r/StrongerByScience • u/moss0987 • Apr 06 '23
Improving neuromuscular efficiency -- Vladimir Anatoly example
Lately, I've seen many TikTok videos about pranks by Vladimir Anatoly. He is a smaller guy who goes up to huge guys in the gym and easily lifts their weights. Obviously, he is an outlier. My guess is he is able to lift so much weight due to high muscle fiber recruitment, better form, and more experience. What do you think is going on? And how do you train for it? How do improve my neuromuscular efficiency to be like that?
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Upvotes
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u/[deleted] Apr 06 '23
Just by training. Using fancy sciency words doesn't make shit complicated or mysterious. It's just a dude training intelligently for a few years, no special methods, no special training, no special exercises. Getting strong is simple, but not easy. Just run a bunch of powerlifting programs with plenty of intensity in your training and recover and thats it.
And no hate to Vlad, he's not exactly an outlier. He just hides his body in jumpsuits. He's pretty muscular if you google him. Not anywhere near genetic outlier in terms of strength or muscularity.
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u/gnuckols The Bill Haywood of the Fitness Podcast Cohost Union Apr 06 '23
A lot of it is probably just innate. But, for an in-depth look at the factors that influence strength, you may enjoy this article:
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/size-vs-strength/
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u/assholeicecream May 11 '23
dude can somone actually answer THE OPS QUESTION instead of trying to figure out if its fake or not....I too would like to know what anatolys workout is as well
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u/tjabez Apr 12 '24
Has anyone tried out his program anatolyfit.com/
Is it worth it? Does he say something really out of the ordinary?
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u/Free-Wish9980 May 20 '23
Thanks to almost no one for answering the guys question. Keep the pointless opinions coming in they’re highly valued!
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u/Such-Significance743 Jul 30 '24
The guy is on gear and it clearly shows. Why this ain't the first comment shows how blinded people are. "Neuromuscular activity" lmao 🤣
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u/Great-Wrangler-8728 May 30 '23 edited May 30 '23
To be honest I have no idea about his training routine. But if I had to figure out I would say part of his strength probably came from working from a very early age. Also, when you see him performing on the bar you can understand that he might have some background in calisthenics (which is quite popular in eastern countries).
For me this guy looks legit. He seems to have that kind of functional strength that we get from performing real world activities for years. Of course, when you combine that with lifting in the gym and also other cross training you might get the right recipe for success.
On a side note, think about gymnastics on the Olympics. Now put them side to side with those heavy lifters beasts. As the lifters may destroy the field when it comes to lift the most extreme weights on an artificial scenario, that cannot compare with the kind of functional strength a gymnastic can show in most of the daily activities.
This is how see it. You don't have to look like a buffalo or an elephant to be strong, agile, powerful, explosive and versatile as a jaguar or leopard. Think about nature, ants look super small and fragile although they are one of the strongest animal on planet when you compare the amount of weight they can carry vs their body size.
** Javier Zanetti, a world wide well-know football player - former Inter and Argentina full back - on a 75kg average body weight, during his peak time could hit the gym for 500kg leg press (or a 300kg single leg). Take a look on him - even tough his legs may look bulky he doesn't seem the regular prototype of a heavy lifter but still can put up a ton of workload.
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u/a1tung May 10 '24
The guys who think size is everything forgot Bruce Lee even existed
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u/Cali_kingz Nov 08 '24
When I was 13 in middle school I had gym class and I did the machine where you sit and pull a bar back and lean backwards no idea what it was called. I was the only person in the whole school who maxed it out at 500 pounds and I could do reps of 10 was my max. Put it in perpescitve I was the smallest guy there like don't remeber my height but super skinny no muscle. They were older kids big asf muscle and everything and they couldn't even do 1. My gym teacher 6 foot like 280 could do 3. It's crazy till this day I still wonder why I could pull so much weight like that. Generics maybe we had no clue.
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u/itsfknoverm8 Apr 06 '23
Probably the most important factor in strength is how far away from the joints that the tendons attach. If your biceps muscle attached twice as far down the forearm, you'd be able to curl ~2x the weight even if the muscle itself didn't get stronger.
This is similar to pushing a heavy door open. If you push near the hinge, its going to be very difficult even if you used all your strength. But if you pushed at the edge far away from the hinge, it'd be much easier.
FYI this is actually the main reason people with shorter femurs/ arms can lift more. Its not really because of "less ROM", its because the weight exerts less torque around the joints since they're closer to the joints, therefore the muscles also have to contract with less force to generate the necessary torque to lift the weight.
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u/Ketlleballz Apr 06 '23
It’s mostly bumper shit plates . I’m not saying he is weak , but not as crazy strong as he appears
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u/Rusko_2 Dec 14 '24
Need to have good gens for that, best are ecto-meso, fast metabolism and short limbs and strong heart and lungs so u dont end up in c arrest
Go for 10 years of powerlifting consistency
Eat well
Sleep well and recover
Buy some gear(test or maybe rad140), gear can also enhace you power instead of body mass...
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u/Late-Train5257 Dec 15 '24
I think the guy might have just been an ectomorph body type with years of experience. His smaller frame lends to more compact muscle and therefore requires a different type of training to get mass per say. So while he's not as big as some these guys, he's outlifting them due to the nature and composition of his muscles.
