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How to Actually Get in Shape in 2026 - My Evidence-Based Guide

2025-01-17 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 19:08 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Health, sleep and habits · mode: Explanation and tutorial · tags: Evidence-based framing, Lesson from a book, His medical past, Sponsor segment present

Ali's evidence-based guide to building muscle, researched with Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness for his Health Club series: why to bother (health and independence in old age via Peter Attia's centenarian decathlon, attractiveness, confidence), then three principles: progressive overload with a ready-made plan, enough protein (1.6 to 2.4 g per kg a day) and calories, and rest between sets and enough sleep.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The three things for building muscle; the Health Club series; research help from Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness

  • ★★★ Ali says the three most important things for building muscle are progressive overload in the gym, eating enough calories and protein, and prioritising sleep and recovery. — 00:00:00
  • ★ Ali's video on building muscle is part of Health Club, his ongoing series in which he learns how to live longer and healthier, applies it to his own life and shares what he learns. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Building muscle was outside what Ali learned at medical school, so for his video on it he asked his friend Steve Kamb, founder of Nerd Fitness, to help with the research. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Ali, who first found Nerd Fitness at about 17 when he started getting into health and fitness, calls it an amazing resource. — 00:00:59
  • ★★★ Ali says building muscle is not only for vanity: the most important reason to do it is that it is very good for your health in general. — 00:00:59
  • ★★ Ali calls Peter Attia's Outlive a fantastic book about how to live longer and healthier. — 00:00:59
  • ★★ Peter Attia (quoted): In Outlive, Peter Attia calls exercise the most powerful longevity drug, one that increases both the length and the quality of your life. — 00:00:59

00:01:16 — Why build muscle: health and independence in old age, attractiveness, self-esteem

  • ★★ Peter Attia (quoted): Peter Attia writes in Outlive that strength training is like retirement saving: we want to reach old age with a reserve of muscle and bone density that protects us from injury and keeps us doing what we enjoy. — 00:01:46
  • ★★ Ali says it is much easier to lose muscle than to gain it, and muscle mass starts to decrease by default as early as our 30s. — 00:01:46
  • ★★ Ali says strong muscles built up over time help you move better and stay balanced and upright, which reduces the risk of falling. — 00:01:46
  • ★★ Ali says muscle helps you lift heavy things, such as your own shopping bags in old age, and slows the loss of bone density over time. — 00:02:15
  • ★★★ Peter Attia's centenarian decathlon, as Ali explains it: list what you would like to do at 100 (climb stairs, lift a grandchild, carry shopping), then work back to the muscle and cardiovascular fitness you need in your 40s and 50s. — 00:02:44
  • ★★ The centenarian decathlon sealed the deal for Ali on building muscle; at first he wanted to get more jacked and attractive to women, which matters less now he is married. — 00:03:22
  • ★★ As a doctor Ali spent four months on a geriatric medicine placement, where many patients were old and frail with little quality of life. — 00:03:22
  • ★★ Ali says much of the frailty he saw on the elderly care ward could have been avoided with lifestyle factors: obese people fare worse in old age, and after a fall that breaks a hip quality of life nosedives and the risk of dying within a year rises sharply. — 00:03:50
  • ★★★ Ali's takeaway from the elderly care ward: building muscle builds the habit of weight and resistance training, which studies show is very good for you, and should mean he loses less independence as he ages. (hedged) — 00:04:19
  • ★★ Ali's second reason to build muscle: especially for men, a reasonably muscular physique makes you more attractive to women on average. — 00:04:19
  • ★★ Julian Shapiro (quoted): Julian Shapiro writes in his guide to building muscle that many women compare men with huge physiques to girls wearing too much makeup: too much of a good thing. — 00:04:48
  • ★★ Ali says that to look fit and attractive to most women you need not go overboard or do that much in the gym. — 00:05:17
  • ★★ Ali's third reason to work out: it helps self-esteem and confidence, not by getting jacked but through setting a big long-term goal, showing up consistently and making small progress. — 00:05:17

00:05:46 — Sponsor read for Brilliant

  • ★★ For progressive overload Ali uses an app for the 5/3/1 plan, which tells him at the gym which exercise, weight and reps to aim for that day. — 00:06:45

00:07:03 — Principle 1: progressive overload; volume, intensity, frequency and specificity

