If what you are doing in the gym is not directly affecting your goals you need to eliminate it. We need to ditch the “jack of all trades, master of none” mentality of training and get back to the basics. We need to stop praising mediocrity and challenge ourselves to become a master - a quality few of us ever reach in any subject, sport or discipline.
Get back to the basics. If you are constantly changing programs, diets, and exercises you will never give your body a chance to progress.
The basics, with slight variations will always yield results if they are properly progressed. Common complaint - I just get bored. I need something new. I’ll reiterate. If you want to be entertained go to Vegas or go to a comedy show. Your program shouldn’t change that often. This does not mean training can’t be fun. However, fun is not always intelligent. People that get bored usually lack the focus and mental strength to make progress. Anyone who has ever become great has gotten there because of intense focus and perfect repetition in one or just a few things until they have it mastered.
Mark Rippetoe -
“The ill-informed think that variety is the objective and that boredom is the enemy, that the pump, sweat, fatigue, and soreness are the hallmarks and the objective of an effective workout, not realizing that these things are just the side-effects of what happened today, and aren't the indicators of progress.”
“The uninformed don't understand that athletes getting stronger are not "bore-able," that measurable increases in the weight used on the basic exercises are required, and that the inclusion of new "moves" in every workout – exercises that inherently lack the ability to drive basic strength – don't accomplish a thing if strength is the objective.”
“They lose sight of the fact that "muscle confusion" is a rather odd concept, and that doing dozens of different exercises actually prevents productive training for strength acquisition. This is the nuts and bolts difference between effective strength training and wasting time and potential.”
Understand the difference between training and exercise. Basic bodyweight, barbell and dumbbell movements can all be trained and manipulated through volume and intensity. The direct physical stress of just 6 or 7 main movements and proper progressions / variations of these movements will always produce an adaptation that will satisfy your goal.
Anything that does not directly affect the progress of these main movements should not be included in any practical training program and is a waste of time.
Get in. Do work. Get out.
Random exercise does not create specific muscular adaptation. Any idiot trainer can crush you and make you tired. They are more interested in the immediate effect of a workout rather than the long term progress and vision of the actual goal at hand.
No matter what the goal, you should always be training to move better and become stronger. Your diet will take care of the rest. Whether it has to do with your career, personal life or physical health, ask yourself what is going to have the biggest positive impact on your goal and focus all your efforts on that.
Become a master at it. Everything else is just noise.
Get back to the basics. If you are constantly changing programs, diets, and exercises you will never give your body a chance to progress.
The basics, with slight variations will always yield results if they are properly progressed. Common complaint - I just get bored. I need something new. I’ll reiterate. If you want to be entertained go to Vegas or go to a comedy show. Your program shouldn’t change that often. This does not mean training can’t be fun. However, fun is not always intelligent. People that get bored usually lack the focus and mental strength to make progress. Anyone who has ever become great has gotten there because of intense focus and perfect repetition in one or just a few things until they have it mastered.
Mark Rippetoe -
“The ill-informed think that variety is the objective and that boredom is the enemy, that the pump, sweat, fatigue, and soreness are the hallmarks and the objective of an effective workout, not realizing that these things are just the side-effects of what happened today, and aren't the indicators of progress.”
“The uninformed don't understand that athletes getting stronger are not "bore-able," that measurable increases in the weight used on the basic exercises are required, and that the inclusion of new "moves" in every workout – exercises that inherently lack the ability to drive basic strength – don't accomplish a thing if strength is the objective.”
“They lose sight of the fact that "muscle confusion" is a rather odd concept, and that doing dozens of different exercises actually prevents productive training for strength acquisition. This is the nuts and bolts difference between effective strength training and wasting time and potential.”
Understand the difference between training and exercise. Basic bodyweight, barbell and dumbbell movements can all be trained and manipulated through volume and intensity. The direct physical stress of just 6 or 7 main movements and proper progressions / variations of these movements will always produce an adaptation that will satisfy your goal.
Anything that does not directly affect the progress of these main movements should not be included in any practical training program and is a waste of time.
Get in. Do work. Get out.
Random exercise does not create specific muscular adaptation. Any idiot trainer can crush you and make you tired. They are more interested in the immediate effect of a workout rather than the long term progress and vision of the actual goal at hand.
No matter what the goal, you should always be training to move better and become stronger. Your diet will take care of the rest. Whether it has to do with your career, personal life or physical health, ask yourself what is going to have the biggest positive impact on your goal and focus all your efforts on that.
Become a master at it. Everything else is just noise.