[@RenaissancePeriodization] Exercise Scientist Critiques the Most Jacked 19-Year-Old (UNCENSORED)

Link: https://youtu.be/NWE2wXvknXU

Duration: 40 min

Short Summary

Julian Fitzgerald, a 19-year-old natural bodybuilder at 5'11" and 195-200 lbs, received an "A" rating and was deemed drug-free by Dr. Mike despite his impressive "irresponsibly jacked" physique. The episode covers shoulder training protocols (2-4 sessions per week, 5-7 sets per session), back thickness techniques, and debates on Phil Heath's arm training philosophy, with Scott and Honey Rabod offering contrasting coaching philosophies.

Key Quotes

1. "Is there a probability he's on drugs? Yes, that's true for everyone. Is the first thing you should think of when you see him that he is on drugs? I don't think that's the case. I would say him being on drugs, knowing nothing about him, not to disparage his good name, is roughly even chance, 40 to 60%." (00:00:23)
2. "human genetic variation is much wider than most people comprehend. There are people out there that will train for years in the most scientific way, and their arms will never get bigger than 14 in. There are other people on the other side of the normal curve, three or four standard deviations out, which means they're one in every 10,000ish, that will within several years of training, just have 20-in arms with no steroids at all, just raw genetics." (00:00:24)
3. "Generally, size is the biggest predictor of strength." (00:00:27)
4. "There's no such thing as having delts that are too big." (00:00:04)

Detailed Summary

Episode Overview

This episode features Julian Fitzgerald, a 19-year-old natural bodybuilder at 5'11" and 195-200 lbs who Dr. Mike concluded is not using performance-enhancing drugs despite his impressive musculature. The discussion covers competitive bodybuilding coaching philosophies, scientific training principles, and practical lifting techniques with contributions from Scott, Dr. Mike, and guest appearances by Larry Wheels.

Natty Assessment: Julian Fitzgerald

Dr. Mike investigated Julian's "natty status" through physical assessment and concluded he is a natural bodybuilder rather than someone using drugs. Julian possesses genetic advantages including sweeping triceps, peaked bicep peaks, and popping bellies—traits described as almost entirely genetic in origin.

• Julian Fitzgerald received an "A" rating from Dr. Mike's assessment protocol
• Scott estimates roughly a 40-60% probability that Julian is on drugs but acknowledges it's a possibility rather than an assumption
• Scott claims some people training scientifically will never exceed 14-inch arms while genetic outliers at 3-4 standard deviations can reach 20-inch arms with no steroids, occurring at a rate of roughly 1 in 10,000 people
• Julian's genetic advantages include sweeping triceps, peaked bicep peaks, and popping bellies
• Dr. Mike advised Julian to train upper and lower body, stay drug-free as long as possible, and potentially pursue bodybuilding to be recognized by Eric Helms

Phil Heath's Arm Training Philosophy

Phil Heath won the Mr. Olympia multiple times partly due to his exceptionally large arms, with triceps specifically noted as a defining feature of his physique. The hosts debate the merits of different arm training approaches based on competing coaching philosophies.

• Phil Heath won the Mr. Olympia multiple times partly due to his exceptionally large arms, with triceps specifically noted as a defining feature
• Dr. Mike notes Phil did not train arms until three weeks before a show and disagrees with deemphasizing arms, arguing it would have been better for Phil to spam delts alongside continuing normal arm training
• Scott disagrees with deemphasizing arms, arguing that Phil's gigantic arms were a hallmark of his physique and key reason he won Olympia multiple times
• Honey Rabot's coaching approach differs: make shoulders full, flatten arms, and only train arms at the very end of prep to create a wider appearance

Shoulder Training Recommendations

Dr. Mike provides specific protocols for shoulder development, emphasizing frequency and volume as key drivers of growth. The discussion distinguishes between front, side, and rear deltoid development and identifies which exercises target each head.

• Dr. Mike's shoulder training recommendation includes 2-4 sessions per week, 5-7 sets per session, averaging ~15 reps per set
• Primary movements include lateral raises, face pulls, and upright rows
• Dr. Mike recommends training shoulders four times a week, combining with other workouts, noting that shoulders are never too big
• The side delt pop look specifically comes from lateral raises
• Shoulder pressing primarily involves front delts, chest work involves front delts, back work involves rear delts

Back Training Techniques and Philosophy

Bigger backs win shows and you can't really have a big enough back, so back training should be prioritized in any physique-focused program. The discussion covers both lat exercises for width and exercises for back thickness, with specific technique cues.

• Bigger backs win shows and you can't really have a big enough back, so back training should be prioritized
• Effective lat exercises are overhead work like pull downs, assisted pull-ups, pull-ups of every kind, and straight arm work like dumbbell work, cable stuff, and pullovers
• Rows are not the best lat exercise because they don't let the lat come close to its halfway point of stretching, while the lengthened component of exercise causes disproportionate growth
• Haning's cues of rounding on purpose and arching on purpose are the correct way to perform rows to maximize back thickness
• For back thickness training, key cues include slow eccentric tempo, pause at peak contraction, and deep arching to stretch spinal erectors and rhomboids

Preventing Dominant Muscles from Taking Over

Dominant muscles like arms tend to take over during back exercises, becoming the limiting factor and absorbing most of the growth meant for other muscles. Two primary methods address this issue to ensure proper muscle targeting.

