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* Paraphrased from
Wikipedia:
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Occam's
razor
(sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is
a principle attributed to the 14th-century
English logician and Franciscan friar,
William of Ockham. The principle states
that the explanation of any phenomenon
should make as few assumptions as possible,
eliminating those that make no difference
in the observable predictions of the explanatory
hypothesis or theory.
This is
often paraphrased as "All other things
being equal, the simplest solution is
the best." In other words, when multiple
competing theories are equal in other
respects, the principle recommends selecting
the theory that introduces the fewest
assumptions and postulates the fewest
entities. It is in this sense that Occam's
razor is usually understood.
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What's that? You're confused? Here's a little
news-flash: I'm confused too! The only difference
between you and I is:
I take action in the face of
confusion, and you don't.
In my experience, "paralysis by analysis"
is the most common barrier to action, and by extension,
successful action. Because after all, analysis
is the preface to action- it isn't action
itself.
Analysis can certainly
serve a useful purpose, but for many, it's both
a crutch and an excuse for delaying action. Here's
a typical brain-twister that novice lifters often
find themselves confronted by:
Should you do 6 sets of 2,
or 4 sets of 3?
My advice?
Don't even
think about starting a training program
until you've resolved this critical conundrum.
Because after all,
both options involve 12 reps with the same weight,
so obviously if you go down the wrong path, you'll
be screwed, glued, and tattooed.
Another critical decision: should
you
bike or row for cardio on Tuesdays?
God help you if you should happen to choose the
wrong exercise or repetition bracket, or if you
stupidly decide to train 3 times a week instead
of 4. Because now you're stuck for the rest of
your training career. Too bad you didn't think
that decision through more carefully before you
got all irrational and went and wrote yourself
a stupid program.
OK, on a more serious
note…
I really like the
old carpenter's adage "Measure twice, cut
once." But this philosophy is absurdly over-cautious
when applied to training program design. A program
isn't a piece of wood- if you make an error, you
have my permission to edit it. Honest.
And don't even ask
me to evaluate your 18-week off-season developmental
conditioning cycle, because it'll make my eyes
glaze over faster than last night's episode of
Oprah where that Dr. Oz guy is telling me to do
some kinda meditation stuff for stress-reduction.
Because let's face
it- 18 weeks from now, lots of things can happen.
You could get sick, or even injured. You might
break up with your girlfriend. Or find
a girlfriend. Or lose your job. Or join some extremist
religion that forbids the use of barbells. Or
even more likely than any of the above, you might
read some new article or book about some new training
program that seems a hell of a lot more interesting
than what you're doing now.
So look: let's just
focus on the here-and-now, and further, let's
focus on the "big rocks:" the stuff
that really matters. The rest we can figure out
later- maybe next week, maybe next month, but
later. Now obviously some of you are now
expecting me to tell you what a big rock is before
you can ever touch a weight again, so here are
a few examples of big rocks (stuff that matters)
and small rocks (stuff that doesn't matter):
| Big
Rocks |
Small
Rocks |
|
Squat Heavy |
How much? How often? How deep? What kind
of squat? |
|
Eat Protein |
How much? How often? What kind of protein? |
|
Set Goals |
How many? How hard should they be? In writing? |
|
Record Your Training |
How? Why? What kind of paper? |
Now
in most cases, people worry about the small
rocks without even getting the big rocks in
place- they've got the cart before the horse.
So look- just squat. In the beginning, you'll
probably do it all wrong, but even that's a
lot better than not squatting. Then, little
by little, you'll figure out how to do it correctly,
and guess what- you're already great progress
will get even better!
And eat protein.
Don't worry about how much- just eat a lot. Don't
worry about what kind, we'll get to that later.
Get your big rocks in the jar first, then we'll
worry about the little rocks, and maybe someday
we'll fill the rest of the jar with sand. Maybe.
In Summary:
- Action precedes
progress; analysis precedes more analysis. Act
first, analyze later
- It's easier to
go from something to something better, than
it is to go from nothing to something
- Ever notice how
lots of people make great progress doing "stupid"
stuff? It's because they're doing while you're
not doing. Doing stupid stuff will
always beat not doing smart stuff.
That's it - you're
done. Go squat and eat some protein.
About
The Author
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His colleagues
call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker.
His clients call him “The Secret Weapon”
for his ability to see what other coaches
miss. Charles calls himself a “geek”
who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school.
Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods
are ahead of their time and quickly produce
serious results. His counter-intuitive approach
and self-effacing demeanor have lead to
appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show
and The CBS Early Show.
Currently,
Charles competes in Olympic-style weightlifting
on the master’s circuit, with a 3-year
goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s
World Championships.
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If
you've got 15 minutes, 3 times a week,
then you've got time to get GREAT
results with Charles Staley's "Escalating
Density Training" system!
Click
here to learn more about EDT and get your
free sample videos today!
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