  • ★★ Ali has logged most of his workouts for years in the app Strong, which shows what he lifted last time on an exercise so he can aim higher. — 00:07:33
  • ★★ At a recent bench press session Ali did eight reps at 75 kg, a personal record after seven reps about three weeks earlier. — 00:08:02
  • ★★ Ali finds that tracking his workouts makes them feel more like a game and more fun, and helps him set a goal for each session. — 00:08:31
  • ★★ Ali names four factors for building muscle: volume, intensity, frequency and specificity. — 00:08:31
  • ★★★ Ali says beginners and intermediates at the gym should just follow a workout plan someone else has made, since every reasonable plan accounts for volume, intensity, frequency and specificity. — 00:09:00
  • ★★ Ali says training volume is your sets multiplied by your reps. — 00:09:30
  • ★★ Ali says most experts recommend a range of five to 15 reps for most exercises. — 00:09:30
  • ★★ To maximise gains for a single muscle group, Ali says to aim for six to ten sets per workout, roughly two to three exercises. — 00:09:59
  • ★★ Ali says knowing the theory behind workout plans lets you create your own workout when you cannot follow your plan, such as in a hotel gym without the equipment. — 00:10:28
  • ★★ Ali says most expert recommendations are to lift to within one to three reps of failure with good form, leaving one to three reps in reserve. — 00:10:57
  • ★★ For the most muscle gain for the time invested, Ali says most recommendations put three to four workouts a week as best for most people; some go to five, and complete beginners can do two full-body workouts. — 00:11:56
  • ★★ Ali follows the 5/3/1 plan, aiming for four workouts most weeks (sometimes three), each lasting 30 to 45 minutes. — 00:11:56
  • ★★★ Ali says every recommendation agrees consistency is among the most important things: pick the routine and frequency that lets you stay consistent, because long-term consistency gives results. — 00:12:25
  • ★★ Ali explains specificity as choosing the most appropriate exercise to put tension on the muscle you want to work. — 00:12:25
  • ★★ To find a workout plan, Ali suggests Google, Reddit, Nerd Fitness or Jeff Nippard's YouTube channel; he bought one of Nippard's guides and finds it really good. — 00:12:54 · Google

  • ★★★ Ali says the key to building muscle is progressive overload: instead of the same workout every time, increase the weight, sets or reps over time so the muscles are more and more taxed. — 00:12:54

    “Progressive overload is what makes muscles grow.”

00:13:44 — Principle 2: eating, protein and calories

  • ★★ Ali says genetics play a part in building muscle, but research shows lifestyle factors such as training, diet, sleep and stress matter a lot more. — 00:13:44
  • ★★ Ali says protein is the building block of muscle, letting it grow and recover, but most people do not get enough of it. — 00:14:15
  • ★★ Ali says the international recommended dietary allowance for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, about 60 grams for him at around 75 kilograms. — 00:14:15
  • ★★ Peter Attia (quoted): Peter Attia says in his book that the recommended dietary allowance for protein is a complete joke, far too little. — 00:14:44
  • ★★ Every fitness professional and researcher Ali has heard or interviewed calls the recommended dietary allowance an absurdly low amount of protein for building muscle. — 00:14:44
  • ★★★ Ali gives the recommended protein intake for people of healthy weight trying to gain muscle as 1.6 to 2.4 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, 120 to 180 grams for him. — 00:14:44
  • ★★ Ali tracks his protein with an app called ProteinPal (as heard) and sometimes tracks macros in MyFitnessPal, which he finds a bit annoying. — 00:15:26
  • ★★ Since getting enough protein is weirdly hard, Ali has a protein shake first thing in the morning, a decent slab of protein at lunch and dinner and another shake in the afternoon, which gets him to about 150 grams a day. — 00:15:26
  • ★★ From people who specialise in building muscle, Ali gathers that most people who struggle to gain muscle are not working out consistently enough or not eating enough protein. (hedged) — 00:16:00
  • ★★ Ali says building muscle generally needs a calorie surplus, eating more calories than you expend, which also makes you put on a little fat. — 00:16:29
  • ★ For years Ali has gained muscle in bulk phases only to find his belly getting bigger too. — 00:16:29
  • ★★ Ali says a beginner who follows a plan, goes to the gym three or four times a week consistently and eats enough protein probably need not think hard about calories. (hedged) — 00:16:58
  • ★★ Ali says muscles are built while eating and resting, not while at the gym. — 00:17:27
  • ★★ Ali's rule for rest between sets: long enough to put the same effort into each set and to feel mentally ready to go again. — 00:17:27

00:17:28 — Principle 3: resting, between sets and through sleep

  • ★★ Ali says lower-weight sets may need only 60 to 90 seconds of rest, while very heavy lifts may need three to five minutes. — 00:17:57
  • ★ Between sets at the gym Ali often listens to a podcast or an audiobook or takes notes on his phone. — 00:17:57
  • ★★ Ali says that to make muscle gain as efficient as possible you would do antagonistic exercises during the rest between sets. (hypothetical) — 00:17:57
  • ★★ Ali says studies show that too little sleep shifts the body towards catabolism, which favours breaking down muscle, rather than anabolism, which favours building it. — 00:18:26

In the description and comments

  • ★ Ali writes that he has been trying to become a Gymshark athlete for years, so he made a video about getting in shape and building muscle. (playful) — video description · Gymshark

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: 5/3/1 · centenarian decathlon · progressive overload

Also: People: Jeff Nippard · Julian Shapiro · Peter Attia · Steve Kamb

Projects: Health Club

Works: Outlive · StrongLifts 5x5

Organizations: Google · Nerd Fitness · Reddit

Concepts: Geriatric medicine · reps in reserve

Products: MyFitnessPal · ProteinPal · Strong

Only in the description or credits: Gymshark · Julian Method for Building Muscle

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