Information vs. Application
This little article is being driven a bit by someone who is either trolling my comments (badly) or just really really really dumb. His comments have basically been ‘reading about ur dogs is boring, pls post more information about fat loss’. I also got one that said ‘pls post more fat loss info, I gained weight over X-mas’.
Like I said, trolling or stupid as hell; it doesn’t matter which and often the line between the two is very very thin. You can imagine what responses he got from me regarding his criticism of my dog articles was (hint: it wasn’t appropriate for mixed company) but I’m getting off track.
But it brings me to a point/slightly ranty piece about another common mistake trainees and dieters make. It’s something I talked a bit about before in Fundamental Principles vs. Minor Details. That piece was more about folks who get so wrapped up in the minor (and generally irrelevant) details of their training or diet that they miss the big picture. What I want to talk about today is similar.
What my troll/idiot above is doing, and what many do is this: they keep flailing about for that perfect program, the secret program, the magic program. They continually look for that new and ideal program; and in doing so they never ever get around to acting. Or if they do act, they do it in such a haphazard/half-assed way that nothing good comes out of it anyhow.
Basically, they are focusing on information rather than application. Case in point, there are over 300+ articles on this website. Let’s assume that 1/3rd of them are dedicated to losing body fat. Keep in mind that at least one series is called Fundamentals of Fat Loss Diets Part 1 and Fundamentals of Fat Loss Diets Part 2 which lays out the real basics of what any fat loss diet should be about. With that series alone, anybody should be able to get started on their fat loss goals.
And even while training isn’t quite as well laid out on the site (mainly because I haven’t written the articles yet), a similar case exists. There are endless programs available which are time tested and have been proven to work. I talked about three of them in A Look at Some Popular Hypertrophy Programs. And that just scratches the surface.
My point being this: there is absolutely no lack of information regarding programs that have been shown to work. Yet what do so many people do: feel the need to accumulate more information and more information before they ever get around to actually acting. Which isn’t helped by the fact that so many programs seem to contradict one anther, at least superficially. They don’t mind you, all programs that work share commonalities, they differ in irrelevant details.
As well, there is a continuous barrage of new information coming out in literature, etc. Make no mistake, I keep up with it, that’s why I do regular research reviews and such. But most of it at this point is minutiae, details that just don’t matter outside of a small percentage of the population if they matter at all. The fundamental principle of what someone needs to do to generate fat loss or get bigger have been out there for years. All that’s changing is minor details that are simply irrelevant to most people.
But that doesn’t stop people from spending days, weeks, months thinking that if they just get a little bit more information that they can finally reach their goals. With the New Year’s Resolution time coming around, it’s going to get even worse, people will cast about for the magic program, the magic diet, the magic training and wonder why, by December 2011, they still haven’t gotten anywhere. They will have spent the entirety of 2011 doing the same thing they did in 2010: continually absorbing new information without ever getting around to actually applying it in any consistent or meaningful fashion.
This is pointless and self-defeating. What these people need is not information, they need to actually apply what they do know. In a lot of ways it was simpler before the information overload of the Internet. When you only know about one or two programs, you either do one of those two or you don’t do anything. Now people can literally waste a career of training and dieting doing nothing but reading about the next magic program.
Yet somehow just reading about it fails to produce results. What these people need is application; they need to take the information they already have, almost regardless of what it is and actually figure out how to apply it. Don’t get me wrong, there are better or worse dietary or training choices for a given situation. I’ve discussed this in various contexts such as the Comparing the Diets series.
But that doesn’t change the basic point I’m trying to make: most people don’t need more information, they need to apply the information that they have. If this hasn’t made sense yet, I’ll follow up with a quote from strength coach Steven Plisk, written years ago in Hardgainer magazine (if my memory serves).
He said something to the effect of this:
We’ve tried every periodization scheme known to god and man with our athletes. What we found is that hard work on a mediocre program works better than half-assing it on the ‘perfect’ program.
Essentially he’s getting at what I’m trying to say a bit differently: application to the ‘non-perfect’ program is better than either trying to find the perfect program or finding it and then not working hard at it.
So this next year, if you’re wondering where 2010 went without you getting closer to your goals, look at what you did. Did you continually look for more information, or did you actually focus on the application of what you already know works?
and in addition to what lyle says, there will always be some trial and error involved. so start doing SOMETHING and then make adjustments as you go along. but that doesn’t mean you should be jumping from one routine to another and constantly second guess everything you do.
I agree 100%.
