Today I saw 3 lads together in the gym. They were having a great laugh and being the best of pals. And then that stopped. 2 of the blokes, maybe 160-180 lbs each, jumped up, grabbed a pull up bar, and began blasting out chin-ups. 15…16…17… ok that’s enough.

The 3rd lad, a big fella likely around 300 lbs, stood and watched for a second. Turned around a few times like Molly does when she’s trying to get comfy on the couch, and then shrugged. He did no other movement whilst his friends did a few more sets of 20.

True or false? - Bodyweight exercises are inherently easier than loaded ones?

As always, it depends

The debate always seems to be what's the best workout to do? Upper/lower split? Bodybuilder? Powerlifter? Power-builder? Bob The Builder?

This is the wrong question. Start by choosing exercises that allow us to get specific work done. If the goal is to get stronger for example, then we want to find a program that is specific to that end and that is built around exercises we can perform in a progressive manner. That’s it. For this fella in the story above, it ain’t chin-ups and dips. And it doesn’t need to be.

Which workout is best?

It’s dependent on many variables and jamming “this exercise is bad this and exercise is good” down peoples throats is frankly stupid, but “coaches” and “trainers” are doing it all the time. It’s lazy, it’s predatory, it’s unnecessary, and it’s fucking stupid.

The 300 lbs bloke I mentioned above would have benefited FAR more from a machine press and some cable pull downs than not doing a single rep of 2 inappropriate exercises for 30 minutes. But machines aren’t X and they don’t Y and Z is more $. Machines, bodyweight, pilates, peloton, ShakeWeight, or the Core Blaster Extreme are all, at a minimum, more than nothing. Start there if nowhere else.

More than muscles

I assume that the lad in question went to the gym to do work that helped him reach his fitness goals, enjoy the experience, feel motivated and supported, and want to go back. Professionally and personally speaking, I doubt that he checked any of those boxes. The training is a single component of the experience, but it’s the one that tends to be the catalyst for the most change. In order to feel like progress is being made, some training needs to occur. Start with a general program that is specific enough and progressive in nature, and then optimize to “the best” over time. The best workout for you today probably won’t be the best for you in 12 months, but you’ve got to do the reps between now and then to figure out what is (I am here to help if you - message me HERE).

2 thoughts for you to consider

1. Coaching is creative problem solving, biomechanics, psychology, logistics, physics, communication, and a whole lot more than just telling someone to do random exercises. It’s a recipe and the coach is the chef. You and the next person might need different doses of different flavors here and there and that is why coaching is such a great job for me like me, and such a worthwhile investment for you.

2. There aren’t good or bad exercises, there are appropriate and inappropriate choices for the goal and person.