What did you wish you knew back when you first started lifting?

Dan__Cote

This is a continuation from a post by @abbynormalartist from back in 2017. I Think it was a very inciteful discussion that didn't get as much momentum as it deserved.

Come on my fellow old gurus of iron. Let's hear that wisdom.


For me, I wish i understood the importance of carbohydrates and creatine. I overvalued protein and trained with extreme volume and frequency. Never understanding that stimulating muscle growth was only a small part of the equasion. Recovery, rest time and sleep are when you are actually growing. I wish I was kinder on my joints. I wish I took the time to understand my calorie needs and not just engorge myself like a fatty. Most of all, I wish I would have known about Mike Mentzer's teachings and the effectiveness of HIT (High Intensity Training).

Who's next?

cupcakesandproteinshakes

I wish I had realised the importance of protein.
And not playing fuckarounditis with lifting programmes .

RPE. Rest periods. Wish I’d known about those in my first 2 years of lifting.

nossmf

The ligaments in your joints take longer to adapt than your muscles do when increasing weights from one week to the next. Just because your muscles can handle it, give it another couple weeks for your joints to reach that same level before going up in weight.

Shoulders are used in more exercises than you realize. Give enough time for them to recover, rather than programming in consecutive days (such as chest-back-shoulders-chest).

claireychn074

That I was hypermobile and that’s what caused a load of the issues I had. Finding that out earlier would have helped.

That starting lifting in my 40s meant I needed more rest than the 20 yr olds in the gym. And that it was okay I couldn’t - and wouldn’t - be able to lift the same weights.

sollyn23l2

That it wouldn't change my body shape as much as all the instagrammers/ fitness program seller's claimed it would. I still love lifting, but it didn't turn me into some hourglass goddess with a big butt and tiny waist. I'm just a slightly stronger version of the same body. And I'm happy with that.

psuLemon

I would definitely put more work into working accessory muscles and some flexibility/mobility. All the arguments about how it can attenuate maximum strength gains, and i was stupid enough to listen.


Why? It doesn't matter if strength attenuates gains if you get back and shoulder issues from over tightness, and weak accessories. Now that i add in more mobility training (less than 30 second per move), my strength has increased far beyond my 20s and 30s and my pains are almost gone. I see have to work more on rear delt strength more.

But i did hit a lifetime PR on hip thrust of 505 last week.

ninerbuff

Wish I would have trained legs a little harder in the beginning of my journey. Like many young guys I focused on chest and arms.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

pandoragreen21

Applying progressive overload…I spent too much time doing the same weight for x sets and reps and failing to push myself when warranted.

Dan__Cote

Thank you all for your incite and wisdom. There's a ton of misinformation out there, dedicated to scamming you out of your hard earned money.....and time. I'm 38 y/o now (or level 38. It just sounds better) and have been lifting since I was 13. @ninerbuff , I feel you buddy. I was a card carrying member of the Upper Bod Squad for my first few years. @pandoragreen21 Absolutely. Been there too. Same weight, same reps, stagnant. @psuLemon I what mobility exercises are you doing? I need help with that too. @sollyn2312 Carbs and recovery time are your friend. I would recommend a tiny surplus of calories and directly train each muscle group once every week or 10 days. Your booty will grow! I'm no expert on waist training though. @claireychn074 absolutely. Stimulate growth, then rest and recover for an extended period. Old lions take a little longer to recover than young lions. @nossmf Yup. Trashed my shoulders in my youth and am paying for it now too. Great tip. @cupcakesandproteinshakes ...love your name lol

jiggyj9

Do NOT join Crossfit without having any lifting experience/athletic background. Just... don't.

Focus on form. Don't lift with your ego. Do everything with conscious intent. Learn how to breathe and brace. Take care of your joints. Be patient and consistent.

And, like others have said, the importance of macros!

williamsonmj1

This is a great topic. I am just about to turn 50. I first went into a gym when I was 16 but just messed about until I found out about heavy lifting when I was abut 38/39. Have been very inconsistent because of work, injuries and so on. Just in the last few months I have managed to figure a few things out and I feel like I am almost now starting for the first time. And I think it boils down to three things.

1) "You don't have a bad back, you have weak abs"

My first 10 or so years lifting were plagued with a serious back issue. I was sort of able to work around it, but recently I looked into videos about the McGill Big Three and about how to breath and brace properly. My back has been doing dramatically better since then- although it is still far from normal.

