Okay thanks Scott, if I only lifted for 45min that would not feel like a full workout lol. By the way quick question on squats, do you breathe in at the top and start to breathe out as you come up, or do you hold your breath until you get back to the top?

You can still get a good workout done in 45 minutes.. just look up my holiday workouts from a couple of years ago as a good example 😁 But also nothing wrong with going over 45 mins.

Yes, you should take in a breath at the top of the movement (before you squat down), and then only let the breath out once you have completed one rep and returned back to the top position. I suggest doing that on all compounds to stay as tight and as powerful as possible.

So nothing with going over 45 mins

But how much the maximum duration must be ? for example 120 mins or what ? and why ?😊 

Eventually there will be a point where a workout becomes too long (as a natural athlete) for your own good due to things like cortisol increasing. Generally if you are in the 1-2 hour mark there shouldn't be too many problems. It all depends on how much time is actually spent working out, and how much time is spent resting or talking or being on your phone etc.

If you stick to 1-2 minute rest periods, while following a structured program, like any of the PROGRAMS on the site, then a workout should never last any more than probably 90 minutes max anyway. Usually the only time you start to get close to training for 'too long' is when you actually spend too much time NOT training while in the gym.. know what I mean?

yeah I got it I am now following PPL C and I am so much restrict with resting periods because I learnt from you how much improtant are they for muscles growing 💪

and After that I do the 400 abs challenge as fast as possible for me

A lot of people in the gym with me claim that If the training duration exceeds 45 minutes the body will start to destroy the muscles fibers and the cholesterol vaules will be missed up !!

There is a lot of bro-science out there.. but don't worry my friend, you know you'll always get the hard facts here!! If you wanted to you could do the ab workout in the morning and weight training in the evening (or vice-versa), but if what you're doing now works for you and your schedule then stick with it!! 💪 

Hey Scott, I was just sick for two days which is why you haven't gotten any new questions lol. My first question is actually exactly that, if I was pretty sick yesterday, and today I'm like almost back to normal, I can go to the gym tomorrow right? And would you suggest to do everything as usual or lower weights a little (Because you are a bit weaker after you just recovered from being sick right?)?

Anyway my other questions are this:

1. How does the body decide wether to burn fat or muscle tissue during cardio/HIIT or even weightlifting? What determines this....?

2. For some muscles, like Calves, there are only a few exercises and almost no variations of them, so in order to keep giving them a stimulis to grow and not be stuck in a platue; do you just change rep range every few weeks or what do you do? Like there is seated calf raises, standing calf raises, but that's about it...

3. Lastly if I'm lifting 5-6 days a week (PLP/Rest OR Abs/Calves workout) for 60-90 minutes (well in total including stretching/warmup/abs) which should I choose for the BMR for activity, because I chose the moderate option

but maybe I count as the hard daily exercise option? Because that makes a difference of about 500-600 calories...which could definetly affect how much muscle I am getting.

Thanks again for all the help!

@Vect0rs remember to search my YouTube channel before asking questions.. I have done A LOT of videos so the answer to many of your questions may already be answered in a video 😁 

1. It comes down to diet.. if you're diet is right (and you have enough fat to lose), it will typically burn through fat first. However, if you're in a deficit then you have to remember you will lose some muscle.. again diet will dictate how much you keep/lose.

2. Changing rep ranges and tempo and things like that will help for sure! Just implement any kind of progressive overload - http://muscularstrength.com/article/Progressive-Overload-How-To-Keep-Making-Those-GAINS

3. Go for the moderate option and move forward from there - if you use those numbers and don't see improvements in weight/strength while in a surplus.. increase them.. easy peasy 😊 

When you say diet do you mean you have to eat certain amount of protien to not lose muscle, or what specifically do you have to do? What I mean is, let's say you got as much muscle as you want, and you want to get to a slightly lower bodyfat, like 14% to 11%, and you want to lose the least amount of muscle to do that, what would you have to do?

Also I saw your video about heavy vs light weights and it reminded me about two things I never understood:

1. If you let's say are lifting in the 8-10 rep range, you do 9 reps, but you just can't get the last rep so the spotter helps you get the weight up, and you control the negative and get the 10th rep (so basically a forced rep), does that count as 10 reps, as in next set you could go up in weight because you hit the top of the rep range?

2. Let's say today I for barbell bicep curls I did 40 lb. for 10 reps (Using 8-10 reps for this exercise), now a few days later I am doing Back/Biceps again, and I am doing 4 sets of barbell bicep curls, what weight should I use for the first set, and the 2nd, 3rd etc... I'm never sure how heavy to start and how much to be going up... and also does this change if it's a heavy lift like bench press vs some isolation movement like bicep curls?

And lastly I already asked a similiar question, but I'd like to know your opionon about several youtubers, specifically if their advice is helpful, and weither they're just spreading dumb information? Can you answer those questions? Because I want to know if the other people I watch are just giving me bad information.

Thanks Scott.

If you drop bodyweight, you will inevitably lose some muscle as well. It's just the way it is - same with bulking. When you bulk, you will gain some fat. But it coems down to structuring your diet properly (balancing your macros and getting your surplus/deficit right) to minimze both ends of the scale. For losing weight, yes you want to keep protein high (1.2g-1.5g protein per pound of bodyweight) and maintain some heavy lifting in your program to lose as little muscle as possible.

