“Nobody Cares How Much You Curl” — Transcript

All right, so today's video, I'm going to be diving into accessory lifts and the statement, "Nobody cares how much you curl." This is stuff that kind of hits close to home for me that I've talked about a lot on the channel before, but I haven't talked about it in a while. I want to make sure that with all these new viewers, you guys actually understand that this is an important training philosophy of mine, and it's fundamental to my overall lifting philosophy.

on the channel before but i haven't talked about it in a while and i want to make sure that with all these new viewers you guys actually understand that this is an important training philosophy of mine and it's a

So basically, I think the issue with viewing hypertrophy lifts and bodybuilding-focused movements as just accessory work is a pretty big issue. I think the reason why that's an issue is because it encourages laziness. Most of your training program is going to fall under the umbrella of hypertrophy lifts, and I think the problem with just calling them accessory lifts is because, well, in its own name, it implies that it's a supplement to something more important.

because it encourages laziness most of your training program is going to fall under the umbrella of hypertrophy lifts and i think the problem with just calling them accessory lifts because well in its own name it implies that it's a supplement to something more

I think the issue with that is that it encourages laziness, and it encourages us to start viewing these lifts like they're inferior. So mentally and physically, we start to half-ass them, and that's an issue because high-quality volume accumulation over time is necessary to build muscle. You can't just progress on your five by five and then half-ass the rest of your workout and think you're actually building muscle. That's just not how bodybuilding works, especially when you're training naturally.

time is necessary to build muscle you can't just progress on your five by five and then half ass to the the rest of your workout and think you're actually building muscle that's just not how bodybuilding works especially when

The statement "Nobody cares how much you curl"—this mindset is keeping you small. I agree with the statement at face value in its most simplistic way, but it's not what the statement says; it's the intent behind it. So let's dive into that real quick.

into that real quick nobody cares how much you curl so that's a statement that i think is true i don't think people should care how much you curl i don't think you should really care how much you curl at the end

"Nobody cares how much you curl." So that's a statement that I think is true. I don't think people should care how much you curl. I don't think you should really care how much you curl at the end of the day. It's progression; it's not the end goal. Because if you start curling the barbell and you get to 100 pounds, that's a lot of progression. You've doubled your strength and probably grew a ton of muscle in that. But if I went from 80 pounds to 130 pounds, that's kind of the same amount of progression. In the bigger picture, I don't think my biceps would be any bigger than the person curling 100 pounds that started a little bit lower than me.

from 80 pounds to 130 pounds that's kind of the same amount of progression in the bigger picture i don't think my biceps would be any bigger than the person curling 100 pounds that started a little bit lower than me

So at the end of the day, yeah, I think it's best not to just chase progression at all costs. That doesn't make a whole ton of sense because you're going to leave all the other variables of training on the table that are very important for hypertrophy. But when you look at the intent behind the statement, it's trying to say, "Hey, don't focus so much on these hypertrophy-focused lifts. Don't focus on these bodybuilding-focused lifts. Put your energy, put your focus onto squat, bench, deadlifts, and chase progression on those. The other stuff is just accessory work. Just go get your volume in and supplement your big three."

important for hypertrophy but when you look at the intent behind the statement it's trying to say hey don't focus so much on these hypertrophy focused lifts don't focus on these bodybuilding focus lifts put your energy put your focus onto squat bench

And that's an issue for bodybuilding because bodybuilding isn't just progressing on one lift and going through the motions for the rest. It's crushing all of your lifts and progressing on them over time. It's this viewpoint that a lot of people have with main lifts and accessory lifts. You're taking that happy medium mindset that we should have with bodybuilding, and you're giving a hundred percent of that to a small portion of your training at the expense of the quality of the rest of your training. And that's going to run you into a wall pretty quickly with bodybuilding.

going through the motions for the rest it's crushing all of your lifts and progressing on them over time it's this viewpoint that a lot of people have with main lifts and accessory lifts you're taking that happy medium mindset that we

So the issue is the intent behind the statement, which is implying that there is no point in focusing on isolation lifts or non-barbell compound lifts because it makes more sense to chase progression on barbell compound lifts.

pretty quickly with bodybuilding so the issue is the intent behind the statement which is implying that there is no point in focusing on isolation lifts or non-barbell compound lifts because it makes more sense to chase progression on barbell compound lifts

