IT’S NOT THAT COMPLICATED

I’ve written/spoken to the title of this post several times and even have a rant video based around “quit overcomplicating it”, but while walking my dog (with a weight vest on, of course, because I AM that guy in your neighborhood) the other day I realized WHY things seem so complicated.  I was looking for a podcast to listen to while I walked, and had a Matt Wenning one queued up for quite a while that, by all accounts, I SHOULD be excited to listen to, but I’m just flat not.  And it’s because Matt tends to want to talk about powerlifting, which makes sense, considering he was a very awesome powerlifter and comes from that background.  However, I have minimal interest in actual real deal powerlifting these days: I don’t care about setting 1 rep records in 3 specific lifts.  I’m very much going in the opposite direction: strength at weird angles in various rep ranges alongside conditioning.  “Chaos is the plan”, and I am training for said chaos.  But, in turn, that means that my goals are far more general, and there’s minimal writing to be had in such general, broad reaching goals, primarily because it’s really hard to train “wrong” when you’re not training for anything specifically.  Any “mistake” I make is, in truth, me simply accomplishing ANOTHER physical goal.  If I do too many reps to build strength, I end up building endurance, which is also awesome.  And in turn, this led me to realize something: people don’t talk/write about achieving general goals FOR THAT REASON.  If someone IS going to talk/write about training, it’s going to be for a specific goal, like powerlifting, bodybuilding, strongman, weightlifting, etc.  Because those goals require a specific approach, and, in turn, necessitate discussion and advancement.  This, in turn, creates the false notion that training, in and of itself, is complicated, when the truth is that training to achieve physical transformation is so incredibly simple that no one feels the need TO write about it.

Really not that far off...holy cow I need to re-watch this series

We’re effectively observing a survivor bias as far as information availability pertains.  A new trainee, in pursuit of “mere” physical transformation, goes to a bookstore (yes, I’m dating myself here, I’m sure it’s more about going to social media and finding digital content, stick with me) and finds manuals on “how to train” that go into great depth about percentages for training cycles and accumulation phases leading into intensification phases and setting up for a peak week and maximizing performance, etc etc etc.  This leads the trainee to the (false) perception that training is VERY complicated, but this is merely because there is no DEMAND for simple training material because…it’s simple.  Writing a manual of obvious things (engage in resistance training and cardiovascular training, stay active, eat well, drink water, etc) tends to result in poor reception, because we all “know” those things, but when it comes to the “secrets” of the elite: THAT we will buy.  In addition, the knowledge of the obvious is possessed by many, whereas the knowledge of the elite is possessed by the few, making it far more valuable and, in turn, far more WORTHY of discussion.  But, in turn, one must come to appreciate that the things that ARE written are VERY specific and narrowly focused.  They’re complicated BECAUSE these individuals have maxed out what can be achieved with simplicity and needed to move on TO complexity in order to reach that “next level”.  Much like a business suit: you can buy and wear off the rack just fine, but they’ll never fit as well as one specifically tailored toward you.

But physical transformation is NOT a complex goal.  It’s not specific: not compared to “increase my bench press by 10lbs in 13 weeks”.  We can engage in the process of physical transformation daily, whereas hitting max numbers on meet day is a VERY precise process.  In turn, it’s too easy to dismiss the lessons of achieving physical transformation as mere hand-waving and not “getting it”, but, as Stan Efferding says: “Compliance is the science”.  We know HOW to achieve physical transformation: who is actually out there DOING it on a consistent basis?

If this is you every Saturday evening: you're not doing it

Dan John is a masterful author on this subject, and it’s BECAUSE Dan has the necessary degree of knowledge in achieving high level specific goals that he can also work backwards and achieve physical transformation.  Dan has performed at the top levels in the discus AND coached Olympic Level athletes alongside Special Operations operators and other high demand athletes, and he’s also coached high school kids, people in their 60s, and dudes lifting in their garage trying to be able to keep playing with their kids.  When Dan talks about physical transformation, it IS all obvious stuff, so much so that he’s able to sum it up into one run-on sentence that he throws into just about every podcast: push, pull, hinge, squat, loaded carry, go for a walk, eat more protein, eat more veggies, drink water, get 7-9 hours of sleep.  That’s so simple…so who is out there DOING that?  Every day?  Dan says he has 3 cheat days a year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Superbowl Sunday.  Who out there is actually COMPLYING with this basic prescription 362 days a year?

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Mark Rippetoe: he attempts to force simplicity INTO areas of complexity.  I think “Starting Strength” is a fantastically adequate approach to getting a trainee under a barbell and building the habit of training.  The book goes into great detail explaining how to perform the movements, and the Starting Strength program gets a trainee in the gym 3 days a week practicing work with moderately heavy loads and building a habit of consistently progressing and building strength.  The issue is that Mark (and many of the victims of the telephone game) tends to continue this prescription BEYOND its scope, and therein it fails.  Mark has written an article titled “Conditioning is a Sham”, wherein the prescription for improving conditioning is to just get stronger in the basic barbell lifts, premised off the notion that a 400lb squatter will have light weights feel lighter compared to a 300lb squatter, and therefore they will have better endurance for moving light weights for many reps (which is what running/athletics is).  This definitely makes sense IF you have no background in athletics and really WANT to believe it, but those of us that have ever played A sport know about dudes that are monstrously strong in the weightroom and CAN’T apply it on the field (“Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane”) and also the contrast: dudes that can’t put it together in the weightroom and are MONSTERS on the field.  My first ever strongman competition, I was coming off the best powerlifting meet of my life where I crushed a 500lb squat and 600lb deadlift as a 181lb raw competitor, only to get humbled on a 500lb yoke walk by dudes who MAYBE could squat 315.  Herein we observe a case where we now have a SPECIFIC goal outside of basic physical transformation and require a more precise approach. 

Max strength does not always mean max conditioning

I feel like Jim Wendler is a fantastic middleground here.  I am a big fan of Dan John’s complete lack of prescription when it comes to movements and percentages (push, what kind?  Just push.  How heavy?  Heavy enough, but not too much) and Mark tends to be very authoritarian (YNDTP: You’re Not Doing The Program), Jim created a program to allow him to ESCAPE powerlifting and train for “being awesome”, premised it around 4 basic movements and 3 specific percentages, and then allowed for enough variation to vector toward a variety of generic goals.  You’re not going to use 5/3/1 to become an elite powerlifter (although we’ve observed powerlifters DOING just that) or an elite strongman or etc, but you can absolutely use it to become pretty damn awesome.  And as your understanding of programming and specificity grows, you can mold and change the programming to best suit you.  Or you could never do that and also be fine.

Why?

Because it’s not that complicated.  

Failed math, passed Occam's Razor

Effort, consistency and time reign supreme yet again.