Do It This Way or Else!

I put out a blog called The Daily Pump in which I discuss my workouts and other goings-on. I find it amusing when some people respond by telling me almost in a panic that I’m not training in the style they think I should be. It’s great that they’re genuinely concerned, and I appreciate it very much, but they needn’t worry. For two solid years I trained D.C. style and was very satisfied with my results. For about the past six months I’ve been on a break from it. Many “Pump” readers want to know when I’m going to return to D.C. training, and the tone suggests that I can’t be training productively anymore because I’m not doing D.C.

I also recently began posting on Hany “the Pro Creator” Rambod’s training site, www.FST-7.com, and forum members there seem upset that I’m not doing FST-7 consistently and for every bodypart. I must be wasting my time in the gym doing anything except what they perceive as the best way to train. Sorry to be blunt here, but there ain’t no such thing.

The truth is that there are many, many effective ways to train. The key is to try as many as possible and find the ones you respond to best and enjoy the most. Usually those two factors go hand in hand. If you really like a certain style of training and look forward to your workouts, chances are you’ll make good progress. Pretty much any type of intense training will produce results, at least for a certain amount of time. Sooner or later you’ll burn out on it mentally and/or physically, and it will be time for a change. That doesn’t mean you can’t return to it later and get further results.

For example, just because I’m not doing D.C. training now doesn’t mean I’m all done with it. Currently I’m training with my wife, Janet, and D.C. just isn’t feasible to do with her all the time. The same can be said about dieting and losing bodyfat. Right now a lot of bodybuilders and fitness and figure competitors are absolutely convinced that the Palumbo diet, which is essentially a more healthful version of the Atkins diet, is the only way to get in shape for a contest. I agree that it’s an effective way to get lean and that a lot of people have done well on it, but it’s not for everybody. Personally, I believe that some people do better when they have some carbs in their diet, even close to a contest. I know I do, and for many years bodybuilders were getting ripped to the bone while continuing to eat carbs. That’s how the guys in the ’80s and ’90s did it, and you can’t argue that men like Rich Gaspari and the late Andreas Munzer weren’t as ripped as the guys today.

There are many effective ways to train and to eat, and anyone who maintains otherwise either is trying to sell something or has been brainwashed. Don’t fall for the myth of absolutes. We’re all individuals and have different metabolisms, lifestyles, temperaments and so on. Never let anyone tell you that you have to do it just one way.

—Ron Harris
www.RonHarrisMuscle.com