“So, what does it mean?” “It means that in order to bake a good batch of cookies you probably need a decent recipe that uses ingredients and tools you have available. And even then, there’s that whole ‘following directions’ and ‘experience’ thing that you can’t ignore. Someone baking for ten years will obviously bake better [...]
“So, what does it mean?”
“It means that in order to bake a good batch of cookies you probably need a decent recipe that uses ingredients and tools you have available. And even then, there’s that whole ‘following directions’ and ‘experience’ thing that you can’t ignore. Someone baking for ten years will obviously bake better cookies with the same recipe compared to someone on their first go.”
“Uhh, yeah, I think I get that. But what does it mean?”
“What?”
“Like, you know, what do I need to eat? How should I train?”
“Oh, yeah. Right. Well, now that we talked about cookies, let’s talk about how to make brownies.”
“You’re kidding right?”
“Maybe. But I really do like brownies. Peanut butter brownies.”
The thought of moving from one baked good analogy to another is frightening, I know. Don’t fret. We aren’t going there. Jokes. Chuckles. Sighs of relief. Get ’em out now before we move on.
There’s little reason to go beyond baking cookies because the analogy solve the riddle of context. Unfortunately, they leave something to be desired in the “actionable game plan” column.
The baking cookies is all about:
- Understanding where you are (A)
- Understanding what you have at your disposal and the logistics (B)
- Understanding where you want to go (C)
- Understanding the process of getting from A to C with B (D)
- Understanding what needs done (E)
Getting from (A) to (C) requires (E). Consider (E) the cookie recipe. That’s whatever training program, diet, lifestyle, thingamagic you’ve chosen. You said, “I trust this to work.”
Now, (E) probably won’t work out well if . . .
You picked a recipe that didn’t match your situation: what kind of person is your plan for? A true skinny guy? Skinny-fat guy? Fat guy? Powerlifter? Bodybuilder? Olympic weightlifter? Gymnast? Marathon runner? Scuba diver? Saiyan? Hot air balloonist? There are differences. (Or I should say, there should be differences.)
You picked a recipe that doesn’t match your tools: you’re trying to change a seven day program into a two day program because you have kids and then you sub barbell exercises for bodyweight exercises and you’re eating restaurant food equivalents of home cooked foods and it’s all just a mess because you’re trying to use tools you don’t have. The logistics aren’t there.
You picked a recipe that cooks something you don’t want to cook: I enjoy Starting Strength. I think it’s great beginner program for those that want to become powerlifters. Would I recommend it to a beginner that has an inkling for aesthetics?
No.
Same goes for StrongLifts. Principles behind them are the foundation of my principles, and I owe a lot to Starting Strength for helping a self taught goober like myself out so much. But I don’t think the program or progression by the books is right for everyone.
You can’t come to grips with the fact that you become a better chef as you cook: results aren’t linear. Just because you aren’t getting what you want doesn’t mean you need to find a new recipe. Sometimes you just need to find out what you’re doing wrong with the recipe you have.
Often times, this is about sensation and silent learning. You might not add weight to the bar but how does the weight feel? How do you feel? Remember: there’s sight, and then there’s sight beyond sight. You might not be getting anywhere physically (sight), but if you’re developing a better understanding of something (sight beyond sight), you’re winning.
This could be with how to perform exercises, what to feel during exercises, how your body responds to certain foods, how to cook foods — anything underneath the umbrella of the skills you need. It all adds up. Progress is measured in more than numbers.
Alright, can we like, get away from the cookie stuff?
Why harp on this cookie analogy? Because in my opinion, nothing better represents the relationship between learning and skill. It might seem like I’ve been beating around the bush as of late. So far I’ve told you to do three things:
- Do the great x physique exercises
- Eat more protein that you think you need
- Eat more vegetables than you think you need
I scratched the surface of nutrition, but I didn’t uncover it. I didn’t talk about fat loss exercises. What’s the deal? Why the holes?
Because everything beyond those three things mentioned above in bullets are in the “it depends” category. Seriously. As much as I hate to say it, it all depends on (a) where you are and (b) where you’ve been.
Extra fat loss stuff? Yeah, I think it’s a decent idea . . . depending on where you are. And even then, what kind of extra fat loss stuff? Typical low intensity cardio or high intensity interval training? Depends on where you are. Carbs? Depends on where you are.
One thing I like to do more in the stubborn fat loss phase is incorporate more high intensity interval training methods. But what if you’ve used them with great results pre-stubborn fat only to get stuck in the stubborn fat loss world already having exhausted them of their use? (Most high intensity training types lose their magic after eight-or-so weeks.)
Then the game plan changes. It has to change because of the context.
There are asterisks everywhere, which is why my skinny-fat philosophy is a sequential system.
We’re living through a time of infinite possibilities. There are programs a plenty, just like there are recipes aplenty. If you jump from one recipe to the next, you’re never really going to get good at cooking any one dish. I didn’t want that to happen, so with The Skinny-Fat Solution I wanted to create a sequential system.
We have this one dish we want to create: our body. We want to understand everything possible about it so we can lose fat and gain muscle like a champion. That’s all. That’s the one dish.
What we need is a recipe that considers everything in relation to that one goal that respects some sort of sequential learning process.
Why is this important?
We can’t forget that we’re doing all of this to change how our body functions. We don’t want to be the same person four, eight, twelve weeks from now. As we change physically, our body changes inside too. As we “level up,” so to speak, we then can make better use of certain training methods or philosophies.
I’m not going to teach a beginner how to flambé foods. It’s just not going to happen now. Down the line? If you get good enough, sure.
And so I’ve been working hard to make my entire philosophy and methods fluid. Each one builds off what came before. To be honest, I think that if you pick this random program and that random nutrition plan, you’re floating in space. Remember: everything flows from stimulation. How you train is truly what dictates your nutrition. It’s not clanking two random things together like iron pots and pans.
Remember the three stages of skinny-fat syndrome? Now we’ll piece together everything talked about using that as our backing and respecting sequence.