The truth about making gains as a natural lifter

[@ABC93224]

The truth about left eardrum hypertrophy

[@BasementBodybuilding]

😂😂

[@howjackedcaniget]

I thought that was just my worn-out headphones! I adjusted the plug in the hole and it sounds fine to me now. Strange.

[@JariSatta]

Bytheby, over-ear headphones save your ears, buds don't. If your headset has a Y chord, just put the headset on from behind when training, the cord won't interfere with your lifts when it's behind. (or drumming or guitaring, whatnot ) Sometimes you have to switch to wearing the cord in front, lift-dependent

[@Egg-nigma]

Keeps having it filled with sausage

[@howjackedcaniget]

@@JariSatta I just use my headphones for my PC. I don't listen to music when I lift. It distracts me. Lifting is my meditation.

[@GVS]

My 7th and 8th year of lifting were probably the most productive after my 1st and 2nd as well. People will sometimes use this as evidence of "oh he must be juicing then" but sometimes it really does take a while to figure everything out. Years 3-6 weren't wasted, they just weren't as productive as they could have been.

[@BasementBodybuilding]

You’re a great example of a similar case. The internet can’t comprehend that changing your training for the better actually makes your results better, and your muscles don’t care how many years you’ve been lifting for. Crazy concept!

[@turnippatrol4607]

Learning what NOT to do is very valuable. It eliminates future mistakes

[@HypertrophyByDesign]

I think one of the greatest things to learn from training is how to read yourself accept change and adapt. This also applies to outside the gym. What it takes for you to grow in high school is totally different in college and in careers.

[@shred9475]

U are juicing buddy nice try

[@baileysorrow8125]

Cope ​@@shred9475

[@sph499]

my left ear is enjoying the vid , right ear feels a bit lonely tho

[@BasementBodybuilding]

100% my bad lol I messed up the mic placement

[@yashgupta-jk4xq]

i thought my earphones broke 😅

[@MatteoMarra3]

​Could be mic placement, but I also noticed with these lav mics that it's better to use the mono setting instead of stereo when you're using just a single mic.

[@alexanderbjrny6135]

@@BasementBodybuilding It's not the mic placement. It's because your microphone is only recording to the left stereo channel. Set your camera to mono or export the video in mono to have the same audio played in both left and right channel. For anyone watching on windows search for Mono audio and enable that to have the audio played in both channels. Remember to turn it off again when you're done watching. (Edited for clarification)

[@hypatch8014]

Bruh my right ear has been deaf for the past 2 weeks so I didn't even notice it

[@ps3inquisition441]

Your 18” arms series was a game changer for me. I’ve always had good triceps, but my biceps have blown up after adding preacher curls and those cable curls you do. Year 3 looks like it’s going to be my most productive by far. It’s also great to see that I can still make big gains at 45 years old. It’s never too late to start.

[@spooooky2008]

Got muscle imbalance on my left ear from watching this video boss

[@BasementBodybuilding]

I don’t blame ya. My bad 😂

[@noahpearce4105]

I balanced my ears out by using power tools with only my left ear plugged today. Gotta keep symmetry

[@giannil2498]

Man, the protein talk is spot on, I used to overthink protein intake a ton a while back when I used to do RP style RIR training, the wake up call for me to start training actually hard was when GVS said "if you aren't making progress, it's probably not your protein or your diet in general, it's your training". Haven't hit a major plateau ever since.

[@giannil2498]

Awesome video btw, and you kinda look like Johnny Depp when you're not wearing the hat lol

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Yeah it’s one of the most overrated aspects. There’s no nuance to it, you just do it or you don’t and it’s not hard haha. Training is far more nuanced! Oh and man that’s quite the complement, he’s a good looking guy 😂 I’d need a little more of a tan at least lol

[@dolphin7860]

Jacked Sparrow lol

[@KneeSlice1775]

I’m an advanced natural bodybuilder and “RP style RIR training” is very effective. Train how you wish, but if you don’t work hard enough that’s you, not the program.

[@giannil2498]

@@KneeSlice1775 if it works for you that's great, but it just wasn't for me. And if anything, I was training TOO hard by RP standards back then, since I kept my RIR a good bit lower than I was supposed to. The thing is, deciding the amount of work to do based on the pump and soreness is the real issue with RP training, that had me severely undertrained for months on end.

