There’s something that has been bothering me for a long time and I know I’m not alone. Allow me to explain. If one person were in charge of disseminating all the fitness information in the world, this person would know that there is an epidemic. Misinformation, overthinking, overanalyzing, and OCD-like tendencies are rampant. This really isn't any surprise, as fitness “information” tends to be linked to the fitness “industry.” When money, marketing, and the business side of things enter the picture, you can expect unfounded claims, bias, and, at times, comic hyperbole (unintended I might add). This isn’t to say that all supplement companies are junk and that all big name performance coaches are lying to you, but almost every day there seems to be a new self-proclaimed “expert” or a new “game changing” supplement that will cure all evil in the world. It may even be worse when it comes to training programs. With all the fancy names thrown around for programs that look so complicated and convoluted on paper, it may be advisable to down your new “game changing,” pre-workout, anabolic partitioning, nano fusion, extreme muscle synthesizer shake before even attempting to figure out what you’re even supposed to do in the gym.
The point here is that when you get rid of the smoke and mirrors, the fancy labels, the 'too good to be true' claims (this is colloquially known as cutting through the bull), you always, always, always come back to the basics. These basics are universally applicable for anyone with any fitness-oriented goal in mind and they will never change. These basics are things that everyone already knows and likely fall under “commonsense.” The only problem is they aren't sexy. They don't have a fancy name. They don't promise the impossible and following the basics is hard. You can start to see why people yearn for a “secret” or an alternative. Much can be said about what the basics won’t do, but one thing is for sure—they work.
I will concede that there are times when the basics aren't enough. Truly advanced trainees will need to pay attention to details, and the more advanced you become, the more advanced your training will be. However, this is all relative. Complex training that has evolved over years and years is one thing, but a guy squatting 225 lbs at 30 percent body fat debating on whether to do the conjugate method, HIT, or a 'conjugate/HIT 5 X 5 American Idol' hybrid program while taking out another mortgage to buy bands and chains because “so and so said so” is another.
So here are a few of the things that I consider to be essentially “basic."
1. Your training program should be designed around variations of the squat, bench, and deadlift. Other exercises that may make an appearance are military presses, rows, pull-ups/chin-ups, dips, cleans, and snatches.
2. Your training program should allow for some sort of progression from week to week. Whether this is through manipulation of load, volume, or rest time (density), you should be shooting for some measurable progress from week to week. Want to know the best way to look the same every year even when you “train?” Squat and bench the same weight as you did two years ago.
3. You should benefit from cardiovascular/conditioning exercise. The amount and intensity are largely dependent on your goals, sport, and current conditioning state. However, it isn't any secret that if you’re fat, you should be doing progressively more conditioning work until you aren't fat any longer.
4. You should actively pursue recovery. It starts, first and foremost, with getting enough sleep at night. I’m sure everyone’s heard of how much of a necessity this is, but are you getting enough sleep? If not, why? People lead busy lives and that’s great, but being more efficient throughout the day or not watching three hours of television before bed are sacrifices that you may need to make in order to get the extra hour or two of sleep that seem “impossible” to get. Recovery extends beyond sleep. Recovery encompasses taking care of your body by means of active recovery, foam rolling, and stretching along with just overall general maintenance. If you beat your body up from training day in and day out, the least you can do is spend 15 minutes on a foam roller a couple times a week. Furthermore, your training frequency should reflect your ability to recover. This is something that is highly individual, but most people can handle weight training three to four times a week and lead normal, working lives.
5. You should pay attention to what you’re eating and make sure your food choices include good sources of protein such as chicken, turkey, red meat, tuna, salmon, tilapia, other fish, eggs, and protein powders. You should make sure your carbs are coming from oats, rice, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables. You should make sure you’re getting in healthy fats from various nuts and oils such as fish, olive, and macadamia. To borrow a phrase Justin Harris coined, "If you can’t pick it, grow it, or kill it, you shouldn’t be eating it." The exact amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats that one should eat is again individual. However, as a general rule, eat less to lose weight and eat more to gain weight. Armed with this wisdom, your best (and only) bet is to start eating a certain amount, monitor, and make adjustments. It’s really that easy.
6. You should be consistent in training and diet. You can’t expect to wage war against your body’s desire for homeostasis without consistency on these fronts. The type of consistency I’m talking about isn't “I haven’t missed a workout in two months!” The type of consistency I’m talking about is more along the lines of the following.
Let’s say you train four times a week. Let’s say you do conditioning work three times a week. Let’s say you eat six meals a day (42 meals in a week). This all sounds pretty standard. Excluding leap year or any other calendar phenomenon I’m unaware, there are 52 weeks in a year. This makes for 208 training sessions, 156 conditioning sessions, and 2184 meals in a year. In five years, this makes for 1040 training sessions, 780 conditioning sessions, and 10,920 meals. That’s 12,740 opportunities over the course of five years to prove your “consistency.”
This type of consistency is borderline crazy, something even a robot would be proud of. I did this number crunching just to illustrate a point and say that you should be thinking long term because real, dramatic progress takes time.
7. You should roll with the punches. I hate to break this to you, but over the course of the five years I just discussed, you will inevitably have setbacks, face adversity, miss workouts (sometimes out of your control), miss meals, and have days where you’re scrambling for any semblance of motivation. Expect this, embrace it, and just know that it comes with the territory. Your goal should be to make the very best of the 12,740 opportunities.
8. Love the journey. My final point may very well be the most important. I read an article by Sebastian Burns when I was younger and first getting into weight training. The article was titled “Hard Work” and it ended with this: “Most of all just start loving the work. It is the only thing you have that will help you get what you want.” There is so much truth behind this statement. Many people look at their training and diet as a means to an end. I want to lose 10 pounds so I’m dieting. I want to squat 500 so I’m training. In reality, it's in the journey to our goals that life happens and enjoyment is had. It's the journey that even makes the fulfillment of our goals and wishes that much greater. Developing a passion and love for the “work” is a key to long-term success.
There you go—the basics. There isn't any talk about specific supplements, specific training programs, or specific dieting methods. The truth of the matter is it’s just about waking up every morning and getting after it. They say if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. I choose to stand for the basics.