I decided a few years ago that I wanted to run a marathon before I turned 50. I was already a runner, but I knew I needed a training program. I started following one from a well-known person who has a marathon training website and popular book.
Being a person who is always looking for that additional edge, I kept looking at other training sites and programs. I quickly became confused as they each have little nuances to training all with seemingly good reasons for those differences.
Finally, I decided that for a first time marathoner, the nuances didn’t matter. I quit looking at other training programs and concentrated on the one I was using. I blindly followed it and did what they suggested when they suggested it. Result – I finished my marathon one month after turning 49.
Bottom line, find a program and stick to it. It will more than likely work for quite sometime. Once you quit loosing and stagnate AFTER maticulously following the program, then look for something else to challenge your body in a different way.
During this next week, I will be looking at multiple fat loss programs including yours that you have referenced. I have decided that I will settle on one and follow it maticulously. My priorities will be diet (biggest impact on fat loss) followed by a fat-burning exercise program (interested more in whole body exercises but I do have a Bowflex for a weight lifting program). I plan on putting my running as a secondary program to lose fat if that is what it takes!
Steve
One of Lyles most memorable articles on coaching yourself proffered he best bit of advice, ever…
“If I were coaching someone else in this situation, what would I tell them to do?”
How to be your own coach – go read it!
Paralysis through Analysis.
I guess the Sensa powder that my coworker sprinkles on her giant bag of french fries before she eats them won’t help her lose weight? Darn it she thought that was the Magic Bullet…
Just wondering if ALFIE! has his own website yet?
Nope, but he is on Facebook.
(There is way too much to be said)
Honestly Lyle, all I have done for the past year is use the free information that you have humbly given me as a reference to help my reach my goals. I thought I knew quite a bit but thanks to you, Alan, Martin (and some other of the good guys), I can learn to not worry about all the Bro-Science out there and focus on the picture as a fundamental whole. All your articles help me in all aspects of training relating physical, psychological, or emotional attributes (and this should be structured into a book). Everything is laid out here, and I am glad to be part of the team and I am sure most will agree. Everyone have a safe holiday season, and good luck with you dogs, Lyle.
Great information and great web site. Thanks for spending your many hours to give freely to others Lyle.
Yes, and it’s useful to try to understand why we get stuck in analysis paralysis or half-ass a program. For example, I’m a fit, health-conscious woman, but I’m not an athlete. 4 years ago I added running to my exercise routine for the first time, and quickly got to the point where I could run continuously for 30 minutes. I’d look at, toy with marathon training programs. I’ve biked a century, did a lot of weekend warrior stuff, there are legions of less-fit people training for a marathon. And yet, the stories and programs would fill me with dread. I’ve done other training, but did have 6 months where running was my primary exercise activity, and I have a much better base now – running 10 miles is tiring and slow but something I’m confident I can do once a week, and most weeks I get in 30-40 miles. But I read the marathon programs and still feel dread. When a 10 mile long run turns into 12, turns into 14, and when I spend miles 10 to 14 hungry, achey, cold – I will half-ass the program. Even assuming I’d finish it – a 7-hour marathon, booyah – I’d gain fitness in the immediate sense, but I’d probably quit running after that. I certainly see healthy eating in the same spectrum, where some people are ready to live on chicken/broccoli and other people are ready to cut their alcohol binges to once a week. But most diets expect a total overhaul overnight, about as realistic as the non-fit person doing a marathon in 6 months. I think that’s why people get stuck, looking for both a perfect diet and a diet they can follow.
But how do we know we’ve got the right information? Can you write an article on that?
Just kidding!
Your site has gone a long way to get me back on track to just use the essential information and not look for perfection. Thanks.
Part of the problem is, in my opinion, that sites and magazines have to keep pumping out articles. Repeating the same essential information does no good for bringing visitors to a site. If the site pumps out new information, it must be better than the old essential info, right? For people who are used to having the latest and greatest, yet another article just distracts them from the essential, but old, info.
Well said, Lyle. Yes, procrastination as an art-form. It’s the most common type of internal resistance that people face, especially those with ambitious fitness goals. We need more action, and less planning. Shoot first, ask questions later. The first step of success in any endeavor is to take consistent, deliberate action – again and again. Just do it!
is that why you’re so pissed off? someone’s trolling on your articles?
i wrote a comment on prob why ppl would make a comment in general about your dog articles, and its that alot of surfers simply found your site through google searches on training/nutrition. so obv we’re gonna stop reading your articles if its not catered to our interests. you sent me a little flip me off email man. i was a bit pissed, but i guess u thought i was one of those trolls making constant comments. either way calm down, you’re the guru here. even if i wrote fuck you, shouldn’t get on my level man.
that being said i’m a bit disappointed u didn’t like Gary Taubes’ book. read it recently, thought it had interesting points. obesity is definitely a disease first, phenotype second. the book was unofficially encouraged for med students to read (I’m a med student at Gtown)
Dh, I’m saddened that a MED STUDENT can’t see through Taube’s bullshit. Because he is literally wrong about everything. Please read James Krieger’s Weightology.net analysis of Taube’s claims. The research simply does NOT support any of what Taubes says.
And DH< here’s why I got ‘pissed’ with your moronic comment about my dog articles.
This is a FREE site, you come here by YOUR choice. If you don’t like what I write, fucking leave. Go read t-nation or whatever retarded site gets you hard. But do NOT tell me how to run my site. I don’t give a fuck about your opinion, I’ll write about My Pretty Pony if I want. If you don’t like it, it’s simple: don’t come here.
Or go start your OWN site and show me how it’s done. You can’t because you’re a fucking med student who can’t see through Taube’s bullshit. That is to say, you’re a moron.
So it’s simple: don’t like what I have to say, don’t read it. If you read it, don’t bitch about what I choose to write about. Because that just makes you an idiot in my book.
In the PUA community (which I am not neither endorsing nor condemning) this is called being a “keyboard jockey”.
I feel that one (although obviously not the only) reason programs like Stronglifts 5×5 and 5/3/1 do so well with people who failed to make gains in the gym previously is because their underlying message is consistency and simple progression (ie do more reps and move heavier weights).
Ironically, I think a lot of “normal” people have a more realistic view of what it means to work out (ie it’s a matter of doing a lot of hard and boring work). I suspect what keeps many training enthusiasts motivated to train is focusing on the more esoteric aspects of it all, and seeing themselves as raised above the lame normals who just resolve to eat less and burn some calories on the treadmill, as opposed to keeping abreast on the latest in cybernetic peri-workout isocaloric transhumanist intra-capillary beta-peptides or whatever.
On the other hand, we shouldn’t swing TOO much to the other side either. I’ve been guilty of this myself; becoming 100% jaded to every new hyped-up discovery in the training & nutrition community. But occasionally there ARE indeed worthwhile breakthroughs (creatine comes to mind). Training technology HAS progressed since the 19th century (even when discarding AAS from the picture). And like I said, there IS a positive psychological benefit to delving into training & nutrition esoterica.
Another point: I suspect a lot of people make identity out of tools. Ie kettlebells, HIT, low-carb, paleo, Crossfit, whatever. As one of my favorite websites LessWrong says: beliefs are for generating predictions about the future, not for reinforcing your identity, yet many people confuse beliefs with identity. It’s the same way with fitness: methodologies are for effecting results, not for being a member of a certain tribe. If you want muscle, then do what it takes to get muscle. If you want fatloss, then do what it takes to lose fat. Etc.
I’ve actually been positively surprised by the HIT community as of late, and looking into those guys. I like their attitude: they want muscle and they don’t care if they exercise on machines, even though that’s frowned upon nowadays. They don’t feel the need to learn clean & jerks just to build up their delts and triceps, when a machine will suffice with no skill requirements. I’m not sure I agree with their ideas on frequency and such, but I like the uber-pragmatist attitude. (Obviously if one wants to be a weightlifter or just finds c&j fun, then they should learn it. What I’m objecting to here is people who say that you MUST do something like that, otherwise your muscle will be “unfunctional”).
Sorry for spamming with these long-winded monologues, but as Mark Twain once said, I didn’t have time to write a shorter version
I just want to say that most of your articles are simply amazing. I am fresh to this site and the information that I am currently applying to my fat loss program is amazing. i have no performance loss but gain. while dropping 21 pounds (fat+water weight) while hoping to keeping muscle loss to minimal
Hi Lyle, you’re 100% right about applying the fundamentals of fat loss and not getting lost in details. But don’t forget the fact, that reading your great articles (also about minor details) keep some people (at least me) motivated and adhere to the diet. Especially for those of us not having a personal trainer or someone who keeps motivation high during the diet. I know that the minor details do not matter for 99% of us. But reading one article a day helps me tremendously keeping my motivation up high. Already lost 10KG in 3 weeks. SO BIG THANKS FROM GERMANY and keep up your good articles (also about minor details
)
Felix