ON SELLOUTS

I’ve become something of a Jim Wendler apologist over the years, which is frustrating, as the man can speak for himself and it’s ultimately a waste of my own time to engage in this habit.  And no, I’m not speaking about being an apologist for how he presents his personality (because he can ESPECIALLY handle himself there: I have zero interest in engaging in that dialog): I’m referring to his 5/3/1 programming methodology.  And, in that regard, TODAY I’m referring to the fact that he has released multiple books ON this methodology (some other day I’ll tackle how people butcher the method), because it appears that lifters are, indeed, a fickle breed and are genuinely upset at being provided with an ABUNDANCE of quality material rather than an absence of it.  Quite frankly, as someone that’s been training (and obsessing) for 24 years, this attitude baffles me to the point of upsetting me, because my transcendent envy comes through and I think to myself “you kids don’t know how good you got it: in MY day, we’d KILL to have SO MUCH quality content from a single author”.  But really, what confuses me is this: do you people ever listen to music?  Play video games?  Eat out?  Why are you so forgiving in THESE situations, yet so strict with those in the sphere of physical transformation?

We spent too much time wondering if we could and not enough wondering if we should

Seriously, consider this: bands (good ones at least) will release MORE than one song.  And we EXPECT them to do that.  There is no reasonable human out there that gets upset, saying “They already made a song: why are they making ANOTHER one?” To say nothing of whole albums full of songs.  To say nothing of MULTIPLE albums with multiple songs.  We CELEBRATE bands that do this.  And, quite often, we seek for these bands to EVOLVE over the era that they’re releasing these albums: to change and grow as culture changes and as the ability of the band changes too.  And yet, when we really break down what music is: it’s just different sounds arranged in a certain order that we (often) find pleasing.  The core principles of music remain the same, but we can EMPLOY these principles to generate a near limitless amount of songs and sounds.  And we EXPECT that from those who call themselves musicians: for them to do otherwise would make them unfit for the task.

You understand how this applies to the other media I mentioned.  Can you imagine if all video gaming ended at Pong?  “You already MADE a video game: why are you making MORE?!”  If all fast food ended at the hamburger?  “What are you doing adding CHEESE to that burger?!  We already HAVE a burger!”  Heck, we tend to enjoy these two things concurrently: smashing the latest Taco Bell monstrosity while we engage in the 7th hour of our Call of Duty binge.  And we cannot WAIT for these latest iterations to come out.  We anxiously anticipate the newest console or latest edition of our current favorite game series, we drool over the commercials of the latest nutritional debauchery to be foisted upon our gullets, we love and DEMAND innovation, newness and creativity.

Ironic for a show that came out in 1999 and keeps getting rebooted

BUT, we also understand that the development of these new things does NOT invalidate our enjoyment of the old stuff.  We can STILL enjoy that first album from our favorite band just as much as we enjoy their 14th.  Sometimes we enjoy it EVEN MORE, because it was that original sound that hooked us.  I STILL have my original Nintendo Entertainment System plugged in, and I regularly find myself playing the original Fallout that was released in 1998.  Sometimes, a regular old Whopper from Burger King hits just right.  Through this, we recognize that the presence of new stuff does not somehow make the old stuff no longer enjoyable or effective at achieving its goals.  We realize that we simply have MORE good stuff now.

Why should it be any different when it comes to lifting programming?  I’m going to use Jim Wendler here in particular, but this applies to MANY authors in the lifting sphere.  People FREQUENTLY bemoan how many books Jim has released on 5/3/1.  “Looks like Jim needed more money: he released another book!”  “I guess I’ll just have to get ANOTHER book to learn that program.”  “How many books do I need to buy to learn how to do 5/3/1?!”  Etc.  Again: how ridiculous.  You’re going to be upset that an author wrote MORE material?  You’d rather he NOT share more information with you on how you can achieve your goals?  That, after he spends time in his lab, trying out new things, tweaking older formulas, finding new ways to succeed he just…do nothing with it?  Why?  For what reason could you possibly be upset that you can now have MORE material from someone that is out there producing results?

As opposed to...

The new material does NOT invalidate the old material!  5/3/1 worked when Jim started writing about it in his training log in 2008 on Elitefts.  If you were to use THAT particular method, you would succeed.  The stuff that was in the first edition book?  It all worked.  Same with second.  Same with beyond, powerlifting, and forever, AND all the stuff on his blog, t-nation articles, and the things he talks about on youtube.  All of these things work, and 1 idea working does NOT make another idea NOT work.  This isn’t a zero sum game: we’re ALL winning here.  And along with that, there is no SHAME to be had in enjoying/preferring the old stuff over the new stuff.  We don’t need to be hipsters or die-hards here: there is no prize to be had for ALWAYS using the latest and greatest.  And just like music, it’s also possible to enjoy A song from an artist and NOT go and purchase their full catalog and listen to every song and become an expert on them, much like we can appreciate A program from AN author, use it and move one.

The biggest bit of comedy here is that Jim IS a musician, and when you hear him speak, his passion really seems to lie IN music rather than training.  Training is a thing he does to stay fit, capable and sane, whereas music is something he does to become fully self-realized as a human.  And, in turn: of COURSE he’s going to have his craft evolve over time…it’s what we EXPECT to happen with his REAL passion.  And I also imagine he finds it just as ridiculous to be held to one standard for one craft and a completely different standard for another.  As should you.

Seen here, giving away all the secrets

It’s fine to enjoy things that are enjoyable and appreciate things that are appreciable.