Chad Waterbury's Training

[dosteov]

Anyone have any experience? He writes over at t-nation.com. Some interesting training articles.

I was going to start is ABHB program.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459341

 

[BiggT]

He knows his stuff, and has a flare for writing, but I always want to say "but" when someone posts an article of his. The "but" is that he overcomplicates and makes it harder on the brain than it needs to be......when you simplify all of it, he's right, and I get the feeling overcomplicating makes for a better read because if he just told you what he needed to, most people would get bored half-way through......basically if you know enough to sift through that and unserstand the ''hows'' and ''whys'', you'll be fine.....if you think it's magic, you're better off with Ripptoe's 3x5 or the 5x5.

 

[dosteov]

He knows his stuff, and has a flare for writing, but I always want to say "but" when someone posts an article of his. The "but" is that he overcomplicates and makes it harder on the brain than it needs to be......when you simplify all of it, he's right, and I get the feeling overcomplicating makes for a better read because if he just told you what he needed to, most people would get bored half-way through......basically if you know enough to sift through that and unserstand the ''hows'' and ''whys'', you'll be fine.....if you think it's magic, you're better off with Ripptoe's 3x5 or the 5x5.

You know he talks about Riptoe's 5x5 and he's a fan of it really (I mean they advocate some of the same principles really). His criticism of the program is in regards to variation. He argues that performing the same exercise over and over leads your body to adapt and that variation is good (alot of his programs he recommends swithing exercises every two weeks (and rep schemes), like his Total Body Training routine). My own personal experience leads me to agree with him. There have been times where I've gotten "stuck" at a particular rep/weight and by switching it up and keeping everything else (like diet) the same I had gotten stronger.

I've been following Riptoe's 5x5 principles for about a year now and it's been for the most part a positive experience. I have kind of grinded to a halt (maybe I'm just burnt out on it and need to deload ).

 

[Guni]

I think this is the main misunderstanding about Rippetoe and other great coaches for that matter. Yes, he lays out a basic example of squats, bench, press, deadlift and power clean. But what ppl have to realize is that his training plan is exactly that, a plan, not an absolute template. Want variation? There are tons of variations on the big lifts. Ppl seem to confuse variation with switching squats with the leg press. Variation of exercises without killing the plan is what matters and thats switching a squat for a front squat, or a bench for incline bench.

 

[Guinness5.0]

In resonse to BiggT's post:
I agree. I like a lot of what I see, but to me it does appear that he is constantly churning out articles because he is paid to do so. Granted, I'd much rather see someone learn from him tahn from the muscle comics, but IMO people will tend to gravitate toward the 'next best thing' when they latch on to a particular writer. IMHO from reading a couple boards, people in general are much too quick to hop around from program to program without really learning about their own tolerances, and without extracting the value of what a program has to offer before giving up on it for something they just read about.

I suppose that the above is more a criticism of human nature than of Waterbury, though

In response to dosteov:
Rippetoes's beginner program is meant to be run til you stall hard. At that point it's time to change things up. No program is appropriate at all times in all situations. But I strongly feel that at the newb level you won't find anything better. Newbs are easy to train (if they'll listen, that is). Just get in the gym, focus on improving on the big lifts from workout to workout, and eat like mad. It really is that simple. Things get a shade more complicated as you go, but if you understand that getting stronger (read: improving in a specific parameter that you focus on for a period of time sufficient to garner quantifiable results) is the key and you program toward that end, then you 'get it' and will benefit from learning about more advanced programming.


I think everyone should read Practical Programming, as the basic foundation for progress as one imroves is laid out very well. You can take what you learn from it and use that knowledge to understand jsut about any decent program.

 

[Guni]

I suppose that the above is more a criticism of human nature than of Waterbury, though

You're right. I just wanted to make sure this didn't turn into one of those "ok, then, do you think I should try reverse underlegged cable flys to hit a different angle of the chest" kinda discussions. It probably wasn't headed there, but I just had a paranoid moment I guess

I think everyone should read Practical Programming, as the basic foundation for progress as one imroves is laid out very well. You can take what you learn from it and use that knowledge to understand jsut about any decent program.

Couldn't agree with you more on this one. Undderstand that book well and you can read whatever new program ideas you want, but you'll always go back to PP to remind you of the importance of a proper plan that works toward your specific goals.