[@RePaperBag]

2:25 jumpscare in 3..2..1

[@BasementBodybuilding]

😂😂

[@kudbettinkohen1935]

6’4 wingspan and 5’8 height is low key insane genetics for swimming. Big strokes, small deadweight.

[@JasonAizatoZemeckis]

Also striking martial arts, if you know how to use it correctly its really overpowered

[@goreds551]

It's also great if you liked scraped knuckles.

[@brandon.d]

Rock climbing too

[@JoeLeone117]

Elite deadlifting build

[@leonardo9259]

Fr lol

[@jordanbowey1360]

You're built for combat sports my friend. That wing span is insane

[@verablack3137]

pro tip, in the settings app in Windows 10, type in mono into the search field and it will bring up the ease of access setting to switch to mono audio, this will make this video much more enjoyable as it will play the left channel on both sides of your headphones

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Noted, I don’t use windows but I’ll keep the mono audio setting in mind

[@jaku8513]

@@BasementBodybuilding I think he means for viewers, it's a temporary fix for the left only audio.

[@PATRICKMARCUCCI]

This comment absolutely saved me. I started the video but just listening with the left ear was challenging. Thanks so much for posting this @verablack3137

[@nh1776]

Gains as a natural are impossible I thought we all knew that?

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Bold of you to assume everyone goes on Reddit

[@f4ucorsair153]

Everyone on reddit assumes gains as a natural are not possible 🤷

[@keytonbush3925]

⁠calm down redditor, it’s a joke!

[@DesiGymReviews]

I’ve been making excuses for my arms looking relatively small for 16.5 inches, yet I have the exact same wingspan as you and taller by 3 inches. This gave me immense motivation for chasing 18 inch arms, thanks!

[@BasementBodybuilding]

The potential is there, it just definitely takes longer and is a more frustrating process than shorter armed people haha. Good luck dude just keep your head down and work!

[@Egg-nigma]

Being a chunk at 25-30 percent will get you to 18 inch

[@chonkeboi]

@@Egg-nigmacope

[@Jeremy-yl2io]

Just to clarify, a longer wingspan will generally result in a larger measurement, but the same measurement on a long wingspan won't look as big as on shorter arms. So a long wingspan is an advantage for reaching a specific measurement like 18', but won't look as big as 18' on a smaller frame. Having a shorter arms is an advantage for looking big, but would make it harder to reach an actual 18' measurement. Height def factors in to how big someone's arms look since it is all about proportions, so that would be a huge plus in the example from the video.

[@DungeonGymLifting]

I'm 11 years deep. I made more progress from years 9 to 11 than I did my first 3 years. This was a really good point to make.

[@dynaspinner64]

Hersovyac, Fazlifts, GVS and now Basement Bodybuilding. My weekend couldn't be any better.

[@BasementBodybuilding]

It’s always good when basement bodybuilding uploads. Oh yeah those other guys are ok too I guess

[@Mmmmchocolate]

Omg dude, that’s a sad weekend then. 😂

[@dynaspinner64]

@@Mmmmchocolate Don't worry, I have other things to do as well haha

[@LD.lifts1]

Progress may theoretically start fast and slow down a lot as you go on, but people rarely have all the major aspects that affect growth down perfectly to begin with. Improving things as you get further along and hit a plateau or slow period of growth is how you keep getting better

[@Enhanced-Atrophy]

That fear when one side of the earphones stop working 😨

[@BasementBodybuilding]

There are probably around 300 people who thought they needed new headphones after this video lol

[@supertrollfaxnoprinter3329]

2:26 the basement on my left shoulder and the basement on my right shoulder arguing:

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Lmao

[@RKOFitness]

Please do a video for us guys who are 6ft+ with long arms and long legs. I’d be interested to hear your take on it and if training would be any different since we have a lot more mass to fill and potential to be bigger than guys who are under 6ft.

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Noted, I’ll consider this for sure

[@howjackedcaniget]

Got in at 1337 views! Finally back to training again after my overtraining. Still can't do that much, but I've been feeling so fatigued and lifting is giving me some energy. I'm starting to feel like myself again.

[@TheDiamond872]

I'm gonna have to watch this video twice and flip my headphones each time to avoid a hearing imbalance.

