Is training becoming too complex?

Desmo

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Whilst reading through training and diet threads here and on various other forums, is it becoming too complex? And do you think this might put some people off?

I read plenty of threads about training, how often, when, where, how. The same on diet with when to eat, what to eat, timing of food, etc.

I'm not saying it has no effect at all, but how much of an effect does some of this stuff have? Some people go into the minutest details of making sure they have some tiny amount of EFA's or BCAA's just at the optimum time. Does it really make that much of a difference?

Maybe it's just me. I like to keep things simple because then I enjoy it. I don't like life to be complicated. But does that put some people off? Thinking that if they don't watch everything they do in the tiniest of details they won't make any progress?
 
well, it is a science in some ways and i think it helps to have a basic understanding of the principles of diet, supplements, and exercise etc...

but on the other hand I think you can over complicate things and maybe not know where to stop...just there's so many sources out there, and so much ******** and conflicting (biased?) info it's hard to digest it at times...
 
For me I believe it comes down to the old 80/20 or 90/10 rules - and its the same in other areas of life as well

As in, if you get 80-90 percent of the basic things right, that will nearly always get you most of the way there. So as far as fitness is concerned if you do all the main things like decent CV, lift big - mainly compounds, eat well and get lots of protein, good fats and carbs in you should get close to your targets over time. Then its time to focus on the last 10-20%, which is harder and may take some extra effort/expense/application

The problem is none of the 80/90% is rocket science, sexy or makes anyone any money. So gurus, authors, fitness sites, supplement companies and the rest all try to grab your £££'s by trying to flog you something that might only make a few percentage points of difference overall but gets touted as the next big thing

Of course you know all this anyway :)
 
for every theory that X will help you burn fat quicker or gain muscle faster there is someone who has debunked it somewhere else , Its finding what works for you have what dos'nt

For example i have been running 5 morning sessions of fasted cardio every week since early Jan but I haven't burn bodyfat any faster than if I ran on some form of breakfast

but I have burnt 600 cals 5 mornings a week and burnt pounds of bodyfat regardless and thats what matters :thumbsup:
 
Glad to find some other people who think like I do :)

I think a big issue is that so many people want things without putting in any effort. I guess it's the way of the world nowadays, people want things NOW.

I'm fed up reading threads and posts about Fasting, Atkins, Dukan, Low carb, or whatever the current fad is.

I think it pays to educate yourself on these sort of subjects, but so many folk want to achieve reasonably difficult things with a few tips from some strangers on the web.

There's no substitute for a bit of knowledge about the basics and a lot of effort.
 
Yes it's too complicated and overwhelming as a newb. Once you read around and identify the basics (training variables, basic nutrition, sleep) it's pretty straight forward. As sniffer said above, 90% is the basics that we all know and we're concentrating on the small 5-10% improvements i.e. it's like we're tweaking an F1 car when we can barely drive a go kart. We're worrying about stuff that shouldn't concern us.

Training variables like sets, reps and time under tension throw up a lot of debates and then you have routine splits or whole body, isolation vs machine, bodyweight training, unilateral vs bilateral movements, cardio or no cardio, low intensity cardio vs high intensity cardio, and so on. These need to be researched and experimented by the gym goer. People will often force their methods on everyone else. This happens a lot.

The basics are the same they were 500 hundred years ago. Humans haven't changed anatomically. Stick to them.
 
it's like we're tweaking an F1 car when we can barely drive a go kart. We're worrying about stuff that shouldn't concern us.
I think that sums up what I think quite aptly. I don't think there's anything wrong with the finer details, different types of diet or different style of training. They all work in some way or another for different people.

I just think some people seem to jump in to some of the complexities way too early when there's really no need. Even after years of training it would be over the top for many recreational trainers although I understand that it's a very personal thing.

I train because I enjoy it and that's enough for me. I don't want to squeeze out every last %'age. Like I said, I know we're not all the same and some want that little extra but many people lose track of what they're doing, ie training for fun or a little bit of fitness and start making things overly complicated, and overly expensive, for themselves.
 
I think it is pretty essential to at least grasp the basics of physiology and nutrition. I cruised along for a couple of years and yes, I got fitter and a little stronger but as far as changing my body shape went, not a lot happened.

After doing a ton of research and changing my diet and training regime, I made huge changes in a really short space of time. Sure, those changes have slowed down now and are less dramatic but they are still happening.

The thing is, that bit of research in the early stages will imo have a huge impact on long term progress so it is worth it.
 
Most people with a good diet and a reasonably simple excercise program can get fit and look pretty good...But genetic makeup plays a big part on how fast they can progress, and i don't think any fitness science can bypass that...
 

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