Anything But What Works

Training Bodybuilding
41

Lots of factors here, me thinks…

-Informational over-load can make even the smartest of people’s head spin, so much so that they spin around in circles for quite some time & basically get nowhere.

-When most people start training, they tend to be very young ie under 20-25, young people tend to have all kinds of weird hang-ups, insecurities & issues which get in the way of figuring out what their priorities should & will be a little later on in life.

-I believe their is plenty of good advice out their + most reasonably intelligent people are often capable of giving themselves GREAT ADVICE! Though, good advice isn’t sufficient, if it isn’t contextualized OR you don’t apply it consistently.

  • Another issue I often see is, somewhat advanced lifters not really empathizing with teh noobies sufficiently enough to make them realize: Yeah, this guy remembers what it was like to be a scrawny, pancake chested weakling…though, he also, (quite self-evidently) knows how to NOT always be that guy.

-I’d also say, for most people it’s very difficult to NOT believe your opinion is best. Tis human nature. I can count on one hand the amount of people I’ve come across in life that have an attitude towards most things OR even any one particular activity anything which was even approaching egoless.

All of these things can lead to ‘dodging the bullet’ one way or another, only problem is some people honestly don’t realize they are dodging anything. It’s often, only when you look back you realize how many wrong turns you’ve made.

42

[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:

[quote]its_just_me wrote:
I don’t know whether it’s just me or what, but has anyone else noticed the trend these days? Has it not gotten worse?

i.e. The trend for people to do anything but the basics (e.g. getting stronger, following standard routines etc). There seems to be a really bad lack of attention span in newer trainees. People no longer want to get a thrill from beating PR’s in the gym, and want to change everything all the time (as if somehow that will give them better results). Most would rather follow something that sounds complicated or has you changing things all the time.

It’s like people these days need to be spoon fed sometimes, and don’t learn by their own experience/those of others. Just looking around at all the critique my routine threads makes you realise how bad the problem is getting lol

Am I just imagining this or what?[/quote]

Perhaps not imagining this but it is true that more threads nowadays in BB Training end up being questions that can be Googled or searched before on this very site. It used to be the Beginners section filled with similar questions. Maybe it’s a trend, maybe it’s also that the ones on this site making progress aren’t really keen on starting new threads. I dip into TCA more often now to re-read old threads to get more information (the roundtable stuff etc). The lifters posting on the training logs are the ones to watch - consistent posts and development, you really get the feeling these people will go somewhere - not only in lifting but in their careers and life.

I have to agree on this “quick fix” solution that many new lifters look to, it’s no different from the rest of life, a quick fix for food, a quick fix in work, to be more efficient - all to save time and money - which they don’t know how to use when they have more money and more time.

If you read enough of the old threads here I realised that much of the material is repeated which leads me to believe that enough people with results are doing it then its not anecdotal it’s a fact of life. This really isn’t a passion of convenience, you can be as efficient as you like but can’t skip the basics, the macros, the calories, the compounds etc.

The site doesn’t feel the same anymore. Sorry if that read like a rant.[/quote]

Agreed. A lot of good and thoughtful posts on here, but this is kind of along the lines I was thinking of.

There are good threads out there (inspirational), but we need more. People learn more from experience and from seeing others.

Along the same lines of what The3Commandments said in his first post (reminded me of myself at the start), far too many people think that they are being “intelligent” and that the basics aren’t clever enough…but by seeing loads of others making progress by a certain way/principles, it exhorts them (it’s a social phenomena that I can’t remember the name of).

And of course, you need a certain mentality to want progress.

43

Another thing, why, when many make a thread, why do they not follow it through?

e.g. you’ll see a post by someone, and they don’t even respond to the replies…they don’t seem to appreciate it/put much thought into it. “Whatever” type attitude…

Remembered my first question threads - were pages and pages long lol. Kept responding to ones like C_C, PX, Bill Roberts etc…even arguing at times (which taught me great lessons!)

44

Honestly, the most bewildering phenomenon to me is the many posts that betray a complete lack of having read ANYTHING on this site. First thing I saw when I ever came onto the forums of this site was the “Best of T-Nation” sticky. Guess what I did next??? I spent the next week or so reading everything that was linked on that thread. The wealth of information that MODOK, C_C, DH, PX, synergy, etc have provided on this website is pure gold.

Ha, I even think that there’s a logical progression to reading the primary authors on this site: beginners who are too small need to read PX and articles about diet as well as KingofBeef for beginning stuff on lifting, beginner/intermediate should read MODOK to get a better grasp of the physiology of weightlifting and the demands you should place on your body to effect changes, full intermediates should read C_C and DH to get more info on the specifics of exercise selection/form critique/diet (from DH), etc, and, at least IMO, only advanced lifters really have a lot to learn from synergy’s log, with the exception of the intensity that he brings to his workouts, which everyone could learn from.

45

You can only get simple advice on the internet. It is up to you to figure out what works with trial and error.

If you are not dedicated you’ll fail.

If you really enjoy lifting, you’ll suceed.

So the people that fail at lifting really don’t care that much.

46

I fucking love this site…

Id been one of those guys fucking around with different programs every week. Finally did a 5x5 of daeds in trying lee boyce’s lat program from his last article… Forgot how good it felt to just step up and pound iron

47

Some people on the internet just seem to unbelievably lazy and studpid. Starting completely new threads over the most simple questions: “What should I drink after my workouts?” or my favorite “HELP! I can’t gain weight!”. Some kids would make much better progress if they deleted their accounts on here and just went to the gym with the goal of getting outside of their comfort zones and hitting PRs.

48

[quote]ashylarryku wrote:
Some kids would make much better progress if they deleted their accounts on here and just went to the gym with the goal of getting outside of their comfort zones and hitting PRs.[/quote]
Or picking up a fork! Anytime someone says they can’t gain weight we should link them to that story where the guy uses half a bottle of olive oil on his large pizza for dinner. Then he stares at it for 5 minutes just thinking how that pizza is whats preventing him from gaining weight. And then he eats the entire thing.

49

Its not nowadays, Im pretty sure something like this was written on the Rosetta Stone. Some will, most wont, everyone wants a shortcut (hell I would take one if I knew one). people are people. its good to vent tho.