Fan of What T Nation Was, Not a Fan of What It Has Become Now

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I don’t know about the rest of you, but the site I knew where I poured loads of hours into was built with something else that what has been shown here. I see more promotions and ads than anything today. And this trend to promote steroid beef heads and body poses is not exactly what I consider he traditional approach. I understand to create quality content there is a lot that has to be gathered from inside reputable sources but I am reading from these articles a lack of communicative information for beginners and new comers. It seems a lot has been said in the articles reference to what methods can be taken to combat training plateaus or even sickness with health. However there is in my opinion more articles where it seems that the message is not clear or is distorted. That it’s only offering up a piece of what’s there. Perhaps this is keep those dependent on coming back? It leaves more questions than answers. A common strategy used amongst the usual fitness dogma and sites alike. new strategy to increase growth by increasing dependency ? I am not sure, I know always there were steroid pics on here but either there wasn’t as many before (talking like 2012 and before) or I just didn’t notice them. Also the articles focus on implementation but not procedure; on leading but not guiding. I think the site I grew to love at 14 is headed down a familiar road I left with other sites. I’m an avid enthusiast for knowledge and to learn as well as next guy. But my point is this, when does it all come off as more that is being pushed out to promote the next John Romaniello site or the next Saucy dog and his methods and takes away from what the site was more grounded with. The truth. That is the principal to cut through the fads and stick to hard work, eating, and getting adequate rest, and lastly working out frequently but not too infrequently. The core concepts I learned here. The shift is not easy to adapt to. Change is hard for most but is this change or missing the mark?

I am seeing this more and more. Do share, is my perception of this based on something that is false or is there something to this what few things I am mentioning are going on with this site?

Your thoughts

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Sure, why not.

After all, I remember when Ian King and Charles Poliqiun were the original Gang 'o Five and my buddy gave me a copy of Get Buffed. He even used to go to their seminars.

What has changed?

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Holy run on wall of incoherent text Batman! I’m not sure I understand your post.

T-Nation widened their tent to appeal to more people that lift weights and this upsets you? Do you own half of it or something? So they brought in more authors and stepped up their social media game, so what? I’m not sure what changed exactly that made you so mad. Business in 2018 is a game of attention, you don’t get attention you don’t make sales.

They have dozens of authors, who don’t always agree. There’s more than one way to lift and get awesome… everyone needs to find the “truth” that works for them.

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If this is one of your main gripes, I would question your thought process when selecting sources of information. This would lead me to infer that regardless of the content presented, the good info within will likely elude you.

Just my opinion.

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I really don’t have many complaints about T-Nation. It’s a great source of free training information. Not every article hits it out of the park, and some of them I disagree with, but like anything else look at them with a critical eye and absorb what is useful while discarding the rest. The advertisements and product references in articles don’t bother me - it’s a supplement business after all. A couple of their supplements over the years have perhaps been a bit overhyped, but the majority of what they make is best in class in terms of quality and efficacy.

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HereWeGoAgain

No, you don’t.

I just went over this in a thread about a week ago and ran the numbers. About 16% of the articles contain ads/product links. That means roughly 85% of the info T Nation puts out is straight-up training or diet info, no “promotions” or ads or whatever. That’s a statistical fact.

You know what happens when we use average-looking lifters in articles? People complain that we’re using DYEL coaches/models which “must mean the methods don’t work.” It’s been done, and it always comes up. So, people are dumb and never happy, so we’ll use the better-built models whenever possible.

That’s your opinion, which is fine. Can you point to an example or two? Some of the articles can be more technical, which can be tough to read, but I doubt they’re distorted.

Again, I’m not sure what you mean. Examples?

Wait… you were 14 years old when you started reading? So, you’re about 20 now? Not for nothing, but I don’t think anyone’s 14-year old self understands anything the way they do years later. Because you simply can’t process the information you’re taking in. It’s a context and perspective thing. At 14, I still thought Shawn Michaels threw Marty Jannetty through a plate glass window. Looking back, I now recognize that I didn’t see the big picture.

Dozens of articles and tips are published every week from a ton of different coaches. I don’t think you can really say any one coach is being “pushed” more than another. Dr. Rusin was on a roll for a while putting out a bunch of content in a fairly short period of time, but it’s not like he was the Exclusive Author of the Month or anything. Thib, Wendler, and Carter have coaching forums, but that’s more of a free service to readers moreso than T Nation “pushing” them.

Except for the frequency thing (because I don’t understand what you wrote), those principles are still the basis of every effective plan the site puts out. Where have you seen otherwise?

It’s a little bit of change to maintain a consistent mission statement to an evolving audience, and it’s also imaginary change because people falsely project issues from their pre-conceived notions, expectations, and past.

