MuscleDog.com - Connecting you to a better body!

If you have been training for many years, how has your training changed? What where the most important things you have learned from training? What was the dumbest execise or routine you ever did? Just curious.

i leaned less is more!
 
Proper form and nutrition
 
Lift heavy weights
 
change up workouts every few weeks (drop sets, heavy weights, high or low reps ect)
 
Have steady state to Hiit
 
DO less cardio (diet is key)
 
Focus more on compound exercises
 
Be creative and change workouts when i get burt out
 
Use different equitment (kettle bells, free weights, dumbells, body weight)
 
Dont waste time in the gym.. get in and get out so your workout is super intese.
 
keep moving with super sets and less rest
 
 
 

what about you musclegym?

stimulate and leave.
I use to live in the gym when I was younger.
 
Never taking a day off…I still struggle with that.
 
Stretch and mobility are critical elements.
 
Diet is 90% of looking good.
I remember living in Atlanta and heading to the pool in my twenties and although I was strong and 220lbs… I wasn’t happy with how I looked.
 
Never dismiss anything without trying it or doing some research.
 
Being more open to others ideas.
Continue to educate myself.
Compete with yourself. Being your best self.
 
My biggest training mistakes were thinking I knew it all.
 
You do it because you love it…you can’t make someone do something they don’t want to.
 
Worst snake oil was smilax under the tongue …so nasty and regurgetated protein from twinlab…some greenish brown ooze nasty.

Oh yeah a bad training tip ( my first trip to the gym)”yeah bounce the bar off your chest” I felt like I broke my sternum.

can’t say i have ever done anything stupid in my training since i’ve never been one to try things that look silly without researching it (and discovering how stupid it is) before trying it.

my training has evolved a lot since i started 10 years ago. i used to focus on bodybuilding type training with a lot of supersets, dropsets, etc. i’ve tried German volume Training (brutally effective), yoga (calming), rock climbing (intense), and now focus more on compound, full body movements like Olympic lifting. now i work in a bit of everything trying to stay well rounded, and since i don’t really have a goal that i’m training for other than to continue to look good naked, it works.

the important things i learned:
- there is no quick way to get results
- nutrition is at the very least 75-80% of the fat loss fight
- what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another/you
- the 90/10 rule is the best way to get results while staying sane
- if there is an infomercial about it, there is a lot of fine print
- don’t try to fix people at the gym - it’s a waste of time, 95% don’t listen, and there are people that are paid to do it for you (no matter how bad they are at it)
- my face loves carbs but my waistline doesn’t

i’m sure there’s a lot more, i just can’t remember it all

 
 
these are is really great points pete!!!
 
You hit the nail with each one..
 
 

Pete, how old are you?

I think I ask because…I think the computer generation has definitely had a huge impact on finding solid info( along with a lot of garbage) but when I began it was pretty obscure. There were small pockets of lifters here and there. Sports other than football still did little training. We now have a beautiful facility but when I first came here I looked in and couldn’t believe the weight room or lack of. Info was magazine articles by pros that was it. Ikept digging and learned a lot the hard way. I know my methods were far from efficient but what they gave in mental strength had value.

Muscle gym… i respect that fact that you learned the old school way… our generation is very lucky to have great info at our finger tips… however there is ALOT of junk out there.. Bottom line you have to try alot of things to see if it works for you… all this info (and different info i might add) get confusing!!
 
 
 
Pete i think its silly to say you NEVER did the wrong thing.. are you saying that everything you did always worked??
 
you didnt try different workouts to see how your body responds?

MG2 - i’m 28. i was always a really active kid and played several sports when i was younger, and i didn’t really start lifting weights until i got to college and had a super cheap student sponsored membership at my disposal.

Laura - for the most part, i stuck with tried and true routines that were simple and effective. i haven’t ever dabbled in anything too crazy, although i’ve tried just about every body split or plateau-busting technique out there. i haven’t ever been into trying gimmicky routines or methods, and i’ve never joined any classes or groups. for the most part, my training has been very activity-based, and my weight routines built around free weights and compound movements. i don’t like to use machines and have limited even the amount of cable-based movements that i do. i’ve never tried to compete in any competitions, and it’s been a long time since i participated in any organized competitive sports, but i’d say that the things i have done have been very effective. ask anyone who knows me and they can vouch that i look like i train a lot more than i actually do, and my numbers are surprising for someone with my size limitations (5’6”, 155 lbs). i do have a lot of natural athleticism and decent genetics, but i also don’t really fool around when it comes to training either.

I think one of the best things I have learned is that no matter how many articles papers books I read you still can’t beat the simple big compound moves for overall muscular development. I always loved squats. I have learned to love the bench and have gone back to deadlifts. You just can’t beat it.

 
 
I see your point… you cant go wrong with compound exercises, dumbbells, barbells ect… you are very knowledgeable and i am sure you know a gimmick or a fad diet when you see it… if you have the mentality that less is more and getting big gains from it then you know what you are doing!
 

I think the biggest problem with all the gimmicks is that as far as exercise equipment or routines there are some benefits….miracles? no . but do most of them work ?sure. Shake weight? okay shaking dumb but if you  do curls squat lunge using it…does it work ? sure. P90X, insanity, bootcamps, they all work if you workout and eat right(in the fine print) they all work. The confusion isn’t really confusion of the programs it’s that everyone is still wanting to hear that there is some way of looking  and feeling great without doing anything and as long as I have been doing it there is no such thing. It’s like the supplement thing. Companies take a good piece of info about a nutrient or what ever and spin it in to a miracle cure for anything and everything.

