10 Lessons from a Decade of Training

I've been in training in the gym seriously for nearly a decade now

Here are 10 Non Obvious Lessons I've learned

Build Your Bases

Don't worry about hitting heavy singles

Hit heavy 3's and 5's

These are your bread and butter for maximal strength, power, and hypertrophy depending on the sets

When these numbers climb, your max climbs

Don't Overthink Shit

I've psyched myself out of jumps, lifts, throws, and everything in between because I got in my own head

I've also hit PRs when I did my math on the plates wrong

It's crazy how mental training can be

Don't think - just go

Get Strong before you get Big

Everyone wanna be big

but no one wants to lift some heavy ass weight

Ronnie Coleman was the first man to say this

and none of y'all on twitter take it to heart

Strong people are harder to kill

Get Strong

Barbells and Dumbbells are superior to bodyweight for MOST people

It's great to do push ups and pull ups as accessory movements

but for true progressive overload you need a barbell and weights

bodyweight aint gonna get you far naturally (in a short timespan)

Make your strength usable

No one on the field or IRL gives a shit about how much you bench or squat

But everyone can see and know how fast you run, how high you jump, or how athletic you are

Use your strength to DO THINGS

not chase numbers

.People are gonna give you shit for committing to training

Screw em

Most folks on twitter and IRL don't have a decent physique despite all their online course sales

I'd rather have my health and fitness, and figure out how to make money after

Ask Questions everywhere you go

I asked questions to people at every gym I went to

• powerlifters
• bodybuilders
• weightlifters
• strongmen

everyone has a tip or trick to make you a better athlete

it pays to listen , because the "lessons in Iron" are worth their weight

Use Google or Get a Damn Coach

I was fortunate to do my own research and found good solid programs to follow

Follow a program (as it's written) and figure out what works

This is the easiest way to gains

Flexibility is useless without Stability

Work on Mobility = Flexibility + Stability

Be strong in precarious positions

eg - bottom of the squat, bench, overhead pressing

No one cares if you can touch your toes if you can't pull some serious weight from there

Don't worry if you screw up - because you have your whole life to go

I've beat myself up when I've missed a workout, didn't do the right reps or sets, or confused the exercise with something else

Fast forward to today and it doesn't matter

Screw up, learn, build