1. Base your strategy on a wide sample of lifters that you watch on social media. Because you can believe everything you read on the Internet, it’s the best possible source of information about how you should train for your goals and your body. Make sure you don’t just listen to one coach or lifter, though — you want to take the best-sounding parts of everything and jam it all together until it sort of makes sense.
  2. Be sure to change that strategy daily to make sure that you’re a step ahead of the competition each and every time you walk into the gym. The other great thing about the Internet is that you know exactly what everyone in the world is doing, all the time. So above all else, do whatever it takes to make sure that you’re better than them all, all of the time.
  3. Second-guess everything and keep your options open. Then again, as I always say, “there’s no right answers,” so it’s stupid to box yourself into a program. All the best lifters train by feel anyway, so you should too. A training program is mostly just meant to be a loose guideline.
  4. Fuck it, max out every day. #YOLO motherfuckers.

I know this sounds like an extension of my social media rant from last week, and to some extent, that’s exactly what it is. On the other hand, I think this post is really important in its own right, because it emphasizes the importance of playing your game — not someone else’s. I’m not saying that you should attempt to plan everything for yourself! Powerlifting is a team sport, and it’s important to rely on your support system for help and advice when you need it. But the Internet isn’t your support system.

The other thing to remember: when you get deep into the trenches of a difficult training cycle or meet prep, shit’s going to get hard. That’s when it’s time to forget about second-guessing! You need to stick to the plan and trust the process, because the increased physical stress of your training makes it extraordinarily difficult to remain objective about your training. There’s just no room for that extra mental stress.

Lifting is a long-term game. Don’t fry yourself by treating it like a sprint.