What's the best strength-related advice/knowledge you've ever received?

[Wes Yeary]

My apologies if this has been addressed.
I'm still relatively new to strength-related pursuits myself (a couple years) and just two months into using barbells. I was thinking about all the strength-related information I've come across in the past few years, trying to determine what I thought was the one piece of advice or knowledge that hasn't let me down. Or maybe the one thing I'd want to pass down to my son, the one thing that, if he only remembered *this* about training, that's what I'd want him to remember. I'm not sure I've come up with anything yet, except maybe to remember to do farmer's carries and to keep moving even after retirement. heh
I'm wondering if you all have anything like that; maybe it's something you read/someone told you that has stuck with you through the years.

 

[WxHerk]

A poor plan executed with heart and vigor will beat the heck out of an excellent plan executed halfheartedly.

Don’t remember where I first saw it written but I’ve seen it in practice several times.

 

[AJL]

“Variety is overrated.” — Pavel.

 

[conor78]

Don’t workout, practice-Pavel.
Without a doubt…

 

[Wes Yeary]

A poor plan executed with heart and vigor will beat the heck out of an excellent plan executed halfheartedly.

That's an excellent thing to remember. I think it's easy to get bogged down looking for whatever is "the perfect program." In the process, we forget that doing something is better than doing nothing.

 

[Stuart Elliott]

Strength is a skill

 

[Steve W.]

"Train today like you plan to set a new personal record tomorrow. Then train the same way tomorrow." (Dan John)

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before." (Jacob Riis)

 

[solarbear]

The whole Easy Strength concept.

Having grown up in the HIT and Go Hard or Go Home era, I was brainwashed into the whole concept of lying in a puddle of sweat. Dan John's ideas of doing a little every day and rarely pushing PRs has been eyeopening.

The other day my workout partner commented that he thought I could do 5 or 6 reps easily... my program called for 4. My comment was yeah I'll do 5 next week and 6 three weeks from now.

 

[TobyC]

Training is training and competing is competing. Know the difference.

 

[North Coast Miller]

"move...the...weight"

The effectiveness of any strength or size increase starts with an honest, earnest effort.

 

[SteveR]

Slow is faster than injury or burn out

 

[Bill Lets]

Started in mid 80’s with advice from a short little grade school friend who was now around 240lbs.
I was 6’1” and about 170lbs. He said “Will, squat, bench and row and drink milk till you can’t move”. He also told me that I should weigh about 250. Whether or not it was good advice I’m not sure. I did get up 212 and could expand my chest to 50”. Then life changed and I had to walk away now I’m an ant and I only read the squat forum rather than participate.

 

[Steve Freides]

"Stay tight" - if you get that and you're good enough at the groove of your chosen lift(s), you'll be strong.

-S-

 

[Don Fairbanks]

Started in mid 80’s with advice from a short little grade school friend who was now around 240lbs.
I was 6’1” and about 170lbs. He said “Will, squat, bench and row and drink milk till you can’t move”. He also told me that I should weigh about 250. Whether or not it was good advice I’m not sure. I did get up 212 and could expand my chest to 50”. Then life changed and I had to walk away now I’m an ant and I only read the squat forum rather than participate.

Is your friends last name Rippetoe ?

 

[justinr]

“Don’t skip the warmup” followed closely by “Don’t skip the cooldown”

Both of which I ignored for a number of years

 

[John K]

Die First Then Quit


Consistency trumps intensity.
Consistency trumps optimal.

 

[metaldrummer]

Pay attention to back and legs.

 

[Boris Bachmann]

Most people make their light training days too hard, and not hard enough on their hard days. (paraphrasing a thought about training attributed to Charlie Francis by Dan John)

It's taken me a very long time to truly and deeply see the wisdom with this.

 

[offwidth]

Most people make their light training days too hard, and not hard enough on their hard days. (paraphrasing a thought about training attributed to Charlie Francis by Dan John)

It's taken me a very long time to truly and deeply see the wisdom with this.

This is very true in the locomotive endurance world as well…

 

[WhatWouldHulkDo]

Somewhere, one of your opponents is training harder than you. And when you meet, he will win.

That was just on some silly poster hung up in my high school weight room. But for whatever reason, it stuck with me - it's permanently part of my mindset, even as I've gotten too old to train like that.