This illustrates what I was talking about the other day. Here's the question I received, with my comments below...
### READER COMMENT ###
"Hi Mehdi, I came across this video of a bodybuilder getting owned by an arm wrestler. This video proves your point that BS high rep, low weight exercises does nothing but give you "gym strength" and the key to becoming strong is compound exercises as most arm wrestlers train only by arm wrestling other dudes."
*** MY COMMENTS ***
I've seen that video before, quite funny :-)
This one of a 250lb bodybuilder vs 150lb Jiu jutsu black belt is also good.
Now, in defense of the bodybuilders, this is largely a matter of skills too - not just strength.
(the "mountain" from game of thrones loses armwrestling too in this video, and he's a strongman)
But these videos are obviously hitting a nerve because they get a ton of "likes".
Fact is, people expect big, muscular guys to be strong too.
It reminds me of my holiday trip to Turkey back in 2003.
I was there with two friends from the gym.
One day we went to the Turkish Baths.
The guys who worked there noticed we were muscular.
So they challenged us to armwrestling (it seems to be popular there).
Now back then we were hitting the gym five to six times a week.
We spent 2-3h/workout in the gym and took everything to failure.
We even booked a hotel with a gym so we could keep training.
So we thought we were pretty hardcore :-)
Meanwhile these guys were fat.
And we were the strongest guys in our gym.
So we accepted the challenge, confident to win.
Long story short - we lost armwrestling to all of them.
And it didn't matter that it was a matter of skills and all that.
They were laughing, we were humiliated and it pissed me off.
So when I was back in Belgium, I started to research how to get stronger.
That's when I discovered high rep isolation and machines only build "gym strength".
To build "functional strength", you need free weights and compound exercises.
This is what lead me to the discovery of the 5x5 routine.
The rest is history as they say :-)
https://stronglifts.com/apps/
Keep it simple.
-Mehdi
P.S. Some people say strength training doesn't build muscle, only bodybuilding does. This is silly. Anyone who increases his Squat to 300lb, Bench to 225lb and Deadlift to 400lb ends up with more muscle. This always works, and it actually works better.
Don't believe me. Try what I'm saying and let the results speak for themselves. Start here...
https://stronglifts.com/5x5/
P.P.S. If you have a question you'd like me to cover in my daily email tips, send it by hitting the reply button. Include your age, weight, height, and best sq/bp/dl. Keep it short, 2-3 sentences max. Don't send me a whole book :)
P.P.P.S. If you don't want to miss on my daily emails tips to get stronger, add me to your safe sender lists. Here's how:
https://stronglifts.com/whitelist/
I sent you this email because you signed up at https://stronglifts.com
To stop receiving daily email tips from me, unsubscribe here
StrongLifts Limited, 2512 Langham Place, Office Tower 8, Argyle Street, HK
#slweb#
