The School of Fitness - Lesson 9: Many ways to Skin a Cat
Mr Delia Steele
Perhaps not literally, we look at the philosophy that there are many ways to Skin a cat. No cats will be harmed in this Lesson.
IN FITNESS, THERE ARE SOME PRETTY CONSISTENT PRINCIPLES THAT YOU REALLY OUGHT TO ABIDE BY:
Consistency of training, progressive overload and specificity are of the utmost importance.
Wearing an Arnold Schwarzenegger t-shirt is often wise.
If you want to get lean, you cannot out-train an awful diet. If you want to get lean - unless your genetically gifted (lucky son of a....parent with good genes) - you have to eat clean, or cleaner than you are now.
Building muscle takes an increased volume of work in the right intensity zone, as well as the right foods (or raw materials) for your body to rebuild itself (and to fuel the process).
But as the saying goes, "Methods there are many, principles there are few, methods may vary but principles never do"...(Mr Delia Steel will find a source for this quote).
BUT THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO SKIN A CAT..
There are many training programs, many pieces of equipment and many places you can train in to apply the principles of progressive overload, consistency and specificity to getting More-Athletic. Stop looking for 'the answer', find 'an answer'. Making training specific to your goals, progressive and consistent is the key, however you go about it.
Muscly folk have got that way through many different training styles: Many people have built muscle using traditional bodybuilding splits. Male gymnasts are renowned for their amazing upper bodies but they don't train like bodybuilders, most powerlifters achieve scary amounts of muscle basing their entire training around 3 big lifts. Old time strong men have built outstanding physiques with no squat rack, no bench press, no nautilus machines and no fancy supplements.
People have lost fat on every diet imaginable, with a humongus array of exercise techniques, with great fat loss programmes and even with poor ones.
You can train twice a day or twice a week and still improve your physique. You can train in a fancy health club, in a hardcore gym or at home in your pants. It's what you do not where you do it that matters.
YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE, ADAPT AND ADJUST UNTIL YOU FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
Everybody's situation is different. Everybody's body is different (but similar).
If you have an injury, you can find another way."If life hands you lemons, just fuck them and bail" Cono - 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall.'
You need to persist and adapt.
"It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the smartest, but the most adaptable - Charles Darwin." (Quote pulled directly from a sky tv advertisement if I'm honest).
It may be unwise to just do what you want, or what you think is right without seeking advice when starting out in fitness, but don't get overly attached or depressed if you can't do one particular exercise or training programme. It might not suit you. You may not have the skill, the equipment, the mobility/movement quality or the need for it.
Find another cat skinning approach.
There are literally thousands of ways of training for muscle, body composition improvement or athletic prowess. Some take high levels of skill and practice, some don't. Some need expensive equipment, some don't. Some put a lot of stress on your joints, some don't.
Take home message: there are many methods, many exercises, many training splits, many tools to use and many places to work out. You can't do them all. What works for someone else, may not work for you. Remember the principles of what you are trying to achieve and search the methods and tools available until you find what works for you.
See More of the School of Fitness:
