Good habits to get into at the gym...

[Buster Brown]

I have been training for 28 years and would like to share some of the blunders I have learnt the hard way. If anyone would like to add to the list they are more then welcome.
!) Do not stretch a cold muscle.......Make sure you warm up on a piece of cardio equipment or get your heart rate up so that there is some blood in those muscles prior to a good stretch.....especially if your gym is cold in the winter.
2) Warm up your delts prior to doing any type of shoulder press. Light laterals are a great way to warm them up and other variations.
3) Strengthen that lower back. Just training your lats is not enough by itself to strengthen your lower back. Without a strong lower back you will never have a strong deadlift or squat and it will be a weaklink in your training. Hypers, reverse hypers, seated good mornings need to find there way into your routine.
4) Grip width..... The wider your grip the more shoulder problems you will be facing and you will actually not being as strong as you could be. By altering your grip and gradually bringing it IN will pay dividends and keep you doing your favorite exercises.
5) Good form.....when you are young you just want to be strong and yes...form suffers. Being older and watching the same guys in the gym do the same things I used to do just makes me laugh....Squatting a foot from being parrallel, military presses to the your eyebrows, benching with the bar 6 inches from your chest!!!!!!! C'mon! the comedy doesnt get any better. I respect the guys that practice good form from the start and dont give in to there ego and peers. I can also guarantee that they will develop better as well.
6) Overtraining.....I am still guilty. It is important to cycle maintenance routines in your training to avoid injuries and let your body recover. If you do not plan off periods of training ( training at 80% or so) then you will not progress and your chances of injury are greater.
7) Too heavy....Going heavy is imperative for muscle hypertrophy to occur but we need to do it wisely. Going up in weight to fast can sometimes lead to disappointment when doing a feel set of 1 rep with a weight between the one you just did and the one you are going for could have been the bridge you needed to prepare you for that big set.
8) Change up you routine a few times a year...New routines are great but sometimes we stay on them for too long and the things that were once fantastic have lost there luster. We try in an effort to beat it to death because it used to work like a charm and now.......its time to change it up. This is hard to do for alot of us but it is necessary to do in order to move forward.
9) Keep realistic expectations....You are better off setting small attainable goals and work towards them. This approach will also keep you focused on your training. You will also realize that it takes many steps to reach the top of the mountain. This will also teach you patience and perserverance. Everyone wants to look like "that guy" but are you ready to put the time into the gym that he does?
10) Have fun with it.....This should be your happy place! something you love to do not have to do. I have been bigger and I have been smaller and at some point I will just be happy to get to the gym......Fit for Life!

[Venom]

Awesome thread BB! All very sound advice, thanks for taking the time to write this!

[Buster Brown]

Awesome thread BB! All very sound advice, thanks for taking the time to write this!

Thanks bro.

[Rida5d]

Can I add something ?

Put your headphones always to prevent ass holes from socializing with you and starting a 20 min boring conversation screwing up your workout

Nice post buddy.

[Buster Brown]

Can I add something ?

Put your headphones always to prevent ass holes from socializing with you and starting a 20 min boring conversation screwing up your workout

Nice post buddy.

That's solid.........here to train! !!!!!!

[Rida5d]

That's solid.........here to train! !!!!!!

I had this sh*t earlier today as I was working out..
Some people go to the gym to kill time not to train ..
That sucker kept on speaking about nothing ,

One more time .. Great post BB

[Buster Brown]

I had this sh*t earlier today as I was working out..
Some people go to the gym to kill time not to train ..
That sucker kept on speaking about nothing ,

One more time .. Great post BB

Tell him this ain't sewing circle....

[kelkel]

Good points Buster.

[Buster Brown]

Good points Buster.

Thank you sir.

[fitnesstrainer]

Great post! I think another good one would be to actively monitor rest periods between sets. To many people seem to just be winging it which isn't a good way to go in my opinion.

[Nicky1010]

3) Strengthen that lower back. Just training your lats is not enough by itself to strengthen your lower back. Without a strong lower back you will never have a strong deadlift or squat and it will be a weaklink in your training. Hypers, reverse hypers, seated good mornings need to find there way into your routine.

Easier said than done my friend. Some people life myself just naturally have a weak lower back. Both sides of my family has had lower back problems.

Mom had surgery just last year from a herniated disk (L4 and L5), and Dad has had surgery about 4 or 5 years ago on his coccyx.
I can't do deadlifts and I am scared to do them to be honest.

[FiresurferNSB]

Nice post!

[Buster Brown]

Great post! I think another good one would be to actively monitor rest periods between sets. To many people seem to just be winging it which isn't a good way to go in my opinion.

Yup rest periods are important to monitor either by watching the clock or wait til you pulse drops a Tad.

[Buster Brown]

Easier said than done my friend. Some people life myself just naturally have a weak lower back. Both sides of my family has had lower back problems.

