“NOTHING IS TRUE, EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED”

 Nietzsche wrote that “Nothing is true, everything is permitted” is what is written above the guild of assassins, but in truth you could find no better motto to carve above any manner of gym.  Primarily because trainees in pursuit of getting bigger and stronger should always be aware of both points: “nothing is true” AND “everything is permitted”.  These guiding principles, along with “effort, consistency and time” truthfully provide all that a trainee needs in order to achieve great things in the pursuit of getting bigger and stronger, as it cuts away from all the distractions, nonsense and insanity that is currently being peddled by those interested in attempting to cash in on what is effectively “hard work over time”.   Don’t fall for any tricks, voodoo, scams or snake oil: nothing is true, everything is permitted.

You gotta listen to a dude with that sweet of a mustache...

 

What do I mean “nothing is true”?  I refer to the myriad of “rules” that trainees want to handcuff themselves to when it comes to training.  You HAVE to train a muscle group twice a week as a natural?  No: that is not true: and in point of fact people have successfully gotten QUITE bit and strong training muscle groups only once a week for decades.  I mean, really, of COURSE you’re only going to train a muscle once a week: because when you dedicate a whole day to it and absolutely nuke it, it’s gonna need 6 days to recover.  Carbohydrates are necessary for training hard and gaining muscle?  Nope: sure aren’t.  There’s enough successful low carb trainees out there right now that this “truth” simply isn’t.  You need to rest a muscle for 48-72 hours after training it in order to get big and strong?  The “hypertrophy rep range”?  Low reps for strength?  Beginner programs vs intermediate programs?  Maximal digestion rate of protein?  Nothing is true folks: we know this, because we keep seeing people succeed “in spite of” these truths.

 

And what does this, in turn, mean for us?  The second half: “everything is permitted”.  If nothing is true, this means everything is allowed.  I am notorious for the phrase “you can train however you want: there are no rules”, and I HAVE to say this all the time because people constantly ask for permission.  “Can I do curls everyday?”  Yes: go ahead.  “Can I gain muscle eating only 50g of protein a day?”  You sure can.  “Do I have to train abs?”  Only if you want to.  Nothing is true: everything is permitted.  Go ahead and TRY to lift weights wrong.  It’s REALLY hard to do.  So long as you abide by the guiding principles of effort, consistency and time, you’re GOING to get big and strong.  This is why gyms are full of jacked dudes “training wrong”: they just showed up for long enough and busted their butts often enough without long breaks that they eventually just got big and strong.

 

Never gonna get a strong deadlift with form like THAT dude...

Why is it so important to recognize that nothing is true and everything is permitted?  Because, again, trainees are actually INHIBITING themselves from succeeding by attempting to follow all the rules of success.  One of the biggest culprits I observe is the notion that one MUST train a muscle group twice a week for “optimal” muscle growth.  I’ve legit seen trainees develop depression like symptoms from this “truth”, as they feel locked in to only one style of training as a result and cannot fathom how else to train except for a 6x a week Push/Pull/Legs split.  My friend: consider yourself free!  Nothing is true: everything is permitted.  Go ahead and do DoggCrapp, or 5/3/1, or the Juggernaut Method, or design your own split, or Super Squats, or Deep Water, or HIT, or etc etc.  I assure you: if you lift weights hard and eat well, you will grow.   Will it be optimal?  No: but no one will get optimal results, as we live in a sub-optimal world.  Who cares about optimal: right now, you’d be hard pressed to find people operating at simply “good enough” levels.  If you’re putting in work, you’re head and shoulders above others.

 

Folks, I knew a trainee that felt like they had to choose between training OR eating because they made up a rule about how long they needed to wait between when they ate and when they trained.  If they trained too soon after eating, the food “wouldn’t work”.  This is the level of insanity that exists in a world WITHOUT solipsism.  “Nothing is true, everything is permitted”: Dan John had kids eating PBJs DURING workouts, because we understand that food is really anabolic and it’s probably a good idea to have a lot of it when you’re trying to get bigger and stronger.  “I NEED 8 hours of sleep if I want to get bigger and stronger”: sure dude, if that’s what you want to permit yourself.  Personally, I like knowing that I could sleep 3-4 hours a day and STILL get bigger and stronger so long as my food intake is on point and I’m busting my butt in the weight room.

Here is a good start

 

Have FEWER rules.  Operate with LESS truth in your life.  In your pursuit for truth, you’ve been deceived, because you’ve been led to believe that there are LIMITED avenues for success when, in truth (hah!) it’s damn near limitless.  Go ahead and TRY to design a terribly diet and training program, and then execute it with skullsplitting intensity and devotion: you’ll surprise yourself.  The body is incredibly adaptable, and when you place the signal on it to grow from hardwork and repeated effort, it’s going to grow, even IF you’re not following all the rules.  As cool as science is, there is art to be found in this process, along with alchemy, voodoo, witchcraft and plain ‘ol magic f**king powers.  Don’t deny your own innerpower and contribution to this process: nothing is true, everything is permitted. 

 

So go permit yourself your success, however you want to go about achieving it.