2) Track your macros

Just started doing in the last four months. Before when I was lifting I would try to eat a high protein diet with a lot of vegetables, and then try to fine-tune the amount of carbs depending on whether I was trying to lose or maintain weight. Now I have been tracking macros for a while I know for a fact that I have never eaten enough protein, not even close. And when I was wanting to lose weight a bit I was doing it in a really sub-optimal way. Since I have been tracking the results have been incredible, and I am just at the beginning.

3) If you want to grow your muscle, you need to take that part of your training more seriously, learn about it and apply yourself

I have always been mainly interested in strength training, but like everyone else like the idea of looking good with my shirt off. So I have generally thrown in a bit of hypertrophy/bodybuilding stuff. I guess partly because I don't get the appeal of pro bodybuilding (I don't like the aesthetic and I find the idea of doing competitions where you are purely judged on appearance) I never really looked into how to do that stuff or took it seriously. So I would just do a few sets of curls or tricep extensions without much focus on technique, without tracking properly (and thus not really going for progressive overload) and without learning much about form.

This time round I adopted the rule that I track and aim for progressive overload on pretty much every single exercise I do (I have always tracked strength stuff, just not accessory stuff). I also watched a few Renaissance Periodization videos and found out a bit more abut technique. Started doing the things they advocate for every movement- controlled eccentric, full ROM, try to initiate the movement with the prime mover in a fully stretched position. And also just embracing the philosophy that while with strength work you are using technique to move more weight safely, with hypertrophy stuff you are using technique so that you can use less weight and still have hard sets. Along with tracking my macros, this has made a really noticeable difference, and this is only about four months in.

springlering62

That I can admire and be awed by other females lifting heavy weights, but that I don’t have to do it myself.

I’d like to do bigger weights, but coming to this in my (very) late 50’s, I have to recognize it’s not gonna happen. Consistency is what it’s all about.

I get very respectable results plugging away at lower ones, with the emphasis being on “plugging away”.

It’s all about consistency.

rileysowner

That is a very very long time back. I wish I knew that the workout programs in the bodybuilding magazines that the pros had way too much volume for anyone not on roids. I also wish I knew then that the basic compound lifts would put on strength and muscle far better than all the isolation stuff I did. Squats, Bench, OHP, Bent-over Rows, and Deadlifts would have been far more productive for me.

woodydamachine90

Where to get certain things.

tattygun

To of hired a good quality PT from the off. Would of saved me a lot of years in achieving my physique.

That you can't out train a bad diet.

Not to call myself a powerlifter so I could justify eating like a pig, I didn't even compete.

To not look down on bodybuilding. I should of learnt their techniques and approach to nutrition.

To take more photos. I wish I had starting pictures to compare against. I take starting pictures with all my clients and it's so important as their journey progresses.

To get into a smaller, more focused gym from the off. Years of being in a commercial gym learning very little off other people was a waste.

To not keep chasing weight when I comes to growing arms and legs.

To not follow the teachings of Jordan Peters etc. Huge risk and damaging to the joints. Much prefer a lighter weight, higher volume approach. I grew more too.

williamsonmj1

A few for me.

I wish I had learned how to brace properly, and generally about core stability. I found out about the theory from the beginning and was always trying to do the Valsava maneuver, but I wasn't doing it right. And I didn't know how to strengthen the movement with stuff like the McGill Big Three. So I spent 11 years struggling with a terrible back that could have been avoided, or at least not so bad.

I also wish that the first time I stalled, I had just found a good bodybuilder and let them train me for a year. Then back to strength stuff. I still don't entirely get bodybuilding, but no one knows as much about putting on muscle as they do. I recognized before long that to be strong and avoid injuries I needed to add some muscle but because I didn't take bodybuilding seriously I just rushed through exercises, didn't focus on technique and didn't train them progressively. As a result, the only real muscle I put on was my quads and pecs, because I front squat a lot and for whatever reason that's what benching does to me. I wish I had just put myself in the hands of a bodybuilder and said "I want to develop everything, but especially lower back, abs and triceps". It would have helped me with injuries and actually having triceps would have made a huge difference to my pressing. Plus I would have known how to do hypertrophy training after 1-2 years' lifting, instead of 13 years lifting.

I also wish I had known the difference that tracking your macros compared to winging it would make. I guess I didn't realize just how more protein I needed, mainly. Again, I think I would be a lot further down the road now.

95km90

For me it would be to not overtrain or if I did I should’ve put recovery as my first priority with enough nutritious food and sleep. Also wish I saw a chiro and a physio sooner since I dealt with overuse injuries which could’ve been prevented. And also wish I wasn’t so fixated on lifting heavy should’ve been focusing on how the movement felt and doing it right instead of chasing numbers.So basically as silly as it sounds just listen to your body lol.