"When Things Go Wrong, Simplify"

Sometimes when I write a blog, I steal information from other trainers, strength coaches, and nutrition experts (not Doctors or Nutritionists because most of them don't know shit). Is it plagiarism? I don't know. I try to give credit to whoever I took it from, but didn't pay attention to 10th grade English class when they told us how to do a bibliography. This tidbit was stolen from Dan John, author of Never Let Go. Why wouldn't I steal from someone who was been into strength and conditioning for 40 years? I know that the people following this blog would never get this information otherwise, so I look at it as my responsibility to bring it to you.

"When things go wrong, simplify."

In Coach John's book he talks about throwing the discus, and having to really get back to basics when his technique went to hell for short periods of time. He also talked about how this applies to most areas in your life. Let me explain:

Suppose you find yourself a little bit fatter after Labor Day and you realize that you took the last few weeks (months) and ate like hell and skipped more than your fair share of workouts. Upon analysis, you decide you need to do spinning classes before work, eat bird seed all day, do two hours of weights after work, take fat burning pills, and only eat boiled cabbage. More often than not, the answer lies in simplifying things. Just get back to basics with four well designed workouts per week, and get back in the saddle with a diet strategy that works for you. Give it a couple of weeks and you will be back down to fighting weight.

The last point I want to make is that simple isn't always easy. Simple is simple, but simple isn't easy. If I tell you to simplify your workouts and do two exercises and those exercises are front squats and pull ups, that's simple, but try it for two weeks and let me know if it is easy.