I have been training for around 15 years. I was first introduced to weight training by my cousin who played football and wrestled at the collegiate level. Needless to say, he knew a thing or 2 about the weight room. I had gotten a multi gym and a bench with the old school plastic and concrete weights that just about everybody had back in the day. I remember emailing this cousin questions about working out and the programs he had been doing. Reading every book, whether it was from a reputable source or not, on the ins and outs of working out. I would spend an hour or 2 in the basement aimlessly doing bicep curls and benching, not a squat in sight. Then my freshman year of high school I joined a gym and lifted with a team and a coach. My eyes were opened to what I had been doing wrong but also what I was doing right. Then in college I started powerlifting. I started off on my own but eventually moved gyms and was introduced to people who knew what they were doing. Again, opening my eyes to what I was doing wrong and right. Now I am a personal trainer and a decent powerlifter. Don’t get me wrong, I learn something new every day and still have a lot to work on; every single trainer in the world does. However, I was thinking recently about the age-old question, “What would you tell your younger self about ________?” So here are a couple things I would tell myself if I could go back.

1. Surround yourself with the right people. I don’t mean friends or family, although you should surround yourself with people that support you, but those who share a similar goal to you. It wasn’t until I started training in a group of people that had the same goal in mind that my lifts increased and got stronger. Having a knowledgeable crowd that not only helps you but criticizes constructively will help take you to the next level. In fact, I recently saw a quote that basically said a good training partner or partners don’t just push you to lift more weights but can also tell you to hit the brakes. I think this is a very underrated trait when all everyone wants to do is push constantly. Myself included.

2. Join a gym. Working out in the basement is great. Working out in the garage is great. In fact, I wish I could put a gym in my garage. However, there is no substitute for joining a gym especially if you’re new to working out. Getting to know the different pieces of equipment and finding what works for you is invaluable experience and can actually save you money. Consider this situation. You buy a bench, a bar, and some weights and set up a little space in your basement to become the next bench press champion. Let’s say you work out consistently (which rarely happens when you have a gym at home) but don’t see any progress. You get discouraged and eventually sell the equipment for a third of what you paid for it. On the other side, you could have joined a gym and realized your body responds better to a chest press machine rather than the barbell. You saved a boatload of money and aggravation. This happened to me. I would be in the basement doing crunches and pushups only to see no real growth. Then I joined a gym, started working out on different equipment and saw a difference.

3. Get your knowledge from a reputable source. One of the first books I read when I started lifting was Weight Training for Dummies. While there was good stuff in that book, it pales in comparison to what I read now. Sure, it was a book for beginners or in their words “dummies,” but there are other publications and programs geared towards beginners with updated research and written by more experienced coaches that can give you a better program than the classis 3 sets of 12 for every exercise. I look back at old programs I used to do and cringe.

I hope these tips can help with anyone who is either just starting their fitness journey or to help that person who seems lost and has lost focus.