*You can't train to be 5'2"* Thank fuck someone realizes that being short can be a huge advantage. So many people think that the 6'3" 200lb guy can compete with the 5'6" 200lb guy. He can't. But tall people won't admit that and the general public doesn't understand it.
Just wanna say, thanks for the fantastic content. You’re super knowledgeable, and very reasonable, as you always explain yourself. Also I love your chill method of deliver, makes a break from the super hype of most youtubers. Keep it up buddy
Omfg "at some point you'll weigh more than a golden retreiver" 😅😅😅 I'm dead. Whenever people say they don't want to get to big I tell them, "don't worry, you won't. You have neither the time, money genetics, drugs or desire to get too big.
Never thought I'd be seeing a conversation like this. When I started lifting in the 1980s young guys always wanted to get bigger and stronger. Fast forward and now they're afraid to lose their precious six-pack. Internet makes it easier to find information, but social media makes people aspire to be the 98 lb weakling so they're "aesthetic".
Greg Nuckols quoted someone who pointed out that weight classes in powelifting and weightlifting are height classes in disguise. What this means is that if you are say, 5ft 10in and you want to be as strong as other lifters your height, you need to have as much muscle as they do. In practice that means you will have to add enough muscle to weigh around 220-230 lbs.
I've lifted and run for years, trying to excel at both has always been the eternal conundrum. Never been the strongest or the fastest but I did rate myself highly against those around me, 747.5 total at one point and a 10K under an hour at 20 stone. I think I was natural powerful and I did exert myself in my efforts. Age is a bugger though. It's ain't the old days!
I was always obsessed with being lean and stronger than I looked- I’m a naturally big guy. At 17 I was 5’11” and weighed 195lbs 20% body fat. Fast forward 6yrs, I was just over 6ft and weighed 228lbs at 17% body fat so I attained about 35lbs muscle doing sets of 6 or less. My bench went from 225lbs for a single to 375lbs, 300lbs to 570lbs on deadlifts and 285lbs to 495lbs for 4 on squats. When I turned 26 I was out of shape (post covid) and decided I wanted to get as muscular as possible. I was 240lbs at 30% body fat and after several months actively trying to regain muscle I reached 275lbs at 34% body fat. That’s when I hit 405lbs on the bench for the first time on a bodybuilding programme. I’m 28 now and I’ve cut to 249lbs at 22% body fat and hit 425lbs for a double earlier this year. Bottom line, getting bigger means you’ll get stronger but you can still cut up and gain strength so long as you preserve your lean mass once you’ve built your size foundation.
I like how strength training makes you objectively more powerful, but it also makes you feel more powerful. Packing on muscle, having more dependable bones, ligaments and a primed cns that is ready to fire on all cilinders simply beats being puny and weak and fragile. It also helps aesthetically. It's all positives in my book.
For newbs, the same program that adds weight to a skinny guy takes fat off a bigger guy. The bigger guy has some leverage advantage from bodyweight but they have health and, usually, endurance deficits thst offset. You can't switch bodies with someone, so it's moot. Get to work.
BOOM. And years of promoting novice Strongman contests has shown how silly is is to arbitrarily make the HW novice division heavier. Performances are rarely better.
Thanks for the real talk, Alex. Wilks/IPF points/DOTS/whatever ridiculous polynomial is the devil. There's a way to tell how strong you are, it's called a total.
For me it's just a thing where I want to be the smallest I can be but be as strong as I can be , because weight gain is inevitable. There definately is a threshold of weight and strength standards where you can be on the smaller end for a particular strength standard , that's my prefferable goal. Those who appreciate size that's all good but some people genuinly just don't want to be that big that's an okay goal to have.
Yup, was afraid to gain weight for years since I used to be obese with no muscle and made very little progress. Finally started a bulk last January and put on quality strength and muscle gains (from 155 to 185). People always ask me how much I lift now whenever I meet them which isn’t something that ever happened when I was smaller. Only thing I’m afraid of doing now is cutting and losing my strength but I know that I should probably do it at some point since my BF% is 20-25% and I’m at the weight I used to be when I was obese.
