Integration

Some thoughts on integrating articles, new info, advice from friends, and so on, into your fitness repertoire.

“Analysis paralysis” is the name that a lot of fitness writers today give the experience most folks new to the wealth of info on the web experience. We can actually apply that to things besides fitness, but think about it: there is so much info out there that you are bound to run across contradicting views on any question you could possibly have. First, some ways to break through the paralysis:

Try everything. Go with what you like first, and if it works, great, stick with it! But keep an open mind.

Budget your “planning time.” I probably spent three weeks designing the “perfect program” when I first began lifting seriously. It was an amalgamation of principles from my own experience, from Chad Waterbury, from Christian Thibaudeau, and even from the Westside Barbell Club! Now, it was a good learning experience, but I spent those three weeks screwing around in the gym. I should have been trying other people’s programs, not writing my own!

For more advanced lifters, try integrating only the relevant aspects of the info you acquire. For example, I occasionally still experience analysis paralysis when I read a new article. Essential Waterbury is an awesome article but it left my head swimming. Then I read over it and started to realize how much of it I already incorporate, and began to make a mental list of what I would like to try. That was much more simple.

Don’t discount what you’re already doing right! You will sometimes run across info that contradicts what you “know” is right. Guess what? You’re right! It probably works great for you. So don’t fix it if it isn’t broken. You can’t argue with results.