[@DavidBailey-mr7kq]

Listen with your weak ear first and then just match it on your good side.

[@IvanDraco01]

Brother, your video on resistance profiles was incredible, probably the only one that covers the topic with such a high level of detail. Nobody talks about it even when it might be a very important parameter for you to choose an exercise.

[@BasementBodybuilding]

@@IvanDraco01 thanks you man, that means a lot. I know they’re a bit on the boring side but there are people out there curious to learn those things, I try to make content I wish I had when I was earlier on in lifting

[@nmnate]

I had a couple productive years in high school before taking a break from the gym. Getting back into the gym in my 30s, it took probably ~3 years getting into a good routine and then having a really solid year (last 18 months doing mostly UL). It just clicked at some point and I rode that training wave. I can definitely believe that lifters that have been at it for a while will eventually have slow periods and then learn something new that works really well (and have the results to back it up). 💪

[@Trippolette3]

as someone who's completely deaf in my left ear, didn't notice a single thing. Great video, Basement! I still consider myself a beginner, despite having right around 2Yrs under my belt. I recently made the swap to utilizing dynamic double progression, and I've noticed some really excellent gains in the last few months (since the beginning of May) - this gives me clear goals to shoot for, and helps me truly understand if I'm truly stalled, if I need to add weight, if I should swap to a different rep-range, and most importantly, if I'm actually progressing. As always, I appreciate your insight. Thanks for all you do, man!

[@thomasruckstuhl9980]

How cool is that! Thanks for making a video on that subject!

[@BasementBodybuilding]

No prob glad you enjoyed! Great topic

[@bhalls100]

Bro, keep preaching! Im by no means big, but I ive made my best gains yet in my 5th year lifting. Keep up the good work

[@howjackedcaniget]

Great video! Lots of interesting things. Something I wanna add is that I think that when you say things like at 20:56, people pull a 'So you're saying there's a chance?' and disregard what you said because you've given them an out.

[@Metia_9898]

If you're using a headphone, try rotating at put it on your forehead. It'll solve the problem :)

[@bubblekeiki7395]

About that video you made regarding strength curves and resistance profiles: I watch that on a bi weekly basis. It is brilliant! Thanks a lot!

[@theiceman7590]

One of your best videos. Pretty much debunked a lot of common myths from intermediate trainees. Great job

[@Asc01111]

Recently came across your channel and enjoy listening to your theories and ideas. So please post often!

[@Shauntomac]

I like this format of sit downs going back and forth with folks in the comment section

[@LouisSerieusement]

great video thank you ! I know everyone talked about it already, but If you want to avoid stereo issue in the future you could also : - record in mono (I would definitely record in mono) - Or do the editing with your earbuds and adjust the panning (pan) if necessary cheers :)

[@sergiupobereznic]

18:15 "You don't know what doesn't exist. You only know what you're exposed to." Even though some people might think that's an obvious statement, (or a truism) I think it's actually quite profound, contrary to what you think BB. Good video.

[@HCadrenaline]

same issue here bro, I'm 5'8 but 5'9 on tinder with a long wing span (similar, 6'4 I believe), it helped me a lot in boxing as a kid and i was a strong deadlifter when I first started lifting so it all makes sense. Thanks again man

[@alistairl]

Runs away and measures index - 203cm armspan to 194cm height, so I'm about 6'8" span to 6'4" height. In my early 50s and just started training - thanks for your content!!

[@theovercomer2006]

It's been 25 years of lifting for me and I've had many times where I was able to increase performance within the same workout and pushed myself much further and harder.

[@wesrobinson7506]

Excellent discussion, I feel like you can get caught in late intermediate early advanced phase “no gains land” or “slower than you ever imagined gains”. I feel this is where people either accept it and maintain or push through, but it feels like the effort you have to put through is 4x to get half the results when you were a noob. I think this “no / slow gains land” really shows who loves to lift weights and finds more than just physical benefit vs those who just lift for pure looks

[@Siegbert85]

Man, I dig your style. You single handedly bring back flanell shirts.

[@asdfkjhlk34]

The ape index helps with climbing if you’re into that at all. Insane ape index

[@jasonmariano3149]

Absolutely spot on! I just experienced a growth spurt because I stopped training like an idiot and put the work in. Along with eating right and tracking everything. There’s a lot to bodybuilding!

