If they involve lifting heavy barbells in a gym then yes, specialized shoes could help. But if the terminal goals are all in the regular, out-of-gym life (e.g. be able to manhandle heavy things which need to be manhandled) then you don’t want to depend on shoes which you never wear in normal life.
While I am not an unconditional supporter of Crossfit, they have a concept I like a lot—that of nonspecific fitness, the ability to do whatever needs to be done. And outside of gym heavy things to be moved or lifted very rarely look like a barbell and it’s not often that all you have to do is straighten up with them on your back.
Good form is really important, yes, but your ability to perform a movement properly shouldn’t depend on what you are wearing.
Do you think that people squatting big weights with shoes, belts, and kneewraps are unable to manhandle heavy things?
You are absolutely not dependent upon them, they just make you more effective at doing this weird thing we’ve figured out where you put a loaded bar on your spine and sit down. This simulates no natural situation, but we’ve figured out that it has carryover to absolutely everything and trains us in an incredibly time efficient way. Crossfitters wear shoes with heels to squat and do oly lifts btw.
I agree with a lot of this article. I’ve used Squats, Bench, Weighted Chins, and Deadlifts as the core components of my workouts for years. They are definitely among the most effective exercises for all of your stated goals.
I’m not so sure about your recommendation of 4 repetitions per set as the optimal end point. Conventional wisdom in the weightlifting community is that anything in the 3 rep and below range is not as effective as 5 reps for building strength. (3 primarily works neuromuscular connections, whereas 5 recruits more fast-twitch muscle fibers) Recommending shooting for 4 reps seems like cutting it close and if someone is unable to complete the 4th rep, they will not be working in an optimal rep range to build strength. What do you think about this?
Additionally, people don’t actually work all the way to failure on many exercises and some exercises seem to respond better to slightly higher rep ranges. For example, actually failing on a squat is dangerous unless you know what you’re doing and have your safety bars set up properly. Also, when people get close to failure on squats, they often start lifting with their back in almost a “good morning” motion. When it gets really hard, people will often stop even if they have one or two more in the tank. ( I usually do 5 rep squats for my top set, depending on where I am in my progression) It might be best to recommend a 5 − 8 rep range for squats so that more of the reps are “effective” (full muscle fiber recruitment) to compensate for the fact that most people are not working all the way to failure.
Also, I can’t quite agree with the claim that after this, people will be as informed as most personal trainers. You didn’t really talk about progression strategies, the difference between working up to the point of failure and actually failing on a rep, having a spotter, etc. It seems a bit dangerous to give people that kind of overconfidence.
If buying weightlifting shoes is a blocker for anybody, they’re really only necessary for exercises during which you’re standing. On these lifts, you can simply take your shoes off. I used to wear flat, rigid-sole pumas for lifting which were great, and then five-fingers, but now I squat, dead-lift, and overhead press barefoot (wearing socks of course). If your gym doesn’t yell at you for this and there’s no danger of other people dropping their weights on you, it’s great.
I agree that trying to implement a nutrition plan at the same time is not a good idea from a habit formation standpoint, but you really should point out that people should eat some protein after working out (or at least that day). You need protein to rebuild your muscles after working out. A whey protein shake, a piece of chicken or steak, some eggs, whatever.
The core principles of the article are sound and you make good exercise selection recommendations, but I would like some additional information on some of the recommendations (specifically the 4x4 instead of 3x5 rep recommendation). Also, I’d like to see a simple “eat some protein” recommendation and a simple progression plan. For example, Ripptoe gives “as soon as you can hit 5x5 with a weight, increase it the next session by 5lbs” for the core lifts in Starting Strength.
The review on weight training studies says that as people become trained they need higher intensity to stimulate a response. This is consistent with the experience/recommendations of professional coaches. So newbies are working at 60%, experienced people are working 80-85%, and elite level lifters have more complicated programs, but generally do do lots of 90%+ work. I’m recommending trying to follow this curve optimally, stepping down from 4x10, to 4x8, 4x6, then 4x4 which is going to be solidly in the 80-85% range. Going higher than that is going to require a more complex program than I am prepared to discuss here, as this is about health, not maximum performance after years of training.
