What did you do in your first year of training that you wish you didn't?

[LtL]

Or to put it another way:

If you could go back in time and train yourself through your first 12 months under the iron, what would you do differently and why?

LtL

[Hazzard]

I wish I had the knowledge of training that I now have. No idea what my numbers would be like if I had started training using them same ideas and techniques that I know and use now.

And I did way too many curls. But I guess it's lead to me having reasonably good bicep strength now! Especially considering how infrequently I train them...

[swoleramon]

I never focused on weight and would only improve when I felt like it.

[Soldier]

I would have used weights that let me squat deep instead of worrying about how many plates were on each side or how much anyone else was doing. Other than my own form choices I wouldn't change much because I was following the plan we were given by our football coach.

[Violent Volume]

Easy for me. I spent too much time doing easy work.Hell yes I was a monday morning bencher and when I was done I would hit me up some lat pulldowns and bicep curls and top off the day with crunches until I puked. One day a big dude walked into the gym and he looked like a mountain. I stated asking him questions and he told me that if I wanted to get big I needed to lift big. Never looked back.

[BigJosh]

I didn't keep a log book. Therefore progression was anything but systematic.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by LtL

Or to put it another way:

If you could go back in time and train yourself through your first 12 months under the iron, what would you do differently and why?

LtL

I was lucky enough to have a mentor from the start. My only regret was straying from his workout after a year and trying high volume, high frequency training.

I learned from Day 1 the value of keeping a log, of progression, and of the importance of the big movements. And let's not forget the value of food.

[_J_]

When I started working out again--about 2 and half years ago--I kept track of my progress and had a decent workout (yea it needed more leg work). The one thing I wished I'd have done differently was my diet and eating habits. I was one of the ignorant masses that believed extra calories would all go to fat and all I needed to put on more muscle was more protein and hard work. I wasn't eating anywhere near enough to put on any muscle. Then I compounded the error by cutting down to a skinny 155. By the end of that, I finally read the right articles and started eating for growth.

One of my best friends is now in the same boat I was in then. Stalled once the beginner gains ran out. Won't squat or do a standing OHP b/c they "hurt his back." Rather than eating enough to progress, he is running 3 miles per day to "stay lean." I wonder if I'd have listened to me 2 years ago?

[Disciple X]

I would have started deadlifting and squatting at the same time i started benching...

[MC]

I wouldn't have used a workout designed from various Men's Health magazine pull-outs.

I literally had the back, chest, shoulder, arm, leg workout posters from the course of a year and laid them out and did them.

I didn't understand progression or how to eat to grow and so, not much happened.