Keeping a detailed workout log and setting goals. Having short, mid, and long term goals helped me tremendously because I have a purpose when I’m in the gym.
The only doing I did right from the beggining was effort.
I was one of the most out of shape guy at my school until I started to run 10km a day 7 times a week. On top of that I was curling pink DB at the local fitness center 3-4 times a week.
4 month later I finished second at the 5km race at my school with a time of 16:33 min.I never had some sort of external support and I still don’t
allways set goals and figured out a way to achieve them.
Consistency.
Never stopped, only learned more, lifted more, ate more, rested more, gravitated to those who knew more, and never have I been even close to satisfaction.
The rest? Yep, I was a noob, for sure.
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
I surrounded myself with guys who had similar goals as me. I had guys older than me, mainly the varsity football players, who actually got on your ass if you slacked off. Guys who cornered you if you missed a workout (not joking here), and took lifting very seriously. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t strong right away, and that it took time to get strength, but more that I was willing to try. Saturday morning workouts at 7am, after which we all took a dip in the pool. I have to say that those were probably the best years, because it built a sense of comradery, also known here as the Brotherhood of Iron.
It was like having 60 older brothers, who were tough on you, but were so because they knew how important it was to pass this shit on. One day after school while in 9th grade, I was getting harrassed by some wannabee gang members. I was by myself while they had maybe 4-5 guys. One of the junior FB players saw this from a distance, and came back with what had to be the entire varsity team.
Not much was said, but the fear of God was evident on the faces of those idiots. When I was s senior, I made sure that the same attitude was pushed forward and taught to those youngsters coming up. Because again, these lessons had to be passed on. My team beat the previous year’s state champion in the CIF Southern Section in Division 2, giving them their only loss of the season.
Its been nearly 20 years since that happened and I still talk with some of those older guys. Without question, that has to be one of the best things I have learned from the iron, is how much you learn about shit OUTSIDE the iron. Taking care of yourself outside the gym.
I was also lucky enough to introduced to the iron by a guy who pushed weight for decades. I was lucky enough to be shown the big lifts, how to do them over and over, and how to cope with soreness that left you wishing for a quick death. From grades 9-12, I went from 130 to 255 in bodyweight, although I was still chubby but strong. He did 2 tours in Vietnam, to be left limping from being shot in the same knee twice. He gave his sister a kidney without thought of recourse. Depending on what you needed, he gave you a hug or a kick in the ass. [/quote]
That’s some inspiring stuff man.
High school football and wrestling helped a ton. I learned dedication and hard work from that, and i succeeded well in the sports i played. Football coaches also showed me how to properly do exercises so that gave me a good advantage from the start.
Busting my balls in the gym from the start, and had/have a willingness to learn.
Picked up the iron. Even though I’m not big or even strong atm, this one is gonna stay with me for the rest of my life.
[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
MaximusB wrote:
I surrounded myself with guys who had similar goals as me. I had guys older than me, mainly the varsity football players, who actually got on your ass if you slacked off. Guys who cornered you if you missed a workout (not joking here), and took lifting very seriously. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t strong right away, and that it took time to get strength, but more that I was willing to try. Saturday morning workouts at 7am, after which we all took a dip in the pool. I have to say that those were probably the best years, because it built a sense of comradery, also known here as the Brotherhood of Iron.
It was like having 60 older brothers, who were tough on you, but were so because they knew how important it was to pass this shit on. One day after school while in 9th grade, I was getting harrassed by some wannabee gang members. I was by myself while they had maybe 4-5 guys. One of the junior FB players saw this from a distance, and came back with what had to be the entire varsity team.
Not much was said, but the fear of God was evident on the faces of those idiots. When I was s senior, I made sure that the same attitude was pushed forward and taught to those youngsters coming up. Because again, these lessons had to be passed on. My team beat the previous year’s state champion in the CIF Southern Section in Division 2, giving them their only loss of the season.
Its been nearly 20 years since that happened and I still talk with some of those older guys. Without question, that has to be one of the best things I have learned from the iron, is how much you learn about shit OUTSIDE the iron. Taking care of yourself outside the gym.
I was also lucky enough to introduced to the iron by a guy who pushed weight for decades. I was lucky enough to be shown the big lifts, how to do them over and over, and how to cope with soreness that left you wishing for a quick death. From grades 9-12, I went from 130 to 255 in bodyweight, although I was still chubby but strong. He did 2 tours in Vietnam, to be left limping from being shot in the same knee twice. He gave his sister a kidney without thought of recourse. Depending on what you needed, he gave you a hug or a kick in the ass.
That’s some inspiring stuff man.[/quote]
Hell yeah, Max. Thanks for that.
Squats.
Tried creatine monohydrate within 6 months of training (This was 5/6 years ago,it was pretty well known,still scared a lot of people,due to little data available on long-term studies,or was deemed hype,some people convinced it was a steroid or something or that ‘it just adds water,not real muscle’ newsflash asshole-muscle is around 70% water anyway!) saw dramatic improvements despite my noob ass still using every machine,very little free weights,not squatting or deadlifting,and spending like 2+ hours in the gym.
Gradually learned to train smarter,not harder…
But I guess the real gains came not so much when I picked up heavy iron,but when I picked up a few books,got more and more curious,educated myself,never got afraid to try new stuff out.
I never had the patience (maybe due to ADD,or just my personality) to actually follow a structured programme,and I kind of like experimenting and tweaking anyway.The only one I ever tried or liked was 5 x 5 -with a handful of best-bang-for-your-buck exercises,a tube of tiger balm muscle rub and no other training or cardio for 6-8 weeks,then 2 weeks off-nice and simple.And I only first tried that a year ago! I still keep it in mind if I hit a plateau,and it hits the spot.
I still love the old training adage-‘Everything works-for a while!’ when I open a gym,thats gonna be above the door.
Always worked hard even if i didn’t know what I was doing
Deadlift (that was the only thing)
Got a trainer to build my work out every 6-8 weeks. That way I make sure I build a balance shape and do all the lifts that need to be done (eg deadlift, squat, power clean, etc.)
Keep a log book, I cfan tell what I have done 2 years ago with the weight I was lifting
I just busted my ass from the start. I stll do to this day.
I’ve always done rows. Barbell, T, chest supported. Row, row, row. Everything else was a disaster in the begining.
Great inspiration.
Think the one thing I did right was sqatting and training with a guy that only did bench and curls. We evened eachother out (me only wanting to squat) and learned alot in the process.
Started young, thats literally the only thing I did “right” from the start.
And I did chins and dips from the start, had a football coach ask me how the hell I was gonna move the guy across from me’s body when I couldnt even move my own…
I hired a trainer at the age of 18, and Im not talking about one of these shrimpy or pudgy idiots that dont know squat I hired the biggest mofo in that place. He was 235lbs 5"10 and 37 years old he was a beast. It was defineately expensive for my budget but I took away so much from it and its the only reason Ive been able to acomplish what I have. Also dont be scared to ask some questions, you wont bug most people if you ask them inbetween sets and especially if theyve noticed you there and see you have dedication Im willing to help anyone I see want it bad enough.
The only thing I did right was watch and eaves drop on the one group of guys where I started who looked they lifted weights. I didn’t have the first flickering clue what I was doing and knew it.