I mean this is a valid point, but only if you wanna be 100% powerlifter. I want to be strong, as strong as i can be withing certain weight frame. I don't intend to be 130lbs, that's ridiculous, i'm aiming more at 175-180 lbs. But the reason for it, is that aside from wanting to be strong, i like physique of lean muscular much more than bulky muscular, and even more important, i am interested in performance on excercises that go off body weight. It's much easier to be able to do 30 pullups in a minute when you weight 80 kg (175lbs) than at 120 kg (265 lbs). I also am interested in long distance running on top of that, something that's far easier, and also far safer (joints) when lighter. I know i won't break 800 deadlift with this weight, and that's okay. I can probably break 550-600 though. If anyone cares, i'm 179 cm (6 feet without 1/3 inch) male.
The real question: if you're so short that you can lock out your sumo deadlift without moving the weight off the ground, does it count? Incoming 550kg deadlift by Peter Dinklage. Turns out Tyrion stronger than the Mountain!
Except short people aren't all built the same. I'm 5'9 and have almost a 6'3 wingspan. I guess 5'9 isn't considered short but I'm sure as hell not tall. Average height at best. But my reach especially for my height is almost awkward
@@dubyacallahan5690 striking better than grappling, i think. for grappling its better to be stocky (at least from the laverage and center of mass point of view).
I'm not disagreeing at all, but you don't suggest we should all be SHW's, do you? It seems to me there's a spectrum of goals in all of this. A person may not want to run a marathon at 300, but that doesn't mean they should get down to 135 to maximize their efficiency either. There will reach a point when they have a level of performance that they can't surpass without making greater sacrifices than they are prepared to make. Likewise, I'm not trying to be a kickass 165 pound lifter at 5'11", but I'm not interested in getting up to 275 either. I don't like the way I look or feel when I get much above 220, so that's where I lift. I'd be stronger at 242 or 275 but being strong isn't my only goal.
Eric Daniel he’s saying fill out your frame and were that lays it lays. Definitely don’t need to be fat but more muscle equals more strength, and no one if getting to 300 and lbs and not really over weight unless you’re on the gear or one massive individual
No, not at all. Weight class competition is appropriate for the vast majority of competitive hopefuls. This video is LARGELY focused on brand new lifters who treat the process as if staying light as possible is the real goal (the 138 I talked about was worried that going to 150 would cost him 'aesthetics'). 100% of new lifters desperately need to grow more muscle mass and actually increase performance before a competitive pathway even becomes a thought. The arguments I get were mainly focused on the basic strength standards I outlined in the last video that are pretty quickly achieved by most and requires no one to get unreasonably large, but it does require that strength and willingness to change is somewhat of a priority.
@@AlexanderBromley thanks so much for clarifying! I was totally on board with the strength standards, too. And a grown man shouldn't weigh 150 unless he's a distance runner or is 5'2. If a kid is worried about getting over 138, he doesn't need a coach - he needs a therapist.
As a 6'0 tall 160lbs 19 yo who is trying to bulk. Genetics are really wierd and grass is always greener on the other side. I used to envy one of my friend who was able to put on weight but at the same time he was envious of me that I never put oon any fat and have easily visible abs all year around
I wish this was pointed out to me years ago - I held myself back trying to stay in the u67kg weight class for years. I’ve been much more successful in the u79kg class, two full divisions heavier.
I was significantly stronger at 270 than I am now at 215 even though I train just as hard,.At that heavy weight I felt like shit. I’m not going to compete so fuck it, I want to be strong but also healthy and capable of enduring hardship. Ever see a strong fat man climbing a mountain? It ain’t pretty.
If your only goal is to build the most power... This is true. When I was wrestling I wanted to be as athletic and strong as I could possibly be while still staying in my weight class. That being said now that I'm not competing in wrestling my goals have changed and now I just want to be as strong as I can be regardless of weight.
I never purposely gained weight, but when I was at my fattest, I was also at my highest bench press max of 255 lbs at 155 lbs. body weight. Whenever I gain weight it’s an unintentional bulk. At 125 lbs. I was still benching 225 for a couple reps. Those were the good old days though. I’m trying to get back to benching 225 after a 9 year layoff from benching.
I always assumed that when people say they don't want to gain weight they mean they don't want to gain fat. Never thought about it in the context of trying to make a weight class
Being that I'm only 5'6 ,(~160bw), going above like 180 means id have to be kind of fat which to me doesn't make a lot of sense, granted most guys my height are world champs in the 181 class (Rusell Orhii, and Candito for example), and Ed Coan did extremely well in the 200s being a similar height. Then you got guys like Richard Hawthorne (5'3, 130lbs) who has like no fat on his body and believes weight does not equal strength and he is extremely successful at power lifting. All that being said weight is only relevant to the individual, different people will have different natural limits, in terms of how much muscle they can put on their frame before having to rely on fat to gain any more weight, and leverages of course. I do believe that everyone should thrive to put on as much muscle as they can before getting above like 15% body fat and then see what weight class they end up around, at the end of the day, weight doesn't matter if you don't know how to lift or program properly. Everyone has different goals as well, some go for strength and aesthetics, other go for pure strength.
