Not Everything Has To Be Optimal

Why Optimization Snobbery Could Be Actually Hurting Your Progress

Are Reese Puffs optimal? Probably not. But are they worth it? Hell yeah. 

Not everything has to be optimal.

We often get caught up in optimization traps. We don’t just want to do something, we want to do it the best possible way.

This is admirable. I too, indulge in this game. It’s just not always a helpful one. In fact, sometimes it does more harm than good.

Not everything can be optimal, but something decent can always be done.

When we get caught up in optimization, we often end up doing nothing at all. For fear of doing something decent when we could have done something perfect.

Let’s use a workout example:

Indeed, there is an optimal time to workout for you. And that time is most likely not first thing when you wake up or right before bed. 

In the former situation, you don’t really have time to get a good meal in before your workout. Your body and mind may still be waking up. But it’s the only time you have to workout. 

Is this optimal? No. But is it better than not working out at all since this the only practical time you can? 

Definitely. 

In the latter, it may be after a full day of work. You’re gassed, but it’s the only time you can make work. The last thing you ate was a light snack a few hours ago and this isn’t exactly an appropriate time to lean on caffeiene. You know, being close to bed and all. 

Still, it’s the only time you can get that workout in when considering your busy life. 

Making this workout time not optimal, but practical and still effective. Since compared to getting no exercise in, the suboptimal training time is FAR better. 

But, if you were to be attached to the idea of an optimal workout, your expectations would be completely unmet and we all know how that leaves us feeling. 

This example is perhaps more common with nutrition. Sometimes we get invested in the idea of eating perfectly. Perhaps this means that we eat nothing but “clean” foods and completely cut out any food we have deemed “bad”. 

First issue is that these labels do seem pretty arbitrary, but secondly this just is not practical. 

There will always be situations where suboptimal food choices are available. But we still need to eat and if we care about our body composition, then we probably want to make sure we’re still getting adequate protein and enough food in general. Even if it’s from sources that we are less enthused by. 

Optimization snobbery could have you just simply not eating or even worse, calling it a “cheat meal”, going into fuck it mode and promising yourself to start fresh again tomorrow. 

Neither options are optimal and are actually worse than just having a one suboptimal meal, enjoying it while practicing moderation and moving the hell on. 

Because not everything has to be perfect. The idea of optimizing everything does make sense for a select few. Elite athletes essentially. But even they aren’t perfect. In fact, Usain Bolt famously ate a mostly Chicken McNugget diet in Beijing during the olympics. 

Why? Well he said:

“Honestly, I ate nothing else in all my time out in China except chicken nuggets.”

He followed up by saying:

“They were the only food I could properly trust which wouldn’t affect my stomach.”

I mean, if the greatest sprinter of all time can manage some sub-optimzation due to his surroundings, I’m sure we can all take a lesson from that. 

In reality, doing something decent for a long period of time, will typically yield great results.

Something I call the optimization pyramid.

Above you’ll see the optimization pyramid, which can be a great framework to work off here. 

You’ll see basics are the foundation and take up most of the pyarmid. This includes: 

-Eating protein at every meal
-Training 2–4 times per week
-Trying to get more steps in
-Drinking enough water
-Prioritizing whole foods and produce whenever you can
-Getting enough sleep on a consistent basis

Most of us will live here the majority of the time. Even myself and I’ve been training for over a decade. 

After that we have the specifics. Which could be:

-Eating a specific amount of macros (carbs/fats/protein) based on your goals. This goes with calorie tracking too
-Getting attached to more specific programs. Example, I just did a bench press specialty program
-Setting a specific bedtime and perhaps routine to help with recovery
-Perhaps taking a supplement like creatine (one that we know works)

Then we have diminshing returns. This still means progress, but you’re working harder for less return than when you’re just locking in basics and specifics. If you’re serious about it, these returns can still be worth it. 

Things under this category could be:

-Adding in an extra training session beyond 4 workouts per week
-Focusing on nutrient timing such as carbs/protein before, during and after your workout
-Optimizing when you workout and your stressors around it
-Taking supplements that could help but are less bang for your buck

Finally, we got the 1% edges. Which is essentially reserved for elite athletes who are literally trying to get that one tenth of a second off their sprint, for example. Which I’ll assume is nobody who is reading this.

The point is, most of us will live in the basics and specifics categories. 

Which is what most of us need. We’re not elite athletes who need that final 1% edge. We just need to hammer down the basics, form solid habits and still enjoy our damn lives. 

Would it be better if that time was spent doing everything the optimal way? Sure. The only issue is whether that was feasible or realistic.

Once again, If you read the literature on exercise science, optimizing all training conditions is far from accessible to the average person.

Maximizing training frequency/intensity combined with maximizing nutrition protocols to support those goals all combined with maximizing recovery from these stressors.

This leaves VERY little room for other life stressors (work, family, personal), for food prepared out your control and for anything to get in the way of your flow.

This is all quite unrealistic for the average person. Not to mention it would probably consume any extra income you had available. 

But what if you could do about 70% of these things? Maybe sometimes 80–90% and even sometimes around 40–50%?

If you did this for an extended period of time, you’d be fucking crushing it.

The only caveat is whether you set yourself up for failure by expecting optimization all of the time.

So the answer lies within reminding yourself not to trade in sustainability for optimization.

Perhaps you can sustain optimization. Awesome.

But if you can’t, you’re totally fine. Consistently following a decent plan ALWAYS beats inconsistently following the perfect one.

Cheers

-Coach Dylan