My argument against this mindset is that this creates an overemphasis on your barbell compound lifts, which will run you into a wall and removes any benefit you would have gotten from isolation or hypertrophy lifts. So when you automatically view a lift as inferior to another lift, let's say even for the sake of the argument, let's say an isolation is inferior to a compound lift—which it isn't, and there's certainly cases where, yeah, it is, and there's certainly cases where that's swapped around—but for the sake of the argument, let's just say, yeah, isolation lifts are slightly worse than compounds, they're less beneficial.

automatically view a lift as inferior to another lift let's say even for the sake of the argument let's say an isolation is inferior to a compound lift which it isn't and there's certainly cases where yeah it is and there's certainly

When you apply that mindset to your training, how much do you actually think you're getting out of that isolation lift? Now, probably nothing, because in order to get the most you can out of a lift, you have to apply the fundamentals and train it hard. And when it's an isolation lift, you actually have to train it harder than you do a compound to get something out of it.

you're getting out of that isolation lift now probably nothing because in order to get the most you can out of a lift you have to apply the fundamentals and train it hard and when it's an isolation lift you

So when you act like it's just inferior, you don't need to train it that hard, it's not that important, it's just a complete waste of time at this point. You shouldn't even be doing them. If you're going to train them, do them right. If you view your hypertrophy lifts like they're just accessory movements, that's all they ever will be. If this is how you currently view any lift that isn't a barbell, you're just wasting your time.

waste of time at this point you shouldn't even be doing them if you're gonna train them do them right if you view your hypertrophy lifts like they're just accessory movements that's all they ever will be if this is how you currently view any

Remember, to build muscle, you actually need to train closer to failure than you need to when training for strength. And this is another thing people say, "Oh, I'm just going to go heavy on my strength work and train that hard. I'm going to get better at my 5x5, take it to failure, the last sets are going to be grinders," and whatnot. If you're chasing strength, you don't need to train to failure. Like, I'm no expert when it comes to powerlifting, but the RPEs are six, seven, eight, nine. Very rarely do you actually train a compound lift, especially with a barbell, to failure or past failure with advanced methods.

heavy on my strength work and train that hard i'm going to get better at my 5x5 take it to failure the last sets are going to be grinders and whatnot if you're chasing strength you don't need to train to failure like i'm no expert

When you train your accessory lifts, or at least the lifts that people call accessories, the whole point of those types of lifts is to train them even harder than you would anything else because you can. You can safely—they're high stimulus, they're low fatigue. You can get extremely close to failure, and that's the true value.

at least the lifts that people call accessories the whole point of those types of lift is to train them even harder than you would anything else because you can you can safely they're high stimulus they're low fatigue you can get extremely close

And that's why there's this whole stigma around focusing so much on isolation or bodybuilding lifts, and the reason why people don't think they work is because they don't train them hard. They're told that they're accessory lifts and that we don't need to train them hard, so they go into it with that mindset. And obviously, when you train it like that, you're not going to get anything out of it.

and that we don't need to train them hard so they go into it with that mindset and obviously when you train it like that you're not going to get anything out of it so when you apply the right mindset you actually train your

So when you apply the right mindset, you actually train your isolation, your non-barbell compound lifts hard, you'll get great results from it, and you'll look like a legit natural bodybuilder. And it amazes me how few people realize this. Like, you wonder why there's such a big difference between even just in YouTube fitness. Like, look at the biggest, most jacked guys in the natural YouTube fitness. They all have much more impressive physiques than basically everybody else that's natural.

in youtube fitness like look at the biggest most jacked guys in the natural youtube fitness they all have much more impressive physiques than basically everybody else that's natural and i think that there's a lot of naturals that aren't

And I think that there's a lot of naturals that aren't fulfilling their potential because you're viewing the lifts you should be doing as inferior to just two or three big heavy compound lifts that you put all of your time and energy into. And I don't just say this because I see it, I say it because, yes, I see it, but it happened to me, and I stayed small because of it, and I was stuck as an intermediate forever.

i see it i say it because yes i see it but it happened to me and i stayed small because of it and i was stuck as an intermediate forever and i had a 600 plus pound deadlift with 16 inch

And I had a 600-plus pound deadlift with 16-inch arms, and now I can probably deadlift like 385, and my arms are 16 and a half, 16 and three-quarters inches. So there's a very skewed perception of the importance of different aspects of our training, and we need to reverse this if you guys actually want to succeed in natural bodybuilding.

actually want to succeed in natural bodybuilding isolation lifts they're not fun they're not flashy you're not going to be adding five pounds all the time but if you kind of do the dirty work and get in there and train your isolation

