shizz702
02-05-11, 7:07 pm
Another great post by Bosshogg:
There are some basic constants in life that I call ''simple truths''. These simple truths are concepts that are tried and true and have worked better than anything else in their respective catagory for countless years. They are more efficient and have outlasted other ideas, methods and theories because of their inherent advantage of design. We use wheels on vehicles because they work better than any other shape. In thousands of years, we still have nothing that will out perform the wheel for moving heavy objects. This is a simple truth.
Couches and chairs suit our bodies for sitting better than anything else. Always have, and always will. Its a good bet that 10 centuries from now.......couches and chairs will still look the same way. They are more effective than anything else for their intended purpose. This is a simple truth.
Bodybuilding has simple truth's as well. Unfortunately most of these, as obvious as they should be, are missed by most trainers.
This week Ive had discussions with about 4 different trainers regarding what Im going to be talking about here and during each one of these discussions I told them all a story about myself and a ''simple truth'' of bodybuilding. I remember awhile back when I was stuck at 260 pounds. No matter what I did.........the weight would not go up. I knew that as long as I kept getting stronger, I would have to get bigger at some point. Weeks and months went by and every time I got on the scale.........260. At this point, anyone in their right mind would ditch what they were doing and try something else. Volume, drop sets.......anything, but I knew in my heart that ''simple truths'' never change. ''Just keep getting stronger with the same boring compound movements.'' I kept telling myself. Finally, I forget how long it was but after about 3 months.........boom 270, and its gone up ever since.
I know for a fact alot of you struggle with this. We want things and we want them now and when we dont see immediate results we start doing goofy stuff. Ive talked about this before, how we get stronger, stronger, stronger and then all of a sudden, we get bigger.........almost overnight. The problem with this is the time frame between stronger and bigger is not always the same, and this is when discouragement sets in. The same trainer does not get stronger for 2 months and then bigger every single time. Sometimes you can train for 4 or 5 weeks and then there is a noticeable increase in size while other times that same trainer has to keep training for several months before results are seen. This is what throws people off. This is what makes them question if what they are doing is right or not...........doubt is born.
Just about everyone agrees that big compound movements are superior for building mass, but its the time in between growth phases that make people question if they are doing something wrong or not. This is why the majority of trainers jump around from one thing to the next so often. They think ''Well geez........Ive been doing this routine for 3 weeks and I dont see any difference.......I better change, this isnt working for me!'' No, it is working for you, you just have not been doing it long enough to see the results. In fact, the time that most people change up their movements or routines or whatever they are doing is at just about the same time they were just getting ready to grow.
I dont have to spend a ton of time with people trying to convince them that squats, deads and heavy presses and heavy rows build massive physiques. Its trying to control a trainers emotions when they dont get results in a few weeks. For something that is so simple as bodybuilding, it blows me away how emotional, frustrated and illogical people get when they dont dramatically change their appearance overnight.
If this is you, LISTEN TO ME.........quit acting like a baby. Quit lifting with your heart, and start lifting with your brain. If you really want to learn how to lift weights and be a bodybuilder, stop hanging around all those idiots at the gym and go to your local library and pick up a few books on the human anatomy and biology. Take some time to really learn on how the human body works instead of going in there with the idea of seeing how many sets or reps you can do to see what kind of a stupid pump you can get or how you derive some kind of senseless pleasure from getting ''sore'' for the next few days. This is all emotional training to serve the immature little brat inside of all of us who cries and lashes out at the first hint of not getting their way.
There are no ''simple truths'' in these random acts of mindless training..........there is nothing duplicatable about it. Lets stop all the confusion, panic, guess work and emotion and start being a little more intellectual about how we go about this.
If your here to build muscle, {and you know you are..........dont give me that crap about how your trying to just drop a few pounds or trying to just ''tone up''.........BULLCRAP. Your looking to be the biggest, strongest person on the planet.} lets do it in a way where we dont have to constantly worry about if we are doing it right and whether or not we will get results. Lets start by coming to peace with the fact that you cannot determine the amount of time it takes for your muscular system to show a significant increase in size. Sometimes you will see results in several weeks, other times it will take several months. As long as you are getting stronger.........you are either getting bigger or your about to. It doesn't happen any other way.
