I am bored and feel like writing so here goes.
Once upon a time I was making great gains. It was about the time EAS came out with Phosphagain. I was eating right, training hard, taking numerous supplements, getting plenty of sleep, partying little, and studying hard in college.
I was strict about training. I would not let the little things go by. In the school cafeteria I could have had the tastier regular Ranch salad dressing, but I went with the fat free. I passed the soda’s and lemonade and had water.
Why get calories from lemonade when I can get them from skim milk, or a chicken breast which provides protein I know my muscles need.
I wondered why I was making such great gains. Was it the Phosphagen? Was it the Phosphagain? Perhaps it was the Amino’s coupled with the high protein diet. Or maybe the Met Rx shakes. I had heard it over and over why the gains were coming steady, but it simply didnt register.
About the same time I had a 1971 Mach 1 Mustang. Horsepower it was all about and getting it is what I focused on.
As I was thinking about adding mufflers for 5 extra horses, put a cam in for 50 extra horses, K&N air filter for a few ponies, underdrive pulley’s for a few ponies…etc. Then it dawned on me.
There is not one single thing that will make the car a hulking beast that does wheelie stands past minivan’s at stop lights, it was everything.
And it was everything I was doing with my training that was getting me the great gains. Any one variable I was doing alone was not doing it for me. It was all the variables combined that was doing it.
Everything helped out a little to equate to great gains: aminos, diet, training intensity, exercise form, supplements, etc. Everything I was doing netted me a little more gains and in conjunction with one another, all together they equaled great gains.
Just like two hands on a single bar can lift more than the sum of two hands working individually. The theory is touted over and over again on this site: “there is no single miracle or trick.” It is a combination of things working together.
I had seen it before in books and magazines. People hinted at it with a hint for this or that, telling me to stay on diet, watch your form, training intensity, supplements- dont forget them. But somehow in the mix of which supplement to take, or exactly how many reps, exactly what do I eat, it was lost.
Over analyzing everything I simply forgot, didnt realize, or overlooked how simple it is, and that great gains do not come from any single thing. Great gains come from everything, not any one thing (unless your juicing, then its a different story).
Today at work someone told me I am stupid for taking so many supplements, dieting, drinking only water, all the things I do are not necessary to them. In vain I tried to explain that each supplement may add little to my gains. It didn’t comprehend for him and I didnt care to belabor the point.
So, to all the people at T-Nation, dont forget there is no golden supplement, no golden diet, no golden routine. Sure, some things work better than others, but dont get caught up in that. Put it on the backburner and experiment with it on the back burner. Remember that it is the totality of factors that makes great gains.
Just my thoughts and bored ramblings.
Petedacook