My experience is that people are under confident about exercise and this acts as a significant impediment. Considering that the base rate of injury in weightlifting is incredibly low, even though that average includes all the people doing stuff with terrible form, I do not think there is much danger. I should probably mention something about ego in the post though. You’re right that I neglected to mention how to increase weights session to session, I’ll fix that.
I hear this a lot and I strongly disagree. If you’ve never done squats/cleans in a shoe with a proper heel you should really try it and see the huge difference. This doesn’t typically matter for powerlifters since they low bar their squats, but low bar squats use the back which is what I am avoiding by recommending highbar squats.
Americans get sufficient protein to build muscle. No benefit has been recorded above .64g/lb bodyweight, and that’s a max, it’s not like you get no benefits below that. Meal timing likewise doesn’t seem to have much of an effect. The exception is that leucine before bed does seem to make a difference.
I appreciate the detailed feedback.
Thanks for your response Romeo. I have a few responses and a couple questions I hope you’d answer.
That makes sense. I think I must not be understanding the timescale on which your progression is supposed to take place. It sounded like you were recommending starting at 10 each time and then as soon as you couldn’t do 10, changing it to 8, then when you fail on 8, go to 6, then when you fail on 6, go to 4. For completely untrained individuals, it seems like they would get some benefit from staying around 6 for a bit longer, but that might be my personal experience biasing me. Anecdotally, I’ve gotten much more mileage out of working in the 5 rep range than in 4 and I’m fairly well trained. I seem to plateau much more often when I train at 4 reps and have to drop weight and increase my reps for a few sessions to break it whereas it’s more of a smooth curve when I train at 5.
Great! That will be helpful and make it more actionable.
I never realized there was a difference in optimal shoe between high-bar and low-bar squat. I know shoes can be helpful for cleans and snatches. I’ve always squatted low-bar and I don’t do much olympic lifting. I’ve never had official lifting shoes, though I lifted in puma speedcats for a long time. Would official lifting shoes be better? What benefit would you say you get? I feel completely stable barefoot and don’t have any inward knee movement when I squat barefoot, but that could be because I’ve just built up stabilizers after doing it for a long time. I would expect someone who has always used lifting shoes would feel unstable if they switched without an adjustment period.
All very true. I wasn’t advocating a large amount of protein, just thinking you should mention it for people who might not get enough like vegetarians or people who just don’t eat much meat. A 165lb person should still have about 100g of protein each day using the .64g/lb bodyweight measure which is actually not trivial for some people.
I really don’t mean to nitpick, I think it’s a great article overall. Just wanted to address a few things that ran counter to what I’ve learned. Thanks for putting this together.
Thanks, and don’t worry, I interpret detailed responses as positive feedback.
this is interesting and potentially important feedback. Quite a lot of routines based simply on what coaches saw as working seem to revolve around multiple sets of 5. People doing 4 rep routines is a lot less common so we have less data. The comparison is also not directly 5 reps vs 4 reps exactly since most newbie programs start at 5 and I am recommending starting at 10. I wouldn’t hazard guesses for trained people, since they basically require periodization to advance optimally.
Not for low bar. Shoes allow your shin to attain a greater angle without being limited by ankle dorsiflexion, which opens the hip more.
true, I use whey powder just to reach the 100g or so I want, so I should probably mention it.
I think what’s relevant here are your terminal goals. If they involve lifting heavy barbells in a gym then yes, specialized shoes could help. But if the terminal goals are all in the regular, out-of-gym life (e.g. be able to manhandle heavy things which need to be manhandled) then you don’t want to depend on shoes which you never wear in normal life.
While I am not an unconditional supporter of Crossfit, they have a concept I like a lot—that of nonspecific fitness, the ability to do whatever needs to be done. And outside of gym heavy things to be moved or lifted very rarely look like a barbell and it’s not often that all you have to do is straighten up with them on your back.
Good form is really important, yes, but your ability to perform a movement properly shouldn’t depend on what you are wearing.
Do you think that people squatting big weights with shoes, belts, and kneewraps are unable to manhandle heavy things?
You are absolutely not dependent upon them, they just make you more effective at doing this weird thing we’ve figured out where you put a loaded bar on your spine and sit down. This simulates no natural situation, but we’ve figured out that it has carryover to absolutely everything and trains us in an incredibly time efficient way. Crossfitters wear shoes with heels to squat and do oly lifts btw.