Bulking is hard AF. I just finished a cut, and now I'm back to bulking. Added 800 calories to what I was eating, stepped on the scale and my weight was the exact same.
Hello I'm 15, I'm 5'10 and 160lbs I have a 225 bench, a 350 deadlift, and a 200lbs clean I am pretty strong for my size and I was wondering if I should gain weight to be stronger or stay my size and just be strong there All the lifts are on my channel if you don't believe me btw
Let go of the whole lot. U can run marathons and drop some unhealthy pounds and u can lift and gain a few pounds. Its Grt getting faster, getting stronger. And if its ur goal in life, do what's necessary. For alot of others, enjoy it, its ur journey. U can still reach some decent numbers.
I'm 5'4" so I guess Bromley gave me a pass lmao...i lift to counteract the limited ROM and other issues my main sport of cycling creates and gain strength. Muscle and mass gain are secondary byproducts since I am going to do this properly
Force production hinges on A.) how big your motor units are and how many of them you have and B.) how well your nervous system does to recruit as many of them as possible. Getting strong just means growing muscle and getting your nervous system acclimated to moving weight, by maximal work or through fatigued reps.
I think the weight classes being a scale helps with the variability of peoples weight. But yes it is silly (and it was silly of me) to be shocked or surprised to have gained weight since picking up weight training(power lifting in my case) i waited about 2 years to sign up for a competition, i didn’t do it on purpose or anything but now i see it was probably a good decision since i am probably at my competitive weight.
I disagree. Just like there are tall and short people there are endomorphs and there are ectomorphs. The width of your bone structure is just as important for leverages as length. If classes are based on height then the widest person would win. If you have the classes based on weight than you can choose your weight class more strategically, like in MMA, were people who are 6 feet tall compete anywhere from 145lbs to 205lbs based on their mass.
I’m 5’4 and weighed 200 pounds my bench press was high but I was so over weight I had to cut down to 170 and I feel a lot better but my bench press went down as well
I don't mind gaining weight, but i don't want to put on more bodyfat than i am right now. I am now finally at 20% bodyfat after quite some problems with being overweight. Obviously 20% is nowhere near lean and i really want to get to 15% and stay there while gaining muscle. Does this go against the subject of this video of not wanting to gain weight and will hinder my progress a lot? At 15% i would be around 177 lbs at 5'11 assuming a perfect cut to 15%.
If I could give you an advise, I saw Greg Nuckols saying in an article that for optimal muscle gain and strength, if you are 20 percent body fat you should cut down to 10-15 percent. Once you reach that you go on a very small caloric surplus. If you reach 20 percent again than you cut back. Of course this is not the only option but that is what I've seen him recommend.
You had a point about genetic talent that i disagree with. You claimed a 35” vertical for yourself isn’t possible which is untrue based on your logic. If you trained exclusively for vertical your entire life (which includes maintaining a light 150lb frame) You’d get there eventually. If you had said 63.5” (the current wr) it’d be a different story. But i could say the same about gaining weight in pl. There’s a genetic barrier to gaining weight at which quality mass isn’t feasible and there’s gradations to the level of commitment some of us are willing to make. If you don’t have world class strength genetics what’s the point in getting as big as the world class guys? I’m not willing to go above 200 for strength’s sake because health and other athletic ambitions that incentivize a lighter body. Even Ed Coan one of the goats had a limit to the weight he competed at. He was most successful in 220 I believe. Far from super heavy weight and he was willing to sacrifice just about everything for the sport. For the less committed less gifted it makes sense to compete in 180s
No, qualities affecting absolute speed aren't trainable the way strength is. That's a known fact in the field of athletic development. (BTW, the 63.5 was a box jump, not a vertical; pro athletes get routinely into the 30s with the best getting into the 40s). It has some trainability, but the limiting factors are neurological and structural and a byproduct of a genetic ceiling. This fact also affects the age athletes peak at: speed declines after the early 30s and there's nothing you can do about it, but many athletes continue to get stronger into their 40s. This is why most ball players retire by 38 and there are guys in their 50s at WSM. Also, you leaned on 'what you are willing to do' to make your point. You understand that the point of a standard is to separate those who achieve from those who don't?? You can choose whatever path best fits your lifestyle.... but you disqualify yourself from getting recognition that comes with actual achievement. I rank very high on strength charts because it is my focus, but I rank very low on general athletic ability. I would never expect to be acknowledged in my own category of athletic ability because I demand to be only compared to other 'short, overweight lifters'. That would be silly.