Haha. Ok as far as the shake weight… that is just dumb!
 
But you have a good point… people don’t follow p90x ( and other workout routines) to a T and neglect a proper diet… depending on your goal if your diet is off then don’t expect to see fat loss or muscle mass results.. Reaching your goal is more then following a routine… it’s a life style change…
 
However there are people that really believe if they do the ab roller 3 times a week they will lose weight just like the commercials say… People always try to find a quick fix
Its laziness, lack of fitness/nutritional education and people being super naive
 

The thing that drives me “insane” are the people that ask me about p90x and tell me they are doing it and then I ask, how many pull ups can you do? and the tell me none” OK “discredited!!! I can do 20 pull ups on any given day and know few that can do more than 2 if that. The program is made for some one at a high level of fitness…I bought it just to see what this former comedian/actor was selling. workout tough ..muscle confusion BS you don’t have to change exercise to change your bodies ability to adapt. Rest time, order of exercise, number of reps, loads etc… are enough change to make gains…Alright I am done ranting..sorry. All of the sudden muscle confusion was a catch phrase….alright now I’m done.

omg! to funny.. let the rant out buddy!! i feel your pain..
 
peopel love fancy talk and fall for the gimmics.. if you make someone stand on one foot and curl 5 lbs they are impressed because someone told them it helps your core and YOU WILL LOSE weight..
 

Thanks…I needed that!

people dont realize training is HARD!! if you dont feeling like dieing after your workout then you didnt workout (unless its a recovery type workout)..
 
Those fancy things dont work if  you wante real resutls..
 
 

Well I think another pet peeve is,” it’s easy for you.” Or you are lucky? I am like, “WHAT!” I have been training for more than 25 years with never making excuses or getting back into it. I training through pulled hamstrings, broken wrist, a 16 penny nail through the center my foot. I did take off a day or two when I had pneumonia (spelling?). I have no idea what it is to not have lifted for months or a year or whatever. I just do it. I don’t prod others to do what I do, but I can tell you that where ever I am people start to take more attention to how they take care of themselves..especially  the guys I work with. It starts with what I’m eating and then what you do in the gym and so on and so on..I am sure many people on this sight probably have very similar stories.

Now I am a LOT more serious about my training. When I first started I would just go in there and have NO idea what I was doing. Now I go into each workout with a set plan, and, when I leave I feel like I accomplished something since I complete that workout. That sense of gratitude and fulfillment really means a lot after a workout and to stick to working out. Just really thinking out my workout routines more and more.
-
Oh, also - I don’t try to follow what the magazines say anymore! They are usually top level bodybuilders giving their workout routines. Well guess what? I am not a top level bodybuilder! IT probably took them 15 years to work up to that kind of capacity. So, I became smarter and realized that sometimes LESS IS MORE.

 
 
such a great point MIKE!!
 
I dont follow magizines either.. i might look through them to get ideas and make it work for me.. also alot of thouse “pros” take drugs so their workouts, progress, diet, and recovery is going to have a different out come

Yeah I agree I think most people give up the magazine articles that take three hours to finish a session. We had to start some where.

 
the funny thing about P90X, or Insanity, or even Zumba, are that they all work… at least for a little bit. the point of these programs is simply to get you moving, and to give you a structured system in which to do so to keep you motivated. it is more important to simply move and start exercising, rather than fretting about what you should be doing. any for of exercise is going ot burn calories and increase bone density and improve your cardiovascular and resperitory fitness, etc etc. there are so many benefits associated with exercise, it is just way more important to get moving no matter what you are doing. each form of exercise will have different benefits and results, but the most important thing is to move. sedentary people are going to be less healthy than someone that exercises, no matter what activity or routine they use, pretty much 10 times out of 10. it may not appear that way, but when you check the blood work or really dig into the details, you can see the difference. 

I agree Pete 100% something is always better than nothing. The fitness industries job is to keep reinventing the wheel. Sweeter package awesome infomercial. I think it’s funny how after I saw how long some of the workouts were ( i thought to myself man most people aren’t going to have that kind of time) and sure enough a month later …the ten minute workouts! I also feel bad for people who have gone through these programs …finish it… they lose weight, feel great and they tell me yeah I’m done now. It’s so funny how people have been trained get results and don’t think to continue on their own. Or just start over!???

I would say that I do more accesory work then what I use to, I think that my squats are at a strong point were they are at now so I started to do more deadlifts and back work. I am also working on my bench press so I am trying to add to more powerlifting excercising into my regiment instead of just squats.

another one… I use to do ALOT of split body work.. i find myself doing alot of whole body work trying to get a cardio aspect into my workouts..

Went to minimalist training shoes and have a casual pairof a shoe called Stems ancestrial footwear one of my former students designed developed and is now selling them around the U.S. if you are in to barefoot training or just want an incredibly light flexible 0 drop ground feel shoe I highly recommend them. It is the most comfortable shoe I have ever worn.www.stemfootwear.com check out their website if you get a chance.
They are like nothing I have ever worn. I would weight train in them. They are great for after a run. I wear them to work in almost everyday. The soles are not realy for running. They are very supple but probably not hard enough to last very long for running.

Oh Yeah, they don’t pay me to talk about their shoes either I just really love them and I think it is cool that I actually know the person who invented it. Pretty cool stuff.

Started training a couple of young guys who want to bodybuild. Pretty cool they are discovering what pain and discomfort is.