5 things you learned in your lifting journey

[grindy]

Lots of youtubers doing this, why not us as well.

Here are mine in no particular order:

1. Don't obsess over the small stuff
There are some variables that are non-negotiable: Progressive overload, going close to failure, being consistent, eating enough protein, generally eating enough, sleeping well. Apart from that, most things don't matter that much or probably not at all. Does it matter what type of curl you are doing for your bicep? Probably not. Some variation might be better but if you work hard over a good period of time, you'll grow. Does it matter what split you use? No, as long as you are consistent and train enough. And so on. Doesn't mean you shouldn't think about your training, just don't obsess about minutiae.

2. Nothing motivates like progress
A lot of people say that they need a program with bells and whistles and weird exercises and constant changes to stay motivated. I noticed that stuff like that can motivate you in the short run. But those programs are usually not easy to progress with long term and when you stop seeing results, you stop being motivated. My program is basic af but I see myself getting bigger and stronger and I enjoy it so much more than some of the bullshit I used to do.

3. Heavy, free weight compounds rule
You can certainly get incredibly jacked with only isolations on machines or even calisthenics. But there is something special for me about training compounds with a barbell with relatively low reps (4-6). You learn to grind, you learn to handle and move with big weights which has a great carry over to everyday tasks, your whole body learns to work in unison. Compounds are also very efficient since you train various muscles at once. And you can progress quite quickly on them which is super motivating (see 2.)

4. Bulk and cut
Recomping (eating around or even below maintenance but still growing muscle) can work, especially if you're quite overweight but it's very slow and sometimes doesn't work at all. There is nothing like bulking to quickly increase your size and strength. I used to worry way too much about having a visible six pack and the result is that I'm still small and weak after years of training. Not to mention that you don't have to totally pig out on a bulk, just eat around 400-500 calories above maintenance.

5. Beware of grifters
The fitness world is full of grifters. Most influencers and nutritionists that you find on youtube etc. suck. Most personal trainers have no idea what they are talking about. Be very skeptical of the stuff you hear and see and stay informed. Try to be your own trainer and learn how to write your own program, similarly with your diet. Grifters and gurus try to make those things seem complicated but they really aren't.

[jimmy jazz]

Good idea for a thread and good points being made. I'll have a think and come back to this.

Good stuff.

[Guybrush]

I'm not sure I've even learned five significant things yet, but I am trying to learn from the wisdom and mistakes of those who came before ne, so.. Good idea for a thread 🙂

[jimmy jazz]

I'm going to post as and when I think of them.

First one for me is don't obsess over perfection. If you can get things 90% right, 90% of the time, then it will be enough for you to get where you want to get to. The difference between 90% and 100% is not much really. That will probably make a difference for the elite, competitive athlete but not for everyone else. So if you missed a meal or you didn't work out or you had a bad workout and had to stop early it's not a big deal. This brings me on to my next one which is...

Consistency over time is more important than anything. If you are just starting out, it can be tempting to want to get everything right when you're in that beginning period of being motivated and determined, but then you can miss a workout, eat pizza when you were supposed to have chicken or get an injury and then you feel like all your work is gone but that isn't the case. This is something I learned getting sober too. If I relapsed on alcohol it didn't mean that I might as well start drinking ten beers a day again. Just carry on and get back on it. A year of training with a few shit moments is better than a year of doing fuck all and eating cheeseburgers.

These two are both sort of linked but are things I have learned.

[Guybrush]

Something I learned is this:

I was doing bench presses, yoga that was mostly just plank, ab-wheel rollouts, chest flys, lateral raises, also a bit of dumbbell pullover.

These are things I added to my simple basic program of squats, pendlay rows, bench press.

My problem is all of the above extras fucked my shoulder up quickly and clearly wasn't sustainable. So something was wrong with the pressure I was putting on my poor shoulder joints.

I'm doing better now because I took a week off and stopped doing some of those, though I'll see if I can fit some of that back in my program in a more sustainable way. Like less shoulder work and maybe chest flys are less bad if you do them from a decline?