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Keep It Simple Stupid - The K.I.S.S
Approach
By Will Brink
www.BodybuildingRevealed.com
www.FatLossRevealed.comThe acronym “Keep it simple stupid” or “KISS”,
has been used for decades by the military, business schools,
medical schools, and in countless other areas where unneeded
complexity should be avoided at all costs. In the military,
adding complexity where it’s unnecessary to complete a
mission will get people killed.
Adding complexity to a business venture where it is not
required will often get you fired or see your company go
down in flames. Adding complexity, or looking for complex
answers to simple problems, in medical settings can cause a
loss of life or unneeded suffering. I am sure my readers
have also experienced situations in which complexity added
to situations that didn’t require it, led to disastrous
results.
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One area where most people
fail to follow the KISS system is in their approach to
fitness, nutrition, or supplements. In fact I find
people seem to gravitate toward adding complexity to
their approach when it comes to building muscle or
losing fat.
Not coincidentally, it’s the people who take the most
complex approaches to their nutrition, supplements,
and training who are always the most confused and
least successful. |
They focus on - and subsequently
worry about - minutiae that prevent them from seeing the
big picture and making the type of progress they desire.
It often leads to what is referred to “paralysis by
analysis.” The vast majority of people would have better
results, not to mention less stress, if they simplified
their approach to losing fat or gaining muscle. It’s not
rocket science, brain surgery, or even rocket surgery!
Yes, there are times when
complex approaches need to be used to get advanced
athletes, such as pre-contest bodybuilders and Olympic
track athletes, prepared for an event. These people make
up, at most, 1% of the population. The rest of the world
needs to worry less and act more.
Why is complexity a bad thing? The issue is variables.
Adding too many variables makes things more difficult,
especially when trying to figure out why something is
working or why it’s not. Variables are an essential part
of science. We don’t need to go into great depth on this
topic, so don’t worry. I do, however, want people to
appreciate how variables affect the outcome of their
successes or failures in bodybuilding or fitness related
endeavors.
So what is a variable? According to one of my
textbooks:
“Scientists use an experiment to search for cause and
effect relationships in nature. In other words, they
design an experiment so that changes to one item cause
something else to vary in a predictable way. These
changing quantities are called variables…”
There are different types of variables (e.g., confounding,
independent, dependent, controlled, etc.) but we are not
going to worry about that right now. So how does this all
apply to the KISS approach? The more complicated you make
your approach to your goals of gaining muscle or losing
fat, the more variables you have to control for. That is,
for every new bit of complexity you add, you have to be
able to account for it in terms of the results, or lack
thereof, you experience.
Confused? Here’s a simple example:
Last week you changed your diet, added in three new
supplements, and changed your routine, then three weeks
later you notice you have made no improvements (i.e. you
didn’t lose any fat, or you didn’t gain any muscle, or
whatever). Why? It’s impossible to know! You added too
many variables into the equation and now you’re unsure
what went wrong - which means you won’t be able to make
appropriate changes to correct it. Conversely, let’s say
you did lose fat or gain muscle with the changes. Great,
but do you know which of the changes you made resulted the
positive outcome you experienced so you can reproduce it?
No, no you don’t.
So, Lesson #1 is: never change more then one or two
variables at a time so you can track what worked - and
what did not work - from the changes you made. Most people
find writing it down in a note book or online journal is
the best way to keep track of their progress. When you
write it down, you can see the effects that changes in
your diet, training, or supplementation have on your body
composition, strength, etc.
KISS and those ugly variables
On my forums, it’s not uncommon for someone to post a
question like “I added supplement X, Y, and Z to my
supplement intake, added an extra day per week in the gym,
and reduced my calories by X. Why am I not seeing
progress?” My response is “…too many unknown variables to
answer that question” which translates into “how the hell
should I know?”
Why do people make so many changes at once? I suspect it’s
due to the “I want it now” syndrome. Making permanent
changes to your performance, physique, and health, takes
patience, planning, and a willingness to take things one
step at a time and assess what is working and what’s not
working in the overall plan.
