Getting Outside the Box...

The more I talk to people about their training, whether they're looking for performance gains or size gains or just strength gains, there are certain trends I notice continually. One of the biggest things I see is people being afraid of trying something new or something different. It's basically a fact that most people fear what's different. 

Prime example: have you ever heard of a guy going by the alias "DB Hammer?" If not, he was a training coach who created an entire training system and released a book about it called The Best Sports Training Book Ever (I kid you not, that's what it was called). Anyways, he had a lot of really good ideas that were a lot different than what people were accustomed to and he used some terminology that went over the heads of a lot of people. And because of these "differences", people seemed to strongly dislike and put down his system, without ever giving it a chance.

Personally, I've studied a lot of his stuff, and while I don't think it's the end all-be all, there's a ton of good stuff that I use to this day. But most people, because they were afraid to give it a shot or a look, won't ever know some of the things I know via DB Hammer. And that's a shame.

Don't get too carried away with it though...

You can't be afraid of what's different. You have to try new things. Give everything a shot at least once. If it turns out that it sucks, then it sucks. You drop it and move on. But if you stick with the same thing over and over, you'll inevitably end up stuck in a rut. Look at this quote I read from Fred Hatfield a.k.a. Dr. Squat today:

"If I keep doing the things I've always done, I'll keep getting what I've always gotten."

If you always do X Program, you''ll always get X results. Which might be good, or it might not be. Maybe at a certain time or place, Program Y would have been the right move for you. But because you were so used to and set on Program X, you were never able to give it a shot. I don't know about you, but I don't want to ever live with regrets, especially when it comes to training. It's way too important to me. 

I'm not afraid, hell, I'm excited, to read about or try new things in my training. Then, after, I can look back at it and see what worked and what didn't. And from there, I keep in what worked and drop the rest like a bad habit. 

This doesn't just go for training. This is applicable to all facets of life. Never be afraid to give something new a shot, if only once. If you like it, great. If you don't like it, that's great too. It's just another learning experience to add to the repertoire. You'll not only be a more experienced person for it, you'll be a better person for it.