[quote]DennisHerrington wrote:
Jim,
In response to a question on your site about gaining size, strength and getting lean without peds, Juliet replied; “So is it possible? The holy trifecta? Without drugs itâ??s tough but it heavily relies on someonesâ?? starting point. A skinny fat 185-er is going to probably fall flat on his face on this journey. Now take a husky 250lb beginner and the results are more promising.”
What about the skinny fat 185er? I’m 195, not strong, not big, not lean. Squat 325, Bench 255, Deadlift 405, Press 175. Which direction do I head first since I would “fall flat on my face” chasing all three goals at once.[/quote]
I can’t/won’t speak for my wife. So you’d have to ask her but since she is pretty much out of the industry, I’ll explain how I feel about this.
IN GENERAL, you have people who have very little muscle, experience and attempt to get “shredded”, get strong as fuck and, if this wasn’t enough, weigh 275 pounds. So what ends up happening 10000000000% of the time is that they fail at all 3. The smart person, or at least the one with common sense, would attack one goal without totally abandoning the concept of balance.
The problem is that there are all kinds of thick-tongues in this industry who sell you a bunch of shit like “running makes you weak” or “you gotta lift 12 times/day” or whatever flavor of the month is selling shit. All of it is crap. I can’t think of any industry, other than popular music, which is so full of lies.
So the answer is this:
Lift to get stronger, with an eye on 10 year goals.
Develop GREAT long-term eating habits.
Understand that “balance” is not the same as “equal time”.
Too many people think they have to “throw the baby out with the bath water” when approaching their goals. Or even worse, to use another cliche, aim for the kitchen sink approach.
It’s not sexy and it doesn’t sell shit, trust me. For every million books, diets, articles, that are sold in the name of quick fix and selling you a large, steaming pile - there is maybe one person that will buy into a life-long, healthy approach. And yes, you can get very strong, very in-shape and lean with this approach. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes common sense. You just have to take a breath and realize NO ONE CLIMBS MT EVEREST in one step.