[quote]Billy Mimnaugh wrote:
When I started training you had to pay your dues. You were abused, you were made fun of, and you spotted and loaded the big guysâ?? plates for them. You were basically a bitch. You NEVER dared give an opinion, and you never questioned what the established guys told you. You just listened, learned, and were expected to train hard until you became a â??big guy.â??
Compare that to today. Today, we have the rise of the internet icons, guys who havenâ??t done a single, solitary thing in the sport actually giving opinions on training to other lifters. These are guys who never even totaled elite but own websites and set themselves up as experts and actually get interviewed for their opinions when the only thing they have learned is what some college professor told them. No practical knowledge, no trial and error, no accomplishments, and in many cases, not even an ounce of muscle mass. Who in the blue hell made these guys experts?
My God, some of these guys know so little about training and what it takes to get big and strong that they should be banned from ever giving advice. I had one icon tell me that good mornings donâ??t translate into bigger deadlifts or squats and then proceeded to tell me how dangerous they were. Can you imagine? Dangerous? What did Louie say about totally safe movementsâ??â??If a movement is totally safe, itâ??s totally useless.â?? However, these guys heard some college professor tell them that some study at Harvard shows good mornings are dangerous, and therefore, they accept it as fact. Never mind that the best lifters in the sport swear by them. Nope, professor pencil neck said they are dangerous and thatâ??s that.
One of the biggest factors for this stupidity is the internet. The internet has been an incredible vehicle for acquiring knowledge, but itâ??s also been one of the most damaging things to ever have happened in weight training. Little tiny men with little tiny totals being elevated as experts. The blind leading the blind, and they all fall in the ditch.
Hereâ??s a suggestion. If you need some advice about getting big and strong, go to someone who is big and strong. Donâ??t worry about how many letters are next to his name or where he coaches or what college he attended. See if he has paid his dues and succeeded in your chosen sport. Turning pages in a book canâ??t replace getting under a barbell. Theories donâ??t trump practical experience. If you go to a seminar, make sure the guy is an expert, not just an internet icon posing as an expert. Most importantly, pay your dues.
You canâ??t get strong by reading books. Backward dumbbell lunges canâ??t replace good mornings. GPP doesnâ??t mean a damn thing if youâ??re not strong. Stop looking at the technicalities of the sport and just freaking train heavy and hard. Instead of worrying about tweaking that shirt an extra half inch on your arm or getting tighter squat briefs, get strong first and stick to the basics. Read and listen to what guys with big totals have to say, not guys with lots of book smarts and college degrees.
Lastly, ignore the internet icons. Most of them have never and will never do a damn thing in this sport. They sit at their computers with their theories about what it takes to get strong but could never muster up enough nads to actually get strong themselves. A long time ago, you had to pay your dues to be considered an expert. Now, with the rise of the internet, all you need is a computer and a college degree and you can be elevated to the position of strength guru. Thatâ??s a sad state of affairs.[/quote]