1. You should aim for a certain number on your own. It's OK to do a 10th rep forced, in fact it's a great idea, but you still want to be working through your sets yourself as much as possible. If you are aiming for 10 reps but need help with the last rep, I wouldn't go up in weight unless you were aiming to do fewer reps the next set. That is, unless you are doing my Cheat & Recover training.. but even then you wouldn't go up in weight until the next week, not in the next set.. know what I mean?

2. You should pick a weight that is challenging from the start. You should only have 1-2 reps left in the tank after your first set, and then you shouldn't be able to increase the weight at all as you go through your sets.. if anything you should go down. If you go up, you started too light. I mentioned this at the end of the Heavy Weights Vs Light Weights video.

When it comes to commenting on other YouTubers.. that's not really my purpose. I'm not here to name names and say who's not good and who is good.. obviously I have respect for other YouTubers and the channels I work with are channels you know I support, and ones you can trust as well. Aside from that I will make reference to other channels from time to time but I'm not going to call people out. If you follow my channel, you know you're getting quality content, and you'll know the kind of people who aren't giving you the best information by piecing together the information I relay in my videos and comparing it to other info that is out there.. watch the video below for an example if you haven't already 😊 

Thanks Scott for the answers. First I'd like to mention that video you just posted I think is the, or one of the best and most important videos you've made, I made every single mistake that is mentioned there and that's why I only got stronger but pratically gained almost no muscle first couple months! So hopefully that will help other guys too since that advice is literally what has helped me start gaining weight finally.

Anyway, of course I have a few new questions I've come across :)

1. Do I need to do cardio? I ask because I have never considered it as a good idea since my goal is too put on as much muscle as possible atm, so cardio seems to be completely irrelavent and even counter productive since that will burn more calories. However I recently saw a video by someone who so far has given pretty good videos but this is something I'm not sure about: He said that even if you're someone in my situation you still should do a bit of cardio (like HIIT) for cardiovascular health. I thought any exercise lifting, running, swimming counts as being good for keeping the heart healthy, which is why this was surprising. So do you think doing cardio is necassary for me as I do want to have good heart health? I honestly don't like cardio much and highly prefer lifting almost everyday, and either taking one day off after PLP or doing a ab workout (Does this count as cardio?).

2. What is the main difference (in terms of building muscle), when using an ez-bar vs straight bar, I see Steve Cook especially in some videos he uses Ez-bar for heavy bicep curls and for skull crushers etc... so what is your opionon on straight-bar vs ez bar for building muscle, or do just suggest to alternate between those sometimes?

3. For dumbbell chest press regardless of incline/flat whatever, do you like to turn the dumbbells as you go up to the top position, or just press directly up? Seems to be a lot better activation in the chest when you turn them as you go up? Yet I see almost no one suggesting this and I don't ever see you doing it in any video with a dumbbell bench press.

4. And lastly another thing is, what is the difference between a dumbbell (or barbell) bicep curl vs doing the same thing except starting in a neutral position and supinating the hand as you're going up? I see many people doing this and I don't understand which one is more effective? Or is it one of those things you alternate? I always thought that barbell or dumbbell you should start in the supinated position...

Anyway, thanks again for all the help and more good questions coming soon :D

1. Do you need to? No. But should you? Yes. If you want to put on as much muscle as possible, great. But, you want to minimize fat gain.. diet plays a big part in that, but so does doing some cardio during the week. Even just 2-3 sessions of HIIT per week or long distance running is good to stay lean.

2. E-Z bar is just more preferable for the grip it has for some people.. they find it easier.. hence the word E-Z bar haha.

3. Do you mean turning them to a neutral position? You could do that.. but you'd probably have to go lighter than normal.

4. Always start in the supinated position. I have talked about this in many of my bicep videos. Check out the video below.

Also.. if you'd like more one-on-one coaching we can always set up a consultation! http://muscularstrength.com/consultations-scottherman

Thanks for the answers Scott. That bicep video was really good, I didn't know the thing about 21s being bad either. Now I'm still confused about the ez-bar, in this video you used it, in other videos you use a straight bar, so when do you use each one...like why not use the ez-bar all the time if the grip is better?

Just personal preference.. either bar does the same job, just might be easier on your wrists with an E-Z bar 😊 Feel free to use both from time to time!

What do you guys think on this upper body workouts? On each workout I started with strenght focused exercise and then did some acessory work after.

Please let me know if you have some advices.

Upper 1

1. Barbell bench press 4x5

2.Bent over row 4x10

(Superset)

3. Front raises 4x12

4.Lateral raises 4x12

(Superset)

5. Pull ups 4xAMRAP

6. Biceps dumbell curl 4x12

(Superset)

7. Triceps pushdown 4x12

Upper 2

1. Overhead press 4x5

2. T-bar row 4x10

(Superset)

3. Incline dumbell bench press 4x10

4.Rear delts flyes 4x12

5.Pull ups 4xAMRAP

6.Hammer curl

(Superset)

7.Skull crusher

Looks pretty good @andrija04! Good job putting it together! I would just say make your bent-over row done with a pronated (overhand) grip, so that you are targeting upper back and lats for each workout.

Have you thought about moving to something like the PPL split as well when it's time to switch up your program?