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What commonly given MFP Forum advice do you personally disagree with?
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Tacklewasher wrote: »Back on the original topic, a piece of commonly given advice I tend to disagree with is the dispensation of SS and/or SL5x5 as the bestest strength training program for everybody all the time.
Do you think they are good programs for those starting out? Because that's how I usually see it suggested.
Personally, No. Unless your goals are strength / athletically oriented.
"I want to build a nice chest with big arms!"
"Go squat three times a week."5 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Back on the original topic, a piece of commonly given advice I tend to disagree with is the dispensation of SS and/or SL5x5 as the bestest strength training program for everybody all the time.
Do you think they are good programs for those starting out? Because that's how I usually see it suggested.
Maybe. Sometimes. It depends upon their goals, limitations and desires.
I think there are a lot of solid, well-written programs for those starting out. I'm not saying that SS/SL5x5 aren't good programs, I just don't always agree with the blanket recommendation for them.6 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Back on the original topic, a piece of commonly given advice I tend to disagree with is the dispensation of SS and/or SL5x5 as the bestest strength training program for everybody all the time.
Do you think they are good programs for those starting out? Because that's how I usually see it suggested.
Maybe. Sometimes. It depends upon their goals, limitations and desires.
I think there are a lot of solid, well-written programs for those starting out. I'm not saying that SS/SL5x5 aren't good programs, I just don't always agree with the blanket recommendation for them.
I'll confess to doing this. I promote this because I used it. I see so many beginners overwhelmed and think they have to live in a gym, where this basic program can be implemented with minimal time investment.
Good point in stressing other programs and tailoring advice.3 -
That brings up an interesting point. I am a moderator, but that doesn't give me leave to feel morally superior to someone who is an abstainer. Alternately, my daily chocolate habit doesn't mean I'm weaker than someone who hasn't had a chocolate bar since Doc Martens were cool.
Wait... are you saying my Doc Martens aren't cool anymore?!?1 -
That brings up an interesting point. I am a moderator, but that doesn't give me leave to feel morally superior to someone who is an abstainer. Alternately, my daily chocolate habit doesn't mean I'm weaker than someone who hasn't had a chocolate bar since Doc Martens were cool.
Wait... are you saying my Doc Martens aren't cool anymore?!?
I think bulky shoes are coming back into style. I knew if I waited long enough they would. So are boot-cut jeans (hallelujah!) I'm almost almost old enough to be cool again.6 -
That brings up an interesting point. I am a moderator, but that doesn't give me leave to feel morally superior to someone who is an abstainer. Alternately, my daily chocolate habit doesn't mean I'm weaker than someone who hasn't had a chocolate bar since Doc Martens were cool.
Wait... are you saying my Doc Martens aren't cool anymore?!?
I think bulky shoes are coming back into style. I knew if I waited long enough they would. So are boot-cut jeans (hallelujah!) I'm almost almost old enough to be cool again.
I feel the same way about flannel and beards, although have an instinct to shave and wear pastels or risk being part of a trend.5 -
That there is a universal “best” for everyone.
A “best” exercise.
A “best” diet etc.
All the diets out there only moderate the number of calories that you eat. Different people will respond to different diet plans and the best for them will be the one that allows them to feel full and satisfied with the foods that they eat and not have strong cravings. For some people that will be the one big meal a day plan, or perhaps intermittent fasting, for others that will be 6 or more small meals spaced over the day. Some people respond to low carb others to low fats.
What works for a person is their personal best and there will be a different best for a different best for a different person.
Exercise is similar, some people say all cardio or one best cardio, others say strength and one best exercise. You should balance cardio, strength, flexibility training, mix up the different exercises run, walk, swim, bike, jump rope are all cardio and you should have several of them in your workout scheme. The one “best” exercise is not as popular as the one “best” diet but is generally pushed more by people selling the equipment for their “best” workout.