• Dominant muscles like arms tend to take over during back exercises, becoming the limiting factor and absorbing most of the growth meant for other muscles
• Method 1: maintain mind-muscle connection and kinesthetic awareness to emphasize the target muscle
• Method 2: use isolation movements where the target muscle is the limiting factor (e.g., lat prayers for back, flies for chest)
• VersaGrips are recommended during back pulls to ensure grip strength isn't the limiting factor on the movement

Trap Training Debate

Honey Ramad and Scott present contrasting views on the necessity of dedicated trap training for competitive bodybuilders. The debate centers on whether traps are visually important enough to warrant isolation work or whether they receive sufficient stimulation from other movements.

• Honey Ramad says you absolutely must train traps or you will look completely unbalanced
• Scott disagrees, arguing traps are visually overrated and will get recruited during heavy side delt work
• Training side delts with full range of motion recruits traps heavily, so dedicated trap work is unnecessary if you do sufficient side delt work
• Scott defers to Honey Ramad's championship pedigree on training knowledge while disagreeing about the necessity of explicit trap training

Bench Press Technique and Safety

Larry Wheels provides insights on bench press safety based on over 13 years of heavy pressing, including injury prevention and optimal hand positioning. A concerning incident during filming prompted discussion about the importance of proper equipment and spotters.

• Larry's advice is that pec tears occur when scapulae are protracted during bench press; retraction protects the pec tendons
• Counter-argument: Retraction during bench press may increase pec rupture risk from stronger forces but reduces shoulder joint pain and is a trade-off for more weight
• Arching and retracting during bench press is best for preventing shoulder joint pain and trauma, though its effect on pec protection is uncertain
• Close grip bench pressing may be optimal for lifters with developed arms but less developed chests, as it favors arm involvement over chest
• Larry has benched over 600 lbs for the past 13 years without ever experiencing a pec tear
• The bar slipped and fell despite the lifter not using a suicide grip, causing visible concern and requiring reassessment of physical condition
• Serious bench press lifting requires a competent handoff partner, as poor handoff technique can immediately cost 20 lbs off the lift

Mind-Body Dynamics and Training Pain

The psychological aspect of intense training involves a dynamic where the mind ultimately overrides the body's resistance and pushes through fatigue. The discussion explores whether experience diminishes pain sensation and the role of expectation in suffering.

• During intense training under heavy load, the mind ultimately overrides the body's resistance and pushes through fatigue, described as a "mind versus body" dynamic where the mind acts like a rocket the body must follow
• Accepting the pain of training doesn't eliminate it but reduces suffering; suffering stems from expectation versus reality mismatch
• Scott has been training for 26 years and still experiences pain during intense workouts, indicating that pain sensation doesn't diminish with experience

Blood Pressure Effects During Heavy Lifting

Heavy resistance training causes significant cardiovascular stress, including dangerous fluctuations in blood pressure that can lead to temporary vision loss or loss of consciousness. Specific exercises pose greater risks due to body positioning and movement patterns.

• During heavy lifting, increased blood pressure causes weird ear sensations and lightheadedness; when pressure releases, blood rushes to the legs, temporarily lowering blood pressure to the brain and risking brownout or passing out
• Scott experienced visual field blacking out intermittently during lunges due to blood pressure changes during the exercise
• Pendulum squats cause brownout-like symptoms due to the elevation change involved in the movement

Full Transcript

Show transcript

Holy crap. What happened to that young
man's arm? He is jacked.
>> I mean, having a hard time comprehending
that this is real, natural, and 18 years
old.
>> Is there a probability he's on drugs?
Yes, that's true for everyone. I don't
think that's the case. Hanik's cues here
of rounding on purpose and then arching
on purpose are absolutely awesome for
Rose. It's how you should be rowing.
One, two.
I was not ready for that. I was not
ready for that at all.
No way. No way.
Hey folks, Dr. Mike here for RP
Strength. And I have all kinds of things
about me that you've probably heard
before. One is jet black is actually my
favorite color. the color that they use
to paint various military aircraft.
>> Okay.
>> Another person who's having a lot of fun
is a Mr. Julian Fitzgerald. And at only
19 years of age, he is what I would call
irresponsibly jacked. And many people
have accused Julian of being obviously
on drugs because, you know, he's more
muscular. that makes us feel bad. So, I
had to put on my investigator hat and my
monle and Scott did do um oldtimey
investigators have canes. No, that
that's a that's a trillionaire man. Same
person. And I had to see is Mr. Julian
really on drugs and thus a giant liar
and I mean giant.
Or are people just toking up that old
copium like they typically do and he's
actually a swell young man telling the
truth?
Holy crap. What happened to that young
man's arms? He is jacked.
Especially his arms are jacked.
And uh Okay, that looks cool. Scott, how
how much does he weigh roughly? Do we
know? 511
195 to 200.
>> 511 195 to 200 at 19 years old. Okay,
we'll put that in our little little
little uh algorithm in the head to see
if he's natty or not. All right, let's
continue. Whoa. Okay, so he has a super
gifted round full popping muscle
bellies. So even for a given size of a
muscle, muscles can be shaped
differently. And if your muscles are
shaped in such a way that they really
spoof out the sides, that makes them
look way cooler. Even if the
cross-sectional area or the muscle size,
the overall muscle volume is the same as
somebody else's muscles who are kind of
a little bit more uh less poppy and more
rectangular looking. So, he's definitely
got the shape, which is awesome. Whoa,
Scott. It looks like he has normal
biceps and then a bicep on top of his
normal bicep.
>> It's like a little peak on the peak
>> that golf ballishes. Now, that that
shape is almost entirely genetic, by the
way. So, he has the ultimate killer app,
which is gigantor sweeping triceps and
mega redonkulous bicep peaks. His
shoulders are great that I would say
like substantially less impressive than
his arms. Not a dig at his shoulders, by
the way. Just his arms are totally
insane. Big ass forearms, which never
hurts. And his back looks pretty cool,
too. But it's the arms doing the work.
And Scott, doesn't that prove one of my
long-standing hypotheses that big arms
are the answer to everything? that if
you have big arms, you're officially
jacked. But if you don't have big arms,
are you actually jacked?
>> Yes.
>> Did you whisper that?
>> My voice is horsearo.
>> You've been to the island again. So,
he's got about six more months left till
he hits the big two. Nothing happens
when you turn 20. It's like a pointless
age. At 18, you can vote and I guess get
cigarettes or something. People still
smoke cigarettes. And then uh at 21 you
could drink
clubb
hypnotic and Hennessy. That's actually a
direct rap lyric quote. Um Scott, have
you ever had Hennessy?
>> Yes.
>> Have you ever had hypnotic?
>> Yes, for sure. Come on.
>> Have you ever had both in one night?
>> I've never had them together or no.
>> All right. And uh that is Hani Rambod,
friend of the channel. Very cool. Six
more months left till he hits the big
two zero. Still a teenager. I like that.
Uh Julian was kind of like, okay, yes,
it's cool. Is it disparaging or not? I
can't tell. All right, we're analyzing
the physique. Let's get it
>> fuller, but actually you look a little
more complete because your shoulders
have grown. So when you're putting your
arms down, they still overpower your
shoulders, but not as much.
>> Yeah.
>> So you're definitely catching up.
There's no such thing as having delts
that are too big. But if your arms are
overpowering your shoulders, I have a
recommendation for you. Do not
deemphasize your arms. Keep growing
them. Bigger arms are never the wrong
answer. Just train your shoulders more
and grow them. How do you grow your
shoulders? Well, a lot of people think
it's a bunch of shoulder pressing.
Shoulder pressing does involve the front
delts a ton and then the side delts to a
smaller capacity. It's a huge tricep
builder as well to get the biggest
shoulders you can visually. Remember,
almost all of your chest work involves
the front delts. Almost all of your back
work involves and really taxes the rear
delts. And the pop look from the side is
really just about side delts. So, you
can do a crapload of face pulls, upright
rows of various kinds, and machine or
cable or dumbbell laterals till you're
blue in the face. two to four sessions a
week of shoulders,
one to two exercises each time. It's not
that many, but a boatload of sets and
reps, an average of about 15 reps per
set, but maybe five to seven sets per
workout. And you can do my rep match to
even to get even more of a boost. The
RPI app lets you do all that, by the
way, and organize it super well and make
sure you're not overreaching. There's a
link in the description for that that's
really awesome. You can do this by
yourself as well, just easier with the
app. It's about volume and frequency
with shoulders. I didn't say once a week
and I didn't say three sets at a time. I
said five to seven sets per session. Two
and ideally three and even more ideally
four sessions a week. That means you
combine it with other workouts. But if
you're getting seven sets of shoulders,
mostly lateral raises of various kinds,
upright rows, face pulls, and you are
doing that four times a week, man, you
are going to get shoulder growth to the
moon. All you got to do is eat
right and then you're well on your way.
Do not dep prioritize your arms because
smaller arms benefit no one, including
mankind. Scott, you you realize aliens
have not come to visit us yet?
>> So you say,
>> allegedly, well, the lizard people will
get to later, but um I think I have a
hypothesis as to why we haven't seen
aliens step off their ship and shake the
president's hand. Because no president
of ours has ever had arms big enough.
How are aliens supposed to take you
seriously when you got big little
ass arms? And maybe no one on Earth has
big enough arms for the aliens. Maybe
we'll see the aliens one day and they'll
all have 28 in arms. And they're like,
"Why didn't you come see us?" They're
like, "Why? Why would we see you? You're
ridiculous." It's right. And they're
skinny. I've got the skinny neck and
this giant oblong head with these big
eyes and they're green and they've got
Scott. Do you like the aliens that have
the suckers on the fingers? Do do you
with that vibe? You know what I'm
saying? Like they get on your windscreen
and But you look at it, you're
like, "Oh my god, these weird skinny
hands." But then the arms are super
jacked. You're like, "All right,
facts." Yeah, that's right. Then an
alien. Yeah, Max. Good luck editing that
one. There better be animation or you're
fired. Also, random and Max,
please leave this in. Quick poll. Should
we randomly and for fun fire Max the
editor boy or should we make Max the
editor boy have sensual relations with a
person of our choosing against his will?
That is actually the only two options.
Um, Max, run the poll. Folks in the
comments, let us know.
>> Which is really good. We continue to
grow. And one of the videos that I was
doing yesterday, uh, here with Nate, we
were talking about with Phil.
>> Julian's like, "Who the are Nate
and Phil? Am I supposed to know all
these people?" was that for one of the
Olympias
>> that Phil
>> the first one that he actually won. I
made Phil not train arms all the way up
until three weeks before the show.
>> Honey Rabot mega respect best coach of
all time. I diverge in that opinion.
Phil Heath did have redonulo arms, but I
think systemic fatigue wise it wouldn't
have been a problem for him to continue
to train arms normally and really spam
the crap out of his delts and that would
have made a big difference. Um, I do not
like deemphasizing arms. I think one of
the hallmarks of Phil Heath's physique
and why he won the Olympia as many times
as did was because precisely had
gigantic arms. And if you don't believe
me, take a look at Phil Heath's uh most
muscular. You tell me if those triceps
aren't earning their weight.
>> Because what it did was it created such
imbalance in his body that it made him
look narrower. Scott, how come when
Honey talks to me, he doesn't touch me
as much? Is it cuz my arms aren't as big
or cuz my skin's not as brown and not as
smooth as Julian's?
>> He seems like a nice guy. I'm sure he'd
touch you.
>> Honey, stop playing.
>> You do some charity work.
>> Honey, you know where to find me, big
homie. What is this? The hair is the
hairiness and the skin quality that's
off.
>> My arms aren't big enough. I know it's
worth it.
>> So, we made his shoulders full and we
flattened his arms out and then we only
trained it at the very end of the prep.
Look how frustrated Julian looks. He's
like, I feel like you're telling me to
get smaller arms and I feel like the
answer to that is going to be a big ass
no.
>> So, therefore, his shoulders look way
wider. And I got a little junior version
of Phil here. Everything's grown, but we
want to be able to really build up the
back the most right now.
To Han's credit,
bigger backs win shows and you can't
really have a big enough back. So, he
has to continue to train your arms.
Like, keep going and they're just going
to keep growing anyway. Uh, but
definitely pour in pour some sugar on uh
the back. Scott, do you know I recently
found out Pour some sugar on me.
Excellent song. Has actually nothing to
do with sugar at all.
>> You just found that out?
>> Also, I found out another thing quite
recently. Yes, Scott. I'm not a rocker
like you. Um,
sugar isn't a euphemism for female
attention either.
It It is a um a euphemism for Am I
allowed to say this or is it going to
the members?
>> I mean,
>> female ejaculator
>> the members.
>> Members, it is.
>> I want to be able to get a lot more of
that 3D thickness, lower trap. We want
to get the lats wider. We want to get
the back thicker. So, we're going to
work on that today. Some people that I
have worked with in the past had really
big arms and when they were doing back,
they would pull with their arms and
therefore wouldn't stimulate their back
enough to grow. That definitely happens.
That absolutely happens. Dominant
muscles like to take over everything and
they become the limiting factor on
everything and then they absorb most of
the growth for everything. How do you
remediate this? There are at least two
ways to do this. One is you try to make
sure that when you are using, for
example, let's say you have big ass arms
and they take over on back stuff or big
ass triceps and they take over on chest
stuff. Have a mind muscle connection
that you continue to emphasize a
kinesthetic awareness that you're
pulling with your back and a mind muscle
connection that checks in to make sure
is the tension actually being felt by my
back. That's a big one. It's tough to do
especially for beginners. Another one is
to make sure that movements you are
doing in many cases are either very
emphasizing of the back and not of the
arms or exclusively back. For example,
if you're doing lat prayers, really
that's just like your back has to be the
limiting factor on that. If you're doing
pull-ups, well, your arms can help a
ton. They can't really help on lat
prayers a ton. For chest, flies, flies
are going to jack up your chest one way
or the other. So, if you do a crapload
of flies anywhere in your program, then
it's going to be a big benefit. If you
do only compounds for back and chest,
yeah, your arms can still continue to
take over. Will your back still grow?
Yeah, hell yeah it will. But is it going
to grow more if you do more isolation
work for it and have a stronger mind
muscle connection? It sure will.
And that stuff takes time. So, don't
rush into it. But just be aware of that
sort of thing. If you happen to have
arms that are too big, which you know
what a problem, Scott, you
imagine like just someone drives by the
side of the road and say Julian sitting
in the grass and they're like, "Hey
buddy, are you okay?" He looks really
sad. They're like, "What's wrong? Can I
help you?" And he's like, "My arms are
too big." And they're like, "Hey,
you, kid." And they get back in their
car, try to run him over. He kind of
ducks out of the way like drive off like
honk the horn like middle finger comes
out the side of the car. That's what I
do.
>> Okay, now two more. Now you see how fast
you're moving upwards. Is that
eccentric? Slow down. That's better.
>> Slow eccentric. God. Scott, where are
his Versa Grips?
>> He should be wearing them.
>> He should be wearing his Versa Grips in
order to make sure that his grip isn't
the limiting factor on these uh pulls.
Now, if he's got really long fingers and
really strong forearms and not so strong
of a back, he could not have a limiting
factor there. But I just wouldn't bet
money on that. I wouldn't bet money on
that. I mean, if he's going to get the
Versa Grips, he might as well get the
Hyper Belt as well, because you put on
the belt, it cinches your waist, 360°
of intraabdominal pressure, adjusts to
every single person. It is the only belt
I'm aware of that is specifically
designed by myself and Jared Feather,
IFBB Pro, to be a hypertrophy belt. The
Hyper Belt is amazing. made by the same
fine people that make VersaGrips in a
factory on one of the moons of Neptune
because the kind of production process
that requires the belt to be
manufactured isn't environmentally
friendly enough for Earth and
technically according to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission poses existential
risk to planettoid sized objects.
How do they make the belt that's
classified?
>> That's what I want you to focus on.
Good. Pull. Good. Control the negative.
That's better.
>> Pause.
Scott randomly. Well, we have an
African-American male here and we have
the term music to my ears. So, my neural
network did the only thing it does
pretty well, which is make random
associations.
The conversation for the greatest rapper
of all time typically involves
candidates like Tupac,
Biggie,
but Scott not mentioned often enough and
I think he really deserves the attention
that he uh needs to have. Jaw rule
>> really.
>> Yeah. I mean, you can be a good rapper,
but can you say murder?
I submit the answer is no. Thus, Ja Rule
is the greatest rapper that's ever
lived. If you agree with me that Ja Rule
is the greatest rapper that has ever
lived, please comment below. If you
disagree with me that Ja Rule is the
greatest rapper that's ever lived and
you think he's maybe top two or top
three, comment below. If you think Ja
Rule is not in the conversation for the
greatest rapper that ever lived, well,
guess what? We don't want you in the
conversation in the comments. So, don't
even bother saying anything. What's that
you say? Ja Rule is the greatest. Yeah,
that's right. Good. Again.
Good.
Great technique.
>> Great technique. Hold it. Hold it. Hold
it. Now stretch and let go. Good. Good.
Now I want you to arch like that. There
you go. Now I want you to stretch.
>> Yeah.
>> And I want you to arch and pull.
>> Yeah, honey. I love it. to get that
whole stretch and that big ass arch to
get the dynamic movement of your spinal
erectors to get the romboids to stretch
and retract. That's the rowing stuff
that gets you that back thickness. One
of my absolute pet peeves, and I don't
really mean this, but I don't love it,
is when people analyze row technique and
they're like, "Well, you just
isolate, stay completely straight, and
just do this cuz it's for the lats."
rows are not the best lat exercise. Why?
because they don't even let the lat come
anywhere close to its halfway point of
stretching. And we know damn near for a
fact at this point that the lengthened
component of the exercise probably
causes disproportionate amount of
growth. Which means the really effective
lat exercises are overhead work like
pull downs, assisted pull-ups, pull-ups
of every kind, and all kinds of straight
arm work like uh dumbbell stuff, cable
stuff, lap pairs of every kind,
pullovers, etc., etc., etc. Rows are an
excellent back thickening exercise. They
absolutely do stimulate the lats as
well, but they stimulate the spinal
erectors a ton. They stimulate the
romboids, the lower and and middle
traps, and all those muscles that
actually make you thicker. So, Haning's
cues here of rounding on purpose and
then arching on purpose are absolutely
awesome for rows. It's how you should be
rowing.
God damn it.
Good. Good.
Good. So, we're using a slight
supernated grip.
>> Scott, that looks like a comfy machine,
huh?
>> Uh, his panata stuff looks sick.
>> Can I teach you how to say that
correctly?
It's an Italian company.
Luigi.
Oh, why you know you're panada
or another variation, Scott?
My grandmother makes the best
panada in the world.
>> Yeah, you
>> Depends what brand of Italian. Good
brand of Now there's Italian. Italiano.
And then there's Italian. I'm
Italian. 100% pure blood. Where
was I born? Trenton, Jersey. Where the
would I be born? That's the center
of Italy. Which isn't wrong.
>> The nice thing about this particular
piece is that you can be able to turn as
much as you'd like. You can go neutral.
You can go power grip. God, I love that
the turn handles on on on pulling
machines are dope cuz sometimes a
pulling machine is like it's just going
to either hurt your shoulders or your
elbows or your wrists. You just got to
check like pick which one and when it
turns it hurts none of that. I love it.
Good. You can use a supernated grip. The
supernated grip is going to work that
lower lat where he's trying to fill in.
Good. Pull just like a bend over reverse
grip row. One more. One more. You got
it. Go. Go. Hold it. Hold it. Oh yeah.
Ah, you absolutely need to train traps.
And the reason why is number one, you're
going to look like completely unbalanced
if you don't train traps.
I'm going to have to respectfully, very
respectfully disagree with Mr. Honey
Rabbit. I don't think you need to train
traps. And here's why. Visually, I think
traps are overrated. But let's say I was
wrong. Let's say traps are goated.
Literally made of physical goats. The
best way, in my opinion, to train traps
is to train the living out of your
side adults. Why? If you do full range
of motion for your side delts, even
partials, your traps get recruited a
ton. People are always concerned about
two things, seemingly contradictory
things. One, my traps are taking over my
delt work. And two, I need to do extra
shards to do more traps. Hold on, just
let them take over. And you killed two
birds with one stone. Which brings me to
my next point. Scott, did you know that
political correctness has now erased in
many child curricula in America? The
term two birds to hit two birds with one
stone.
>> That's getting excessive.
>> Uh-huh. Do you know what it's been
replaced with?
>> You can feed two birds with one scone.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. So, as a pedantic and
known idiot, I will have to issue a
problematic statement about this.
The analogy of hitting two birds with
one stone means that with one unit of
input, you accomplish two units of
output.
The analogy of feeding two birds with
one scone is not the same logical
structure. Because when you feed one
bird with one scone, that fat
greedy bird eats the whole goddamn
thing. But when you split the scone in
two and give half to one bird and half
to the other, meaning one scone, two
birds, which was an excellent adult
video you should also check out. What
ends up happening is the birds just have
to share the And so you don't
actually get this multiplier effect of
one input, two outputs. You get one
input and then half output times two,
which means one output. So Scott, do you
like the degree of autism I supplied to
breaking that down?
>> You literally took the words out of my
mouth.
>> I was going to be like Um, this moment
brought to you by autism. Now, back to
the video.
>> Yes. Now, in chocolate flavor. Um,
it's a big deal. I need people to
understand this. But in any case, a
shitload of side laterals and a crapload
of upright rows and a shitload of face
pulls. You got big traps and big dolls.
Do I have the championship pedigree that
Honey Ramad has? No. Not even close. Not
even at all, actually. So, I'll just
shut the up. But you can eventually
not train traps when your traps get big
enough and your back gets big enough so
that your back as you're training back,
your traps kick in. But he's not at that
point yet. Stretch and squeeze. Good.
Good. Stretch. Relax. Relax. Relax. Now
drive up. There you go.
Again. Come on. Two more. Two more. One
more. Higher. Higher. Good job.
If he had the Versa Belt, the uh the
Hyper Belt from VersaGrips, if he had
that, he would he would we'd have have a
better time because of intraabdominal
pressure. But I digress. Was he doing
one plate per side? That's not how you
do shrugs, folks. Here's how you do
shrugs. Every plate in the gym and then
just just kind of just wiggle and then
look around to see if any males or
females of reproductive age have given
you more attention than usual. And then
try to go talk to them. Try to convince
them that you're really strong. Ask them
if they've been with a really strong
person before. And they're like, "What
do you mean been with?" And you're like,
"Biblically." They're like, "I don't
understand." Like in the bedroom.
They're like, "Okay, so sleep with."
You're like, "Yeah, but not literally
sleep." And they're like, "I just don't
don't get it." And then you try to
connect the dots in your head like,
"Wait, how do my big traps make me
better at intercourse?" Turns out they
don't. How do they make me better at
seduction or foreplay? They don't. And
then you just see yourself right back
out. But instead of doing all that, you
could just play that out in your head
and then when the girl looks at you in
the gym, go, "Let me tell you about the
RP hypertrophy app."
>> He is standing here in the flesh.
>> Hey, it's Larry Wheels.
>> And I'm having a hard time
>> comprehending that this is real,
natural, and 18 years old. Unbelievable.
>> Thank you. Thank you,
>> Scott. Now, it's time for this rant.
Yes.
>> Yes, sir. Teed you up,
>> folks. I'm going to keep it real. And I
have two things to say. There are many
people on the internet will tell you
that Julian is probably on drugs or less
scientifically definitely on drugs. Is
there a probability he's on drugs? Yes,
that's true for everyone. Is the first
thing you should think of when you see
him that he is on drugs? I don't think
that's the case. I would say him being
on drugs, knowing nothing about him, not
to disparage his good name, is roughly
even chance, 40 to 60%. Why? Typically,
when you see 19-year-olds with gigantic
arms, you just assume they're on drug.
But the assumption fails on two
qualities here. Number one, human
genetic variation is much wider than
most people comprehend. There are people
out there that will train for years in
the most scientific way, and their arms
will never get bigger than 14 in. There
are other people on the other side of
the normal curve, three or four standard
deviations out, which means they're one
in every 10,000ish,
that will within several years of
training, just have 20-in arms with no
steroids at all, just raw genetics. And
the second thing I have to say about
that is there is one extra factor. It's
called being of West African descent.
And in America, we just call that black.
I've given a lot of talks. have traveled
extensively through Europe. Europeans,
you guys are great. I love your
chocolate flavored cigarettes
especially. But Europeans don't deal
with African-Americans much. They see
them on the news. They see them on TV.
They see them in entertainment. They see
them in sports. But they can't really
comprehend the one thing that matters a
ton with African-Americans.
is that to do it a very big disservice
an understatement they are a very
talented people's and their ability to
be gigantic for no good goddamn reason
at all is out there and so a lot of
Europeans are like uh well clearly this
Julian man must be on every steroids
because in high school I've never seen
anybody like this in my local academy in
Munich well guess what we ain't in
Munich we in the streets
and by that I mean the streets of the
United states where African-Ameans reign
supreme and have gigantic arms
on occasion because they can. It's just
a real thing, you guys. It's a real
thing in this world. Just because that
makes you light up the copium doesn't
mean that Julian is on steroids. And I
would bet knowing both that he is a
devout Christian, mad respect, and he
seems like a really nice guy and he's
only 19 years old and he pronounces to
be lifetime drug-free on his socials.
And also, I've been around and I know
what skin quality looks like and various
other textural features. Uh, I'm going
to say that it's actually very likely in
my opinion, it doesn't have to do
with him because to him it's certain. To
me, it's very likely he is actually not
on drugs. Um, because hey, Scott, what
does it look like when black dudes take
drugs? Oh, yeah. Larry Wheels, right in
this very picture, who dwarfs Julian
because that's being black and having
uh steroid history. And uh
Julian's just got one of those things.
Makes sense to me.
>> Good. Yep.
Beautiful.
Hip.
>> No offense. I hate this
exercise. Why get one arm tired when the
other one's doing all the work so that
the other arm could just be tired? If I
got two dumbbells in my hands, I'm doing
both them shifts at the same time. Is it
also because I'm lazy and don't want to
be in the gym too long and thus I'm
going to spend less time training both
arms at the same time than splitting
them oneonone? Yes, also that's the
case. Also, Scott, have you ever seen
anything more silver than those
dumbbells?
>> They're very shiny.
>> Very shiny.
>> And brand new. I'm assuming those are to
go with his brand.
>> Brand new. What a great gym Larry has.
Jealousy. That's what this looks like.
Let's get it. Come on.
Yep. Yep. Yep.
>> Yep.
>> Yes. One more.
>> Last one.
Yep. Finish it. Yes. All right. Hell
yeah.
Perfect. Oh, some big ass arms.
>> Sheesh.
>> I mean,
>> got the strength to match the size.
>> Those are the 70s, bro. God damn.
>> Nuts.
>> Got the strength to match the size.
Generally, size is the biggest predictor
of strength.
Technical and neural characteristics and
other genetic factors play a role as
well. Some very jacked people can be
pretty strong, but not as strong as you
would think. Some uh pretty jacked
people can be way way stronger than they
are jacked. Most people that are jacked
are about as strong as you which you
most people that are jacked or about as
strong as you would expect. And uh no
misalignment there. Um we got tricep
extensions.
Holy moly.
>> Yes.
>> Great technique. Super deep stretch. I
love it. Yes.
>> Okay.
You guys see how he's got his hand on
his chest with them weird fingers doing
all that weird That's exactly how
I recommend you lift weights and
generally present your hand. I'm being a
dick.
>> Perfect.
>> Oh yeah. Sorry. I'll let you do it the
way you've been doing it.
>> Now I tell you what, brother. You might
have big ass arms, but how much can you
bench press? God damn it. Scott, is
there a reason? Is there is that bar
covered in blood halfway through?
>> Blood.
>> Blood.
Yes, sir.
>> I like that though cuz you can tell
exactly where the middle is.
>> That's true.
>> That's pretty sick. I've never seen that
on before.
>> If you have a lot of OCD, this bar could
be trouble for you.
>> Yeah. You're like, I'm a half a
centimeter off.
>> Speaking I did the other side last time.
Jared would hate this bar. Is that three
plates, Scott? Or am I hallucinating?
Uh, he does three plates at one point.
I'm not sure if it's honored yet or not.
>> Okay. Damn it. His competition plays,
too. 44 pounds of town. Tell you what, I
thought this was America. God damn it.
20 kg. I thought we won World War II.
>> One.
>> I was not ready for that. I was not
ready for that at all.
>> Same. He wasn't even suicide gripping.
>> It just fell out.
>> I don't see that often.
>> Look at his face, bro. That's my face.
Oh Holy I sure
hope he's okay. God damn.
>> Yeah, this is what the three plates
also.
>> God damn. I started counting and
everything.
>> No way. No way. Scott, would you
not reassess the situation after that
happened?
>> Yeah, I'd definitely be reassessing my
body after that happened. Like, are all
my ribs not cracked? You got to check
the cuz like somehow it could have
gotten hurt. It's kind of it's like
standard. You get into any car accident,
you walk out, instantly check the
>> of course,
>> rank one cuz if that was damaged, you
might as well just get back in there and
let the car burn up. Holy
that was scary. But ball or just
going right back into it. I can't
believe it's happening.
>> All right, nice recovery.
>> Yes,
I'm with you.
Okay,
>> interestingly enough, pressing with a
very close grip, it might be that he is
strongest with that closer grip because
his chest is good, but his arms are
amazing. And this closer grip actually
favors that arrangement. I knew a couple
of Super Jack Black dudes with crazy big
ass arms and like very good, but not
amazing chests that did their best bench
pressing with a closer grip. Makes
sense. I don't know why I threw in
black, but it just happened to be black.
Yeah, I feel that bar kind of slipping a
bit, but
>> definitely recommend chalk in every set.
>> Yeah, even if you don't think you need
it, probably do.
>> Chalk is goated, man. I love chalk. When
I go to a gym and they're like, "You
can't have chalk here." I'm like, "Okay,
so we can't have lifting either." I
typically don't say that. I just shut up
and use chalk anyway secretly. Scott, I
started traveling with liquid chalk and
it's amazing cuz I could low-key put
chalk on my hands and it works great. I
highly recommend liquid chalk. It's an
amazing invention. The other thing is is
if like you know you're on the plane and
it's like oh like it's delayed, the
flight's going to be longer. Like I got
liquid chalk and there's a bathroom. So
what's your boy going to do in there?
He's going to go and put on liquid
chalk, sit in the bathroom and you can
fill in the blanks. But Mike, doesn't
the liquid chalk increase friction? Yes,
that's the whole point. We're on a
competitive level here, not just
recreationally masturbating.
>> Probably my fault that I put on a bunch
of cocoa butter before I come to the
gym. I thought he was going to say, "Put
a bunch of cocoa butter on the bar." Be
like, "Well, that's actually super
up."
>> Uh, insert cocoa butter joke at the
expense of black people here. I don't
really have one. They just all smell
really nice cuz they put it on.
H, it's a moisturizer, right, Scott?
>> Yes.
>> What's a moisturizer, Scott?
>> It keeps your skin more damper and not
dry.
You don't do that.
no. My skin care routine is the
following. Exist.
>> Nice.
>> And that's why my skin looks so amazing.
If you think my skin is amazing, let me
know in the comments just how amazing it
is.
>> They tell you, well, if you can't unwrap
it by yourself, you can't handle the
weight.
>> God, Larry's voice, man. Like Scott, you
know, again, I'm like maybe in the top
50 of the straightest people that have
ever lived, but his voice, he's got that
rock doesn't he?
>> You like that? Kind of sounds like a
really buff Kermit the Frog to me. All
love and respect.
>> All love and respect.
>> Scott, I protect you from Larry.
>> Buffer with the frog. I would give it up
to what? Now, I can't think of any
advice worse than that because when
you're working up to heavy singles,
triples, and fives and you don't have
someone help you hand off the bar, what
happens is you end up pressing yourself
out of position.
>> Yep. Yep. Serious lifting requires a
serious handoff for the bench press.
100%. And who the handoff man is is
really important cuz if they don't know
how to hand off properly, you just lost
20 lbs off that right away. It's a
big deal,
>> right? and putting a tremendous amount
of load on your front delt and you're no
longer protecting your pec from a pec
tear, right? Your pec is protected when
your scapula is retracted. When you're
protracted and benching, you're exposing
the tendons here and that's how most pec
injuries happen.
>> I wonder if that's true. To me, the
protraction always just hurt the
glenoumeral joint, which is the central
