Now we're getting somewhere...
You have some understanding of periodizing and didn't even know it. Haha. We focus on specific traits at specific times. For young athletes, it's mostly motor patterning and strength increases, but as training goes on, it becomes more diverse but focused. We'll save that discussion for another time, though.
No, I understand, and I think maybe there was a misunderstanding as far as the methodology I was talking about (whether I just didn't explain well or what, I don't know). Anyway, maybe it seemed like I was saying never push it; just the opposite is true, though. I do push myself and our athletes push themselves. Not every day and not every week (recovery is important), but if I'm on an 85%, for instance, and it's too light, I'll add weight (2.5-5kg most of the time). I did that last night with HDL. I was scheduled to do 160 for 3x5, but when I did it, I thought,
Man, that's super light. So I went to 165, then 170. And 170 still felt a little low, but I figured I would save it for next week's 3x10s. Similarly, one of our skellies was 3x3 squatting Monday and asked me what weight she should use. She told me she had done 3x5 front squats with ~70kg two weeks prior. I told her 90-95kg and she got wide eyed and said, "I've never squatted that much." She warmed up, put 95 on, and hit it.
Point is, I still take into account how something feels in deciding the loading for the day. I'm not setting a new rep-max every day, but I'm not dilly dallying in the weight room either. If it's too light for the day's percentage, I go up. If I know it's too heavy, I drop it by a few kg. And on 90-95% days, I'll probably push it an extra bit to see how I'm doing. Did that on bench last block. It's one of my weaker lifts (in the past, I've only gotten 90kg for like 3 reps fresh), but I was at the end of my block and said, "Eh, why not." I had already done several work sets, but I threw 92.5 on there and hit 4 (I should have hit 5, but that's another story). Is that impressive? Not really. Is that progress? Definitely.
The important thing here is bringing up your weaknesses while still pressing forward. If you were GMing the weight up from the squat, I'd tell you to drop the weight, but you aren't. You're still staying strong through 98.5% of the lift. I had some shoulder pain Monday during overhead presses, but I know that stems from me needing to add some extra rowing/pulling. I didn't cut my press loading, but I increased what I did on prone row and added face pulls to my pull routine yesterday. So while there's a degree of taking it safe (mostly via programming in a way that targets weaknesses) I'm still attempting to push forward. Now there are some lifts I'm not all that comfortable with (snatch, snatch, and did I mention snatch?) and that are limited by my shoulder (I don't think I need to repeat myself on what lift), so the weight remains lower until my technique improves. My biggest problem on the snatch is that I don't finish at the top (i.e., I don't pop the shrug enough), so subsequent blocks will involve snatch grip shrugs and snatch grip pulls to work on the other portions of the lift. Recognizing my weaknesses and targeting them. Now, squats, I don't have as many problems, so I'm more liberal with the loading and hit my assistance work on the side.
And there are a lot of programs out there. It's about incorporating the correct ideas and the ideas that aid you in your sport of choice. Individualized training.
I get you, man. That's why I work where I work--I was given a little too much to waste it. I've never been the best athlete, but dang it, I can train them. So I train them. You might not like school, but you might excel at a sport or a specific class in college, so you go down that path and try to make a name for yourself. I've been in class with a lot of people who don't have drive (I could tell stories for days...), yet they want to become DPTs. They're never going to be DPTs, though, because physical therapy programs require tenacity and motivation. So they end up with bachelor's in exercise science working at McDonald's because they didn't have the drive to push themselves. I don't want to be some Joe working at McDonald's and I know you don't either.
I guess my best advice would be: Milk the "green" gains and genetics for all they're worth. For strength, you can pick up programs like 5x5 or West Side for Skinny...fellas, but as you progress, you don't want to neglect power, agility, and
special endurance either. I say special, because endurance is sport-specific. You won't need the same endurance to run a marathon that you would to play soccer that you would to play football that you would to compete in strongman that you would...Multilateral development is what I'm getting at. There's no reason you can't get strong while incorporating those other aspects though.
I guess the best analogy I've heard on this is to think of training like a stove. One or two eyes are on moderate-high. One or two eyes are on low, and one or two are on simmer. That way, nothing is ever left completely off, but you're able to put your main focus into other attributes. General explanation of the analogy, but hopefully you see what I'm getting at.
