Don't Make These Novice Mistakes!!!

The memory struck me a few days ago and I thought about my first handful of workouts. They were brutal. I was left shaky and weak with that metallic taste in my mouth. Sore for days. Even though it felt good to some extent there was still a lot of doubt that I could ever have arms like Hulk Hogan by the end of the year.

The next few years that followed I made plenty of mistakes myself. After more than a decade of being a professional in the fitness industry, I have seen a lot of mistakes made by many novice lifters, both young and old. Here are 7 of the most common mistakes I felt like writing about.

EGO LIFTING & SELF CONSCIOUSNESS

Being an ego lifter is one of the most common mistakes I see in novice gym-goers. As I was delving into the topic I realized it goes both ways though. A huge mistake is also being a self-conscious lifter. So I decided to mix them together.

We have all seen or some have been the guy who loads an absurd amount of weight onto a machine or barbell and recklessly shimmers the weight around like a spastic animal all to impress the women close by working out.

The truth is… most of the women are not impressed. Most may not even notice. The women who do notice, likely know you are a goon and certainly not the Spartan you think you are. So leave the ego outside and focus on getting stronger with integrity. Don't be a clown.

Being a self-conscious lifter is just as poisonous. Maybe everyone is looking at you and judging you. Don't worry about them and focus on your goals. No one gets anywhere dwelling in doubt.

If you feel weak and have bad form then ask a professional for help rather than skipping exercises out of fear of embarrassment. Lifting weights should be a way to improve confidence and self-pride. There is no room in the lifter mentality for doubt and caring about what others think.

POOR RECOVERY

Poor recovery is a HUGE mistake and not just by novice lifters but by many people in general. Recovery ranges from sleep habits, being hydrated, proper nutrition, a positive mindset, healthy stress levels, and body soreness.

Ignoring the fundamentals of recovery is a great way to halt any progress and an even better way to likely cause injury and setback. Take recovery seriously!

MISGUIDED NUTRITION

Getting strong and building muscle has a lot to do with nutrition. (big surprise) However, even though everyone knows this it is often the number 1 reason results fall short.

Keep it simple to start. Make sure you are eating enough and that you stick to mainly whole foods that are minimally processed. Follow the 80/20 rule. It works wonders. It also doesn’t mean eating salads 80 percent of the time and Baskin Robins and buffalo wild wings the other 20 percent. You need to find the healthy foods that fuel YOU the right way.

Most of the time I recommend a diet high in protein, moderate in fat, and low in carbohydrates. Carbs often depend on the activity level of my clients. Each person has their sweet spot. You don’t have to follow trends or fads to lose weight or gain muscle.

Stay consistent and continue to improve. I have a 15 recipe starter pack that you can download for free. It will give you shopping lists, ingredient lists, macro breakdowns, and an idea of how it doesn’t have to be crazy to be successful.

NOT FOLLOWING A PROGRAM

Man on man. This one sorta goes both ways. Endless amounts of novice lifters come into the gym and make their workouts up as they go. Like today, I am going to do chest and arms and then randomly hitting those muscle groups, with no intention other than to maybe lift egotistically trying to be stronger than they are.

Tracking your workouts in a lifting journal is a great way to track your progress. If you don’t know what type of workout to follow, novice lifters always benefit from full-body workouts 3 days per week. Aim for 2-3 compound lifts and 2-3 accessory lifts per workout.

Other novice lifters do follow programs but they follow them with a lack of direction and some people end up doing literally the same thing year after year. So if you do follow a program kudos. Just be sure you know how to progress exercises. Make sure you change it up every 2-3 months. It’s ok to hire a professional coach to help along this process. You don’t need a coach for life but if you plan to work out for life it might be a wise idea to have a coach to check in with from time to time.

ACCESSORY LIFTS VS. COMPOUND LIFTS

I figured following the last topic that this would tie in well here. First and foremost all novice lifters should be careful jumping directly into heavy compound lifts. Master the basics first. Spend a month or 2 mastering and executing bodyweight training with a mix of dumbbell and kettlebell work. Focus on single-arm and single-leg movements along with the basics of push, pull, squat, hinge, and rotational movements.

Learn your body and its strengths and weaknesses. Once you are ready to dive into the barbell get on a solid program and execute the compound movements with proper volume and intensity. Avoid overtraining the compound movements. As a novice, hold off on high-volume training and stay consistent.

Last but not least is the accessory lifts. Some novice lifters will waste 40 minutes doing bicep curls of every type. I promise that you should focus your attention on pull-ups and bent-over rows FIRST before you tag on useless reps on exercises that just need to be sprinkled on top. As a novice lifter, you will see way better gains and set yourself up for the long term by focusing a little less on accessories and more on compounds.

IGNORING SOFT TISSUE & MOBILITY

Most veteran lifters will vouch for soft tissue and mobility work. I think you’re crazy if you don’t. Our bodies need self-care, warm-up time, and days where we only work on recovering. It’s easy to be distracted as a novice lifter whether you are young or old. Your body may feel great and you may feel unstoppable. It is very likely though that if you neglect soft tissue and mobility work early on that you WILL regret it down the road.

Nowadays, mobility is way cooler than it used to be anyway so get used to it being a part of the program. If you think you look funny rolling around on the floor maybe you do but remember… leave the ego and self-consciousness somewhere else because it’s not gonna help you reach your goals.

I love spending time warming up. I have had numerous serious injuries and without the proper soft tissue and mobility routines, I wouldn’t be at the current level of fitness that I am.

Here is an example of a low back soft tissue and mobility warm-up.

FAITH IN SUPPLEMENTS

My goodness. Supplements. So many victims. I was one. I am not ashamed of it but when I was that young I could have been investing all that useless supplement money into Apple stock.

If you have disposable income and don’t mind wasting money and often ingesting pure crap then have at it. Otherwise, a super common and tragic mistake novices make is putting heaps of faith into supplements.

Nothing beats hard work.

Nothing beats a good diet.

Nothing beats pure iron will and consistency.

Now there are supplements that are beneficial and can help your overall quality of life. Those are slightly different. Vitamins and minerals are always important especially if there are certain ones you know for sure you lack. Fish oils can be great as well. I don’t consider protein powder a supplement as I find it a necessity. Lastly, greens powders I find extremely useful.

Just remember if you are buying wacky supplements online or at GNC that make crazy claims of muscle gains and fat loss… It’s certainly not true. Lay off the testosterone boosters, fat burners, pre-workout supplements, creatine deluxe-pump-annihilator, and whatever other crap is out there. Stick to the basics and get some experience under your belt. Spend the extra cash on more steak and veggies! You can also check out my blog on whether you should supplement or not.

That's a wrap. I hope that if you are a novice lifter and you have made a few of these mistakes that maybe this can sway you into some better habits that will certainly add longevity to your lifting life.