drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
If I could go back 5years and give myself 5 pieces of advice as a brand new lifter, it would be the following:
1. Take care of your joints. Your ability to train is at the mercy of your body, period. You may feel like you're made of steel and that aging will never happen to you...but I assure you I do not know a lifter that's been under the bar for a while that hasn't been touched by father time. Check yo' self before you wreck yo' self.
2. Address imbalances and sketchy movement patterns early. The longer you let something go, the more you're going to strengthen that movement pattern and worst that imbalance is going to get; In turn this can not only affect your physique but can perpetuatemore permanent problems and help mediate tendon and joint issues.
3. Take care of your digestion. This goes for everyone but especially for people that need to push food to grow. I feel my abdomen has grown because of the amount of food I've pushed. One thing I've realized this offseason really paying attention to my gut is how much smoother I get things to run when doing so. Beyond that, your gut health is interlinked with a plethora of other physiological mechanisms...the healthier my gut, the healthier I feel in general.
4. Your surroundings dictate your existence. It can be very, very hard, but have the courage to walk away from toxicrelationships and environments. They will seep into your character and change your perspective. Your other relationships will suffer, your quality of life will suffer, your internal physiology, recovery, etc. will suffer, and the deeper that toxicity roots itself, the harder it is to exterminate once the cord has been cut.
5. Don't be neurotic. Find true balance. Sometimes its ok to have a vacation. Sometimes its ok to not think about the gym. You don't need to be afraid of losing everything; if something is in your blood, time to relax will only get it boiling rapidly again. 99.9% of us won't live and die by the stage...our living won't depend on it; define yourself by experiencesand relationships outside fitness. Don't place yourself in a situation where personal growth and fulfillment is severely limited by irrational neurosis.
Nick Tong
https://squareup.com/store/teamstrong
1. Take care of your joints. Your ability to train is at the mercy of your body, period. You may feel like you're made of steel and that aging will never happen to you...but I assure you I do not know a lifter that's been under the bar for a while that hasn't been touched by father time. Check yo' self before you wreck yo' self.
2. Address imbalances and sketchy movement patterns early. The longer you let something go, the more you're going to strengthen that movement pattern and worst that imbalance is going to get; In turn this can not only affect your physique but can perpetuatemore permanent problems and help mediate tendon and joint issues.
3. Take care of your digestion. This goes for everyone but especially for people that need to push food to grow. I feel my abdomen has grown because of the amount of food I've pushed. One thing I've realized this offseason really paying attention to my gut is how much smoother I get things to run when doing so. Beyond that, your gut health is interlinked with a plethora of other physiological mechanisms...the healthier my gut, the healthier I feel in general.
4. Your surroundings dictate your existence. It can be very, very hard, but have the courage to walk away from toxicrelationships and environments. They will seep into your character and change your perspective. Your other relationships will suffer, your quality of life will suffer, your internal physiology, recovery, etc. will suffer, and the deeper that toxicity roots itself, the harder it is to exterminate once the cord has been cut.
5. Don't be neurotic. Find true balance. Sometimes its ok to have a vacation. Sometimes its ok to not think about the gym. You don't need to be afraid of losing everything; if something is in your blood, time to relax will only get it boiling rapidly again. 99.9% of us won't live and die by the stage...our living won't depend on it; define yourself by experiencesand relationships outside fitness. Don't place yourself in a situation where personal growth and fulfillment is severely limited by irrational neurosis.
Nick Tong
https://squareup.com/store/teamstrong
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