When it comes to quotes on either philosophy or
weightlifting or the philosophy of weightlifting Bruce Lee quotes get a lot of play. Bruce Lee was known as a very wise man and
also a devotee to training the body to be able to do and handle uncommon
tasks. The quote above is one that I
constantly remind myself of because it is very applicable to the strength
training world. It’s also a quote that
advocates trial and error. Even though I
think a lot of people (especially “experts”) would be hesitant to admit it
trial and error is a necessary process towards achieving your fitness goals.
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| Source: Wikipedia |
The water quote is the basis of how I set up my training and
nutrition programs for myself. I’m going
for maximum results in the shortest amount of time. I used to be the guy who would read this
great routine or diet plan and instantly set it up and run it hoping to get the
kinds of results the author(s) promised.
Oftentimes I would see results but would be somewhat disappointed. Cookie cutter programs yield cookie cutter
results.
This is because there is no such thing as a magic bullet
program. A program that works great for
me could be a disaster for someone else and vice versa. So when I’m setting up my training I try to
be like water. If something doesn’t work
I change my path instead of continuing to bang my head against the rock trying
to force the program to work. That is never the smart way to go.
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| Find your own path. |
Now there are many programs and courses out there that have
yielded awesome results for a lot of beginning lifters. But that’s the catch. Beginning and intermediate lifters will make
progress on almost any program as long as it has some well thought out
progression to it. Mark Rippetoe’s
Starting Strength and Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 are two of the most popular programs
for beginners and intermediates, respectively.
I’ve never tried Starting Strength but have borrowed some of the ideas
for some of the beginner lifters that I train.
I used Wendler’s 5/3/1 for about a year and made some awesome progress
on it. It was easy to set up without a
lot of thinking and I got stronger but I eventually got to a point where I felt
like I was spinning my wheels. So I went
in a new direction. There is nothing
inherently wrong with the programs themselves, they just weren’t right for me
at that time.
One thing that I want to make clear is that I’m not
advocating a huge change if something isn’t working. Often it’s the small changes that make the
biggest differences. Maybe if I had
modified a few small things when I was doing 5/3/1 it would have continued
working for me. It’s all about knowing
who you are and adjusting based on that.
The same goes for nutrition.
You’ve got Atkins, Paleo, Mediterranian, South Beach, Carb Cycling, and
all the permutations under the sun.
Where do you start? Some people
feel great, perform awesome, and look good eating high carbs, moderate protein,
and low fat. And some people feel great,
perform awesome, and look good doing the exact opposite. And a lot of people fall somewhere in the
middle.
The point I’m trying to make is that no two people are
alike. Two people with the exact same
anthropometrics (height, weight, strength, etc.) will respond differently to
the same training and nutrition program.
It’s the same reason why a skinny 15 year-old kid should not copy and
paste the routine of a 250 pound professional body builder that’s being hyped
in the latest edition of FLEX.
So now, this article begs the question, “What should I
do?” Like I said at the beginning, it’s
all about trial and error. Here are a few guiding principles to help you build a routine that
works for you and how to recognize if it doesn’t.
1. 1. Pick a
goal- The more specific you are, the better off you’ll be. When you decide upon a specific goal
everything you do should be done to get you closer to that goal. An example would be, “I want to get in better
shape.” Great. So do I.
But better shape to me is probably way different than better shape to
you. If you want to lose weight pick a
specific target weight or body fat percentage.
If you want to get stronger pick a few core exercises and work to
progress your numbers. Being specific
gives you something almost tangible. It
is a very narrow line that defines success or failure. All black and white with no grey.
2. 2. Stick to
the basics- There are things that have been used for ages to get people
strong, lean, and in better health. And
then there is the modern crap that is of little use other than to fleece you of
a few bucks. No matter your goal lifting
weights in the core lifts like squats, presses, dead lifts, and weighted
carries and eating a diet made up of foods with only one or two ingredients is
probably going to be the best way to start.
From there, modify and make small changes to suit your goals.
3. 3. Keep
track of progress- That means keeping training and eating journals, keeping
track of body anthropometrics (weight, skin fold measurements, body
circumference measurements, etc.). If
you don’t know where you started or where you were the week before you have no
real way of knowing if you got better or worse.
On the same token if you do the same thing day in day out and week in
week out your body is going to adapt and all you’ll do is stay the same. Maybe that’s all you want but if you haven’t
reached your goal you need to change something up.
4. 4. Make
small changes first- If you feel that you’re stuck as far as progress goes
first think critically about what it is that is holding you back. If you’ve been losing weight a reduction in
body mass requires a reduction in caloric intake. If you’re strength levels have leveled off
perhaps your set rep scheme needs to be changed up a bit or perhaps your
recovery methods should be looked at.
Whatever the case may be do not completely overhaul what you are doing.
Results are never linear and are very hard to predict. Sometimes all you need to do is to stay the
course and let it work itself out.
Either way small changes can lead to big improvements.
5. 5. If
something no longer meshes with your goals drop it- If you do recognize
something that is holding back your progress then you need to drop it. If you want to get stronger or lose weight
but you feel that Tuesday night darts with including beer and wings are holding
you back then you have a decision you make.
Do you sacrifice progress or you social life? There is no right or wrong answer as it’s a
case by case decision. Just don’t
complain about not losing weight when you keep up with the darts, beer and
wings.
Fitness is not an end point. Your goals should not be thought of as end points. They are more check points on your lifelong journey. Reaching goals are great, but once that goal has been reached a new one must be set. And when a new goal has been set then a new path must be taken. Even maintenance can be a difficult task if not done diligently.In the end always be thinking about where you are, where you want to be, and the best path to get there. If that path is the one you are then stay the course. If it is not, then let yourself flow in a slightly new direction to find your way to the other side.
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