Who taught you to lift?

rybo

Reading post after post of the lack of knowledge or the flat out misinformation given out by trainers at gyms and the broscience running rampant, it made me extremely thankful to have had really good teachers when I started out lifting.
My college roomate was a technician and information sponge when it came to lifting & body building. The gyms I lifted at over the summers were hole in the wall, old school, and nothing above a cable machine in them. We had guys with tons of knowledge and some amazingly strong power lifters that freely shared their knowledge and experience. It seems like a completely different universe from the gyms I read about here on the boards.

SezxyStef

interesting question...my brother helped me at first. He read and absorbed as much as he could...he was a skinny skinny kid who wanted to bulk..and boy did he bulk...

He and I used to go to the gym together 15 years ago...and while I was in the military I had a lot of "instruction" from the guys I would workout with...some good some not so good...

I have learned to take the good with the bad.

Since I have started lifting again. I have read a lot of material on my specific program Stronglifts 5x5 watched his videos (not a fan of his methods to be honest....he goes really fast and I have always felt that the negative was as important as the positive)...anyway so then I moved onto the "so you think you can____________" youtube series with Dave Tate...and wow just wow I wish I could go there for a month and learn and be taught...that would be awesome.

I don't go to a gym so I don't get "recommendations" from trainers...which based on my reading here would be pretty much useless anyway.

The only other thing I do is video my lifts and post on ETP and my SL group to be critiqued...I take what I am told in those groups quite seriously...for example my squat I was not getting quite down far enough per the critque so I have fixed that...mind you in the same critique I was told to narrow my stance up...I didn't do that as I find it more comfortable for me to have a wider stance atm (1st degree pull in my gracilis)

randomtai

Youtube.com

MinnieInMaine

Most of my knowledge comes from my friend who is an excellent personal trainer and has been in the business for years.

The rest of it comes from a combination of talking to folks here and in the gym that are in the know (my broscience alarm has developed quite well over the years), doing fitness videos and doing my own research and training. I've still got a lot to learn though and rely a lot on certain people and/or online sources if I'm unsure.

7213Melissa

If someone doesn't know about lifting, how can they be sure the advice they are getting even from trainers is good advice? I have noticed at my local Y where I lift weights, all the coaches seem to tell people to do things different and when they do their personal workouts they are lifting different from how they told some of us to do it. I do have some guys in the gym some are trainers others aren't that will walk up and give me advice to correct my lift but they give conflicting advice. All the coaches and random people, both men and women who have done this all look great and don't seem injured. Soooo does that mean there is more than one way to do most lifts? Or whomever is doing it wrong simply hasn't gotten hurt yet?

SugaryLynx

Youtube.com

^me too!

cwolfman13

I started out pretty young. My dad got me started with a lot of body weight work when I was 10 or so. I graduated to barbells when I was about 13; my dad was pretty old school in RE to just doing compound lifts while I really wanted to walk around doing arm curls...but I stuck it out with primarily the compounds as was glad I did.

When I was in highschool I started doing more Oly Lifting as per my track coach. I was a sprinter and jumper so Oly lifting just made a lot more sense than other forms of lifting. I'd pretty much switch back and forth between Oly stuff and more traditional strength/power lifting.

I pretty much ditched the weight room in the military and opted for body weight stuff and more stamina/endurance type of exercises...stamina and endurance are more important to survival. I tried to get back into lifting when I exited the military and started school, but just did it off and on and pretty much ended dropping it altogether in my late 20s until about 1.5 years ago when I picked it back up.

Wish I would have been doing this all along.

TheArchyBunker

A Drill Sergeant helped me understand the fundamentals of lifting.

sijomial

Coming from the pre-internet generation I mostly learned from Mr Trial and Mr Error.
The error part explains why one of my shoulders doesn't work exactly as nature intended.....

So much easier these days to get good advice and learn proper technique - I've changed bench press technique twice in the last year having done it the same old way for 35+ years and weights have gone up both times and soreness has also gone down.

I'm constantly shocked how badly people lift, especially in the more "leisure" type gyms.

JoRocka

I learned in college from the guy who ran the football teams training program. Our soccer coach made them write us a program and then trained us for several weeks/months a year on the off season.

Best thing I could have taken away from that experience.

So that's where the fundamentals came- I have been self taught past that.

Dalker

Just kinda winged it based on what I'd read online and on youtube. I still don't know whether I'm doing anything properly. Usually end up developing minor pain somewhere, then refining my technique. I'm sure this isn't the best way to go about it but it has been my only option until recently. The gym I joined recently runs the occasional lifting fundamentals session but I have missed them so far. I will get to one soon hopefully and that will give me some more peace of mind. They also do an olympic lifting class which I'm desperate to attend but I want to make sure my basics are right first.

12by311

In high school, I played sports and we lifted in the summer. That was my basis of knowledge.

Since then, I read and watch videos, and talk with my friend who is the football coach where I work. We are hashing stuff out all the time. I workout in our school's field house. Another of my co-workers just completed his first ironman and has extensive fitness knowledge.

I would give almost ANYTHING to go back in time to college though. I put on 24+ lbs in college and lost it all and then some before I graduated. I got really into running but didn't lift as routinely. I would LOVE to go back to that time with all that free time and bust my butt. I know I could've made all kinds of gainz.

