I’m also considering my training. My thoughts at the minute are very Dan John inspired: what are my goals? What are the three things I need to do to hit each goal? Hopefully will bear fruit.
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This was my take on it. He’s obviously trying to build a business for himself and his missus (I notice she has a fair number of articles appearing on thisnsight too) and was using the article to push traffic to his article, and maybe sell other stuff down the line. I don’t see that as particularly negative. I did sour to the way he responded to some of the posters, especially Stu though.
Walkabout
2.59 miles, 430 calories, 47:37 including the couple minutes inside the tattoo shop. I didn’t schedule anything yet. I can’t justify blowing money on a tattoo right now.
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Just bounce a check.
How are they going to repossess it?
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They’re already ahead of that approach. No checks. Cash preferred. 5% surcharge on debit/credit card transactions.
I have got to really disagree here, my shoulders responded unbelievably well to Paul’s shoulder training and got much much rounder. I’ve never touched a ped in my life, worse than that I only have one working testicle lol.
I also feel Paul keeps things very straight forward and simple, that’s part of the reason I read his stuff.
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The simpler the training gets, the more results you get in my personal opinion. That’s why I think limiting the TOTAL number of movements in a week and giving your all to those movements works the best. Also some people are just strong in certain lifts. An old friend of mine the first time he deadlifted was able to hit 405 for multiple reps. He’s the son of a carpenter and dude was just strong as hell naturally.
Plus I think it’s time people accept their strengths/weaknesses. If you are naturally a strong deadlifter and power cleaner, man keep at that shit (if injury allows)! If you have a 600lb deadlift, no one is going to call you weak or care what your squat is lol.
I think for most people if they JUST focused on these movements, they’ll be strong and balanced. If you only did these lifts for the rest of your life no way in hell you won’t be balanced and strong. You won’t be a bodybuilder but you’ll be big and strong and balanced and look damn good!
Of course these can be swapped out with some DB movements for physical/injury reasons. Even the trap bar for deadlifts would work well.
Back Squat, Front Squat, Lunges
Power Clean, Deadlift, RDL
OH Press, Bench Press
Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups, BB Rows
Push Ups, Dips, Curls, Hanging Leg Raises, Back Ext
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I’ve fallen victim to the “optimal” pursuit. For a while I was reading on here every day (now I average about one article every two months). I’d read something that said “do this for bigger delts”. Well, I want bigger delts so I’d find a way to implement that training method. 10 days later I’d read something like “do this for a thicker back”. Well, alrighty then. I want a thicker back so I’m going to do that, too.
Before you know it, you’re spinning your wheels and doing tons of different movements. You (or I) don’t see any progression or improvement because the movements keep changing. If you switch back to an old one then you have to spend time getting efficient at the movement. It’s a good way to waste time in the gym. Don’t be me.
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I use to be the same exact way man. I spun my wheels for years before I just stopped worrying about optimizing. I’ve learned it from even running my company that you can’t try to optimize everything. You try to be efficient, but optimizing and doing everything doesn’t usually go well. I don’t even read lifting related articles now unless something really stands out to me. But I usually quick browse through it before deciding to actually read it lol.
That’s why my favorite lifting related video of all time is this:
Hits me every time I watch it. I literally watch this every few months just as a reminder. Shit I’m watching it right now to remind me again!
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I just suffered another “optimal” attack. I haven’t read it yet, but a T-Nation article popped up on Facebook. “The 6 Mandatory Angles for a Big Back”. Dangit, it’s so tempting!!!
(I’m still probably going to read it 
)
Edit: I looked. 
I go back to the doctor on September 5th. I assume I will get my full release and I’ll be able to slowly get back to normal training. Anyone up for a friendly commitment challenge? September 9th-December 31st. Pick or design a program, submit it at the start, and run the darn thing and keep a training log. It’s that simple.
Any takers?
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I’ll be doing my own, so jump on the band wagon!
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I’m giving you almost six weeks to change your mind and pick something else. 
Everyone else has the same amount of time for some trial and error. It’s good to experiment. My current training is exactly that. I’d hate it if I had to commit to it 100% right now. Things like combining DB Rows and High Pulls in a Tabata format look good on paper but suck in real life. Not a good pairing. I’ll be happy to change that one up.
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One taker. However, I have a week holiday starting around then and I have no intention at all of training in that time. I will also be taking the week leading up to Christmas off as I work in retail and I can guarantee I won’t have any time to train.
Any ground rules? Nutrition a factor?
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I didn’t expect anything less from you.
Pick a program and run it as written for the allotted time. Just commit to a process. If it has a set amount of time then just start over when you get through it. Plan deloads and vacations like normal. The only way to really fail is to quit training altogether or to abandon your program.
Nutrition is up to you and your goals. The goal of this proposed challenge is to help people like me commit to something and run it. The small aspect of T-Nation community accountability should be enough to keep me from program hopping.
Big J, mind if I ask for your personal email?
Love to pick your brains around law enforcement and I get my start is September
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My user name @hotmail.com.
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I’m in
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I’m in. Making a plan now, while I finish my last cycle, then time for a trial run before September.
If we get enough people, are we making our own thread?
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I was thinking of making a thread in the Bigger Stronger Leaner category a week or two before the start.
It can’t really be a competition since the goal is sticking with a plan. Measuring results would be tough since we’re all in different places.
Stick to your program or get flamed. It’ll be the opposite of the Flame Free thread. 
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