[@Deathkill06]

10:47 I've been lifting for 6 years recently I started specializing in long neglected side delts and grew them insanely fast in about a month and a half with super high frequency behind the back cable laterals. All it took was trying something new with incredibly high effort and you can grow fast.

[@stopplzs]

15:14 a lot of wisdom in this video but this is so relatable. I filmed a set of hack squats and stopped at 9 reps thinking I had no more than 1 left in the tank. Just to go back to the footage and seeing the lockout was just starting to slow down. I think what you mentioned is especially true for leg training

[@marianwysocki4940]

3:27 kickboxing and boxing, crazy reach advantages

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Oh yeah, definitely. Potential will probably go unfulfilled lol

[@bboyVice007]

@@BasementBodybuildingrock climbing and bjj too

[@PATRICKMARCUCCI]

@BasementBodybuilding Great video! Recently found your channel. Love the content. I really liked what you said about most things working for beginners. Just stick to a plan for a while and take what works from it and move on. Keep trying to make improvements. I have certainly gotten attached to approaches that I just liked. And eventually had to come to terms with the fact that they weren't helping me improve. Thanks for the informative content!

[@Pingvinicecream]

Getting jacked is a skill like any other skill. Newbie gains are a thing in literally everything as obviously it's easy to make constant massive progress when everything is new and each repetition carries proportionally much higher reinforcement to the known patterns or introduces a completely new tool to a small set. It would be crazy to say that you make your best piano playing gains in the first three years and then stay forever decent at best unless you have extra long fingers. In judo there's a saying that you have reached the *beginning* of your journey once you get your first dan as it takes a few years to really get the hang of the dynamics behind it to really start honing your skills effectively. In a self-taught skill, which lifting mostly is, it is expected for plateaus to hit hard and progress to happen in chunks over many years as that's what happens with skills in the first place but also because mistakes and especially correcting mistakes takes extra time.

[@leonkennedy9739]

Ape index is weird my arms are 5'10 my height is 5'8". My shoulders are 55" around in circumference due to genetics from my parents giving me comically wide clavicals. So my arms are normal as fuck to my height but extremely short for my shoulder width. Meaning when i grab a bar on benchpress i grab it extremely wide to keep my joints stacked. Some benches give me just enough room to grab the bar. Benching like this is extremely comfortable and my shoulders have gotten less prone to injury and pain over time. My shoulders feel better than before instarted lifting.

[@sangheiliwarrior86]

You should be a pressing master with those proportions!

[@watsonkushmaster3067]

The whole thing about "most of the gains in first 3 years" is ridiculous...only in theory when everything is optimal, which is never, let alone first 3 years

[@le_rayon_vert]

Elbow problem aside, which I’m now addressing by properly warming up etc, adopting your training style has been a game changer for me. I’m slowly adapting my training to suit my goals which is to bring up my arms, become less torso dominant and bring up my upper body to my lower. My current split: Mon: Bench Preacher curls Dumbbell shoulder press Seated bayesian curls Cable lateral raises Dumbbell flys Forearms Tue: Lat pull downs Seated tricep push downs like yours Chest supported T bar Tricep overhead extensions Single arm seated lat pull-down Single arm dumbell rows Wed: Hack squats RDLs Some leg isolations Cable or lying lateral raises Dumbbell shrugs Thu: Incline dumbbell press Preachers Military press Incline dumbbell curls Pec dec Forearms Fri Lat pull downs with different attachment Tricep push downs (seated and facing away again) Chest supported T bar row JM press Cable rear delts cross Cable lateral raises This is what my program has evolved into as I tinker with it, and I’m so happy to see my arms and lats grow at long last. Definitely still a work in progress, to see how I adapt and respond. Experimenting with doing lateral raises 3 x per week on a PPLPP because who the hell doesn’t have having wider shoulders as one of their highest priorities?