MartialPanda

My martial arts instructor who practicing martial arts for years and has been a lifting enthusiast for forever. He's the person that really helped me start eating better and lifting harder. He gave me a lot of initial form tips and from then on out it's been a wild ride. I love learning from everyone that really knows what they're doing. I have been that person that walks up to someone that's doing something new and ask them to teach me it. Form is always the most important thing to so i always make sure i perfect that before doing anything else.

Yeah i like this topic!

LoraF83

I mostly taught myself by watching Mark Rippetoe youtube videos and reading Starting Strength. My husband would come into the gym with me very now and then to make sure my form was good. I also videotaped myself so he could look at it for reference.

When I recently wanted to learn some Oly lifts, I asked a good friend who is a lifting coach to show me. She walked me through the basics, and then another friend checked my form for me a few times.

caseythirteen

No one. I've just read a lot, watched videos and keep learning as I go.

WakkoW

I started lifting before YouTube, so it was books in the beginning (Body For Life). Then somehow I found tnation.com and just used those workouts for a while. I had one introductory session at the first gym I joined, and decided it was a waste of money.

Looking back, I sort of wish I looked for a good trainer.

For the last couple of years now I have been practicing the olympic lifts and have coaches. Im not all that talented at the olympic lifts, but, I can finally say, my snatch feels pretty good. :happy:

BlueBombers

Years ago: Body For Life Book
Currently: YouTube & Bodybuilding.com

madhatter2013

Just kinda winged it based on what I'd read online and on youtube. I still don't know whether I'm doing anything properly. Usually end up developing minor pain somewhere, then refining my technique. I'm sure this isn't the best way to go about it but it has been my only option until recently. The gym I joined recently runs the occasional lifting fundamentals session but I have missed them so far. I will get to one soon hopefully and that will give me some more peace of mind. They also do an olympic lifting class which I'm desperate to attend but I want to make sure my basics are right first.

^^This^^ and SezxyStef

Alidecker

My personal trainer was very helpful with correct form, we hae spent a lot of time perfecting form, now that he isn't in the same city as me anymore, he writes my workouts and includes Youtube videos for me to watch. If I am doing a workout and still not sure the form is correct, I have a friend from the gym who helps me and watches to make sure my form is right.

ItsCasey

A friend of mine introduced me to the concepts of "heavy lifting" and actual training programs, as opposed to just "working out." He was a college athlete and was well-versed in S&C theory.

I learned kettlebell lifts just from watching tons of videos and reading tons of blogs on the subject. You learn really quickly who knows their stuff and who is full of crap when you start doing actual research and stop asking random people for advice.

As far as barbell lifting, I started out doing the same thing. The kettlebell community overlaps with the lifting community pretty well. But I felt like I would benefit from more one-on-one instruction and program development, so I hired a lifting coach.

bcf7683

Youtube.com

This^ and Bodybuilding.com. Their exercise guides are invaluable if you're learning on your own.

And when I started deadlifting, I would pick the most credible looking dude in the weight room (that wasn't super busy) and ask him to watch my first few reps and tell me if I was doing anything wrong. As weird as it sounds, people are usually willing to help.

vjohn04

The absolutely brutally hot trainer in my college gym.


I kept going to the gym just because of him.


yep.

Chadomaniac

My dad

Both my parents were bodybuilders late 80s early 90s when I was born

My dad is 48years old and twice my size with abs :huh:

darrensurrey

Mainly Youtube but initially some big chaps from another forum, some of whom are PTers with S&C qualifications.

allbarrett

I got a trainer and I think he's been great.

Each exercise he shows me (free weights or machines) he demonstrates first. He's actually around my height so he gets all the equipment adjusted perfectly. I haven't had any joint pain or other problems after any of my sessions with him (lots of muscle aches, but that is what I hired him for). He switches stuff up (heavy lifts, lighter lifts, sets, supersets, mixing up which muscle groups I'm working on, bodyweight/machines/free weights, etc.). He also points people out around the gym and comments quietly on their technique (good or not-so-good) pointing out where I can make improvements to my technique or what to avoid to prevent injury.

Getting a trainer was, for me, the best thing I could have done. I feel I'm making real progress (I keep notes separate from his, so I can get some idea of where I started and where I am now). I'm nearly halfway through my contract with him. Wish I could renew but his fees on top of the gym membership is a bit much on a permanent basis. Maybe when I'm old and rich (but still lifting heavy!).

SunKissed1989

The cute guys who work at the gym :blushing:

I set up an appointment with them so I could start lifting weights for toning as well as using the weights machines that look like torture devices...until you actually know how to use them! Now I know how to use them and am no longer intimidated by those 'torture devices'

a_stronger_me13

The coaches at Bridger CrossFit (waits for angry mob to attack)

After the basic knowledge was there I picked the brains of the people I know personally that compete in powerlifting and olympic lifting; read a lot of books, articles and tidbits from the well known people like Rippetoe and Jim Wendler; and watched a whole bunch of videos. Videoing myself while lifting has been another great resource for learning.

Jlmervin03

I have a gym membership at the YMCA. When I first joined, they set up a meeting with a personal trainer, and he showed me how to use the equipment. If I questions about anything, the employees there are more than happy to show me.

LolBroScience

Self taught through breaking down my form on video, receiving feedback from other friends and some people here.

Leadfoot_Lewis

Self taught by doing A LOT of research.

RunsOnEspresso

Weight Training class in high school. Year 1 was learning lifts and pre-made programs. Year 2 was research and designing your own program, approved by the teacher, to reach personal goals.