Re:
I'll admit, I've bought most training / lifting programs out there, and less than 1% vary from each other. They might change the reps, or sets, or vary the exercises, they all have theories on what works and what doesn't, the best exercises, etc.
Some go so far as to blast supplements, only to sell their own brand at the end of it all.
Quite honestly, they're all in cahoots. And for that reason, they keep guys from getting to where they want. Each program gives you a 'taste' of what works, of making slight gains, but then not being complete. So you try another, or you change what you're doing because 'you try to trick the muscle.'
It's a sad state of affairs; I'd wager I have a minor in Exercise and Physiology just from the wasted crap on exercise material, beginning with the body for life program all the way to skinnyguy.net.
The journey pays because you realize you don't need the junk of someone else. Plus, I look around the gym and few people maintain a physique that is impressive. Sure, some guys are large, but they're not cut, or they're imbalanced. Whoop-dee-doo.
Fact is weight is weight is weight, and you want to make continual progression frequently and intensely. That's it. All the magazines are in cahoots, because they're either owned by the supplement companies or so much advertising is sunk into them, no magazine would contradict or speak the truth on it.
Moreover, guru's only tweek diet/nutrition ever so much. Barry Sear's has his Zone program of 40/30/30 which is a farse. The Atkins program is just a diet that enables those who don't want to stop eating bad to keep their bad habits going. And the diets put out by bodybuilders, if they are that, are based on what supplement companies give them.
Unless I'm mistaken, supplements were never needed in such great supply to grow, nor was excessive protein. Excessive calories, yes, must be consumed to force the body to add size, but not excessive protein which is not only expensive, but damaging to the body and generally comes from sources that debilitate your healthy for the sake of your physique (see Atkins on this).
I would say "man-made" crap contribues to a bad physique, but that's more from Processed Carbs, than from Natural Carbs, plants, plant proteins, fruits, and the occasional dairy/meat products. If you compare human physiology to that of other animals, you'll see that we weren't designed for the long-term consumption of meats/dairy.
We don't have the nail or claws to kill, maim, or shred an animal we've caught; we build tools for that. Well, if you're not 'naturally' born for something, something linked to survival is it not possible that we are not meant to devour it? The human mouth is also not a shreddeding or tearing mouth. It is not like a dog or cat, with fangs. Nor is the human digestive system similar to that of an animal that can handle raw meat.
Affluent societies throughout history that consume meat & excessive protein have shown over time to lose 30% of their kidney function. Osteoporosis is significantly higher. A woman who consumes 95gm of protein/day has a high chance or breaking her wrist or other delicate bone structure over a woman who consumes under 60gm.
I bring up these points because few people know what exists about health, and even fewer know what to do as it relates to lifting. Most guys buy tubs of protein, seeing it as a miracle supplement, and think they'll have gobs of muscle at the end of a month, or few months, or maybe even a week. Not so, protein is needed. But our bodies are so efficient, that we can take protein from anything to make anything we need.
If protein is so important, why does an infant consume so much breast milk, which is less than 10% protein? And if it must have a diet rich in milk/breast milk, how does it grow? All children would be stunted. I'm not saying 60-80 or so grams isn't worthy, but to get the 150+ most programs push forth, you must have gobs of tuna, meat, chicken, and so forth, and doing so is very unhealthy for the body. But, too few know it.
Protein is purported to be the be-all-and-end-all of supplements and nutrients also as it "supposedly" minimizes glucose levels. Not so again. In the absence of carbs it has as great, or greater of an effect on sugar and insulin levels, hence why if you consume a pure protein shake, no carbs, you are hungry quit quickly afterwards. Moreover, if you eat tons of protein WITH carbs, it has a greater insulin effect.
If you dig, the information is out there, but if you look around, and ask why the mainsteam pushes the same sort of diets and nutrition with slight variation, yet few people look different or have different health patterns, you'll begin to realize everybody doing everything the same will lead you to the same results. And inevitably, that perhaps, it's all wrong.
A-Unit