Here it is folks – The best training program in the world
I’ve fricken found it guys, and you won’t believe you eyes as to what it involves. Wait for it…
The best training program in the world is, the one you aren’t currently doing.
Might sound dumb, might sound a little bit simple, it won’t sell books or supplements, but it’s the honest to god truth.
I see it on the internets and even in the real world, you know, outside where the birds and the trees are. People searching endlessly for the ‘holy grail’ of training routines.
“Where’s the program that will make me look like a fitness model, sport start, hollywood actor and so on?”
You’ll never find it
Hold on a minute – Then how do the best of the best achieve their amazing bodies? Well if they aren’t on the gear, then they’re changing their programs often and MOST IMPORTANTLY, pay attention to what they eat 100% of the time. Sure, you may think you eat pretty well – but I’m willing to guess that you COULD be eating better.
Hey, I’m in the same boat
Sure, I eat well most of the time, and fast 5-6 days a week – but there’s always room for at least 10% improvement (maybe even more). If you want to look like the ‘elite’, you need to ‘eat’ like the elite. Whether it’s daily fasting, or limiting your meal frequency, you need to be paying attention to what’s going in your pie-hole.
“Abs are made in the kitchen”– written by some smart person
Pain in the arse right?
Sure it is, but then again, models and actors are in PEAK condition when they’re being shot. They only need to look amazing for a small amount of time which makes it achievable. They’ll deplete salt from their diet to rid themselves of water beneath the skin, get a spray tan, pump themselves with a few sets of pushups RIGHT before the photographer releases the shutter (under some strategically positioned downlighting mind you).
This brief moment in time is captured forever – leaving you to stumble across it and think to yourself “Why can’t I look like that?”
But I digress…
Where was I? Oh that’s right – the best training program in the world. Nutrition aside, you’re better off changing your routine up every 8 weeks or so just to give yourself a fresh outlook on your training. Sure, there are proven methods of strength and muscle gain that work, but doing the same exercises time and time again won’t motivate you to train come week 52 when you’ve hit that god-awful plateau.
What I do to prevent training boredom
Currently, I’m cycling Visual Impact with Reverse Pyramid Training for the next 3 months to make sure I’m in top shape for my wedding and the honeymoon to follow. This means, I’m doing a reduced phase approach where I’ll do each of the Visual Impact phases for 1 month instead of 2. Then I’ll go back to some serious RPT right before it’s ready to put on a monkey suit.
But I change my program constantly!
If you’ve been training for a few years now, and you aren’t ‘on the juice’, you MAY have hit your genetic peak. John Barban did a great video on this which summarises it nicely. One of the key outtakes from it was that you WILL eventually stop putting on more muscle. If you could keep building muscle, then the guys that have been in the gym for 5 years would be bigger than the ones who’ve only been training for 2 years right? How come you see the same people in your gym for years and they don’t change ‘that much’? (shitty training and diet aside of course :)). Check out the video below…
You might be f*cking around in the gym
Martin Berkhan posted on this the other day and a lot of it sure rings true. People get too caught up in complex programs and advanced movements. Keep it simple, do the big lifts and give yourself time to recover.
In summary…
- The best training program in the world is the one you aren’t currently doing – if it’s been months since you’ve changed your strategy, think about doing so NOW.
- Fitness models and actors look amaze-balls due to some serious assistance, but their diets play the biggest part in their success.
- If you’ve stopped gaining strength or muscle after years and years of training, you may have hit your genetic peak (see above video).
- Don’t over analyse what you’re doing in the gym. Keep it simple and avoid ‘Fuckarounditis’.
Too many people just expect a one size fits all workout program. I find it’s best to use your knowledge from a multitude of approaches to craft a strategy that works best for you. It’s funny reading all the things that models and actors do and you’re absolutely right…doesn’t even get into the possibility of photoshop or other computerized alterations. Good luck in the final months of “wedding prep” as well!
Totally – the magical program that you’re considering doing will only allow you to progress so far until you have to change it up again.
The photoshoot of Hugh Jackman for Wolverine is a perfect example of the trickery used to look veiny/massive. Hugh was holding two large bags of sand when that shot was snapped.
Neat trick!
Thanks, re: the wedding prep: Two months yesterday and counting!
You really do need to switch up your training every month or two…..it just gets too boring doing the same thing again and again. So find two or three programs that have worked for you, and you liked, and implement them in and out of your yearly routine to stay fresh
The biggest tip is consistency. Consistency with your nutrition and consistency with your training, As you said there is more than one system that works, but if you are not consistent none of them will work. Make sure you enjoy your wedding day, it’s pretty stressful the week before but the day should just be a big party, have fun mate.
Great post Clint. I just got done reading Martin’s fuckarounditis article and I must agree with him 100%. I see tons of these guys at my gym.
I was just doing my bench press yesterday when I heard this guy next to me talking about how he got wasted during the weekend (lots of football and baseball games – no wonder) and then he played some ball all day and only slept a few hours.
So I looked @ him and see that he just barely sits on the bench and is basically falling asleep. I felt bad for that dude, cause he wasn’t really putting any effort into the benchpressing. Now I can totally see the cases of fuckarounditis. That’s really sad how many people have it
Regards,
Hi Clint,
You are right, most people are working out the wrong way and I see it all the time. A lot of times a person lacks focus, displine and especially a plan. Often someone goes in with a “let me work on this muscle group today for the hell of it” approach rather than programming their workouts in a way that sets up a routine. It’s best to go in prepared in order to see results in the long term.
-Sam
HI Client,
Great looking website! The article is amazing, I like how you get right down two the bones and let people know one size or one pill doens’t fit all. We are human, and each and everyone one of us are different. So are our fitness goals and dreams; therefore our fitness programs must be tailered to us.
Excellent article. I do a lot of crossfit so I think it is safe to say I don’t stick with the same routine for very long. That’s one reason it is so appealing for me. I got so bored of endless repetitions of the same exercises. I know it isn’t for everyone, but I like it and it works for me. Great article and nice looking site. I’m definitely a fan now.
I lovw your comment on the best routine being the one you’re NOT doing. I recently attended a residential pain management course at a local hospital that did me an enormous amount of good. My problem is how to stay motivated now I’m home. I just can’t seem to make myself do the exercises I know I should be doing. Any tips on how to stay motivated?
Mike
Motivation can be hard to come by :)
I’ve done a few posts on this topic here:
http://staging.revealthesteel.com/crudefitness/training/lost-your-motivation-to-exercise-shock-yourself-into-action-with-some-of-these-kick-ass-ideas/
http://staging.revealthesteel.com/crudefitness/diet/how-to-keep-motivated-when-your-fatloss-results-arent-showing/
http://staging.revealthesteel.com/crudefitness/rants/is-your-laziness-causing-you-progress-suicide/
Clint, what is obviously frustrating is the amount of contradictory advice one encounters. You reference Martin Berkhan and Rusty Moore as two key influences in your recent training. Same here. While Martin and Rusty may agree that there is value to intermittent fasting, I believe Martin would conclude that Rusty’s program has far too many exercises, emphasizes concepts he disparages such as “tempo,” and is fundamentally flawed in its lack of primary reliance on compound movements. Martin often states that people have no business doing isolation work until they have built a menaingful ability to bench press, dead-lift, squat, etc. Meanwhile, Rusty denigrates an over-reliance on squats and deadlifts as causing ugly, undifferentiated mass. But along with weighted pullups, bench pressing and weighted dips these compound movements make up the heart of Martin’s programming recommendations. This is because Martin holds that strength in these movements creates aesthetic, defined mass. Rusty might retort that Martin looks too big and does not represent the ideal that most clients are seeking. And Martin might retort that he has helped many clients achieve the Tyler Durden/Ryan Reynolds look, and has the photos to prove it. Meanwhile, neither Martin nor Rusty seem to sign on wholeheartedly to the Paleo concept. Rusty seems to conflate Paleo with “avoiding carbs,” and thus recommends that it be avoided if one is trying to gain mass. But plenty of Paleo people eat loads of carbs in the form of sweet potatoes and the like. And while Paleo people can explain 50 reasons why pasteurized milk spikes your insulin, causes all manner of negative health effects and has extremely limited nutritional value both Rusty and Martin encourage its use in some form. Rusty even recommends chocolate milk for Chrissakes! And for all his genius Martin doesn’t seem overly interested in exploring the science underlying Paleo, which mystifies me. Honestly, I have massive respect for both of these gentlemen. But as a non-expert just trying to make my way in this big world this makes me effing crazy. What the F is a regular guy supposed to do?
There will always be contradiction.
There is no 100 percent right way to train and diet. Both guys have their methods, and they both work independently, aswell as (in my case) a slight combo of the two of them.
The advice you read about is never ‘absolute’. As in, when someone suggest a method or routine, it’s not the ONLY way to achieve your goals.
Sure there are quicker methods in every scenario aswell as ‘safer’ methods and thousands of individual factors that all play a part into achieving an elite physique.
My simple answer is this – try a bunch of different tactics and see what works for YOU. Not of Joe bloggs, or you mates down at the gym. Every program/technique will work to some degree. As I’ve said before, there’s no such thing as the perfect training regimen – it’s probably the one you’re not currently doing :).
Oh, and one other thing, it’s also about doing what you can ‘stick to’ for the rest of your life.
Sorry for the waffle!
No problem, Clint — just pass the maple syrup. Your answer is logical, of course. In addition to your comments I have heard the following: “Everything works. But nothing works forever.”
Hey Clint,
I’ve been doing visual impact for the past 2 months and I started experimenting with lean gains and eatstopeat about a month in. I’ve decided to just stick with lean gains, instead of eatstopeat as I’m pretty slim to begin with (5’10” 168-175lbs)…I’ve been dealing with a wrist injury, so I modified my workouts (no curls, lateral raises, reverse pulldowns, pull-ups etc ..basically anything that put strain on my wrist – which sucked HUGE) and now I’ve taken some time off to help it heal…it’s about 99% healed and i’m pumped to hit the gym again…carefully.
I’ll be starting phase two of visual impact, so 5 reps for 5 sets of the same weight across the board on most ex’s, to train the cns to succeed…however, I’m interested in implementing RPT, at least for deadlifts….If I warmed up with two sets, my weights for tmrw would be 315 x5, 280×6 and maybe another third set of 7 reps. Any thoughts/advice? would you suggest I just stick with the 5 reps of 5 sets for the same weight across the board for all exercises in this phase? or mix in some RPT? Thanks in advance and keep up the awesome work!
GT,
I don’t think it would hurt to throw in some RPT – just be VERY careful with your injury.
RPT is very taxing to the body, so limit it to maximum two different exercises per session.
So in your case with deadlifts, I’d say give it a whirl.