Over the years, I’ve changed my mind on numerous topics. Back when I was a 23 freshly minted gym owner, I had some opinions. After 8 years of gym ownership having trained thousands of people from all walks of life, undergone my own personal transformation, and did a lot of reading and careful reflection… I’ve changed my mind on a lot of things…
And each one of these things I could write pages and pages about – and I might do an in depth breakdown of each someday… but for now, a brief overview of a few notable things I was wrong about!
Here’s a list…
- Training Should be Random.
- What I used to think: This is something I used to believe whole heartedly – that your training needs to be constantly different. I used to think this because I thought your body would adapt very quickly if your training was repetitive and that you wouldn’t see results – or at least, you wouldn’t get as good of results as you could if your training was always different.
- What I currently think: You only become really good at things you do frequently, and the best way to get good at things is to have a well thought out plan that involves repeating the things you want to get good at very often. You can’t constantly play a new instrument and become really great at one. You can’t constantly study a different subject and become an expert in any of them. Same goes with strength training and fitness in general – you can’t even get good enough form to actually improve safely without doing the same exercises over and over and over.
- High Bar Back Squatting is the Way.
- What I used to think: I really thought that high bar back squatting is the best way – I thought it was “more functional”. Mostly, I was just always taught it was better, and almost everyone in the fitness space loves it, so I said it too. After a while, I truly started to question how I knew that… and it turns out…
- What I think now: Low bar back squatting is the superior lift. Why? Well, it allows you to use more muscle mass, and as a result lift more weight. Muscle mass is what is functional, and when you can lift more weight you are more functional than when you can lift less weight. I could write a TON about this – but I don’t want this to become a book on squatting… maybe I’ll write an extended article on this subject alone. Suffice to say – after careful analysis and debate, the pros of low bar back squatting out weigh the pros of high bar, and the cons are smaller for low than high!
- Carbs are the Devil.
- What I used to think: Carbs is what makes people fat. Carbs kill people. You shouldn’t eat carbs.
- What I think now: This is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever thought (and there’s A LOT of competition for that list), and a huge reason I trained for 10 years and made almost no progress… When I realized that carb intake is goal and person dependent (and can vary GREATLY), is when I started eating TONS of carbs and put on 100lbs (going from very skinny to buff) and largely accomplished my dream physique. If you don’t have excess body fat (read: skinny, thin, underweight, very lean) then you need carbs to gain muscle. If you have excess body fat you will gain more muscle eating carbs, although you don’t need them.
- No Physical Ability is More Important Than Another.
- What I used to think: I used to think every physical ability – like, flexibility, jumping, balance, strength, speed, quickness, etc were all equally important and they all should be developed – regardless of how old you are or what your goals all.
- What I think now: There are clearly physical abilities that are more important, more valuable, and more practical, and more developable the others, and we should prioritize those abilities that are practical and developable. The most important physical ability, by far, is being strong. The way that we interact with the world is via physical strength. It’s not by speed, or ability to run 5 miles. It’s by being strong enough to move. Strength also affects all the other abilities more than any other ability, and it is the single most developable ability. If you are 60 – good luck improving your vertical jump. If you are 60 – we can help you put 300+lbs on your deadlift. Adding 300lbs to your deadlift at 60 is truly life changing. At 60, adding .5 inches to your vertical jump would be incredible and is practically meaningless. If you gas out on 95/65lb thrusters getting a 400/275 squat will make those thrusters nothing to you. No amount of cardio training will do that – if you can only squat 200/135 thrusters will always gas you.
- Skinny People Can’t Gain Weight Because of Genetics.
- What I used to think: I used to think overweight people had bad habits, and skinny people could have bad habits and still be skinny.
- What I think now: Overweight people are overweight by and large because of their habits. Skinny people are skinny by and large because of their habits.
- Getting Really Sore is a Good Thing.
- What I used to think: I used to think being sore, and very sore, was a positive sign of good training.
- What I think now: Getting really sore is a sign of something going wrong, with the only exception of if you are just starting something new. Getting really sore – to where you feel it and it affects your life negatively – is poor programming, poor coaching, poor recovery, poor sleep — poor something is going on. You can completely transform your body all while being not more than lightly sore.
- Walking is the Bare Minimum.
- What I used to think: Walking isn’t going to do anything to really help you.
- What I think now: Walking is a super power. I religiously get my steps in and walk all the time and recommend it to all of my clients. Walking can absolutely change your health/fitness life.
- Cardio is How You Get Muscular.
- What I used to think: You need to do cardio – especially running – to get lean and muscular.
- What I think now: You don’t need to do any cardio at all, least of all running, to get lean and muscular.
- People Should Train for All Random Possible Scenarios.
- What I used to think: Grandma doesn’t have different needs than Lebron, they just vary by kind… and, yes, you too need to be ready to do complex gymnastics, run a 5k, deadlift super heavy, and do complex Olympic lifting at a high heart rate… because you never know.
- What I think now: BILLIONS and BILLIONS of people don’t need to do ANY of that shit not even a single time in their ENTIRE lives. Training that way is misguided. Unless you have a VERY specific job – special ops, NBA player, firefighter, etc – you literally just need to get strong, do some short, intense conditioning, get 10,000 steps/day, drink water, sleep, and manage your stress appropriately to maximize your health/fitness. Grandma doesn’t need to do handstands… or anything related to handstands. Sorry.
- Long, Intense, Cardio is How You Lose Body Weight.
- What I used to think: I used to think that HIIT training done in long bouts – 30+ mins is how you burn lots of calories and become lean and strong.
- What I think now: Strength training and cardio training need to be separated as far a part in your training as you can get it in order to maximize both. And, cardio is a really ineffective way to lose weight. Running a mile burns about 100 calories, and there’s 3500 calories in a pound. Running 35 miles to lose 1lb isn’t the business. You lose weight with diet, build muscle with strength training, and get a healthy heart and lungs with some short, intense cardio and lots of steps.
In order to make this list readable I had to cut out a BUNCH of things. I will most certainly be posting a 2nd and 3rd installment someday…
In my opinion, you should hire a personal trainer that has changed and is open to changing their minds! That means they’ve learned from their experience! I can say with 100% certainty that I help everyone I work with get better results now than when I did when I had less experience.
If your trainer doesn’t have a long list of things they’ve changed their minds about, run for the hills!
If you want to work with an experienced trainer, look no further.
Coach Connor
Find me on instagram @connorgreen3000 and the gym @sparkfitnessla
Find me on YouTube here @connorgreen3000 and the gym here @sparkfitnessla