The site will be 20 years old in a few months. No company does business the same way they did two decades ago. Wait, sorry, rephrase. No successful company does business the same way they did two decades ago. They stick to core principles, but the details that deliver those values to the public have to adapt to a steadily changing audience.

I think, if anything, you’re feeling it more than seeing it. They’re not the same.

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well fuck off, then

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Speaking of things changing, and doing things differently in this complex age;

Can we get away with wearing Rockers style tights in the gym now?

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fuckin’ @anon50325502 does and I swear he only does it to annoy me

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Well, you’re not wrong…

Lol, seriously I normally just wear them to lift when it’s cold outside/in the garage.

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buy a pair of god damn sweat pants like a man.

I hate you, Chris! I hate you!

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Lol, I wear them under my sweats! I swear!

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I’ve been around here so long, In can;t even recall how many times someone posted up a thread complaining about how everything has changed. Yeah, I remember when there were new articles hitting the net once a week and you;d wait around for them. I remember the Deadpool, the Dawg Pound, tons of articles by Ron Harris (who I thought was some training genius back then because he had so many articles! -lol), I remember ordering Grow powder, and Tribex pills…

The point being, this site has gone through so many incarnations, and what I realize is that despite posters coming and going, the big thing is that I have changed more than the site has. Not everyone can always see that. Who I am, my progress, my outlook, even just the amount of time I can spend online reading, and posting, and interacting with people who agree with me, who disagree with me, who have accomplished something and are putting out articles, who have exaggerated their accomplishments via putting out articles, and pretty much anyone and everyone in between.

Once you’ve “seen the Matrix”, you can’t just get plugged back in. Sometimes that’s just called growing up.

S

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This is the WORST bodybuilding\ lifting\ fitness web site… except for the rest. T-Nation is awesome. The only thing I miss about the old days was the name. I liked Testosterone.net much better…

This is a business, they need to advertise. I wish them all the wealth and success in the world…

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Yea Chris after taking a closer look at what word you mentioned here. It is something I feel. I have looked at this site since 14 not the last time looked at was I 14. Honestly it seems that it’s become much challenging to stick to the principles because there are these articles that say “your doing this wrong and then another says your not doing that wrong but maybe try this” I like T Nation always have and like guys like Roman because there is bias toward their training methods. I realize with varying opinions and different authors its hard to avoid confusing people about what is really happening because there is no one size fits all. Well I posted out of deep respect for this site and find it hard to navigate a bit but this all one person preference. I realize now looking at medical journals, following the research and where it leads me and my passion to help others causes me to voice out in a way that doesn’t offer much a solution; such as this post. I do think maybe what would help is maybe a place in the articles section where natural lifters could go and see pics of those who are natural so they can get a more grounded idea of what that looks like; case and point its attested that those who are natural have hard time sifting what is and what’s not. Whether I think someone wants to admit it fully outright, natural lifters want to see “other” natural lifters and some of the models maybe could have a section where placement is emphasized on those that are.

A little about me. I am getting my certification and I was quite fit before serving a 2yr mission. I reached 208 5 percent bodyfat. I lost it all or better most of it, down to 160 in service to my fellow Idahoans. No regrets!

In either case not sure if you remember I asked about “get big drink” a long while back. Respect to all those here at T Nation. I do believe in this site and recognize it as a “voice” in the industry. I guess I was afraid of it becoming the next “muscle media mag.” Anyway a lot of those here are not going to be sure of anything but there’s worse places they could go. Nevertheless hope this point gets across to maybe “adjourn” some consideration for layout of the content. Either case if want to delete it I am fine with that. I am grateful for this site and want to be seen as someone offering my thoughts not criticizing or failing to support the whole of it.

And Stu above me and Yogi - shoutout - hella respect. All you guys been here a long time. To everyone listening in; in reality your not going to find a better arm of supporters when the magnifying glass is placed over the lot of them.

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Okay then.

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Seriously; I was 17 when I started reading this site. I literally grew into a man while reading the articles here.

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I’ve been around since 1999. It was up, it was down, it was up, it was down. I think the emphasis on Facebook has probably finally killed the forums. At least this one.

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Funny story: at my last duty station before I separated I used to come over to this site at work. One of my co-workers was always asking me what I was looking at so I’d say “T-Nation” - then one day he comes over to my computer and reads the name of the web-site.

He says, “OOOOOOOOh T- Nation … for the longest time I thought you were looking at teen asians…”

I miss him.

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Lol, nice.

I think I first read the site in 06 maybe 07 while I was in. One of our CACI reps introduced me the site.

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