@@AlexanderBromley My bad about the vertical wr. You're right it's not as trainable as strength but that doesn't mean it can't be improved. My point is lumping it in with height as genetic destiny is only partly correct. If you treat weight classes as glorified height classes there's definitely some benefit to class specific strength standards. The guys gifted with larger skeletal builds are destined to put on more absolute muscle mass and that has nothing to do with training.
after re-reading my 1st comment the addition about commitment level was a dumb. It rationalizes why people often don't want to gain weight but that has nothing to do with strength standards.
Just out of curiosity what are the attributes in athletes that are mostly genetically determined and not something you can improve vast amounts through training? i.e Explosiveness, speed? Hope this makes sense. Thank you.
I'm 6", at 18 I was a muscular 190 lb.with a 285 squat. At 41, I'm 250lb bw, at 25% body-fat and a 465 all-time best squat, 485lb Deadlift, 285 bench... Not great, but it came from body recomposition and patience (as my numbers indicate, I'm not genetically gifted 😊) I'd happily put on 20lb more of bodyweight if I can deadlift 600lb
Hate mail: you can train to have a higher vertical, it is very achievable. Just training principles and methods are very different than for strength training.
I didnt say you can't increase it. Your potential to increase it isn't as high as with strength as genetics has a bigger effect. Thats a truism in the field of strength and conditioning
My girlfriend has a physique like a CrossFit athlete and doesn’t want to gain any additional size in her upper body while focusing on the lower. My question is how do you train the upper body in order to get stronger and not gain size while also not getting bored or wasting your time? Is this even worth attempting?
I could very well see absolute strength being the case in strongman, but powerlifting, oly weightlifting and just general strength training is done at weight class. Is strength not relative? Some frames may have a ceiling on their muscle and weight capacity (gear or no gear) just like you pointed out with the explosive capacity. Is it pretty impressive to squat 400lbs at 165lbs bw or is it more impressive to squat 450lbs at 198lbs bw? Of course my bias is towards a 5'7 165lber so that invalidates me, but wouldnt that invalidate every heavyweight (which btw seems always seems to bring this argument up when someone lifts more p4p or via wilks score) if the logic stays consistent?
Nobody in any weight class succeds with the idea that they only need to be "so strong" relative to their weight. They are beat by the people working for their absolute stregnth within the rules of the game. At 5'7" you simply are not going to be Halfthor, weight classes are there to give you an area to compete in, not protect you from having to be strong.
What I'm trying to break is the conditioning so many have that any discussion of strength is inherently relative.... THEY ARE 2 DIFFERENT THINGS!! Strength is absolute and any discussion of strength standards are going to be different than that of relative strength. Just like the best 'pound for pound' fighter gets rolled by a mediocre heavyweight. Yes, your capacity to be strong is limited with smaller frames and shorter heights. Your capacity to play basketball also suffers; if I made a video about the minimum standards to be a decent BBall player, the idea of modifying them for short people would be silly. The standards are set and your ability and, especially, desire to meet them doesn't change them. Think in these terms. If you are hiring a crew to move gun safes for a living, average pallet is 1500lbs.... are you going to look at 'relative strength' on resumes? Would you humor someone who insits 'but, I'm strong for my SIZE!'. No, you would refer them to the set of America Ninja Warrior, where relative strength actually has value.
@@AlexanderBromley I understand, especially in context. I suppose the mentality I have is that you can be a champion fighter in mma ata lighter weight class class despite being bested by a subpar heavyweight. The goal is always your best sometimes that may be relative but absolute strength may coincide with that if your frame is smaller.
I don't agree with this video entirely. I have specific goals which require strength, but primarily pounf for pound strength. I want to achieve a one arm pullup. If i gain too much mass, this will become unattainable. I need to get as strong as i can be while being as light as i can be to make this happen, which is how i train, and it is rather difficult. Is this something that has a genetic wall?