[@stopplzs]

That's a good program. If you don't mind, could you tell me if mine is good or not? I made it myself Monday Incline DB Bench 8-10 BTN Pulldown 8-10 Rear Delt Cable Flyes MYO 30 Cable Chest Press 10-12 DB Pullover 6-8 Diamond Push Ups AMRAP Close-Grip Cable Row 12-15 Neck Extension 15-20 Tuesday Hack Squat 8-10 Lying Leg Curl 10-12 Leg Press 8-10 Hip Abductor 15-20 Leg Extension 15-20 Knee Raises 15-25 Leg Press Calf 10-12 Thursday Flat Fly Press 8-10 Preacher Curl 10-12 Rope Pushdown 12-15 Cable Y Raises 10-12 Machine Shrug 15-25 Machine Row MYO 30 Reverse Cable Curl 10-12 Incline Cable Press 8-10 Friday Barbell RDL's 8-10 Leg Extension 15-20 Dropset Seated Leg Curl 12-15 Belt Squat 10-12 Standing Abductor 12-15 Tibialis Raises 15-20 Leg Press Calf 10-12 Saturday SM Overhead Press 8-10 DB Hammer Preacher Curl 10-12 Cable Y Raises 10-12 Lying DB Extension 8-10 Incline Curls 8-10 Neck Curl 20-30 V Bar Pushdown 10-12 Reverse EZ Bar Preacher Curl 15-20

[@DCJayhawk57]

Hard training is definitely #1. I try to tell younger lifters this all the time. They're all fixated on protein, supplements, training age, and volume. The only things they know to do when they stop progressing are change exercises and increase volume. Rep quality and proximity to failure are way more important than volume. For me personally, if I want to increase volume I'll just increase frequency. I'm trying to keep my workouts as short, intense, and and efficient as possible anymore, so adding more sets to an individual workout often leads to junk volume for me. I'm also intentionally leaving space in my workouts to add exercises to certain days if I need it. Training age is always tricky to gauge. My training age is about 26 years, but how much of that was spent doing modern bodybuilding training? Probably 3-4 years. And even if you expand that to include traditional full body strength training and powerbuilding, I'm maybe at 8-9 years. But I look back on the quality of my bodybuilding training from just a couple years ago and I'm much better now. I see training age as kind of irrelevant once you're past n00bie gains. When you're a n00b, the basic rules don't apply to you. You can eat in a surplus and gain only muscle, train really far from failure, and do just basic compound movements and grow everywhere.

[@JornGuardian]

As a beginner are you supposed to basically go to failure on every set, for example with your beginner program I push hard on all 3 sets of bench either going to failure or leaving 1 RIR just so I don’t ruin my form, but then for seated OHP I find it hard to progress past a certain weight and hit all the reps I need after weeks

[@sfarsitulumi]

"If you're on your phone between sets you're leaving gains on the table". Well, I'm on my phone between the last set of today and the first set of tomorrow. How many gains am I wasting?

[@alexanderbjrny6135]

18:00 Just want you to know that I really appreciated your video on resistance profiles.

[@kenshin2820]

Crazy to think we’re around the same height. It’s a good reminder that consistent is variable too

[@jbowenii]

Holy fucking shit its the sasquatch. Nice ape index! Thats honestly nuts

[@MaulBlast]

Right on 🤘🏼

[@kenbling910]

At 32 years old now, lifting for 11 years, my biggest roadblock in my progress now is injury and fatigue management. Working hard to bring my arms up (6ft1 with 6ft6 wingspan...) and managing elbow tendonitis and wrist pain is becoming increasingly difficult.

[@Soccasteve]

Yeah lifting in your thirties is great bc you have a lot of experience training and know what your body responds to, but the downside is you’re probably pretty strong so it’s a lot easier to beat yourself up. You may need to do movements just to keep overuse injuries at bay which is fine but then adds to your workout time.

[@Vagachad]

I’d recommend remeasuring wingspan by going behind the body because ur chest and shoulders could be getting in the way

[@HoleEffenShow]

I’ve always been between 150lbs-170lbs max. I played sports in HS. I didn’t workout consistently for years after but I would still get a few workouts in. Due to my poor diet and way I unintentionally fast I can fluctuate really easily between 150-165lbs in less than 2 months (yes I know terrible). If I work out heavy consistently for 2 months I start to look bigger real fast and most people think I’m on something but I think it’s just muscle memory and also working out better than when I was in HS as well incorporating more power lifts

[@HoleEffenShow]

Also a big difference, in HS, I lifted heavy with not so great form. 14 years later, currently lifting like 1/3 of that but with amazing form this time around, body is quickly shaping up faster than I would of imagined

[@Ace-zb5xr]

The resistance profile video was great. What are the variables an intermediate should play with to figure out what they're doing wrong? Are those set of variables the same across muscle groups in general? I'm testing technique and TUT for the past 3 weeks, getting sore again from the same movements, I think that's a good sign.

