Post on Methods and Principles

Hey Guys,


Today I want to talk about principles.

Principles are the key to unlocking any goal that you have.


Many people focus on using methods to solve a problem (e.g. carb cycling, fasting etc) and try to get them to fit their own unique circumstance. The problem here is that sometimes it’s like trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. It might fit but its going to take a lot of effort than it needs to and it’s probably not going to look all that pretty in the end.


However if you understand principles (fat loss, muscle gain) then you can apply these principles to any situation and get results (round peg, round hole).


So why do people pick methods over principles?


Well firstly principles take more work to understand.


It’s much easier to be told exactly how to do something rather than being told how something works then getting you to creatively apply this to a new situation each time.


In BJJ the people who do the learn the quickest seem to understand principles better. They understand that to pass guard they need to maximise their tools and limit their opponents. They are then able to do this no matter what the bottom person does as they are applying a principle over a method.


The second reason people seem to favour methods (especially in nutrition) is that they seem to get a bit fanatical over things. In nutrition people seem to throw themselves into one method (carb cycling, fasting, carb back loading, IIFYM) and then stick to it religiously despite the results that they are getting (or aren’t getting). In nutrition people attach themselves with a cult like passion to a method then disregard everything else as nonsense or out dated information.


This simply isn’t the case.


If they took a closer look at things they would see that all of these methods are just different ways in which principles have been applied. If they then saw this, they could then use these methods to gain better understanding of the principles of nutrition.


What we then would have is a group of people that could use the correct methods at the right time in order to move towards their goals as the principles were always being applied (despite whatever method they used).


This however, would mean that I would be out of a job…


The best clients I have are the ones that ask LOTS of questions. They want to know WHY things are set up in a certain way and why I make the adjustments that I do, when I do. They are seeking to learn the principles of what is getting them the results.


Ask loads of questions whenever you are experiencing something new and you will be well on your way to understanding not just the HOW, but the WHY.


However you will probably end up annoying people as much as me (sorry coach).


Stay Healthy,


Mike