this is just my opinion, but what people see as trial and error and what works for one person doesnt work for another is nothing but not knowing all the variables. one in particular, training age, gets left out a lot.
i first read about this when reading a charles poliquin article on tnation years ago. ill try and write up the cliff notes.
lets start with 2 trainees, a new person to lifting and a person with years of experience. both are looking at getting stronger and bigger. they both are going for 30 total reps to reach their goals.
the new person has found that 3 sets of 10 are helping them reach their goals quite well.
the advanced lifter found that 10 sets of 3 helped them reach their goals quite well.
both lifters were probably using similar percentages as well. but after 3 sets the unconditioned new person fatigued to the point that continuing was of no use. the advanced lifter took several sets to really get going and even at the end may have felt worked but not totally drained. they may have even gone on to do more accessory work and some more conditioning to help with recovery.
i see this scenario all the time and people actually think its trial and error. it only is if you dont understand programming with training age. the advanced lifter has a greater training age, greater conditioning, greater efficiency in using muscle fibers, among other improved variables. so its not trial and error but knowing how to program for the person and the goals, not just the goals.
i also remember reading dave tate articles on tnation. he was talking about his stint in bodybuilding. when he first started he was very strong and was able to push more weight then the other bodybuilders. but he could not push as long. over the years he could push a lot of weight for a long time and for many sets. then he decided to get back into powerlifting. he could barely lift more then what he could rep out for bodybuilding. he found a fact in training, that training specificity has an effect on overall abilities. he did not train for 1 rep maxes and therefore lost the ability to do them well.
on the scenario above some would say he should stick with bodybuilding as he is good at it. he was good at it due to him training for bodybuilding and not for powerlifting. as many of us dave turned out to be a great powerlifter and when he went back to training for it, it showed.
there is also the psychological aspect. and by that i mean some can push hard all the time, and some can push hard only on programs they believe in. if you dont train hard a great program will look like it sucks. it wasnt the program, it was the execution. add in that some people will only try a program for a week or 4 and they really have no idea if it will work as they should have spent at least 6 months on it.
there is another aspect i believe in for the what works for one will not work for another thing. we are all homo sapiens. we have the same anatomy and the same physiology therefore the same mechanisms behind exercise and adaptation. many aspects of us can be explained by chemistry. we apply stimulus and our body reacts via adaptation. this stimulus increases hormones which help the adaptation. and here is where we experience a difference. some people have more hormones, some are more sensitive to those hormones. and these are just chemical reactions that a chemist can easily explain with science. these are set mechanisms that are going to happen with everyone at precisely measured and expected reaction amounts. there is no magic or sorcery to it. hormones are a great example as we all know an 18yr old male has massive test production while a 48yr old male may have just a small fraction. there is no trial and error to understand that the older person needs a different program to take that into account.
and wow, did i type way too much.
**gets off soap box**
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