#1. Splitting hairs, don’t do that (why sweat the small stuff?)
#2. great post - I think that one of the greatest disservices done to the sport of “weightlifting” more specifically physique development/alteration is those ‘change your body in 3 months and win a car’ contests. These contests create ridiculously unrealistic expectations for newcomers and really set them up for failure and discouragement.
#3. Newbies…, just train - follow sound (basic) routines (and good form, save your joints and rotator cuffs) and try to lock in your (basic) nutrition (read: macronutrient profile). It’s not until you’ve been training for years, that the small tweaks and nuances make a worthwhile difference.
#4. All the diet techniques may make a small degree of difference, but in the end it still comes down to calories in vs. calories out. As Homer Simpson said, “that’s what you get for trying to defy the law of thermodynamics.”