You mention genetic predispositions and specifically height. I'm 5'5" and I walk around at about 180lbs at about 20% BF. My weight has ranged from 155 when I was young and doing a lot of mt. biking. To 185 when I was playing rugby. To most recently 168lbs while training for a powerlifting meet (I suffered an injury and couldn't compete). For someone like myself, would you suggest adding weight to get to 230lbs or competing at the lighter weight class in strongman? Thanks. I love your content. Very clear and concise. Keep it up.
Unless you're under 5'6"? Lucky for me I'm 5'5" Haha. But actually what this makes me think about is how much muscle can I reasonably pack on? I don't object to getting heavier, I just think it's unlikely for me to ever be close to 200lbs.
Stillll. If I m 1.65cm tall, and get to 100Kg, I would just have get fat. It is impossible, no matter how much muscle I would built. It is just no possible. At leat you should include high standards. It has a better correlation
Bromley is absolutely correct: the only ppl who can realistically compete at the 132 weight class are guys like Lamar Gant or Richard Hawthorne. You cannot train to be 5'2". Even elite natural powerlifters like Candito are hovering between 165-181lbs at 5'7". I also dont know why morons think getting to 200lbs means becoming fat. Nobody ever said you have to go from 110lbs to 200lbs in a year or two. It took me nearly 7 years to go from 160-200lbs and it was a shit ton of trial and error but now I know for a fact that at 6', 200lbs is the most ideal equilibrium weight that works best for me in terms of performance. Also can't ignore the muscle mass I packed on over the course of nearly a decade.
Hey any advice on where I can buy any bumper plates preferably 45lbs? All the stores near me stopped selling weights and everything on eBay is over priced
had a lower back injury that put me out for 14 months... currently, I am over weight 245lbs @ 5"7. Gained about 50 lbs from not doing anything during the injury /depression... I am a former Marine so getting back to being strong is a goal.. I don't want to be the twig I used to be though. I want overall good strength and stamina. I am about 5 months back at lifting since injury.. BP= 335, squat = 315, deadlift = 365... I have never thought about being a competitive lifter but I do have goals/weight goals. Is it unrealistic to want to weigh 205 (goal in loosing fat)..however, I want to bench 405...squat..495...deadlift 550... Upper body wise, my triceps are really strong without doing extra work on that muscle group. for example- I reverse bench more than regular bench without working at it much or guys who out do me on every exercise except tricep overhead... however... my weight on any pulling exercise is horrid despite doing equal work on push/pull My goal of 5 plate squat is based off me doing 435 prior to my injury and well If my squat and bench were both 405... it would be just wrong according to every lifter.. deadlift goal of 550 is based off the fact that most people I know.. can deadlift more than bench/squat.. by a lot
Also, I have never followed any "official" program.. I just go in and lift to relieve stress.. I try to add weight sometimes.. sometimes I add a set or sometimes I add an extra accessory exercise using the same muscle groups.. ie: add another variant on cable fly or maybe some dips or doing tricep push down utilizing time under tension
How would you know what an appropriate weight is, where you've filled out your frame and still have a healthy body fat percentage? I'm 150lbs at 5'6", so would I fill my frame out at 165lbs? 185lbs? 200lbs?
Humans can always get bigger and leaner, so the answer of whats 'appropriate' depends entirely on one's goals and how much of one's life one is willing to rearrange to get there. Some guys are driven to get to 250lbs and 4% body fat on stage at that height, others want to chase smaller goals so they can live their lives. You might find you want to be a fire fighter where your goals are different than if you want to take an all-time squat record. It's entirely personal.
I'm guessing Alexander doesn't believe in "non functional hypertrophy"? The only downside to getting bigger as you get stronger is that the extra size will affect aerobic fitness.
I'd posit that size for the sake of size is not a goal, but once you are truly strong and experienced, adding muscle helps strength sports... NFL players get pretty big and fast. They also get hurt and tap out in 2 years on average. Work capacity can be high, if not higher, when big, but you won't be the fastest or most agile. Then again, why climb a fence when you can knock it over! Lol
Size doesn’t have to hinder aerobic fitness. It’s just that most people going for size do not do anything to maintain aerobic fitness. And I’m not talking about gear junkies like rich piana.
Im 6 foot 185 got a bench of 305 a squat of 365 and a dead lift of 405 trying to move up hard for me to gain weight seems like I burn more than I can take ik ik eat more lol
I'm 6'2.5, what body weight would I realistically have to be at to be elite in powerlifting or strongman? (Assuming I have to potential to even be elite)
Simon Dean Just is case he doesn’t get to your question, Powerlifting: At LEAST 242 Strongman: You can start in the 231 class and see how you do, you would be a lot leaner be there are advantages to that. Good luck man, use those leverages to your advantage!
