Just wanted to thank everyone who took the time to comment to this article (and also for feeding the ever hungry algorithm). This will be my only comment here.
I thought l’d provide a couple of suggestions for those of you who are looking to get more out of the comments you make to articles like this:
First and foremost, take a moment to identify exactly what you’re trying to achieve with your comment. Are you trying to persuade others that you are highly knowledgeable with a better take on the subject matter? Or are you trying to insult/demean/criticize the author, presumably with the intent of making yourself look better by comparison?
If it’s the former, I strongly suspect that it may surprising to many of you to learn that the authors age, bodyweight, height, sexual preference, shoe size, IQ, astrological sign, blood type, drug usage, educational background, credit score, physique, and/or gender have nothing to do with (and I literally mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G) the value (honesty/truth/accuracy/ relevance) of the authors statements.
Similarly (and perhaps just as surprising) your reply to the author’s article has literally nothing to do with your personal characteristics
Just for completeness, I’ll also add that when you reply to an article, the value of your reply has nothing to do with whether or not you include a shirtless pic of yourself with the reply.
Summarizing, a statement’s value is completely independent of the personal characteristics of the person who makes the statement.
With all of the above in mind, and assuming you’re trying to influence others to your supposedly superior point of view, it becomes necessary to actually direct your reply to the statements being made rather than the person who made those statements. For example, you might say “I disagree with Staley’s point about some successful lifters having bad technique. These people are outliers and the vast majority of lifters do in fact have what most coaches would be consider great technique” I would of course disagree with this analysis, but that’s fine… batting things back-and-forth is how we all learn and how we all get closer to the truth eventually.
If, on the other hand, your objective is to spew hate my way, that’s fine of course but I’m genuinely curious as to what you get out of that. It has an absolutely no impact on me and gives the strong impression that you are the type of person who doesn’t have much going on in life.
OK thanks again guys and girls - it’s looking like I will be writing more frequently for T-Nation from here forward so please keep those comments coming!
I think these two comments really demonstrate a difference in how you and I (along with most people in this thread) interpret the conversation. For everyone else, it seems like a civil discussion where we are disagreeing and making/supporting our own opinions. It seems like you’re taking it personally if you feel any of us are ‘irked’ or think you should ‘feel shame’ for your own opinion. Nobody’s actually bothered by what you’re saying. We’re just disagreeing on an internet forum. That’s kind of why forums exist in the first place, right? An echo chamber is pretty useless most of the time. There’s no reason to get defensive.
I’m glad you chimed back in here! I’ve been meaning to actually address your original post, but I kind of got bogged down in subsequent conversations since that’s where the thread went.
I’ve followed you for a looooong time, on here and elsewhere. And I don’t always agree with your training philosophies. A lot of what you do/your client base is also largely irrelevant to my own goals/demographic. But I actually LOVED this post, I thought it was spot on. It’s my favorite thing I’ve seen you write in awhile. Glad to hear you’re going to be around more!
Ah man, of course that’s what forums are for. It’s why I’ve been hooked on these damn things for the past 20 years. I was just clarifying my original statement so I wouldn’t have to get even deeper into a steroid chat. If I sound sensitive then so be it. Maybe I’m feeling a little fragility from fighting an illness all week and all you big 'orrible burly men surrounded me, maybe it’s the disgusting vegan protein shakes I’ve been forcing myself to drink. I am unapologetic.
Sorry that was not my attention. I very much admire your work and the time you have taken out to give me personal hints.
I was the one that mentioned that you are on TRT. Perhaps I should not have It is just Chris Shugart mentioned you were not on steroids and I thought that was a bit misleading. You also discuss it openly which keeps the industry more transparent.
Yet it had nothing to do with the article so I apologize unreservedly.
I didn’t want to respond first, because I was scared for the thread to end on my response vs your great post, but a “like” is not enough - incredibly well-said. Thank you!
Also, for everyone, as a gentleman that practices what he preaches: Mr. Staley “liked” my post where I said I disagreed with one of his articles.
I think this thread has been a great opportunity for us to explore the “why” of our forum, as @flipcollar pointed out - let’s make our points and disagree; it’s not a personal attack or issue.
I appreciate this article and share the author’s point of view. I love the comments on this post. Its like Charles “attacked” some folks “religion” I had to laugh when he drew personal insults for suggesting such “heresy”. I do think this brings up another possible T-Nation Topic - “Should we only listen to coaches who are “jacked””. I think Mark Rippetoe has done some great work and is a great novice or early intermediate coach but he doesn’t have an impressive physique.
BTW also for the record Ryan Hummison is not “science” his Youtube channel should be categorized as fitness entertainment. I watch all his videos and love them but just in case anyone is confused those are not meant to be taken seriously. Its like the WWE of fitness.