Isolation lifts, they're not fun, they're not flashy, you're not going to be adding five pounds all the time, but if you kind of do the dirty work and get in there and train your isolation lifts hard, whether it's to failure or whether it's with an advanced method past failure, there's d—

close to failure and i know for beginners you don't even need that i'm not saying you're going to hurt yourself if you go past failure on curls and do partials after but there's there's not necessarily a need for it yet but once

you kind of get to that intermediate stage like start training these a little bit harder it's it's not just isolation lifts too like it's it's non-barbell compound lifts like look at the way and i do i know i

don't post a whole ton of my training on here and i kind of need to start doing it just to show you guys a little bit more but when i do my lat pull downs i'm not just doing like a quick three by ten like oh

last rep got a little slow i'll stop like you're using some momentum you're doing partials like i i don't know i could rant about this stuff forever but the mindset that we have is entirely backwards so when you half-ass isolation lifts

you're actually half-assing entire muscle groups it's just disguised by a lift that seems inferior let me dive into that one a little bit there's certain muscle groups that are better trained through isolation lifts than compound lifts take your arms for

example even like your rear delts and side delts the reason why people are so torso dominant is because they don't actually train their isolation lifts they get told they're inferior and sure there's certain situations where that's can be argued that it's the case

take take your chest for example if i had to pick i'd say compound movements are should be more of a priority for your chest am i saying that you should just half-ass some flies after you do your presses of course not if you're going to

do flies train them hard so you can get the most out of them but when you look at a muscle like your biceps triceps forearms shoulders calves a lot of these muscles sure you can try and train them with

compound lifts but you're going to plateau so quickly you just need isolation lifts to get enough volume in and to target them a little bit more directly and when you think when you view it in this black and white way of compound

lifts or good isolate isolation lifts are inferior now that applies to your physique and you don't even realize this at first until you have a bad physique a few years later when your calves your forearms your arms your side and rear delts are all lagging

and i'm sure that speaks to a lot of you guys right now it's because you're viewing compound lifts and isolation lifts as separate uh basically separate values of importance so sure for some muscles compound lifts are typically a little bit better than isolation lifts

but it also goes the other way around it's vice versa for other muscle groups like your arms for example like i just talked about so don't think of it as what lift is good and what lift is bad it's what lift is

better best for that muscle and program your training from there i know i kind of went on a tangent there but i could go on about this stuff forever i won't do it though i'll keep this video relatively short

so let's see nobody actually trains isolations as hard as they do compounds and that's why isolations have gotten such a bad reputation in regards to their value in our training programs this is this is another thing i've kind of touched on it

already in this video but the reason why people don't view isolation lifts as valuable is because they get told their accessories and they don't train them hard so they get nothing out of it and that reinforces its lack of value

when you train an isolation lift hard and you train it properly over a long period of time you will see it and you'll see any of the top natural bodybuilders or just like i said earlier even the top

lifters in youtube fitness they all train their isolation and non-barbell compound movements extremely hard and that's why they have the best physiques like the secrets right in front of you guys just take all of your training seriously and you'll be fine that's what

i'm saying i hope you guys can understand that so look at the lifters who actually do train their isolation list as hard as they do their compounds they always have the best physiques they have the biggest arms etc

isolations this is this is what i want to leave it on and when i say isolations i know i mentioned this earlier i'm not just talking about single joint movements i'm talking about non-barbell compound movements too like a lat pulldown like this hack squat

a lot of movements that just maybe are a machine compound or a cable compound or whatnot along with any single joint isolation movement these movements are they're the dirty work they're not flashy they're not exciting to pr on they're not

exciting to share with your friends or share on social media but this is like the dirty work that really builds up your physique and you have to learn to love training this way you have to learn to love training these hard

into failure one of the biggest kind of like tips that i recommend to you guys is like put some stuff towards the end of your workout that will actually get you a really good pump and that makes this

type of training more a little bit more rewarding a little bit more fun so what i'm trying to get at here is there's no instant gratification when it comes to bodybuilding movements because at the end of the day there's not like a

certain bodybuilding like standard that you just automatically hit because it's so subjective it's not you just hit your 315 bench and that's like the reward is achieving that goal but it's long term it's dirty work it's not fun it's not flashy it's not exciting

but that's what builds your physique and that's what separates the top natural bodybuilders from everybody else that's stuck in that intermediate phase with that being said i really hope you guys consider everything that i said in this video today i do think it's an important

one so if you have any questions or anything definitely let me know