The best diet and exercise plan is one that you will follow, others may not be able for many reasons to follow the same plan but will have a different personal best plan.,
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modusoperandi1412 wrote: »DawnOfTheDead_Lift wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Back on the original topic, a piece of commonly given advice I tend to disagree with is the dispensation of SS and/or SL5x5 as the bestest strength training program for everybody all the time.
Do you think they are good programs for those starting out? Because that's how I usually see it suggested.
Personally, No. Unless your goals are strength / athletically oriented.
"I want to build a nice chest with big arms!"
"Go squat three times a week."
You should still do your legs if you want a big chest and arms unless you want that Johnny Bravo look.
And hey, you do 1.5 times bench press per week on those programs. I've seen some progress photos of someone who followed SS to the word and it looked pretty balanced and good despite the 3 times per week squatting.
I'm not saying it's bad and I'm not saying you shouldn't do legs. I more think its overrated for the general population.
A common thread I've seen is wanting to bring up lagging body parts in the upper body.
And I suppose the program just annoys me from all of the GOMAD nonsense and the fact that the program rose to prominence in the online fitness community during the whole "systemic hypertrophy" craze and "squats cause crazy releases of HGH and will build muscle all around". Most of that has been tossed out but the routine has remained as some sort of pillar.
I find Rippertoe rather insufferable so maybe I'm biased. The form and technique is top notch though.6 -
You have to find what works for you. Everyone is different. For me it was working out with weights, getting cardio in, and most importantly nutrition. For my body type as an endomorph it ended up being carbs. Cutting down slowly in phases and getting used to it worked for me. In conjunction with that it was also keeping a check on fat and keeping my protein levels where i needed it. This all took a while to learn my body's responses to each method and macros. I am now implementing intermittent fasting on top of it as I am fascinated with ketosis but do not prefer strict keto diets or nutrition. Also it is not a diet but a lifestyle. You have to get that in your head. I am a novice on this and not an expert. All I know is everyone is different and this continues to work for me. When I hit a plateau I analyze, adjust and attack. Track everything. It keeps you motivated and you can pull reports with some apps.13
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Tacklewasher wrote: »Back on the original topic, a piece of commonly given advice I tend to disagree with is the dispensation of SS and/or SL5x5 as the bestest strength training program for everybody all the time.
Do you think they are good programs for those starting out? Because that's how I usually see it suggested.
I think they are but so are many others. There may be reasons to do other things that have a different focus.0 -
I was told that a "bro" split was worse than doing a full body routine by several users(I think calling it a bro split is already condescending). It seemed like the concencus was do a full body routine everything else will work worse. My 4 day split worked much, much better than when i switched to a full body routine. Only time i have regretted listening to other MFP users.0
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tbright1965 wrote: »_aenyeweddien_ wrote: »jamesakrobinson wrote: »A calorie is a calorie is a calorie... Bull that's perpetually spouted but in my many years of experience totally false.
...yet it's still a scientifically proven fact. Assuming that you're speaking strictly in terms of weight loss, that is.
In that case why do I loose much more/faster on macro with lower carbs comparing to the same amount of kcal with higher carbs?
But WHAT are you losing?
For every gram of glycogen you use, you use 3-4 grams of water. So sure, if I go on a ketogenic diet, I can lose big weight.
Doesn't mean I'm losing fat. If 75% of what I've lost is water, that doesn't really help.
I'm not saying one cannot lose on a keto diet. The question is always, WHAT are you losing?
I've actually never done keto. In the past, when I kept my carbs in 25% - 35% range, I've lost close to 15kg in 3 months. The second time around, keeping carbs at 35% - 45%, I've lost 3 kg in 3 monhts. And the second time I had more weight to loose to begin with, so in theory it should have been easier. It couldn't have been all water weight the first time.
I'm not saying this it the case for everyone, all I'm saying is that different things will work for different people, and it's not always as simple as kcal in and kcal out20 -
_aenyeweddien_ wrote: »tbright1965 wrote: »_aenyeweddien_ wrote: »jamesakrobinson wrote: »A calorie is a calorie is a calorie... Bull that's perpetually spouted but in my many years of experience totally false.
