Over the past year I have really pushed myself and kind of bounced around from training system to training system and from goal to goal. I have hit PR's and learned a lot. All that being said, I feel that I have gone against the fundamental training philosophy that has defined my journey through physical culture: listen to your body. I got caught up in chasing numbers and trying way too hard to consistently hit PR's. By trying to load weight on the bar every time and not backing off for a repreive I have suffered more injuries this year than ever before. What has this taught me? That I need to back off and realize that this is a life long and cumulative endeavor.
As a return to a more fundamental approach I am going to continue to perform the BB movements at lighter weights and with more repetitions. I will be trying to actively rehabilitate my lower back and shoulder through stretching and trigger point therapy. It's time to start doing this right and start listening to my body. I could give a fuck what some pro GS guy, powerlifter, gymnast, etc does or posts on the internet. I think its high time to unplug a bit and simplify things. It's a fucking weight, just lift the damn thing, eat a ton, rest, and repeat. It doesn't have to be rocket science.
These days we have all of these different training protocols and fitness gurus. Doing research for a new program is literally wading through a sea of HIT, Smolov, Rippetoe, PTP, Tabata, Mahler, TT, and Pavel. All of these names and abbreviations touting various means. When you factor in the blogs of pseudo-experts and everyday guys we are left with this huge torrent of training information. It is great in terms of having resources from which one can draw on for inspiration. The problem is that one can get caught up in following some abstract plan that has little to do with your current level of progress or you are left with these nebulous goals with no firm idea on how to reach them due to training ADD. In the end you are further way from your gols than when you started because you have bounced around so much.
Sometimes it pays to simplify to the bare essentials of training and worry about the details later. Focus on your goals and lift. Unless you are being trained personally by Rippetoe or Tate, then worry more about getting in the gym than their next blog post.