Mom had surgery just last year from a herniated disk (L4 and L5), and Dad has had surgery about 4 or 5 years ago on his coccyx.
I can't do deadlifts and I am scared to do them to be honest.

I am sorry to hear that about your folks. You can do hyperextensions ans reverse hyperextensions and gradually incorporate holding a weight. If you never strengthen your lower back then it will always be weak.

[600@50]

Good job BB. We all need reminders every so often.

[zempey]

The one thing I wish I had figured out earlier in my lifting life is GRIP, all my shoulder and pec problems are from benching too wide. Since changing my grip a hands width, I have had far fewer set backs, and my chest development has come along much better.

As far as bad backs go, Nicky just cause you start out with a weak/bad back, doesn't mean it can't get stronger. I had surgery on L4/L5, L5/S1 in 01, I was squating 550 and bent bar rows for 455 in 06 naturally. Mind you I will still not do dead lifts, but I worked hard at strengthening my back, bad back and weak back are too different things, a bad back is genetic, a weak back just needs to be trained.

Great post Buster, I am sure we are all guilty of these at one time or another, I know I have and to some degree, still do some of these.

[fitnesstrainer]

I am sorry to hear that about your folks. You can do hyperextensions ans reverse hyperextensions and gradually incorporate holding a weight. If you never strengthen your lower back then it will always be weak.

X1000 many people don't realize how much control we have over those genetic weaknesses. Genetics neither make nor break most athletes. Sure you might not be the best in the world at a given sport but you can compete at an elite level regardless of genetics

[Buster Brown]

The one thing I wish I had figured out earlier in my lifting life is GRIP, all my shoulder and pec problems are from benching too wide. Since changing my grip a hands width, I have had far fewer set backs, and my chest development has come along much better.

As far as bad backs go, Nicky just cause you start out with a weak/bad back, doesn't mean it can't get stronger. I had surgery on L4/L5, L5/S1 in 01, I was squating 550 and bent bar rows for 455 in 06 naturally. Mind you I will still not do dead lifts, but I worked hard at strengthening my back, bad back and weak back are too different things, a bad back is genetic, a weak back just needs to be trained.

Great post Buster, I am sure we are all guilty of these at one time or another, I know I have and to some degree, still do some of these.

Thanks, the grip thing was a big one of mine and like you my shoulders began to pay for it. I started by bringing my military press grip in a fingers worth or so a week til it was where it should be then did the same with bench press .......back in the day everyone went wide or so it seemed.
I agree ....a weak back just needs to be strengthened.

[Buster Brown]

Good job BB. We all need reminders every so often.

Thanks.....I think I have experienced all of them (lol).

[Buster Brown]

X1000 many people don't realize how much control we have over those genetic weaknesses. Genetics neither make nor break most athletes. Sure you might not be the best in the world at a given sport but you can compete at an elite level regardless of genetics

This is true but in a sport like bodybuilding and powerlifting genetics do play a big role. That being said doesn't mean that those with a genetic gift should not try and work as hard as you can to reach your goals. Work ethic is huge if you want to achieve anything and without one ....you will go nowhere.

[zempey]

Another thing that should become habit is, focus. Almost every injury or tweak I have experienced has been due to a lack of focus, one slight mental lapse of focus can cause a major setback, whether it be using light weight worming up, or a pb on a max lift. For instance, last month I was doing shrugs, a very strong body part for me. I was pulling 5 plates, 4 plates was a relatively easy set so I went up, I lost focus and yanked at the weight with my arms instead of focusing on my traps to get the weight moving. Sure enough I felt a pop and my forearm was shot for the day. I had to start back at 2 plates the following week and work myself back up, all from a slight lapse in focus. I try and preach to the newbs to build a mind/muscle connection, really feel what you are doing and what muscles are supposed to be doing it.

[Buster Brown]

Another thing that should become habit is, focus. Almost every injury or tweak I have experienced has been due to a lack of focus, one slight mental lapse of focus can cause a major setback, whether it be using light weight worming up, or a pb on a max lift. For instance, last month I was doing shrugs, a very strong body part for me. I was pulling 5 plates, 4 plates was a relatively easy set so I went up, I lost focus and yanked at the weight with my arms instead of focusing on my traps to get the weight moving. Sure enough I felt a pop and my forearm was shot for the day. I had to start back at 2 plates the following week and work myself back up, all from a slight lapse in focus. I try and preach to the newbs to build a mind/muscle connection, really feel what you are doing and what muscles are supposed to be doing it.

That's a good one.......distractions are all around us and certainly not focusing or given a certain weight the attention it deserves will set you back. This happens alot on Mondays at my gym. Its Max effort leg day and even with 3 racks alot of guys are forced to work in...which is great for comradery but can be distracting.

[tsarrast]

wow great advice - thanks!!