Things You Wish You Knew When You Started

As each post appears and I nod my head I guess my answer would be- All of it.

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I trained haphazardly through high school. Neither my P.E teacher or a huge older bloke that I used to train with ever told me to squat! Wtf! I had (still have) skinny arse useless legs but all we ever did was bench, curl, chins, dips and lateral raises!!

Also wish I ate more :confused:

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This is me still. Although in my case, it’s likely true! Lmao

I was going to post these same things, but Punisher did it already.

The value of scrambled eggs

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Sprints! The hell with steady state cardio. I did an experiment on myself one summer. No lifting for legs but I did a structured sprint workout 3 days a week with the goal of improving my 200m sprint time. I’m not a runner so it’s not like I was knocking on the door of 20 sec. I was curious if it’s lose mass off my legs.

The results, legs stayed the same. No lost muscle and I was obviously in better shape. The only decrease in performance was my vertical. I joined a basketball league and had lost about 6 inches off my vertical. I’m a 2-footed jumper and seem to use more raw power than the stretch reflex to jump these days.

I added plyos and gained a couple inches but it wasn’t until I started lifting legs again that it all came back. And believe it or not all I had to do was single-leg leg press!

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Wish I knew Ellington Darden’s New High Intensity Training book wasn’t for me. Went from 16st tub of lard to sub 12st stick insect who still didn’t have abs! Thankfully I stumbled onto the Anabolic Diet and then this wonderful site. Can’t help think I missed out on some newbie gains back then.

Sprints are where it’s at.

I literally started sprinting 4 weeks ago. I’m doing the 6 week sprint solution and my body fat has dropped significantly and all my LB lifts have skyrocketed. I’m finally seeing my abs poke out and my weight hasn’t changed.

Never knew how powerful of a tool they really are!

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-just because the scale is moving up does not mean you’re adding muscle

-don’t date strippers

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To not fit into a pigeon hole, and that success is not simply based on natural ability.

I was pretty fast when I was younger. I figured that at my size (6-0 195ish) and speed, I had to play defensive back if I wanted to play sports. I didn’t hate football, and it gave me an opportunity to get my education, so I have fond memories.

Had I known that I could improve my jump shot by, gasp, practicing my jump shot, or hit a fastball by hitting fastballs, etc… I would have pursued a lot more interests.

I made the same mistake. I thought my best shot was to be a pitcher. I was 6’5" 220lbs coming out of high school. I could run a little and jump decent. As I look back I should’ve been a tight end. I could walk around at 240-250lbs if it was for a purpose. If only someone would’ve pulled me aside and told me what my best option was…instead I had pro scouts making me think I had a shot to play in the big leagues. A tall RHP who throws in the low 90’s is hardly a rare commodity in baseball. As a matter of fact, baseball was the worst possible choice for a scholarship. Division 1 schools get 11.7 full scholarships for baseball… The roster carries 35 players. Basketball gets 10 scholarships and only carries about 15 players… Not a lot of money in baseball. My parents could’ve paid for college multiple times with the money they spent on traveling teams and tournaments.

  • EVERY kind of training (splits, full body) “works” (meaning you will get bigger and stronger) and every program “works” (5/3/1, SS,Westside, BBing, strongman, crossfit, etc…) as long as you are busting ass. Some are better than other for certain goals, but generally speaking training hard is really the number 1 thing far and away

  • Based on that, unless your goal is to really specialize and achieve a high level in a specific lifting endeavor, you should probably just do the kind of training you like to do. For the “look good naked” crowd I don’t even think the dreaded Program Hopping is that big of a deal.

  • Nutrition is a bit more individual… but the most successful people generally stick to the same few meals over and over.

  • Avoid Majoring in the minors: When you are thinking of adding/changing something in your training for the purpose of getting bigger/stronger, ask yourself “how many pounds of muscle will this add to my body/lifts if I did this with 100% effort and consistency for the next 12 months” … If the answer is less than 3 lbs of LBM or 5 lbs of strength you should probably just move on (thinking of all the different hand positions, pull angles, foot width, grip width, etc… people seem to obsess over online)

  • Everyone bigger than you really is on steroids :wink:

In summation: Lift hard in any style you like, Find foods you could eat frequently and help you advance towards your goals, Avoid obsessing about things that will not amount to large results.

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Define “date”

Golden post!

I wish I haven’t squatted, deadlifted, pressed ( standing and bench ) twice a week with weights +90% of my max. First I got awesome results like adding 10 kgs to the deadlift and squat, in addition to 5 kgs in the pressing ( that was after 3 weeks). Then I continued for weeks in this training fashion with almost no increases in strength or muscle. My elbows were fucked and everytime I approached a workout I feared to die under a heavy squat or bench lol.

Also I wish I haven’t done zillion drop sets in the squat and deadlift twice a week. That shit killed my lower back.

I wish I didn’t go to failure every time I pressed , it literally raped my elbows.

Not to mention that full-body workouts work, but it stagnates after a few months and then splits should be added.

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Depends on how you program them really

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Deleted accidental post

Training arms doesnt instantly add inches a week later
I cant look like arnold after one month of training
Lifting doesnt make girls like you not being a dick does
Shouldve listened to all advice i got when i joined in september
Having no protein powder or special equipment doesn’t mean i wont make gains
Program doesnt matter compared to effort you put in. You can have the best program but if you dont put in the effor you wont get the results

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I wish someone had told me not to push through injuries.
Having an extra day off, or even an extra week off isn’t going to make anyone shrivel to nothing.

Also, that deadlifts and back squats are great, but are not compulsory or essential.

tweet

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Jeez mate, I’m surprised u go back to the gym. A lesser bloke would a psychological problems after all that haha

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