Clearly, the KISS approach fails to be effective as more
variables are added to a program. It also fails to be
KISS. How can you keep it simple if it ain’t simple to
begin with?! The more complicated the program, the more
variables there are to keep track of – which makes success
far less likely. This basic idea was appreciated and
understood by history’s greatest minds. For example:
"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."
- Albert Einstein
What was the father of Relativity saying? Be it math,
science, nutrition, or life, Keep It Simple Stupid
wherever possible, but don’t simplify it to the point
where it’s no longer effective or true. In my own
writings, be it articles or books/e-books, I make every
attempt to keep the information and message as simple as
possible. However, I often see popular books and diets
that are in fact too simple. They don’t want to confuse
people, so they simplify things to the point that their
advice is no longer correct and has little value to the
reader – thus, Einstein’s warning. Oversimplified
statements like “carbs are bad” or “fat is bad” or “do
weight lifting for big muscles and aerobics to burn fat”
are among the gems we all see. Problem is, those
statements are dead wrong! A line between simple and too
simple must be drawn.
OK, back to the KISS approach…
It’s not possible for me to go through every example of
how to take a KISS approach to your training, nutrition,
or supplement intake, but I will attempt a general
discussion of each.
KISS and training:
One of the most common mistakes I see in this area is what
I like to call the “I have tried everything and nothing
works” syndrome. My response is always “have you tried
sticking to one program long enough for it to actually
have any effect?” The answer is usually a guilty sheepish
facial expression. Let me be honest with you: even an
average uncomplicated program you are consistent with is
far more effective then any high-tech, super-advanced
program you fail to be consistent with. One simple program
you follow consistently for a year is always better then
the five high tech programs you tried in 6 months where
none of them were followed long enough to have a positive
outcome. Simple programs such as: weight training Monday,
Wed, Fri, and aerobics, Tue, Thurs, and Sat, with Sunday
off, whilst varying your exercises tend to work well for
the majority of people.
Are there better programs out there? Of course, but the
vast majority of people follow routines that are overly
complicated, take too bloody long, and are simply
unneeded.
I also see a dependence on less productive movements in
the gym over more productive choices. I see people doing
reverse Romanian lunges while the squat rack gathers dust
in the corner. Was that you I saw the other day?
KISS and supplements
You don’t need them. Bet you never thought you would read
that coming from me did you?! Let me qualify that
statement: does a person need any supplements to achieve
the basic goal of either adding muscle or losing fat? No,
no they don’t. Can supplements help the process? Can
supplements potentially speed up the process? Can
supplements potentially offset some of the negatives? Can
supplements help optimize the effects of exercise and
diet? The answer is yes in all cases. The problem,
however, is that I see far too many people under the
impression that the next wiz bang “cutting edge”
supplement is going to make some huge difference to their
appearance while their diet and workout are put on the
back burner or set low on the priority list. They are
constantly looking for that one supplement that’s going to
make all the difference while they ignore their nutrition
and training! I see it all the time and frankly, it’s
frustrating.
Remember, KISS. Focus on your training and your nutrition
- then worry about supplements. Start off with the basics,
like a good multi vitamin, a source of essentially fatty
acids (EFA’s) and a good protein powder post workout, then
add additional supplements over time depending on your
goals, such as creatine when trying to add muscle, or
ephedrine and caffeine when focusing on fat loss, and so
on. The shotgun approach many people take rarely works,
wastes money, and adds complexity (remember our
conversation on variables above) where it serves no useful
purpose.
I love supplements. I take a dozen or more supplements
every day of my life. I have designed them for supplement
companies, spoken about them at various conferences, been
involved in the published research of supplements, and
built my career on them, so I am not some anti-supplement
zealot by any means. However, I do speak with people all
the time who outline a long list of supplements they are
taking (many of which have been shown to be totally
worthless) while their diets stink and their training
programs are a joke. Don’t be one of these people! Don’t
think for a second there is any one supplement out there
that will make or break your success. Realize that
supplements are exactly that; supplemental to a good diet
and intelligent exercise program.
