Getting 1% better results for the average person is going to be nullified by the beers they drink on the weekend/the multiple days they skip because they dont feel like working out/any number of other normal life actives that are not optimal.
Find a way to exercise that you enjoy it and do it often. After that don't think about it too much.
Recently I've been riding an exercise bike after work while playing a video game on my computer with an xbox controller. Every 5 minutes I hop off the bike and do some weight training then get back on the bike. I ride for an hour. Doing this most weekdays has lead to far better results than when I used to go to the gym because I actually do it everyday/most days and I don't rdread it.
Unless you are a body builder or a pro athlete you really should focus on consistency more than optimization
The point is to fatigue the muscle, not do some particular number of reps. If you're feeling good and want to test yourself or go for a PR, that's great, but if it makes you feel bad or you start dreading workouts, stop counting!
One day I'll stumble upon it again and come back here and share. Just thought it was funny to compare it to shoveling dirt when that's actually what an elite athlete does somewhere out in the world lol
Of course the magnitude of the effect from most optimizations is small, so it's pretty easy for con artists to claim some secret or new breakthrough.
At the very highest levels people want every edge they can get, but it's silly for most of us who aren't devoted to competition to go down these rabbit holes. Pick up / put down / don't get hurt goes quite a long way.
I find YouTube trainers' flame wars quite enjoyable. They tend to get triggered by comments or other trainers' videos and publish angry (to me - funny) videos in response. Recent clip from Athlean-X (something about "worst fitness youtuber") is a good example. So much energy wasted on nagging.
When I want to listen to someone who appears to know their shit, I put dr. Mike from Renaissance Periodization[1] on.
Lucky you. For me, I always hit plateaus after a couple of months, and then in the past have given up several times after no progress over many months.
This time, starting 13 months ago, I'm determined to stick with it, but still it's sloooooow, despite hours at the gym every other day (no exceptions!) putting in the work. So I'm definitely interested in seeing if there's some other approach that might be better -- more reps, higher weights, more/less variety, less rest period, more frequency, ....? Maybe the answer is I just need to be at the gym lifting hard 3 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Staying at a plateau for a while is sometimes great to avoid injury.
Programming is just typing away and compiling your program. It's not that complicated.
If you want to be proficient at BB / power lifting / <weight-lifting activity>, doing more research and optimizing is important
Actual competitive bodybuilding is far more complicated.
Sure, but that's a general truism.
People focus too much on the 1% micro-optimisations instead of nailing the 99% that produces the largest rewards.
I like how Steve Magness puts it[^1]
> Good, solid consistent work stacked month after month, year after year is what leads to better performance.
[^1]: https://twitter.com/stevemagness/status/1493946400442392589?...
99% of the gain is about a very simple set of exercises. I maintain that most people would get a superb musculature with just cycling/running, squats, deadlifts and bench presses (ignoring pre-existing injuries). 4 exercises where the most complex machinery is a bike, and even that can be replaced with running. Doing it consistently is the key.
But then two problems happen:
1. People try to find shortcuts to make things easier. This is basic human nature. 2. While looking for ways of making it easier, a huge pile of salesmen insert themselves into people's attention, peddling the latest program, diet, fad, complex equipment (hello Peloton), etc. At that point, anyone who doesn't have >10 years of experience with their own body will simply be lost and unable to discern true good advice from drivel.
As pointed out before, there's no money to be made, no "value to be added" to 4 dead simple exercises with a one off expenditure. There's no subscription to be sold, nothing can be turned into a service if the equipment lasts several lifetimes. The weights you buy yourself can be passed down to your kids, and they will likely be able to pass it down to their kids. A hunk of chromed steel can last a very long time, the only thing you have to buy is maybe running shoes or gears for your bike.
FWIW, you just described the essence of the Tactical Barbell system here. I've been using it to great effect over the last ~4 years. I will probably never touch a different strength and conditioning program as long as I live.
The standard bullshit line in the fitness industry has always been "everyone else is wrong". Practically what every single trainer ever in the world has said.
The reason is because of all the things I have done in my life, lifting is the most trivially simple activity there is. It is as complex as shoveling dirt. The only way to differentiate if trying to make money is to bullshit. Pick the weights up, put them down, eat food. It just not that complicated.