Something that has never “worked” for me is calculating my weights using percentages and closely tracking the number of reps I complete, length of my rest periods, and so on.
Why?
Loads of reasons. But the biggest one is that I don’t care enough about my training to spend time getting down in the weeds with a calculator and spreadsheet or logging everything in some app.
Would I get better results if I did all that stuff?
Yeah, probably.
But a few extra kilos on my squat and a marginally more defined six pack simply aren’t worth the hassle.
More:
When I have tracked my training closely and finely tuned my sets to certain percentages of my max, I invariably run into difficulties because I have always worked an obscene number of hours and enjoy a small handful of interests unrelated to training.
This means my energy levels fluctuate considerably (even more so since becoming a father), so there are obviously days when I can’t hit what the spreadsheet demands.
Too many workouts like that and you enter into a death spiral (because subsequent workouts are predicated upon your successful completion of previous sessions) where you miss more and more lifts.
Here, the absolute best case scenario is you waste however many weeks or months you’ve already plowed into the programme but the worst (and, I would argue, more likely) outcome is that you end up some combination of burned out and injured in the pursuit of numbers your life outside the gym will not allow, with your ability to get meaningful results absolutely hamstrung for the foreseeable future.
That’s why I train and teach others to train in a way that focuses on the twenty percent of inputs that produce eighty percent of the results:
* Getting good at the fundamental movement patterns,
* Using weights you know for certain you can dominate even if you’ve pulled a monstrous week at work,
* Running or cycling or otherwise moving distances you know you can manage at a pace you find challenging but comfortable, and,
* Doing the above without unplanned interruption for years on end.
I’ve no desire to bamboozle my clients with labyrinthine training protocols principally because I don’t want to crunch a bunch of numbers before I can go and lift weights.
Frankly, I just want to get in, pick things up and put them down and have done with it.
Likewise cardio.
I can’t think of anything worse than microanalysing something that should be as simple as putting my trainers on and plodding across to the next town over and back.
It does make me wonder if the people shilling this stuff have anything meaningful going on in their lives?
All right, enough.
If you want straightforward, hassle-free training methods that produce results slowly yet sustainably, I recommend you become a Phil Tyreman Letter subscriber because the July issue (more on that below) hands you one such approach you can start using immediately to get stronger and more in shape without being being beholden to a spreadsheet.
A subscription is £120/month which is a lot more than most of the coaching apps I have been told about (more than ten times as expensive in one instance), but the upshot of my approach is that you’re far less likely to develop a stressful and fundamentally unhealthy relationship with exercise.
To learn all there is to know about what you’ll get as a subscriber, go here:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/information/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman
P.S. And the contents of the July issue…
* The serious limitations of bodyweight training (that if left unaddressed will prevent you from becoming as strong, in shape, and aesthetically pleasing as you otherwise could be)
* One fundamental movement pattern that everyone short of trained gymnasts will struggle to perform (but probably won’t ever be able to perform it at all) using their bodyweight, yet must be included in any programme you’re going to run for a long time, unless you fancy becoming intimately acquainted with an orthopedic surgeon.
* An apocryphal exercise you can use to build a vice-like grip and powerful upper back (the former has tremendous carryover to literally everything you do in training and in life and the latter is essential for keeping your shoulders healthy).
* Two ways to work “minimalist” (i.e. short yet effective) weightlifting workouts into your bodyweight training regime for the best of both worlds.
* How to leverage the unique advantages of bodyweight training to make swift progress without doing more reps, tackling tougher variations, or making your regime more complex (ideal for those who prefer to “punch the clock” over diddling with calculators and spreadsheets).
This is a sequel to the June 2025 issue, but you DO NOT need to possess last month’s newsletter to reap the benefits as I’ve reproduced the bones of the training system it featured on Page 3.
If you want this, you must become a subscriber before 23:59 on Monday the 30th. Otherwise you won’t get the July issue.
To avoid that fate, go here before then: