Mike Israetel- opinions on his “volume markers for training”

[juggy38]

Just been reading some of his articles, what do y’all think about him?

 

[XstarchildX]

I absolutely love Mike and his methodologies. IMO one of the smarter guys in the game when it comes to training and nutrition.

 

[jeroendebleser]

I thought Scott Abel was a high volume guy until I saw Mike Israetel's volume recommendations And he doesn't believe in bro-splits either so all of that volume comes in multiple body part workouts which each must take a few hours to complete. But he seems to know his stuff.

 

[juggy38]

I thought Scott Abel was a high volume guy until I saw Mike Israetel's volume recommendations And he doesn't believe in bro-splits either so all of that volume comes in multiple body part workouts which each must take a few hours to complete. But he seems to know his stuff.

Yea I was writing a 5 day split using his volume and was like...I need 8 days in a week to get all this volume in. 16-22 sets for back, 16-18 quads, 10-14 hams.....good lord

 

[Pericles]

Yea I was writing a 5 day split using his volume and was like...I need 8 days in a week to get all this volume in. 16-22 sets for back, 16-18 quads, 10-14 hams.....good lord

Lmao that is low volume for back that's 2 diff exercises twice a week for 4 sets.. if that's a lot to you then you're not training hard enough

 

[juggy38]

Lmao that is low volume for back that's 2 diff exercises twice a week for 4 sets.. if that's a lot to you then you're not training hard enough

Compared to DC training where you might do 4-5 sets a week, yea that’s a lot of volume.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

Mike’s my buddy! Goes to a BJJ school I train at all the time.

 

[MR. BMJ]

I really like Mike, one smart guy. I have not followed his RP program, but I read everything he puts out.

 

[Pericles]

Compared to DC training where you might do 4-5 sets a week, yea that’s a lot of volume.

Volume based on science

 

[XstarchildX]

Keep in mind that Mike recommends starting at your MEV (minimum effective volume) and working up to your MRV (max recoverable volume) before overreaching a bit, and then backing down again. Proper periodization allows for extreme amounts of volume in short bursts. Of course both MEV and MRV will vary greatly among individuals as we're all wired a bit differently.

 

[juggy38]

Yea I’ve been reading more, mike counts working sets anything with 2 reps or so in the tank. So like RPE of 7-8 or so.

Seems like a very intelligent guy. Doesn’t he have a PhD in exercise science?

 

[OutToLunch]

Too much science there for me...

 

[buck]

Yea I was writing a 5 day split using his volume and was like...I need 8 days in a week to get all this volume in. 16-22 sets for back, 16-18 quads, 10-14 hams.....good lord

Pretty average volume for years past. But everything comes around again and comes back into style.

 

[VaginaBoob89]

Don't mean to be disrespectful, but he's been in the business for a while and has yet to coach anyone remotely accomplished and has never looked particularly great. AFAIK he's sold hundreds of templates and coached a lot of clients. Yes, he's clearly a smart guy, but are his methods informed by science actually producing results? Seems like the answer is no...

Meadows or DC's methods may not be as scientific, but they've got hundreds of IFBB pros between the two of them.

I mean I'd love to be wrong if someone has an example of someone he's coached that's done well in competitive bbing, until then I'm going to take his recommendations with a grain of salt.

 

[Mike Arnold]

Don't mean to be disrespectful, but he's been in the business for a while and has yet to coach anyone remotely accomplished and has never looked particularly great. AFAIK he's sold hundreds of templates and coached a lot of clients. Yes, he's clearly a smart guy, but are his methods informed by science actually producing results? Seems like the answer is no...

Meadows or DC's methods may not be as scientific, but they've got hundreds of IFBB pros between the two of them.

I mean I'd love to be wrong if someone has an example of someone he's coached that's done well in competitive bbing, until then I'm going to take his recommendations with a grain of salt.

I don't know who this man is (the coach in the OP), or what his methods are, but whether or not he has coached top guys has little to do with the effectiveness of his methods. There are many popular coaches out there who don't recommend specific training methods or barely even advise on training, yet they are quite popular and have worked with many top guys. Time will tell whether or not his methods are sound, but the competitive status of his clients is not an indicator of competency. Rarely is a specific training methodology responsible for producing a top physique. The top bodybuilders are top bodybuilders because of other factors. Of course, training plays a huge role in one's development, but most of those guys would be pros regardless of the training style employed. Any of the more well known training systems (high volume and low volume, along with all of their variants) can produce a great physique when everything else is in place.

You bring up what may be a valid point, but just keep in mind that the most popular coaches are not necessarily the most knowledgeable about training.

 

[OutToLunch]

^^^Like Rambod and FST-7^^^

 

[Pheedno]

Don't mean to be disrespectful, but he's been in the business for a while and has yet to coach anyone remotely accomplished and has never looked particularly great. AFAIK he's sold hundreds of templates and coached a lot of clients. Yes, he's clearly a smart guy, but are his methods informed by science actually producing results? Seems like the answer is no...

Meadows or DC's methods may not be as scientific, but they've got hundreds of IFBB pros between the two of them.

I mean I'd love to be wrong if someone has an example of someone he's coached that's done well in competitive bbing, until then I'm going to take his recommendations with a grain of salt.

I think you're trying to close him into a box of who has the best physique when he spans a broad spectrum that is primarily in performance. Performance in conjunction with fat loss. If I remember correctly he handles the nutrition for a few olympic athletes and all of team alpha male in the UFC

 

[herculeus]

I have always been Curious about what you do for training Mike. What is your current approach to training?

I don't know who this man is (the coach in the OP), or what his methods are, but whether or not he has coached top guys has little to do with the effectiveness of his methods. There are many popular coaches out there who don't recommend specific training methods or barely even advise on training, yet they are quite popular and have worked with many top guys. Time will tell whether or not his methods are sound, but the competitive status of his clients is not an indicator of competency. Rarely is a specific training methodology responsible for producing a top physique. The top bodybuilders are top bodybuilders because of other factors. Of course, training plays a huge role in one's development, but most of those guys would be pros regardless of the training style employed. Any of the more well known training systems (high volume and low volume, along with all of their variants) can produce a great physique when everything else is in place.

You bring up what may be a valid point, but just keep in mind that the most popular coaches are not necessarily the most knowledgeable about training.

 

[Elvia1023]

I don't know who this man is (the coach in the OP), or what his methods are, but whether or not he has coached top guys has little to do with the effectiveness of his methods. There are many popular coaches out there who don't recommend specific training methods or barely even advise on training, yet they are quite popular and have worked with many top guys. Time will tell whether or not his methods are sound, but the competitive status of his clients is not an indicator of competency. Rarely is a specific training methodology responsible for producing a top physique. The top bodybuilders are top bodybuilders because of other factors. Of course, training plays a huge role in one's development, but most of those guys would be pros regardless of the training style employed. Any of the more well known training systems (high volume and low volume, along with all of their variants) can produce a great physique when everything else is in place.

You bring up what may be a valid point, but just keep in mind that the most popular coaches are not necessarily the most knowledgeable about training.

Exactly and great post. It's not rocket science but when I see some of the plans from top names I wonder how they got where they are. Plus watching some of them train it's almost embarassing (Hany Rambod for example). Many seem desperate to get pro's on their team and will even do it for free and offer them freebies etc. They know that 1 big name pro means 100 new client requests and a bigger reputation. As you basically alluded to getting a genetic freak to look good is not very impressive.

There also seems to be a handful of pro's who have been trained by the best but for some reason that knowledge doesn't stick as they are supposed to be terrible coaches. At the same time some guys have a big names for good reason and not every coach suits every person. Although I bet if some of the big names put themselves out more for things like Q&A's their shortcomings would be apparant.

Now there are many who put themselves out all over and they are very knowledgable and great coaches. However it seems some of those are so popular they take on too many clients (understandable) but the fact they are only human results in subpar performance (mainly communication and timing) for certain clients. Obviously some need to have a limit and stick to it. Everyone has a bad day but I have heard of many stories of knowledgeable coaches that didn't seem bothered and would take hours (or longer) when guys are competing that day.

Two coaches I never hear about clients really complaining about are John Meadows and Matt Porter. Obviously there will be exceptions and I have heard of minor things but most people I know who were trained by them were very happy and no one had anything bad to say. They are also both extremely knowledgeable on all aspects of bodybuilding. I hear alsorts of stuff about other coaches but many are respectful and don't really post about it in the open.

Regarding this coach I have heard the name but don't know anything about him. I am a volume guy though so I would probably like his plans from the sounds of things.

 

[OutToLunch]

Always appreciated programs like DC, Yates HIT, milos Sarcev early/low volume program, skip hills training style , fortitude from what I read. Steve Shaw etc.