"Finicky Lifters"

You do not like them, so you say.
Try them! Try them and you may!
Try them and you may, I say!




Generally speaking, I don't trust people with very strong opinions on very complex issues. Every so often, I read or hear something online from a "harcore" lifter who eschews anything and everything except barbells, benches, plates, dumbells, and racks. They believe (and I agree) that you don't need anything else to get strong. But they usually take it much further than that; also believing that people who train with different modalities and methods are stupid suckers. Not surprisingly, it's pretty common to find that these are the types that won't listen to anyone who benches or squats less than they do themselves.

People are complex beings. Fitness and strength have many facets and can be trained in countless ways. What one person enjoys, another may hate. What brings fantastic results to one, may erode motivation to zero with another. Not everyone has an interest in running marathons (or running at all). Not everyone likes grinding out low reps with heavy squats, presses, and deadlifts. Not everyone enjoys swinging a kettlebell around either. There is room in the fitness industry for all of these approaches to peacefully coexist and even complement each other.

30 years ago... hell, even today, there were and still are purists in sport who believe that their athletes are the ones that don't need and may be harmed by strength training. That pendulum has, for the most part, swung, and most coaches today are on board with strength training. However, how often do you hear someone ask the question "I want a sport specific strength training routine. What should I do?", only to get responses like "Practice your sport - that's the most important thing and pretty much all you need." It is? Really? What if you are weak and prone to injury? Will the sport shore up those weaknesses? Is the sport a good developer of the strengths and skills necessary to excel at it, or is it simply a good test of them?

Thanks to Louie Simmons, Pavel, and Crossfit, the idea that strength athletes need general conditioning (otherwise known as "general physical preparedness" or "GPP") has caught on with most. Despite these forward thinkers and evidence to the contrary, it's still pretty frequent to hear people on the internet worried that 30 minutes of treadmill work will turn them into metrosexual waifs unable to lift big plates, let alone put them on a bar and press or squat them.



People should have goals and they should find training methods and modes that are enjoyable and sustainable. But, try to keep an open mind about other training options. Finicky lifters are, in my opinion, like picky eaters. Yes, you can probably still get a reasonably balanced diet from eating limited foods and supplements will help, but you might be missing out on micronutrients that you won't know you need until it's too late. People with a willingness to try new foods will never go hungry driving around a town filled with restaurants, searching for a Taco Bell. People with a willingness to try new training methods will never find themselves pounding on a locked gym door begging to be admitted to the altar of bench press - they'll pick up a sandbag, rock, kettlebell, or even a rope and go to town.

Just a thought.