Just Train – by Paul Carter

From Jim:  This is a post that my friend, Paul Carter, made on his blog awhile ago.  Read this and look at the big picture. You can visit Paul’s very good blog at www.lift-run-bang.com

Boy the internet makes my head hurt sometimes.  Over the last three years I’ve written a ton on this blog about the lessons I’ve learned through over 2 decades of being under the bar.  I do so because I enjoy it.  Otherwise, I suppose you could make a case for me being clinically insane.

My entire paradigm regarding training is very simple.  Be strong, be in shape.

How ones goes about doing that, is entirely up to them.  Each person has to decide upon a training methodology that speaks to them and that they buy into.  Without a buy in on a training methodology by said trainee, results will always be less than optimal.  Notice that I write a “methodology” and not a “routine”.  I have written thousands of routines in my life.  Tens of thousands more than likely.  In the end, one is really no better than the other without the belief that it will work.  More often than not, younger and less experienced lifters put too much belief into “routines”, rather than a philosophy. An ideology, or philosophy or set of rules about training is something that those routines are based around.  To sort of quote Thulsa Doom, it’s the wellspring from which they (routines) flow.  Routines can come and go, but a training philosophy based on principles that were given birth from blood, callouses, sweat, and vomit will always produce results, and stand the test of time.

I didn’t create this paradigm all by my lonesome.  I learned it from guys like Coan, Kaz, Yates, Karwoski, Leistner, etc so forth and so on.  The synonymous ideas that I found in all of these mens training was easily recognizable.

• Train hard
• Be consistent
• Get stronger
• Keep what works, throw out what doesn’t

Last week I read on a board where some 22 year old do-nothing fucktard said I was a “fucking idiot” because he didn’t like the way I trained.  I’m no chest thumper, but said fucktard also cannot bench press what I overhead press.  Such is the internet and it’s minions of loud mouthed do nothings that get free reign to spout off in such ways.

More importantly though, I thought, what is it about the way I train that would make me an idiot?  The same things that made Coan or Karwoski idiots?  Because the evolution of my training and my training beliefs and philosophies are rooted in the principles that those guys lived and trained by.  Train your fucking balls off and do what needs to be done to get more weight on the bar.  If this training methodology makes me an idiot, then get me my dunce hat and sit me in the fucking corner.

I’ve read where other guys wrote that I’m dogmatic.  This also makes me tilt my head in confused dog fashion and go…..errrr?

I’ve trained using just about every method, split, routine, whatever that you can think of.  No different than giving intermittent fasting a try as I am doing now, I am always open to new ideas.  Instead of bantering about them on the net about how they will work or won’t work, I actually DO.  This is because, as I wrote in my article about winning with anecdotal evidence, I don’t give a fuck about scientific evidence regarding training and such bullshit.  My built in bullshit detector is pretty sharp at this point in my training life.  I will give something a go if it seems plausible, then give my own opinion about it in regards to how it worked for me afterwards.  This way, I have first hand experience rather than performing mental masturbation on the internet about why shit will or won’t work.  Again, if trying something out makes me an idiot, sign me the fuck up for that roller coaster ride with no seat belts.

Often times I will say, that my writing could convey a sense of dogmatism because I may not articulate a point as well as I could have.  If I say something sucks, 99% of the time, it means that I tried it and it sucked for me.  I know guys that say box squats helped their raw squat.  Few and far between yes, but I do know some.  I know some guys that say three board presses helped their bench.  Again, few and far between but I do know some.  They are generally the exception however, and I don’t use exceptions to create rules.

You line up 100 hot women and give them the choice between dating a wealthy investment baker with an underwear model body or a fat guy that works down at the 7-11, and 99 of them will choose the investment baker.  Just because one of them chooses the fatty doesn’t support your theory that hot women like fat 7-11 workers.  It just means there will always be exceptions.  Don’t use exceptions as the basis for building a philosophy around.  It will fail the majority of the time.

Most people want to believe they are unique special snowflakes, but the fact is, we are all pretty similar.  This is why certain principles of strength training have stood the test of time, and people continue to use them to get better, and to get stronger.

• Train hard
• Be consistent
• Get stronger
• Keep what works, throw out what doesn’t

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