[@vitaliyvolovyk1208]

That feeling when everybody complaining about sound in left ear and you do not understand why because wearing headphones inverse

[@Candyapplebone]

I've been lifting off and on for years but I've never seen consistent gains or even really any gains. At one point I hired a personal trainer and had them teach me how to lift like a powerlifter because I thought that was what I needed to do in order to get big, which did not work by the way. Later I found this program on Reddit called GZCL where you rotate through the squat, the overhead press, the deadlift, and the bench press. Each day you do one of those exercises with a low rep, high weight, and then another one of those exercises with a medium rep, medium weight, and then a third one of those exercises with a low weight and high rep. You just keep rotating them so you basically get the volume and the intensity. You would think I would grow from that, right? Well, because then I had the training from the powerlifter coach and then I also had an actual program that people see results with. But nope, I wasn't eating enough but I didn't realize that at the time. My strength doubled but my size did not really increase. So at this point I'm like 34 years old, 33 years old, and lifting is kind of shitty because I like it but I've just never really grown in size or seen any physical improvements and my lift numbers don't seem to change either. So it's kind of frustrating, right? And I start getting these bad thoughts like, oh maybe I'm just not, you know, made out for lifting, maybe I don't have good genes, things like that. Well, so I hired a coach, a personal trainer, to teach me how to lift like a bodybuilder and that's when everything changed. It's been a year that I've been working with that personal trainer who taught me how to lift like a bodybuilder and I learned to listen to my body and feel how my muscles feel during the exercise. I learned that I should go slow on the eccentric, really let the muscles stretch out, that I should try to be explosive on the concentric, that I should shoot for a certain rep range usually like, you know, maybe 10 to 15 reps for things like bench press or, uh, I don't know, overhead press, just various exercises to have their own rep ranges. I learned how to take my back from the day that I hated because I couldn't figure out how to do anything with it to now it's my favorite day. I love back day. I have two back days in fact because I like it so much. I even just started experimenting with above the knee rack pulls from that fad with Alex Leonidas and everyone six years ago. Well, it still works even though it's six years later. Blew my traps up last week, can't wait to do another above the rack pull back day. I'm starting to learn how to figure out the correct form on every exercise I do. For example, hyperextensions. I was watching a video by Alex Oncuri. Turns out you can overload hyperextensions. I hadn't even considered it. I was just doing body weight but no, apparently you can really load them up. Yeah, I don't really like deadlifts. I do them but I don't like them. I'd much rather just do RDLs and hyperextensions, other things like that. Every day though, I get a pump every day now when I work out. The muscles that I hit, they get sore like they're supposed to and it was basically thanks to working with this personal trainer for a year and having him constantly correct my technique. I don't know how a person can get so mixed up in their head that it takes a year with a personal trainer to fix everything that they were doing wrong but maybe that's how I was not cut out for lifting. Maybe my genetics for the muscles are fine but somehow in my head just everything was wrong. I couldn't lift weights the right way is what it felt like but now that I've been working with an actual bodybuilder for a year, I finally know how to lift weights correctly you could say and my muscles have been blowing up. Everything's been getting bigger. I finally am getting bigger legs, bigger arms, bigger shoulders, bigger chest, bigger back, like everything is just getting bigger now and my friends all notice, my family notice, like everyone notices that I'm bigger now. I don't fit into the same shirts I used to fit into, like just everything is going swell and I'm 35. I've been lifting off and on since high school, never consistently and never with good technique but it just goes to show that it's true that lifting comes in seasons because I never found my stride until like maybe like a few months ago from working with that bodybuilder personal trainer for a year. You really do have to find your stride and get things ironed out in your head in order to see improvements and once I got those things figured out in my head, yeah the improvements started coming like crazy. Like even just my chest press, I was lifting too much weight and not actually using the right muscles or technique. I lowered the weight significantly from like 85 pound dumbbells to 40 and 50 pound dumbbells and I focused on the squeeze at the top and the slow eccentric and all that jazz and then I do a burn and then I do another set after on a machine with even lighter weights just to really feel the pecs. Now my chest is blowing up and it's bigger than it's ever been even though I'm using lighter weights than I ever have and it's all because I'm focusing on the technique while still keeping the weight high enough that the rep range is correct. It's the kind of advice that people give out all over the internet and everywhere since time immemorial but I just wasn't listening to it I guess because I wasn't putting it into practice and now that I am everything is just amazing so I really look forward to going to the gym. It's like my favorite thing now because every time I go now I get what I want. I get blown up, I get sore, I get the pump and I get bigger in a few days from the growth. It's a freaking awesome hobby.