...yet it's still a scientifically proven fact. Assuming that you're speaking strictly in terms of weight loss, that is.
In that case why do I loose much more/faster on macro with lower carbs comparing to the same amount of kcal with higher carbs?
But WHAT are you losing?
For every gram of glycogen you use, you use 3-4 grams of water. So sure, if I go on a ketogenic diet, I can lose big weight.
Doesn't mean I'm losing fat. If 75% of what I've lost is water, that doesn't really help.
I'm not saying one cannot lose on a keto diet. The question is always, WHAT are you losing?
I've actually never done keto. In the past, when I kept my carbs in 25% - 35% range, I've lost close to 15kg in 3 months. The second time around, keeping carbs at 35% - 45%, I've lost 3 kg in 3 monhts. And the second time I had more weight to loose to begin with, so in theory it should have been easier. It couldn't have been all water weight the first time.
I'm not saying this it the case for everyone, all I'm saying is that different things will work for different people, and it's not always as simple as kcal in and kcal out
It might not have been all water weight the first time but there is a good chance it was enough to give you inflated numbers. To lose that much fat you would have had to maintain a fairly aggressive deficit.
There are many reasons why water weight might have masked your efforts the second time as well. 3 months is not always enough time to determine your true rate of loss.
My carbs average into the 30-35 percent range and in the 10 months of losing my loss has very closely matched my deficit so yes, it is all about calories in and out.
One of the worst things you can do while trying to lose weight is make decisions without enough data. This is how myths and inaccurate ideas persist. This is what you have done.
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@NovusDies thanks for a constructive answer, much more helpful than all the ''woos''11
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DawnOfTheDead_Lift wrote: »modusoperandi1412 wrote: »DawnOfTheDead_Lift wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Back on the original topic, a piece of commonly given advice I tend to disagree with is the dispensation of SS and/or SL5x5 as the bestest strength training program for everybody all the time.
Do you think they are good programs for those starting out? Because that's how I usually see it suggested.
Personally, No. Unless your goals are strength / athletically oriented.
"I want to build a nice chest with big arms!"
"Go squat three times a week."
You should still do your legs if you want a big chest and arms unless you want that Johnny Bravo look.
And hey, you do 1.5 times bench press per week on those programs. I've seen some progress photos of someone who followed SS to the word and it looked pretty balanced and good despite the 3 times per week squatting.
I'm not saying it's bad and I'm not saying you shouldn't do legs. I more think its overrated for the general population.
A common thread I've seen is wanting to bring up lagging body parts in the upper body.
And I suppose the program just annoys me from all of the GOMAD nonsense and the fact that the program rose to prominence in the online fitness community during the whole "systemic hypertrophy" craze and "squats cause crazy releases of HGH and will build muscle all around". Most of that has been tossed out but the routine has remained as some sort of pillar.
I find Rippertoe rather insufferable so maybe I'm biased. The form and technique is top notch though.
I actually agree... if your goal is aesthetics/hypertrophy those programs are suboptimal. Reminded me of this meme.
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Tacklewasher wrote: »Back on the original topic, a piece of commonly given advice I tend to disagree with is the dispensation of SS and/or SL5x5 as the bestest strength training program for everybody all the time.
Do you think they are good programs for those starting out? Because that's how I usually see it suggested.
Maybe. Sometimes. It depends upon their goals, limitations and desires.
I think there are a lot of solid, well-written programs for those starting out. I'm not saying that SS/SL5x5 aren't good programs, I just don't always agree with the blanket recommendation for them.
Not arguing one program is better than another, but as a person who started on SL 5X5, I find it's very simple and I believe that simple is important for someone starting out. With the free app to make it even easier, I can't see a reason not to recommend SL 5X5 to a beginner.
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I disagree that you have to weigh yourself every day or you won't understand fluctuations or see your real progress. Some people are pretty fired up about getting tons of data.
You can weigh yourself daily if you want that information but you don't really have to monitor that much to ensure you are losing weight if you are tracking calories reasonably accurately.
I'm in you camp....feel it is nothing but compulsive unnecessary data.2
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