KISS and nutrition
Finally, we make it to nutrition. Nutrition is a
potentially complex topic, and just as importantly, it’s a
highly emotional topic for many. No place do I find such
clear examples of people adding complexity where it’s not
required. Again, there is a small segment of people that
will benefit from - and require - advanced nutritional
approaches, such as pre-contest bodybuilders, pre-race
marathon runners, or even the average person seeking to
get to very low bodyfat levels. Does the average person
who needs to get into better shape and lose perhaps 20 –
30 lbs. (or more) need to follow advanced nutrition
concepts? Of course not! Can the average person benefit
from techniques more advanced dieters (e.g., bodybuilders,
fitness competitors, etc.) might employ, such as cyclic
ketogenic diets, refeed days, carb cycling, and other
approaches? Of course! Do they require such strategies to
drop some fat and get into shape? No, no they don’t.
That’s why I tend to offer well thought out, healthy, and
easy to follow approaches to nutrition in my e-books and
offer more advanced approaches to people who want to take
it to another level.
Simplicity + consistency =
success
The above is what I consider the basics of the KISS
approach to nutrition, supplements, and training. You will
have to fill in some of the blanks as it applies to you
specifically. If you are making steady predictable
progress, great, stick to it. If however you are not
making progress in your goals to add muscle and or lose
fat, or some other goal, then you may need to sit down and
seriously rethink your approach to the problem. Is there
added complexity where you know it’s not needed? Are you
relying too heavily on supplements to achieve your goals?
Do you find yourself doing exercises that are less
effective then the good old fashioned basics, like squats,
deadlifts, and bench press? I can’t answer those questions
for you, but hopefully I’ve made you think - which is half
of the battle. You know what they say, you can lead a
horse to water but you can’t make him think!
About Will Brink
Will Brink has over
15 years experience as a respected
author, columnist and consultant, to the
supplement, fitness, bodybuilding, and
weight loss industry and has been
extensively published.
Will graduated from Harvard University
with a concentration in the natural
sciences, and is a consultant to major
supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical
companies.
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His often ground breaking
articles can be found in publications such as
Lets Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag
International, The Life Extension Magazine,
Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For
Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen,
Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter
For Doctors.
Will was a former high level trainer with a rep
for getting Olympic athletes, bodybuilders and
fitness stars into shape and has gained a
reputation for being a no "BS" industry insider
who's not afraid to reveal the lies and hype
found in the fat loss , muscle building &
supplement industry.
He has been co author of several studies
relating to sports nutrition and health found in
peer reviewed academic journals, as well as
having commentary published in JAMA. William has
been invited to lecture on the benefits of
weight training and nutrition at conventions and
symposiums around the U.S. and Canada, and has
appeared on numerous radio and television
programs and now runs seminars for tactical law
enforcement (SWAT).
He is the author, of Bodybuilding Revealed which
teaches you how to gain solid muscle mass drug
free and Fat Loss Revealed. which reveals
exactly how to get lean , ripped and healthy
completely naturally. Both e-books come with
access to his private forums and numerous tools
to aid you in either endevour.
See Will's ebooks online here:
Brink's
Bodybuilding Revealed
Bodybuilding Revealed is a complete blue print to muscle building success.
Everything you need to know about diet & muscle building nutrition, over 50
bodybuilding supplements reviewed, weight training routines, high intensity
cardio, the mental edge, pre made muscle building diets and an online private
members forum, diet planner, meal planner and much more. It's all in Will
Brink's ultimate guide to gaining muscle mass
Fat Loss Revealed
Fat Loss Revealed is the ultimate fat loss
system. A complete online and offline system
used by anybody who want's to attain a fantastic
lean physique. A simple to follow, yet detailed
page e-book with a complete fat loss diet plan,
pre made diets, over 40+ fat loss supplement
reviews, resistance workouts, and cardio
chapters, along with motivation and goal setting
and a huge online private members area and forum
with a meal planner, diet planner, nutrition
database and 24/7 human personal trainers.
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