Why do some coaches think strength training should be as complex as neurophysics?

I've been pretty busy lately. We filmed footage for 3 instructional DVD's a couple weeks ago, training people full-time (since when is full-time 7 days a week?!?!?) and trying to wrap up some projects, books, a couple companies I formed with some colleagues, etc. Just a lot on my plate. I actually was able to rearrange my schedule a bit and have all day Saturday off which is nice, working 7 days was a bit of a drag for a while now, thankfully I love what I do. Despite all this work I do try to make time to learn and read up on stuff whenever I can. Love the internet, lots of great training info and lots of great people willing to share it. Unfortunately there's also a serious amount of BS polluting the internet as well and tons of egos. Some of these articles written by the latest and greatest strength coaches leave me scratching my head. Sometimes I think these guys write to impress upon their captive audiences the fact that they own a thesaurus or a dictionary. One of the best pieces of advice I've ever received was in a high school creative writing class. Mr. Anderson told us, "When you write, make sure you are writing so that a fourth grader may understand you."

Why does training info have to be so "advanced" or require a degree in neurophysiology? Does it need to be so complex? One of the strongest men in the world, noted for having the strongest hands ever, trains with simple tools in his backyard - ropes, buckets, kettlebells, rusty iron plates, stones and sledgehammers. No actuarial calculator required. Whatever happened to the good old days of training? Just lift the damn bar. Squat it, press it, deadlift it, throw in some pull ups, hammer the abs, call it a day. Simple and effective. There were a lot of hard, strong men back in the dark days of bodybuilding. I read somewhere recently the only difference between bodybuilders and strength athletes back then was diet, bodybuilders were tuna and rice, powerlifters were milk and pizza, but they all lifted the same, heavy. Beautiful. Look at the forefathers of "physical culture". These guys lifted heavy things and had amazing physiques. Perhaps we need to go back and re-evalute our approach. I love the sport of powerlifting and all powerlifters, but I think the gear is getting out of hand. I've become very interested lately in stonelifting, it is raw, primal and tough. Lift it or don't. No arguments on depth, pauses, lockouts, etc. Get the damn stone to your waist, shoulder, or overhead. Simple as that. No tacky, no belts, no squat suits or press shirts.

Zach Even-Esh writes some great articles about old school training and I think he's doing an awesome job with his whole underground gym movement. He has one article about the intensity of training in an old school gym where you pay your dues everyday. It's very motivational and makes you want to go lift some weight. No talk about reps, sets, tempo and other nonsense many coaches use to sell their programs. Just lift the damn weight.

Jim Wendler, from Elite Fitness Systems, has written some outstanding articles at http://www.elitefts.com/ that outline some very simplistic approaches to getting strong. I love the way he researched this stuff, talk to the strongest people out there and find the common denominator - lift heavy, and eat. What? No Soviet secrets? No %'s? No talk of tempo training? Could it really be as simple as putting a lot of damn effort into the basic lifts that have been making people strong for years? Beautiful.

I have no clue where this blog or rant is going. I guess if I have to sum it up, keep it simple and work freakin' hard. I think it is far more important to workout hard and consistently then worry about what type of program you're doing. I am a rank novice in the world of strength training and I think the bulk of us out there are. Chances are we just need to get strong. Lift something heavy, eat a ton of good food, repeat. Work hard, work consistently. Can it really be that simple?