Most beneficial Use of Articles

Training Bodybuilding
1

I realize there have already been threads addressing this topic–some of those threads, quite lengthy. Though I feel like making a fresh discussion.

Anyways, what do you guys think about following the programs proposed in the articles here on T-Nation? Is it better to be anal and follow them to the tiniest detail? Or is it more beneficial to take the overall concepts from the articles and apply them to your specific goals?

Personally, I have followed some programs on this site exactly as they have been laid out, and I have also read the articles and applied the overall ideas from it to my customized training program. I consider the latter to be more profitable.

What do you guys think? I’d love to hear from those very experienced lifters and T-Nation writers would be great too! Thanks.

2

I’m not experienced, but I’ve taken a lot of stuff I’ve learned from the articles and incorporated into my diet/training. My diet has cleaned up pretty good, and I’ve learned when to eat carbs, how many to eat, some good food recipes, and other stuff I would never have figured out if it wasn’t for this site.

I’m trying to lose fat now, and I’ve incorporated heavy total body training to keep my muscle, lactate inducing intervals (usually 200-m intervals on the rower or barbell complexes) and more steady-state jump rope intervals to lose the fat.

What’s better, is that now I know a little bit behind why it works, instead of knowing just that it does work. Plus, I’m doing it, so I get to learn from my own experience as well.

Personally, I have a hard time not modifying set programs, but I’m not really there yet. After I’m down to clean slate, I’ll probably try some of these unmodded programs to build back up.

It forces you to learn new movements and also incorporates things that you probably wouldn’t do otherwise. Its good for variety, most if not all of the programs have proven their effectiveness, and it teaches you discipline to stick things through and finish instead of slacking and changing things up just when you get into the meat of a program.

Just my opinions, and I haven’t been around this site for too long, but it has already put me on a good path forward towards getting what I want physically and even a little mentally.

3

Personally I think there’s a lot to be said for following through with a program right down to the detail - it was always a challenge for me to go through programs exactly according to the way they were set up, but I came out better for it.

I tried Quattro Dynamo and a couple other Waterbury programs that don’t come to mind at the moment, in addition to HSS-100 a little later on before I could figure out for myself what worked for me.

I did follow them as laid out and doing that gave me a degree of discipline, I believe. But following these programs down to the wire kept me 1) accountable to a set template and 2) made sure that I didn’t try to slack off by replacing exercises that I didn’t really want to do with ones that I found more likeable (read: easier).

So where I’m going with this is that I’d say follow a program down to the very tee for the discipline it engenders, that definitely helped me out - and given that the guys that write the programs are pretty damn good, you’re probably going to be challenged - especially if you’re just starting out.

Much as i believed at the time I could tinker with the programs I mentioned above, doing so would have hindered the gains I made significantly, and I’m glad I didn’t.

Over time, I have made the transition to taking bits and pieces out of the training philosophies I’ve read here and elsewhere. Perhaps it’s less professional, but I feel that I learn more about my own body this way.

Much as I think that the programs here are great, it can’t be overlooked that they’re written for public view, and cannot possibly be written with all of the readers in mind. I think it’s best that someone get an idea about what works for them by following a set template initially, and then using the concepts it illustrates to cater to their own bodies.

As theuofh said above, it’s about knowing how it works, not just that it does. Although i’d add a third part, following these programs also lets you know WHAT works.

Just my 2c, hope I didn’t ramble, haha.

4

For the most part, the only reason you’d want to follow programs from this site(or any ‘programs’ whatsoever) is if you are a beginning lifter(and are overloaded with endless information on the subject). In that case I’d recommend you ask any of the authors to point to their basic programs and follow them pretty precisely.

Because a whole lot of these articles are walking on the edge of overtraining and will not build a solid base from which you can continue making gains. At least 80% of the stuff is a six week crash course that’ll leave most people confused on what the hell to do next. And so they jump between these articles and ‘principles’ and seldom get anywhere. To get results you have to stick with something for a while and let it change you first. Training differently every two months it’s a circle jerk to nowhere.

5

I feel it is more important to understand how these programs work, rather than performing them blindly. All of the programs on here seem top notch but following every detail, such as the rest period down to the second seems excessive. High intensity is the key in my belief. The program is only going to be as good as your effort.

6

It depends if you have been training long enough to know what works for your body. As a rank beginner it is good to use a programme as you presumably would not know where to start.

But, assuming your goal is to get massively muscular, long term, you will need to focus on getting stronger and eating more. How you go about that is down to what works for your body/lifestyle. From my own experience, if I’d have just followed that simple concept years ago, I would have made much quicker progress.