[@Dr.Draco19]

We need a shoulder tier list😭

[@johanolander5087]

Nice video looking forward to more tier lists

[@Nico-Diaz]

I am from argentina and really like your videos bro

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Glad you’re enjoying them brotha!

[@Nico-Diaz]

@@BasementBodybuilding sure i am, and in relation with the video of maximizing gains what i see is that no one takes serious the protein intake. And that should be the most important thing once you join the gym, its so basic like having proper sleep

[@christian_florez]

18:34 The famous Donald Rumsfeld "unknown unknowns", basically. Things you can't even imagine you aren't aware of, they're not even in your periphery of awareness

[@m00nkiid]

That armspan is insane

[@fluxeorswndic]

Can you please make a full video on training volume for natural lifters ? After all those years many people are afraid of losing on muscle gains due to too low volume. How much volume are the top natural lifters doing ?

[@ifstatementifstatement2704]

In my experience the only thing that matters is lifting more weight over time. Everything else makes no difference in terms of adding muscle mass. Once you can't lift heavier anymore, you will stop growing, natural or not. That's just how it goes but people want to gaslight themselves into believing they can add muscle mass by doing more reps or sets. That's for endurance (being able to do something for longer). That doesn't build muscle.

[@Clawtivity]

I generally agree with most of what you say and this may be a bit nitpicky but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say that if you go on your phone or yawn between sets you are losing out on some or all progress

[@JenniferM13]

The boxer Sonny Liston had a freakishly long reach for his height too. He was around 6'1 but with a wingspan of around 7feet!

[@dunebuggy1292]

Long arms are just more aesthetic. I'm also 5'8" but only 6 foot wingspan

[@BasementBodybuilding]

A 6’ wingspan at 5’8 is still a massive wingspan I believe. Someone more knowledgeable will be able to answer that better than I can

[@The_Legend715]

​@@BasementBodybuilding Armspan doesn't tell the fully story cause the measurements of your hands and shoulder width is in the equation. Someone with shorts arms but big hands and broad shoulders could have an above average arm span but he is has short arms and vice versa

[@snakewhisperer2010]

Great video and video quality! super eye opening ps watching resistance profile video now xd

[@SweatiestToes]

this is like Devon Laratt's Way of the Pumpkin but for my eardrums

[@Oi-mj6dv]

Honestly this is 22 mins of straight bars. Couldnt have been said better. This is also why i do not believe in program hopping. You tweak your whatever frankensplit over time as you progress to the point that yes it will end up looking signifficantly different but the single interventions you made at a certain point to tune its effectiveness are isolated so you can analyze their effect.

[@BomoBomo-go6wt]

i started seriously consistently lifting for 3 years now. at least 3 times a week. Gained considerable mass and my BF is about 18%, now i'm on a cut and I've calculated, i would only have made 5kg of muscle mass! its really hard to gain muscle...

[@azulsimmons1040]

Longer arms may have helped you obtain bigger arms. You can pack more muscle on them.

[@Mmmmchocolate]

Lots of hard consistent work and good genetics. I know, I know, genetics aren’t as controlling as people say. But it is. Some people naturally have more or less receptors for all sorts of things in the body, including those needed for muscle growth.

[@willevans3559]

Hey man, Where did you get your smith machine? all i seem to find online are functional trainer combos and I'm really looking to incorporate smith machine variations at home.

