Years ago, I worked for a bodybuilding/muscle magazine.
One of my jobs was to spot content that would resonate with the core of their readership—largely men aged 18-30.
I learned quickly that most of their readers felt they were “advanced” lifters, or at least high-level intermediates.
Very few would self-select the “beginner” box.
As a result, basic training or nutrition programs would typically die on the vine, while articles about cracking the 600-pound deadlift barrier did just great.
You see, most of the readers WERE, in fact, beginners—at least from a pure development perspective.
Very passionate and knowledgeable beginners, no doubt, and some with many years under the bar. But few were anywhere near the limits of their muscle or strength-building potential.
In short, their passion and knowledge (and time spent arguing about training online) FAR exceeded the depth and caliber of their physique.
To be clear, I’m NOT making fun of these folks.
I sincerely wish they accepted they were realistically newbies on the experience/development continuum and ran with it.
Simple “basic” programs with a HEAVY emphasis on progression; rinse and repeat!
Because there are no gains like newbie gains.
And if you’ve never experienced that kind of initial growth, maybe it’s because you skipped the line and never allowed yourself to?
Try ratcheting down the complexity and ramping up your execution of what matters most: chasing mastery of fundamentals.
There’s almost zero downside and a hell of a lot to gain.
– Coach Bryan