“Knowledge is power” - Sir Francis Bacon
By Will Brink
The above title is one of the best-known expressions in the English language. It was true when it was penned by philosopher Sir Francis Bacon in 1597, and it’s true in the year 2008. It applies well to the issues of nutrition, supplements, and training, be it to gain muscle mass and strength, or to lose fat.
Can one make progress in their respective goals (e.g., losing bodyfat, gaining muscle mass, increasing strength, etc.) knowing essentially nothing about training, nutrition, or supplements? Maybe….If you do make any progress, it will be slow, hit or miss at best, and often the progress comes in spite of what you did, not because of it! Clearly, a base level of knowledge of a given topic – in this case nutrition, training, and supplements – is essential to obtaining one’s goals. Conversely, does this mean you need to be a rocket surgeon to make steady progress in losing fat or gaining strength and muscle mass? Of course not! As I said in my article on the K.I.S.S principle for making progress (1) :
“…I find people seem to gravitate toward adding complexity to their approach when it comes to building muscle or losing fat. Not coincidentally, it’s the people who take the most complex approaches to their nutrition, supplements, and training who are always the most confused and least successful. They focus on - and subsequently worry about - minutiae that prevent them from seeing the big picture and making the type of progress they desire. It often leads to what is referred to ‘paralysis by analysis.’ The vast majority of people would have better results, not to mention less stress, if they simplified their approach to losing fat or gaining muscle.”
As the reader can see, I’m not advocating making the approach to fitness, fat loss, or bodybuilding, an overly complex process. However, to optimize your hard work in the gym, one must have a solid foundational knowledge of nutrition, training, and supplements.
The Goal Setting Continuum…
I see goals setting as a continuum from the very simple and easy to obtain (“I just wanna lose a few pounds”) to extremely advanced and complicated (“I want to be 3% bodyfat when I step on stage at my next bodybuilding show without losing any lean mass during the diet”) with most people falling someplace in the middle of that continuum.
Depending on how extensive or advanced the goals; success will often be directly proportional to your level of knowledge. For example, how much do you need to know to just drop a few pounds of weight? Not all that much and it can be pretty much summed up as: “eat less, move more.” That’s about it. If your goals are ultra simple and your expectations low, then you need to know very little about nutrition, exercise, and supplements. Will the weight stay off? Probably not. Will that weight come from fat, or will it be water, muscle, and bone and (hopefully!) some fat? Unknown as you lacked the knowledge needed to track it, and adjust your diet, training, and supplement intake (assuming you’re using any supplements) to make the needed adjustments.
Now, let’s say your goal is you plan to lose 20 lbs of fat (not weight!), then gain 10lbs of lean muscle mass, and improve your strength by 15% in all your lifts. Will the same level of knowledge the person above has who just wants to lose a few lbs be adequate for these more advanced and defined goals? Absolutely not. Depending on what you want to achieve on the goal setting continuum, your level of knowledge will need to reflect the goal, unless you have the money to pay a full time coach, trainer, and cook for the rest of your life.
As the supplement and diet industry is a multi billion dollar industry, and most supplements and diets out there are complete junk, and most people fail at their long term goals, it’s painfully obvious we have a massive number of people who do not posses even the essential basic knowledge to make informed and educated decisions. That is, informed decisions regarding which nutritional plan to follow – be it to gain muscle or lose fat – or which supplements to take, or which exercise plans to use, etc., to obtain the goals they have set for themselves.
Cont:
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