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Unfortunately I have no clue. I’ve tried researching the brand and can’t find anything. I think they’re out of business, and probably pre internet lol. The good news is gems like this one pop up relatively frequently on Facebook marketplace if you keep a close eye on it

[@wotanjugend974]

Dang i always thought your arms were on the shorter side. Gives me hope that i can also get big arms since i also have a crazy ape index

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Glad that’s motivated you, I lost hope in getting big arms for so long, so I know how you feel

[@wotanjugend974]

On my road to 17 inches right now. Btw you might have measured your height slightly wrong. You need to put something with a 90 degree angle like a book against the wall on your head to make sure its correctly angled. you are probably still 5"9 :)

[@AlmostlessThanHuman]

What's your ape index

[@NoMercy.62]

i think your high ape index comes from the fact you have broad shoulders and a broad frame for your height.. its not all arms

[@dqks3793]

Do you have any injures with joints such as shoulder, elbow pain and etc, and if you have it what do you do about it? I faced this problem after bench press a week ago and it's not a permanent 24/7 pain, it's just an occasional pain about 5-10 times a day for 2-3 seconds but it still keeps me frustrated a bit

[@chezzington918]

Any tips for skeletal/structural imbalances? I have one shoulder sitting lower than the other (slight scoliosis) making 1 hand shorter than the other in length when i do chinups and preacher curls. This made my left arm stronger but weaker than my right arm due to different leverages. NH recommends elastic band reps to increase mind muscle connection with the smaller muscle while feeding extra volume to the smaller arm with heavy wall strict curls.

[@jbowenii]

“The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” 18:17

[@briefcasemanx]

use mono for your microphone. I only hear stuff coming out of the left side. We don't need or even want stereo for voice tracks.

[@Peraliq]

there is someone in my gym that looks like a novice version of you. Its actually insane, i don't want to bother them though and say they look like this dude on yt called basement bodybuilding lol

[@theovercomer2006]

And you're right when you film yourself yoy get to see all the form breakdown and if you had a lot more speed on the bar even though it felt heavy to you that there's more in the tank!

[@stephenvolkov3436]

How much protein do you consume daily old mate?

[@Dr.Draco19]

I thought my right AirPod died😂

[@BasementBodybuilding]

I don’t think you’re alone 😅

[@laegu5430]

Depth Underground = Rate of Gains

[@BasementBodybuilding]

I did forget to say my basement is actually a nuclear fallout shelter, I take an elevator down here

[@meuxtag]

I thought the ape index was mainly used in rockclimbing. Thats the sport you should be doing with bodybuilding :P

[@maxmaximum-sh4bx]

Good thing i don't use headphones 🎧🤣

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Yeah I’m realizing my mistake a little too late 😂

[@rjevans2728]

Been at this for over 20 years, both natty and enhanced, and competing at a high level.. GENETICS is the number one factor, not intensity, programming, diet, etc. Denial of this is copium. And then what makes people really uncomfortable is that willpower, work ethic, etc. also fall under genetic determinism.

[@Justafreesheep]

Do you have big hands/long fingers? Ape index can be affected by hand size and arm length. Longer arms not including hands is what gives disadvantages in building arm size and strength in pressing.

[@BasementBodybuilding]

I do, I definitely have both long arms and big hands

[@Zaeyrus]

I keep forgetting you're 25, when you get to 40 I expect you to be bigger then Eric Bugenhagen! (and I certainly hope you'll look on your 600 lbs DL with a bit more pride :P )

[@marlock6573]

You have the perfect ape index for combat sports. However, CTE is kind of a bummer.

[@noboundariesburnhws]

I have made way more noticeable gains in the past 2 years of bodybuilding training alone than the entire previous decade of lifting where my training sucked (I was a powerbuilder…) I was trying to be a powerlifter even though my joints didnt agree with it at all and I would constantly get overuse injuries while following a minimalist workout plan. And the worst part was people would call me skinny a lot and never knew I lifted. At this point I get a lot of comments on my arms, delts, and back, and my shoulders and upper back are straight up too wide for a lot of my old shirts. That literally never happened before I started doing bodybuilding training correctly, which has literally only been about 2 years. Thats why I literally cannot stand blackpill videos on natural lifting. Small lifters do not have shit genetics that make them small, they just don’t know how to train yet.

[@CrustTanned]

had to check whether my right speaker was connected

[@BasementBodybuilding]

Yeah everyone’s in the same boat my bad lol

[@Shank-o-Pottomas]

With that ape index you should try rock climbing

[@wesrobinson7506]

HE HAS A KITCHEN! 21:33