I'm a 5ft 5 inches guy at 55 kg & decent size & ofc a 6ft won't look like me at 55kg....... So yeah weight is subjective shorter guys are bigger at lesser weights as compared to taller guys....... I'm gonna be a fuckin' gorilla at 70kg bodyweight but a 6.3ft will be skinny at 70 kg
Decent size?. Lol 55kg is small for a 5'5 female ... if you're happy at your build that's fine but if strength is of any interest to you..... fix your standards
@@AlexanderBromley thanks a lot for the feedback sir ofc i wanna get a lot more huge than i am right now but i said decent size as compared to what I was when I started trainin' I was 38 kg when I started 3 years ago...... Definitely gonna work a lot more harder now to get huge & stronger...... Never satisfied 💪
148 if you're fluffy, 165 if you still have lots of muscle to gain The standard for men's weight classes are 114 lbs., 123 lbs., 132 lbs., 148 lbs., 165 lbs., 181 lbs., 198 lbs., 220 lbs., 242 lbs., 275 lbs., 319 lbs. and super-heavyweight or unlimited class. Most competitors climb several weight classes over the course of their competitive years. The Weight Requirements for Powerlifting | Livestrong.comwww.livestrong.com
I’m 19 years old, 5ft 4 and I’ve been the same 138lbs body weight for the past 3 years, went from a 75kg bench press to a 112.5kg one at around the same body weight. Reckon its possible for me to hit a 140kg bench without gaining anymore than 10lbs if I continue training like power lifter?
When average 205lbs gym bros hit world class records for your 160lbs weight class you need to give up your perspective on these relative strength delusions. Strong is strong period. Who cares about a under 6ft tall basketball league?
This is shamefully closed minded ignoring all the people who genuinely don’t seek to become a strong man and have other goals that will be limited. He brings up vertical you can train vertical yes there’s a ceiling but the ceiling is definitely lower if you are heavier. People who play sports like basketball do need to be over 200 lbs and it’s not because they lack discipline. I don’t understand how someone can genuinely not realize that lifting is just a tool and not a single path of get huge and strong just because that is the majority. MMA is another obvious example that I assume would be argued that you should just fight a heavier weight class which is ridiculous to just keep saying go up go up go up. It’s also not 100% advantage to fight lighter in general. At this point to cut weight is almost necessity just to stay on par because everyone does it but just in general fighting lighter for your height gives you a reach advantage but you loose out on somethings as well like obviously the shorter appointment has better leverages for his size. So this isn’t about discipline if your not huge like me your lazy it’s a nuanced decision that truly does involve your specific goals and how you want to perform.
The path of a highly competitive athlete might be nuanced; the average recreational lifter is a feather in the wind, ending up where the path of least resistance meets whatever handful of principles they've adopted. And most adopt a lot of shitty principles. My point wasnt for everyone to get as huge as possible. It was for the large pool of underweight, under trained, brand-new-to-a-barbell trainees to stop fixating on keeping body weight low because they think starting out at 130lbs means they are meant to lift like Richard Hawthorne. My field is getting people stronger. Close minded or not, it's silly to humor every strange goal that gets cooked up in the minds of those so inexperienced they dont even know what questions to ask.
Alexander Bromley I can appreciate your view point and definitely think it’s what some people need but just seems to oversimplify. In regards to individuals goals I feel like it should be humored though. Not taken word for word but like you said they don’t know what to ask. I feel like as a coach it is important to help them find the middle ground. I totally agree that many people of piss poor principles and many fixate on the small details over the difficult but more important pieces that require hard work and consistency, but at the end of the day I think of it as providing the right foundation for that person to achieve those goals and given with a warning because for many people even if they aren’t high level athletes they still have a passion for some sport and getting stronger will help them but they just have a different totem pole of priority where they want to be strong have muscle but only if it doesn’t get in the way of x,y,z and sometimes that just laziness because the shit that’s getting in the way is going out and drinking and sometimes is reasonable like a sport. To back track I do like your metaphors of a recreational lifter how it portrays that they just learn from whatever is closest and often don’t dig deeper. Which is why I think context is crucial, because people don’t take the time to compare advice like this to your own value system. I would also argue there is a little more leeway then shared in regards to fiber typing based on fiber type conversions from years of specific fibers being hypertrophied as well as enzymatic property that allow fibers to partially “convert”.
