While I was out walking through the cornfields the other day, I got to thinking about why some fork out many hundreds of pounds a year on sports supplements despite knowing full well they make basically no difference.
What is also interesting is that many of those same people baulk at the thought of spending a penny on training-related information, instead preferring to follow a Frankenstein’s creature they’ve duct-taped together from scraps of “Free!” stuff they found online or else make it up as they go along.
Actually, it would be more accurate to describe what I was doing as “soul-searching”; because I was once the one scrabbling about in the dirt for freebies while spending a significant portion of my limited disposable income on magic beans, all the while complaining to whoever would listen about how I was spinning my wheels no matter how hard I trained.
What’s funny, in my case at least, is that every time I did relax my grip on my wallet for long enough to invest in a book or training programme by someone I respected, I’d make more progress in the following weeks and months than I had for literally years beforehand.
Better (or worse, depending on how you look at it):
Most of those books and programmes set me back less than £50, yet the information inside spurred greater gains in performance and aesthetic appeal than ten or even twenty times that amount spent on pills, potions, and powders.
Anyway, let’s wrap up before I meander too far from the point.
Ultimately, I think even the smartest and most sceptical among us cannot always resist what’s implied by sports supplement advertising:
“Just drink this shake/swallow this pill/eat this bar to significantly magnify the results you’ll get from what you are already doing”
It’s certainly a more enticing value proposition than that of an information product like a book or newsletter, which goes something like:
“Read this material (multiple times), CHANGE what you’re doing… oh… and there are no guarantees you’ll get better (or any!) results, and even if you do it’s going to take a long time.”
Especially when there is more free information on training out there than anyone can reasonably consume in a single lifetime. Add to that various shatbots that can spin up a complete training regime (albeit one likely riddled with holes to the point it’s potentially very dangerous to use) in seconds, that won’t challenge your thinking or choices, for no cost, and I get why people are loathe to spend their hard earned coin on information – irrespective of its quality, depth, humanity, and, when properly applied, efficacy.
Hmm.
Maybe I should have gotten into the sports supplements biz?
Whatever.
I never claimed to be sane.
Anyway, if you’re someone who is committed to this training thing for the long haul… and… you want to know how to make sure you get the most out of the hours and hours you spend training… and… you like reading, my biased recommendation is that you subscribe to my obnoxiously titled Real Paper newsletter.
A subscription costs £20 per month.
Objectively less than a tub of whey protein (other than those cheap and nasty ones that will give you diabetes if you drink too many of them).
There is no minimum contract period and you can cancel at any time and for any reason (or no reason). The only “catch” is you can’t re-subscribe in the future if you do.
More:
If you subscribe before month’s end (Sunday the 31st at 23:59), you will be entitled to one free copy of one of the following books that I sell:
* The Weight Loss Manifesto
* Shift
* The Conditioning Codex
* The Constance Chronicles
* Bodyweight Buccaneer (you’ll have to wait for me to print more if you go for this one)
* Silver Era Secrets (actually a collection of three short books)
* The Greek Physique
Whether you opt for a cheaper or more expensive book (the most expensive one on that list goes for £750 when not on sale) makes no difference to me. I only care that you use it.
If you want in, go here to subscribe:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/information/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman