Earlier today, Donnie Thompson commented on
one of Dave Tate’s recent blog posts, saying (and I’m paraphrasing here, so Donnie, correct me if I'm wrong): Hey, this is basic stuff. If you need to be spoon-fed because you can’t figure this shit out on your own, you’re missing a huge part of what it means to be a powerlifter. Brandon Smitley replied (again, paraphrasing): Wait a minute. The basics are really important, and someone learning the basics from Dave-freaking-Tate is going to improve a heck of a lot faster than someone who tries to reinvent the wheel. The cool thing is that they’re both right, and I think that Brandon and Donnie are getting at one of the huge conundrums underlying modern strength and conditioning coaching and training. Mastering the basics, obviously, is a prerequisite for success in any activity, and generally, you can learn a lot faster from a competent instructor than you can on your own. However – and this is especially true in the strength world – not all knowledge can be written out and put in a nice, neat format. I explained why this is the case in another blog post (
Broscience is More Than Just BS), so I’m not going to rehash it here. And I want to be clear that I lean towards Brandon’s side of the argument. But Donnie makes a great point. It seems to me that more and more often, lifters want everything spelled out, written down, and tied up with a bow. They want to be given the right answer, and they’re convinced that there is a right answer, even to questions that are obviously very open-ended. Heck, just take a look at some of the (unsolicited) questions I’ve received on Instagram in the past 24 hours:
- What would be your best advice or workouts to strengthen hips?
- I’m still having issues with constant [elbow] pain… It’s frustrating as shit, but I want to know if I’m just being a big bitch and should push through the pain.
- Love you man, no homo (this one actually isn’t a question)
- When is it appropriate to wear a belt? I don’t really know when it’s absolutely necessary to wear it to prevent injury.
another recent post, learning to coach yourself is the key to becoming a successful lifter. No one knows you better than you, so if you’re looking to be spoon-fed answers, not only are you going to receive subpar advice, but ultimately, you’re also holding yourself back. Again, I want to be clear that there’s a huge difference between wanting to be spoon-fed and being eager and willing to learn. One is laziness; the other is the exact opposite. In my opinion? At the end of the day, it all comes down to how hard and how smart you’re willing to work.
