Who is Sam Sulek?
Sam Sulek is a 21-year-old bodybuilder who has amassed a following of over 1 million subscribers on Youtube by documenting every day of his “Spring Bulk” which seemed like it was never going to end as we entered the autumn months!
Sulek, who is possibly the world's most down-to-earth bodybuilder and thoroughly nice chap, puts a huge emphasis on intensity when it comes to training. He believes that the best results come from the intensity of effort that is put into each set. He’s also an advocate for longer periods of bulking, stating that years of muscle building should take place before you polish your physique and trim the fat with a cut.
Sam is open about his use of performance enhancing drugs, while we don’t condone this we can learn from his mindset and outlook on training. To build a physique like his it requires immense knowledge, good genetics, hard work, and incredible amounts of discipline. Not just PEDs.
The Deleware native is wise beyond his years, and we’ve collated some of his pearls of wisdom. So here are some of Sam Sulek’s best quotes and advice to inspire and motivate you.
Sam Sulek Quotes, Advice & Motivation
Life Advice
“Your best bet is going to be putting more effort into just trying to figure shit out for yourself rather than have all the answers handed to you.”
“Doing your cardio is f#cking good for you. You’re not just meant to exist in a very plain state. You’re not just meant to sit down, get on Fortnite for 8 hours a day or do your office job for whatever. You’re not just meant to sit. You’re meant to move around.”
“Drink a f#ck ton of water and electrolytes.”
The Importance of Training with Intensity
“He’s not going to make any more gains if he’s lifting with half the intensity of the guy who’s going into the gym and saying ‘Okay, I’m going to go on leg press until I throw up’."
“The perfect workout will never outweigh the amount of intensity you bring to the lift."
“The last thing I wanna do is leave the gym and think to myself ‘Oh man, that was kind of a shitty lift’."
“Even if I’m sick or tired or whatever else, as long as you go hard you should be able to leave the gym feeling pretty good."
“I’d rather go so hard that I get hurt every so often than limit my intensity during the lifts and not know whether or not I really pushed it."
“As long as you go hard you’re gonna be good."
“The smallest ego lifter dwarfs the largest science based lifter."
Drink Electrolytes Every Day
“Electrolytes are seriously going to get you when it comes to feeling hydrated and feeling good. If I don’t drink a solid amount of water plus electrolytes, if I don’t have a lot of that floating around my system, either dedicated electrolyte packets or some kind of powdered electrolytes, then my lift is going to suffer."
“As soon as I wake up in the morning I’ll have one of these, a litre or a litre and a half, already made next to my bed.”
“When you’re cutting, your hydration – not just water, I’m talking about water and electrolytes, that’s definitely going to determine how good the lift is.”
“I could come in here with like 500 calories eaten so far in the day but that wouldn’t inherently mean I’m going to have a bad lift. If I’m dehydrated – I’ve had no electrolytes, plus maybe I didn’t get a ton of sleep – that’s what’s really going to affect my lift (negatively) in a dieting context.”
“Just drinking water on its own you’re not really maximizing your hydration.”
“I just slam electrolyte packets.”
How to Train Like Sam Sulek
“I always advise you do a lot of upper chest work. Nobody’s really lacking in the lower chest. But everyone is lacking upper chest. That’s why all heavy pressing movements are always incline for me."
“I want to start off a lift or a muscle group with a weight where I can only do 8-12 reps. So that’s like the “heavy” portion of the workout. And then, as the workout progresses and I do more sets, after I’ve fatigued the muscle, I like to do lighter sets where I really get a good squeeze."
“In my mind a good chest day is one that starts with heavy compounds, being heavy pressing, and then trends towards some lighter squeezing movements."
Advice for Lifters
“Any lifter worth their salt has a dedicated cabinet in the kitchen full of all the pre-workout, vitamins, creatine, beta alanine, aminos and protein powder. Those things are not just like stereotypical for lifters they’re done for a reason. Why not try to maximize every vector of improved performance that you’re willing to do.”
“If you’re a beginner lifter, I’d say you’re better off following a relatively strict routine just to get training experience under your belt and understand how different movements feel."
“If you’re a beginner-ish lifter, first few years – it will not benefit you at all to get like show-ready lean like I see a lot of younger influencers doing nowadays. You got to build up that frame first and then polish it up, make it shiny and show off."
“Don’t get shredded unless you’re big."
“Everyone should have an exercise bike or treadmill at home for cardio.”
“It’s definitely going to be in your best interest, if you aren’t already to start tracking your calories."
Want to become the best version of yourself? Our free Improve Your Mindset Guide is the best place to start.
Do you want to start your on own Youtube channel, Tik Tok account or podcast? Find out what microphone, camera and lens Sam Sulek uses here.
