Let’s not forget the man is running a business as well.
Bulgarian, Russian, German etc eastern bloc high volume stuff. I burn out quick from that, end up feeling like shit or tweaking something. Just isnt for me, especially now that im middle aged.
So is Mike Israetel.
And Darden.
And Athlean-X.
Doesn’t mean their methods are valid. Capitalism fucks up the fitness industry like no other.
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Not a specific “stuff that didn’t work” but an observation about what i respond to.
I can keep going and going like the energizer bunny just below my upper strength limits. But those limits are like a hard ceiling for me.
So i get nothing at all out of 5s at 75% but then can barely grind out 5 at 95%.
Not that im worried about it or GAF about percentage right now.
But saying that maybe i should have run 531 as 80/85/90 instead.
I see your fitness industry and raise you the pharmaceutical industry.
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Capitalism has also inspired many people to create great programs and training systems! More gains on my body and more money in their wallet, everybody’s a winner. I get something of value and they get something of value back. I like buying programs and books for that reason. I want to show appreciation to those who are creating work that I like and hope they that they continue to publish stuff, so I can continue learning and being entertained!
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Sure. It’s not all bad, its just a flaw with capitalism.
Nikolai Tesla and Thomas Edison both created great things with DC and AC.
They also ran newspaper articles dragging each other through the mud in an attempt to show how much better their system is, instead of just discussing the merits of both.
Entertaining? Yes.
Stupid? Also yes.
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Just like today’s fitness influencers, nothing new under the sun!
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This is a good note in context of the general conversation. Someone else said it above: when we say “what didn’t work for me,” we’re inherently defining our goals.
Like 5/3/1 didn’t “work” for me because I found it boring. I found it boring because I wasn’t excited to add another rep to my bench in a couple weeks when that weight came back around. I was happy to see slower progress on my lifts if I could do some of the intensifier things I did find amusing (a la Meadows).
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I have always heard everything works until it doesn’t. I think some of the traps we all get caught in is that we get bored, or we simply don’t eat toward our goal or the goal the program is set out for.
I know I have also been guilty of throwing my own spin on the programs and end up doing way more or less than the program calls for causing me to overreach and or under recover between sessions.
I think one of the biggest things that makes a person succeed or not succeed on a program is simply believing in what they are doing and trusting the program to bring whatever results they are aiming at. Which in our environment, especially those of us on message boards about working out, has a new shiny toy, aka program out there, that is very tempting to hop on and leave your old one behind.
Metrics for if it “worked” or not, can be hard to say whether it worked. Did you get stronger, leaner or more jacked and are you closer to your current goal? Did you learn something along the way?
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I agree with so much of this post. Improper eating and lack of faith are 2 ways to destroy a working program. It’s why I’m such a big fan of the book “Super Squats”: the author puts it in your head that this program WILL work as long as you put in the work, and then he tells you to go drink a gallon of milk to make it work. Couldn’t be simpler.
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I can’t drag anything I’ve tried because the failure was at the user end.
Mismatch for ability and goals primarily. Biting off more than I can chew.
Yesterday, in a dull moment at work (travel day) I caught an article on Smolov, so I researched and filled in all the weight/rep/sets blanks.
Damn, that looks sexy.
I fantasized about eating more and sleeping more and how sore and insanely jacked and strong I would be.
I’m a 56 year old fat-ass who didn’t even start lifting until I was 47. When I actually sleep more than 5 hours in one night, I suddenly become religious and thank God for such a glorious bounty. I have a family with horrendous eating habits and picky eaters - anything other than meal-prepping for myself is a nutritional and culinary clusterfuck. AND HERE I AM MENTALLY EDGING TO SMOLOV.
User-end error, indeed.
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Fair point, but I was just referring to “tried it, didn’t work”. I did 5/3/1 for strength and conjugate for strength, the latter worked for me the former didn’t.