This is part two of three in my foundation series. In the last article I explained what a firm foundation is and how to differentiate between a solid and not-so-solid foundation. In this article I will explain what you must do in order to build the solid base that will set you up for much success in the future.
Education Is Key
The firm foundation I speak of begins with the proper knowledge base. You have to start somewhere and where you start is not nearly as important as where you end up. I was fortunate enough to have great coaches in my youth and it wasn’t until after athletics that I began learning from all of the fitness magazines. What a big mistake.
I may as well have been reading comic books as I wandered aimlessly into all of the hype about meal frequency, high rep workouts, 6-day bodybuilding splits etc. The list is endless. I did however figure out that there really were some great sources of information out there. Lyle McDonald, Alan Aragon, Bryan Haycock and Leigh Peele are just a few examples of reliable sources.
I began attaining my nutrition and training education a few years back after finding Lyle’s notorious fitness forum and then branched out to other info sources as well. The information is out there but unfortunately you have to dig for it. It’s the diamond in the rough analogy at play here. Make sure the information being injected into your brain is valid and not just some idiot who wants to sell you a sleazy ebook on The Ultimate Mass Building Secrets. Secrets Do Not Exist.
If you want to build muscle mass, find out what routines yield the most success in the general population. Starting Strength, Bill Starr 5×5, HST, Lyle’s Routine and DC Training are just a few routines that immediately come to mind. If you want to successfully lose body fat whilst retaining as much muscle as possible, you must keep protein high, train sensibly and maintain a caloric deficit. A few resources that I really like are the Rapid Fat Loss Handbook (my personal favorite) and Ultimate Diet 2.0 (not for the squeamish).
After You Learn It, Apply It
What good is having all of the knowledge in the world if you never make good use of it? It’s like having the secret to eternal life but never doing anything about it. You can know everything there is to know but if you do not use it and take advantage of what you have learned, your time spent was in vain. Knowledge is only power when we put action behind our beliefs. When we fail to act, we can expect to fail.
Proper application usually comes with some experience(read many failures and successes along the way), unless you have the luxury of a great trainer or coach screaming in your ear to squat heavy and squat now(oh the wonderful memories).
One reason I really enjoy working with newbies is because I know what it’s like to be lost in a sea of information. I really enjoy stripping down their current program and diet and putting them on something simple and effective – something I know works and has worked for many. Six weeks later they are progressing nicely in terms of strength and lean body mass gains. They are growing, gaining weight and are much happier for listening to someone with more experience rather than doing their own thing and continuously spinning their wheels.
So how does one apply what they have learned? You must always be objective.
Objectivity
This is the most important factor in building a firm foundation. This goes for whatever endeavor you pursue whether it be fat loss, muscle gain, increased fitness etc. Without maintaining an objective viewpoint it will be very hard to succeed in the long term. The reason I point out the importance of being objective is because we’re usually our own worst enemy. In saying that, we tend to think of ourselves as being outside or above the rules that apply to everyone else. Sometimes we think we can do more cardio, diet harder, do more volume during strength training and like always, it only ends up sabotaging our efforts. You have been there, I have been there, we are all guilty.
There must come a point in time where you either gain control over designing your own programs/diets or turn it over to someone else to do it for you. In regards to objectivity, we simply must have faith in what has worked for many others, bite the bullet and just do it. It was hard for me to lower my meal frequency at first for fear of negative metabolic consequences that turned out to be nothing more than some silly bodybuilding BS. In time I learned that calories are all that mattered at the end of the day. Since this idea is supported by science, I trusted it and so far the lab coats have been right.
I was also worried about training each body part more than once a week after I read so much about the popular splits in the magazines. What did I do? I looked to someone who knew more than me. They pointed me in the right direction, got me back into full body training and upper/lower splits. What do you know? I started making progress again.
Being objective means knowing when adjustments need to be made. If its not working, do something else. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
In the final installment I will reveal what comes after you get started on the right foot. What happens after you build that firm foundation? How do you adjust to continue progressing? Stay tuned.
@ Christy: I am like you in that I was very fortunate to find a forum that lacked the BS and unnecessary back patting. Most of the posters there were very knowledgeable and anyone that spouted off a ton of BS dogma were eschewed. I understand others have not found a decent forum/place to learn like this and they are unfortunate.
Sure, I agree with you there. There is a ton of bad advice and dogma that people follow without any rhyme of reason. They, for some reason, seem to think they are qualified to give others advice on a subject they know nothing about. This is where the damage is done.
I wasn’t implying that a all damage is done by silly bodybuilding dogma like eating 6x per day, it’s just really unnecessary and is often more trouble than its worth. Then you have people of supposed authority telling you it’s the only way. This is why I have such a hard time with folks who have had their heads buried in a magazine or on worthless forums for so long. The false ideals are so ingrained into their psyche that it’s very hard to accept something else that goes so much against what they were lead to believe.
I was lucky in that I found a great online forum where people more knowledgable than me gave me some very solid advice on training and nutrition. Unfortunately, not everybody is that lucky. The advantage and the disadvantage of the Internet is that there is so much information out there and for someone who’s just starting out it can be overwhelming.
Not only that, but the mainstream “information” and “knowledge” about nutrition and exercise is just extremely counterproductive and I feel this is especially the case with women. So many women believe that starving themselves or eating nothing but carbs and cardioing themselves to death is the way to the body of their dreams. Under my tutelage, my sister has lost 44 lbs so far and gained muscle. When she tells her female colleagues that she eats more than 2000 kcal a day and doesn’t deprive herself of junk food when she feels like it, they just don’t believe it. Unsolicited advice given to my sister includes not to eat meat, not to eat after five in the evening, not to eat artificial sweeteners (because they cause cancer and cause an insulin spike, dontcha know), not to lift weights because she’ll damage her spine and joints, and to not even bother with fat loss since she’ll inevitably regain the weight it anyway.
In my experience, more damage is done by the old wives’ tales and “mainstream” knowledge floating around in the general population than by those who advocate 6 meals a day and bodybuilding splits.
@Vanilla: Thank you. If there is anything I have learned, it’s that objectivity is so crucial to our development. I especially feel this way about training and having others design our programming. Sure, we might be capable but in my opinion it’s better to have someone assess and make adjustments for you as they have no personal bias and they don’t see us through our own eyes(which can skew our perception and hold us back).
@Fred: So what are you having problems with? Just the 30g per meal thing? How long have you been tying to break it?
“It was hard for me to lower my meal frequency at first for fear of negative metabolic consequences that turned out to be nothing more than some silly bodybuilding BS”
This I sympathise with. I am really trying to cut down to five or even four meals as opposed to two in the morning, afternoon and night. My solution is hot soups from stock cubes at the moment. It comes down to the 30g protein absorption BS, which means that people want to eat more.
I really liked this one JC, my favorite part:
“Being objective means knowing when adjustments need to be made. If its not working, do something else. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Good to remind myself of that every once in a while. Even after having found the right sources and mastering the basics, it’s easy to get stuck. You know, “I know this works, it worked for me before, and reliable sources confirm it should work”. Well, great. It still might not be the best thing to keep doing forever. Re-evaluate. Remain objective.