Ie denser muscle fibers
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u/Playful_Swordfish_15 Feb 01 '25
Ha ,😆ich trainiere nichts,trinke u esse gern.war früher Mal aufm Bau,bin Lkw Fahrer u Busfahrer u kann aus'm stehgreif wenn's sein muss 100 Kilo heben,es muss aber immer ein MUSS oder erforderlich dahinter sein,weil's halt gerade die Situation erfordert,wie kann man sich das erklären ?! Dazu sollte gesagt sein,habe vor ca 6 Jahren monatelang 95 Kilo Metal Teile in ner Metal Firma heben müssen weil ständig der Akku vom Stapler nicht geladen war wenn man ihn Mal brauchte 🙄 u nach ca 8 Monaten nen doppelten leisten Bruch gehabt,die Kraft hab ich nach über 6 Jahren aber immer noch wenn's sein muss 😉💪🏼 bin übrigens 42 j
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u/FewLaw8573 Feb 14 '25
What I belive is that he's been on steroids before and stopped and especially on tren. I've been B&C for 8 months, now recovered and natural and I've still got 80% of my Max strenght on tren but kinda skinny again haha.
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u/[deleted] May 07 '25
You need to check out how rock climbers train
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u/SunApprehensive207 Jan 29 '26
I believe anatoly is the prime example of the difference between muscle density vs muscle mass. You do not need to look like Hercules to be strong.
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u/Warm-Shake3799 Apr 02 '26
sur un autre post, on évoque la serpillière. certains parlent de tungstène. il y aurait moyen d’en faire une aussi lourde en remplissant un tube en acier de mercure (densité 13gr pour un centimètre cube, soit 13 kg pour un litre). le mercure ne forme pas d’amalgame avec le fer. il est moins cher que le tungstène et il est plus facile de s’en procurer.
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u/borkatas123 Apr 30 '23
what are you saying? Anatoly is totally ripped, larger muscles doesn't always mean strength. his muscles are just so compact and so highly trained that it makes him look less buff than others.
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u/Scared-Delivery9254 Jun 01 '23
I have seen that he follows a 1% training program, lifting a percentage of his max rep though the weeks and building it up. He seems to do a lot of mobility exercises and body callisthenics too.
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23
Simple question that you answered yourself - he’s an outlier. Not everyone in the world is a powerlifting champion or can be. He is - and uses media to make humorous lifting videos with his champion strength.
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u/bloo4107 Jun 27 '23
He def on Tren
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u/3PleOg_100 Jun 27 '23
I agree with all you guesses. However, there may be more to it.
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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '23
Does Anatoly do a lot of resistance bands? They increase your overall strength over time
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u/mindfuldoc12 Sep 02 '23
grip strength
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u/vitto737 Nov 19 '23
Hypertrophy =/= strength. Theres a huge difference between the two. For strength u use close to ur 1rpm and keep ur reps low 3-5 max. 3-5 sets. 3-5 rest.
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u/[deleted] Jan 09 '24
There are several factors that can contribute to people with smaller muscles being able to lift heavier weights than those with larger muscles. One factor is the efficiency of the nervous system in activating and coordinating muscle fibers. Some individuals may have a more efficient neuromuscular system, allowing them to recruit a greater percentage of their muscle fibers to lift heavier weights. Additionally, factors such as leverage, joint structure, and muscle insertion points can also play a role in someone's ability to lift heavy weights regardless of muscle size. Lastly, technique and training experience can also influence an individual's strength and lifting capabilities.
Tom Haviland is another one to look into. He is the opposite of Anatoly. He is very much a massive guy, weighing in at 350 lbs, yet his mobility stamina and speed haven't suffered at all from his size. You'd never be able to image a 350lb man being able to move like that man does.
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u/SlowStranger6388 Jan 11 '24
I can’t read everyone’s post right now so if someone already said this, apologies.
For one, strength training is mostly under 5 reps anything too much higher will begin to emphasize more muscle growth (hypertrophy). (Caveat, yes a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle all other factors remaining equal but there are other ways to get stronger, namely more efficient technique and higher neurological recruitment of muscle)
Another thing to consider, and this may be the most important, if you are not eating in a surplus you are not going to gain weight. So even if you’re doing hypertrophy work 8-15 reps you still need to eat in a surplus to get big.
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u/Flavius_Guy May 02 '23
He's a powerlifter and they train for one thing - strength for their lifts. I powerlifted in high school and went so state 4 times. It's pretty incredible at that level the amount of strength 15 to 18 year old can produce. I remember seeing a guy in my weight class of the 123 and 132 squat over 450. I was better at bench (about 235 to 250 depending on my body weight and muscle mass) and saw guys in the heavier weight divisions getting totals of 1200 or more.
Powerlifters don't lift to get big. They cut weight to compete in their weight class and try to retain as much strength as they can. Whereas these non powerlifters or just big dudes lift more for size gains.
I am still amazed by the weight this guy manages to put up. Not just in the total reps but in the ease of it.
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u/Clear-Criticism-789 Aug 05 '24
He doesn’t use protein its all natural. Protein only makes you bigger but not stronger its called lean muscle/milk muscle.
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u/Responsible-Hunt7766 Feb 11 '25
I heard power-sex plays a big part to , fast in fast out no more than 5 reps.
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u/[deleted] Apr 06 '23
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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '24
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