Stop freaking out when you dont look like Ronnie Coleman after ''busting your ass in the gym'' for however long. Are you getting stronger? If so, chill out, its going to happen. Your probably not going to look like big Ron anyway, but your going to get as big as you will get as long as you keep plugging away.
I swear.........I hear about this crap all the time. ''Well Ive been deadlifting for 4 weeks now and Im not seeing a whole lot of changes. I dont get it. Maybe I should try throwing in some drop sets or something.'' Yeah, your probably right. You should try changing things up while your at it. I mean, if your going to act like a little bitch all the time you might as well at least keep giving yourself an excuse to be one. While your at it, why dont you add in some more variables to solidify your confusion. How about some forced reps at the end of your workout to ''shock the muscle'' into more growth.
Ok, now Im just being a jerk {like being a nice guy helps..........tried that for years too. That dosent work either. At least being a jerk is fun.} Anyway, look guys, the whole point here is to keep this thing simple. There are enough things in life to get stessed out about without having to un-nessicarialy worry about whether or not what your doing in the gym is working or not. If you really want to worry about something, worry about getting more reps or using more weight than you did last time.
Honestly.......Im sick and tired about constantly ranting about how curls, laterals, flys, extensions and isolation movements are freaking worthless. Its not worth my time anymore, Im jaded. People have always done them, and they always will. I guess on the surface I really cant blame them. They make you feel like you are actually doing something without it hurting on a primal level like squats and deads do {pussy's}. Fine.........do your stupid curls, I dont care, but for your own good {and my own sanity} just add weight each time. This is all Im asking. When I started weightlifting, I wasted years and years doing all these stupid and goofy things I always talk about and got absolutely nowhere. Now I sit back and watch the vicious cycle continue. It really truly bothers me. Especially because it is so freaking simple..........its a ''simple truth''. It always has been and always will be. Just keep doing the same boring movements that have been around from the very beginning and keep adding weight as often as you can and forget about the rest. Quit jumping on the scale every day or even every week for that matter. Stop taking arm measurements every other day..........your going to grow. Stop worrying and doubting when you dont see changes in a few weeks, its going to happen. You cannot control when your body will change, just remember...........if the weights are going up, it will change whether you want it to or not.
There are some basic constants in life that I call ''simple truths''. These simple truths are concepts that are tried and true and have worked better than anything else in their respective catagory for countless years. They are more efficient and have outlasted other ideas, methods and theories because of their inherent advantage of design. We use wheels on vehicles because they work better than any other shape. In thousands of years, we still have nothing that will out perform the wheel for moving heavy objects. This is a simple truth.
Couches and chairs suit our bodies for sitting better than anything else. Always have, and always will. Its a good bet that 10 centuries from now.......couches and chairs will still look the same way. They are more effective than anything else for their intended purpose. This is a simple truth.
Bodybuilding has simple truth's as well. Unfortunately most of these, as obvious as they should be, are missed by most trainers.
This week Ive had discussions with about 4 different trainers regarding what Im going to be talking about here and during each one of these discussions I told them all a story about myself and a ''simple truth'' of bodybuilding. I remember awhile back when I was stuck at 260 pounds. No matter what I did.........the weight would not go up. I knew that as long as I kept getting stronger, I would have to get bigger at some point. Weeks and months went by and every time I got on the scale.........260. At this point, anyone in their right mind would ditch what they were doing and try something else. Volume, drop sets.......anything, but I knew in my heart that ''simple truths'' never change. ''Just keep getting stronger with the same boring compound movements.'' I kept telling myself. Finally, I forget how long it was but after about 3 months.........boom 270, and its gone up ever since.
I know for a fact alot of you struggle with this. We want things and we want them now and when we dont see immediate results we start doing goofy stuff. Ive talked about this before, how we get stronger, stronger, stronger and then all of a sudden, we get bigger.........almost overnight. The problem with this is the time frame between stronger and bigger is not always the same, and this is when discouragement sets in. The same trainer does not get stronger for 2 months and then bigger every single time. Sometimes you can train for 4 or 5 weeks and then there is a noticeable increase in size while other times that same trainer has to keep training for several months before results are seen. This is what throws people off. This is what makes them question if what they are doing is right or not...........doubt is born.
