The Final Deal With It: Muscle Bewilderment and The Shit in This Post is so Obvious it Doesn't Need to be Said.

Whatever you did today in the gym, continue to do it for the next 6-8.

Fuck what you read about changing programs and "shocking your muscles."

Get better at a few lifts, and when all your lifts look identical, from warm up to heavy single, then hammer the volume when you feel up to it.

Programs are written to be four weeks because that's when the new issue of "Men's Health/Muscle&Fitness/etc" hits magazine racks.

The people who are the strongest/fittest/etc stick with the basics. There are no exceptions to that.

Got a bar, plates and a rack?

Clean and press and back squat every day for the next 6 months.
I guarantee you'll be stronger than you are now by the end of it.
If you can't clean the bar, just press from the rack and do pullups throughout the day.
If you're cleaning and pressing, only do singles. Back squat should be kept in the 1-3 range.

Pressing from the rack? Keep the reps in the 1-3 range.
As for pullups, do half of your max reps 2-5 times a day. Or you could set a total number of reps to hit  and do them in as many sets as you want throughout the day.

No equipment?
Go push your car, then, push it backwards, facing away or pull it walking backwards.

No car? Live in a big city where you'd get arrested for pushing a car around? Amish?
I'm not really into BW-only routines, but simplefit seems to work pretty well. One of the moderators ("cheapo") managed to make some remarkable progress simply by sticking with the routine and not program hopping after 6 weeks. (www.simplefit.org)

Love bodyweight stuff?
Pistols and muscle-ups for the next 6 months.

Live in an apartment?
Get something heavy (sandbag would be ideal in this situation) and hold it in the Zercher position. Walk up the stairs. However many flights it takes. If taking 1 step at a time is easy, do 2 steps at a time. Keep everything tight. I usually hate lunges because people wobble and shuffle around swinging and bending over but holding the weight in the Zercher position keeps you upright and walking up the stairs keeps your foot movement more "mechanical." When you get to the top get the bag in the press position and press it overhead. Reps will depend on the weight in the sandbag. Stick with strict overhead press or push press. Don't call your loose-as-fuck-sad-excuse-for-a-power-jerk a press if it isn't strict.

"But what about my upper back and scapula retractors and shit pulled from a physical rehabilitation clinic?!"
Have you ever held anything in the Zercher position?
Your upper, mid and low back will be worked, along with your biceps.

Food:
Eat real food. Food doesn't come in a box or ready-made.
3 times a day. Want to gain weight? More times a day. Want to lose weight? Fewer times a day or less food.


---EDIT---
If anyone actually goes forward with a "black and white" program (focusing on a select few lifts and hammering them frequently), let me know and keep me updated.


Stop switching programs to avoid adaptation.
Adapting is what lifting weights is about.
You wasted too much time already. Changing lifts because you stagnate for a week or two. You probably kid yourself into thinking this is some form of 'periodization' or 'cycling.' It isn't.

"Once your shoes are on the platform and the hands touch the bar your time for thinking is over."

                                                                                                       --Donny Shankle

Just. Be. Better.