Friday, March 30, 2007

The Hierarchy of NEEDS




Found this diagram in a T-nation article by Chris Shugart. It basically outlines the hierarchy of NEEDS for athletes and bodybuilders. As elementary as this information may be to those of you reading this right now, it's nice to come back to the basics and realize what truly is essential.

DIET - The foundation for life and for training must start with diet. If you disagree with me, OBVIOUSLY you have not spent alot of time in gyms or working with clients. Some of the most overweight and FAT people I know workout seven days per week, often many times per day. Are they fit? Perhaps. Are they healthy - hmmmmm - don't think so. If your diet sucks and you're living on processed crap...who cares who fancy your training program is...it doesn't matter.

TRAINING - Training would be the second level or need that is required for optimal results and an awesome functioning body. If you don't train....you will never reach your potential...never. Train intelligently and eat well....then you can get somewhere.

LIFESTYLE - To me lifestyle is almost as important as the first two. If you are totally stressed out, depressed, overwhelmed and SLEEP DEPRIVED, you are not going to put on muslce. You will never look and feel your best if your out at bars all night picking up on chicks. Get your sleep, keep your stress levels down, and have some down time to relax and de-stress.

SUPPLEMETS - Supp's would be the peak of the pyramid because they are just there to "supplement" your diet, training and lifestyle, not the other way around. I think many teenagers and younger athlets fall prey to the marketing vultures of secret formulas and magic potions. Can supplemetns help? Sure. But are they the holy grail of health....? I think we all know the answer to that one. Supplemets are can be useful only when your DIET, TRAINING and LIFESTYLE are in check.


Thursday Training

Feeling a bit overtrained this week. Lots of stress this week and work schedule is very busy. Therefore my training load is way down.

A-1 Reverse Lunges
2x16kg 3 x 8/8

B-1 See Saw Press
2x24kg 3 x 5/5

C-1 Pull Ups
16kg 2 x 5

D-1 Snatches
24kg 10/10/10/10

5 comments:

Rob O'Brien said...

Franz,

I like the hierarchy of needs pyramid! You are right about getting back to the basics. Nice Blog.

Cheers,
Rob

Franz Snideman said...

thanks Rob. The basics are alwyas the most important - and how often we can lose sight of that.

Heal up soon!

Lauren Brooks said...

This is an awesome article that you found! I need to post this in my gym for all clients to see. Some people expect there trainers to do all the magic. If they aren't losing weight they want to blame it on the trainer or program. Well this says it all!

Geoff Neupert said...

There was a time I agreed totally. But now, I'm starting to think "LIFESTYLE" should form the base of the pyramid. If you're run ragged all the time, you're not going to make the gains either. Whaddya think?

Franz Snideman said...

Geoff -

I agree. The base of the pyramid should be nutrition AND lifestyle. Then training, then supplements.