Just about everyone agrees that big compound movements are superior for building mass, but its the time in between growth phases that make people question if they are doing something wrong or not. This is why the majority of trainers jump around from one thing to the next so often. They think ''Well geez........Ive been doing this routine for 3 weeks and I dont see any difference.......I better change, this isnt working for me!'' No, it is working for you, you just have not been doing it long enough to see the results. In fact, the time that most people change up their movements or routines or whatever they are doing is at just about the same time they were just getting ready to grow.
I dont have to spend a ton of time with people trying to convince them that squats, deads and heavy presses and heavy rows build massive physiques. Its trying to control a trainers emotions when they dont get results in a few weeks. For something that is so simple as bodybuilding, it blows me away how emotional, frustrated and illogical people get when they dont dramatically change their appearance overnight.
If this is you, LISTEN TO ME.........quit acting like a baby. Quit lifting with your heart, and start lifting with your brain. If you really want to learn how to lift weights and be a bodybuilder, stop hanging around all those idiots at the gym and go to your local library and pick up a few books on the human anatomy and biology. Take some time to really learn on how the human body works instead of going in there with the idea of seeing how many sets or reps you can do to see what kind of a stupid pump you can get or how you derive some kind of senseless pleasure from getting ''sore'' for the next few days. This is all emotional training to serve the immature little brat inside of all of us who cries and lashes out at the first hint of not getting their way.
There are no ''simple truths'' in these random acts of mindless training..........there is nothing duplicatable about it. Lets stop all the confusion, panic, guess work and emotion and start being a little more intellectual about how we go about this.
If your here to build muscle, {and you know you are..........dont give me that crap about how your trying to just drop a few pounds or trying to just ''tone up''.........BULLCRAP. Your looking to be the biggest, strongest person on the planet.} lets do it in a way where we dont have to constantly worry about if we are doing it right and whether or not we will get results. Lets start by coming to peace with the fact that you cannot determine the amount of time it takes for your muscular system to show a significant increase in size. Sometimes you will see results in several weeks, other times it will take several months. As long as you are getting stronger.........you are either getting bigger or your about to. It doesn't happen any other way.
Stop freaking out when you dont look like Ronnie Coleman after ''busting your ass in the gym'' for however long. Are you getting stronger? If so, chill out, its going to happen. Your probably not going to look like big Ron anyway, but your going to get as big as you will get as long as you keep plugging away.
I swear.........I hear about this crap all the time. ''Well Ive been deadlifting for 4 weeks now and Im not seeing a whole lot of changes. I dont get it. Maybe I should try throwing in some drop sets or something.'' Yeah, your probably right. You should try changing things up while your at it. I mean, if your going to act like a little bitch all the time you might as well at least keep giving yourself an excuse to be one. While your at it, why dont you add in some more variables to solidify your confusion. How about some forced reps at the end of your workout to ''shock the muscle'' into more growth.
Ok, now Im just being a jerk {like being a nice guy helps..........tried that for years too. That dosent work either. At least being a jerk is fun.} Anyway, look guys, the whole point here is to keep this thing simple. There are enough things in life to get stessed out about without having to un-nessicarialy worry about whether or not what your doing in the gym is working or not. If you really want to worry about something, worry about getting more reps or using more weight than you did last time.
Honestly.......Im sick and tired about constantly ranting about how curls, laterals, flys, extensions and isolation movements are freaking worthless. Its not worth my time anymore, Im jaded. People have always done them, and they always will. I guess on the surface I really cant blame them. They make you feel like you are actually doing something without it hurting on a primal level like squats and deads do {pussy's}. Fine.........do your stupid curls, I dont care, but for your own good {and my own sanity} just add weight each time. This is all Im asking. When I started weightlifting, I wasted years and years doing all these stupid and goofy things I always talk about and got absolutely nowhere. Now I sit back and watch the vicious cycle continue. It really truly bothers me. Especially because it is so freaking simple..........its a ''simple truth''. It always has been and always will be. Just keep doing the same boring movements that have been around from the very beginning and keep adding weight as often as you can and forget about the rest. Quit jumping on the scale every day or even every week for that matter. Stop taking arm measurements every other day..........your going to grow. Stop worrying and doubting when you dont see changes in a few weeks, its going to happen. You cannot control when your body will change, just remember...........if the weights are going up, it will change whether you want it to or not.