shoulder joint that does this, the ball
and socket one. Um, I don't know. I
think that if you retract in a bench
press, it actually exposes the pec to
stronger forces. Ostensibly, that would
increase pectoral rupture risk, but it's
a trade-off for lifting more weight. So,
I actually think like most people are
not strong enough to be a candidate for
pectoral rupture. And but many people,
more people are strong enough to get
their shoulder joints not to cooperate.
So, I think arching and retracting is
actually best for preventing shoulder
joint pain and kind of trauma. And I
don't I don't know if it addresses the
pec thing, but Larry is the man that
knows things and has benched like 600
lb. So, uh, who knows who's right there?
Probably Larry. Now,
>> I've been bench pressing over 600 lb for
the last 13 years. Never had a single
pector.
>> Got two more. Now, go down a little
slower though. Slow, slow, slow, slow,
slow, slow. Good. You got to go even a
little slower than that on the way down.
>> Scott, watching someone else give these
cues is painful because it looks like it
sucks to listen to. It's like when when
you're when you're under that much load,
you're just like, "Just let me finish
this set." And they're like, "Do every
rep slower." And you're like, "Okay,
I'll do the concentric slower." And
you're like, "No, the eccentric, the
hard part." And you're like, "Fuck,
that sucks." Slow, slow, slow,
slow, slow. Good. Drive. Good. One more
like that.
>> Great technique.
>> Now go down and go halfway up and give
me three like that. Go up. One. Two. One
more. Come on. You got
>> the ghost of Milo Wolf caught in the
camera.
>> Let's go. You're strong. You're strong.
Let's go. Good job. Get down there.
There you go. So, you have to remember,
dude. You're much stronger than you
think.
>> Scott, why do you always tell me the
opposite? You told me yesterday I was
not nearly as strong or competent or
handsome or intelligent or verbose as I
thought.
>> Just got to keep you in check, you know,
from getting a big head and all.
>> Daddy keeps me in check. This is that
mind versus body because he's giving up
a little bit because he's definitely
getting more fatigued.
>> Mind versus body.
The body's like, "Yo, what's up?" The
mind's like, "I'm I'm good, bro." The
body's like, "What you mean you're good,
man? You looked at my
direction." The mind's like, "Listen,
I'm going to say this once. Do not
with me." And the body's like, "Oh, oh,
don't with me." Oh, okay. Okay.
Shazam! The gat comes out. But by the
time the gat comes out, the mind is like
a rocket launch already. Like,
didn't I say shut the up, pimp? And
the body's like, "Uh, yo, mad respect.
I'm just going to put the gun down. I'm
going to walk away. Hey, we're good,
bro. We're good." And the mind's like,
"Fuck, I thought.
Get out of here."
That's how I see him playing it.
>> And he feels that burn. It's okay. He's
just going to have to learn how to get
past that.
>> Scott, have you learned how to get past
the burn yet? I've been at this 26
years, man. That still hurts.
>> You don't get past it. But I think you
brought up a good point here. It's like
you can see like when people aren't used
to it, they kind of try quote unquote,
but they give up. Yes.
>> And like you learn to just like still
push your all even though you don't
really want to.
>> Yeah.
>> It's like uh
letting
the boiling, bubbling, simmering feeling
of your thighs just be a thing you
accept.
>> Yeah.
>> Like it's going to hurt. Like, okay,
don't try to get away. Just get in
there. like, "Oh, fuck." Once you can
accept it, it's a big deal. It doesn't
make the pain go away, but it reduces
the suffering. Cuz if you expect not to
be hurt, but you're hurt, you're
suffering. Expectation versus reality
mismatch. If you expect that it's going
to suck and it sucks, you're just in
pain. Not nearly as bad as suffering.
>> My ears feel weird.
>> My ears feel weird.
>> Yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. That's a
thing. because of blood pressure
differences, you get really a ton of
pressure and it uh increases the amount
of blood pressure to your uh a lot of
you actually. So, this results in you
getting weird ear stuff, lightadedness
wanting to pass out, that whole thing.
As soon as the pressure is off, then
there's a crapload of blood flow that
goes to your legs to actually reduce
blood flow, reduce pressure, and
temporarily your blood pressure to all
of your brain can get substantially
lower. Scott, you ever brown out before
at the gym?
>> Mhm.
>> Yeah. You're just like every I was did
lunges yesterday and every step I took
of lunges, my like visual field was like
a little black, a little back to normal.
A little black, a little back to normal.
It's a thing for sure. Um
>> the pendulum squat does that to me. The
elevation change.
>> It's like why don't I step out of it?
I'm like,
it's intense. If you if you don't
know what you're getting into, the the
hearing thing especially can be a trip.
>> You know what I mean? You can see the
process. I'm going to throw up. Where's
the trash can? Nice. Nice. He just cut
himself off. It's really polite.
>> I think I'm good. Actually, I'll just
chill by here. But I'll finish right
here just in case.
>> Dude, it's really smart. You going to
keep talking that Just Just put me
next to a trash can and then I'm going
to talk smack because I don't want to
paint the floor.
What can I say that has already not been
said? Julian Fitzgerald. She seems like
a nice young man. Julian, don't you pay
attention to any of the haters. Keep
training them arms to make them big as
Train the delts, too. Train your
upper body, lower body, and everything.
And stay drugfree for as long as you
can, arguably the rest of your life. And
uh eventually, if you want, you can just
be super jacked and get loads of you
know what. But uh you can also compete
bodybuilding and then that doesn't
really lead to getting loads of you know
what, but you can win trophies and
stuff. And then Eric Helms can know who
you are, which is really important. For
those of you who caught that reference,
great. For those not, check out Eric
Helms. He's the man. And I rate Julian
A.
It's just racial coming to mind at
this point. Scott, to be completely
honest, bro.
We can't rate him that way.
Blacktastic. Am I allowed to say that?
>> Sure.
>> Out of 10. See you guys next time.
Uh, sure.
It's a good thing.
Woo, that was fun. I feel like my
genetics got worse. Relatively speaking,
watching that video, if you want your
genetics to get probably even worse,
relatively speaking, this video right
here might be the jam. These homies.