Lessons I learned from the gym (2013, updated for 2025)
I was going through my old blogs, and I came across this gem from 2013. I will add my updated comments in italics.
Aside from the obvious, that squats are good and kipping pullups are bad, I will list some random things I have learned over the years about the gym and strength sports in general.
Some are funny, some are asinine, some are a smack in the face, and some will be obvious.
No matter how in shape you think you are, pushing a prowler for the first time will cause you pain.
DAMN, this is the truth. It still sucks all these years later. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to die while pushing that thing.
Genetic freaks can train almost anyway they want, and they will grow. Don’t listen to them about training; find the guy who had to work hard to get bigger and stronger.
Not much has changed here, but due to the internet, thousands of people think that genetic freaks are the best people to ask for training advice or hire as a coach. I can tell you this, without a shadow of a doubt, they aren’t. Sure, there are exceptions, but coaching and doing are two completely different skillsets.
You will see these people doing the craziest shit for their workouts, and the average person thinks, “they do this and look like that, maybe it will work for me, too,” but the reality is different. The vast majority of people need the basics, and the basics will always work. How the basics are applied will vary from person to person, but the song remains the same.
Don’t get swayed by ridiculous shit. It’s clickbait and sales bait.
Never eat orange roughy before deadlifts. Note: this did NOT happen to me… I hate fish.
This is a funny story. Years ago, when I was living in PA and going to Gold’s Gym, there were these two brothers whose names will not be used. One of the brothers did this very thing and ended up soiling himself in the middle of a deadlift set. Plot twist, he was wearing white and purple striped spandex shorts.
It was, shall we say, rough.
My first real training partner was an ex-con who looked like Big Daddy Kane on steroids. Some of my best workouts ever were with him. I learned more about pushing the weights to the limit from him than I ever learned on my own.
I remember this man so well. It was at the YMCA in Reading, PA. The gym was in the basement, and it was a verifiable dungeon. It was as old-school as it gets, and it was cheap. I was paying 15 bucks a month for the membership.
I swear to you that he looked just like BDK if BDK were big and jacked. We trained together while I was there, and I learned a lot from him. On a side note, at this time in my life, I didn’t have a car, so I walked to the gym every day from my house. That was a good two-mile walk each way.
He lived at the Y in a rented room. After I left the Y for Mid-Atlantic Fitness, I never saw him again. I often wondered what happened to that man, but for a period of time, he was my initial education into pumping iron.
Globo Gyms are filled with impressive lifters, but having an elitist garage gym mentality closes you off to learning from people who are truly better than you.
This still happens, albeit less frequently, but it remains a truth. A training environment can make or break some people, but not always. Your will to improve is the most important facet of your environment, and that can happen at Planet Fitness.
Doing one-arm side presses with spring collars is a mistake.
I used to do these with a barbell, and I loved them. Before I sprung for a set of good collars, I was using spring collars from the gym. Needless to say, the first time the plates came sliding off the bar was the last time I ever attempted those with spring collars. I was also in my early 20s, so chalk that up to being young and stupid.
After that debacle, I ordered the IronMind Bulldog collars and thus began my side press journey.
When learning a caber toss for the first time, don’t try to “catch” it if the massive log falls behind you.
When I was training for the Highland Games, I was working out with a HG pro named Mark Moyer. He went to my gym, and we were training together for a decent period of time. At this time, I was a bartender, and his good friend, Steve Pulcinella, came by and we decided to throw together. That was the day when I attempted a caber toss for the first time. Both men warned me about trying to stop the caber if I lost it. They said, “Just let it go, don’t try to stop it, you can get seriously hurt.”
Did I listen? No.
Did I get seriously hurt? Also, no.
Did I have a tremendous bruise all across my right trap and shoulder, yes.
Good mornings never did jack for my deadlift.
They never did. Ever. IMO, one of the most overrated exercises you can do. I know many people swear by them, but I generally don’t like them. I do program them for some of my lifters who need the extra work, but it will be a cold day in hell before a general fitness client does one. There are many better, safer, and more effective ways to train the posterior chain for a person who trains to be in better shape.
Half an hour of intense medicine ball training will be harder than half an hour of lifting.
Have you ever thrown a medicine ball? I don’t mean tossing it half-assed? I mean really working hard on your power and explosiveness with it? It won’t even take you 30 minutes. You will get your ass kicked in 15 minutes if you are not used to it. Don’t believe me? Try this:
Use a 10 pound non-rebounding medicine ball. If you are strong, 15 pounds is fine. Nothing heavier because I want you to move with power.
A1. Medicine Ball Rotational Throw 5 sets x 5 reps per side @60s rest after performing both sides
B1. Broad Jump to MB Throw 5 sets x 2 reps @60s rest
C1. Receive and Release MB Scoop Toss 5 sets x 3 reps per side @60s rest after performing both sides
D1. MB Rotational Slam 5 sets x 3 reps per side @60s rest after performing both sides
E1. MB Deadbug 3 sets x 6 reps per side @60s rest after performing both sides
Lat Pulldowns are not an explosive exercise.
I wrote this one because I can count on all my fingers and toes a few times how many people I have seen jerk that pulldown bar like they are starting a lawnmower. I know you’ve seen it, too.
After training with Stallone’s cousin a few times, I now know why they both look like they can eat bricks.
This one is kind of cool. He used to go to the same gym as me in Long Island, and we worked out together a couple of times. Dude was strong as hell. Don’t ask me to remember his name, but I do remember him doing standing dumbbell presses with 90 pounds in each hand.
Not seated — standing.
Slow cardio is vastly underrated for fat loss and heart health amongst the HIT crowd.
In all the hullabaloo about Zone 2 today, I sit back and smile because I have been saying it for years. Literal fucking years. While all these influencers and conditioning experts are beating the door down with it, I was there over twelve years ago saying it. YOU ARE LATE, but I am glad they know the score now.
Keep in mind, I originally wrote this during the lift weights faster era, when people thought that doing just that was the equivalent of cardio.
I also spoke on this topic during a Strength and Conditioning conference in 2011, where I was talking about training baseball players. For a period of time, it became common for strength coaches to say, “You don’t run a mile on the field, your running is sprint-based, so why run a mile in training?” paraphrased, of course. My argument was, and will always be, “Being in good aerobic shape makes all facets of training and conditioning easier and better.”
It is smart for all athletes to include aerobic conditioning in their program, but it needs to be programmed correctly for maximum effectiveness, i.e.,. proper periodization.
For the fitness enthusiast, it’s much simpler. 75% of your cardio should be Zone 2 based, and 25% can be more intense, i.e., HIIT or interval training. Both are effective, but if I had to absolutely pick one form of cardio that is a non-negotiable, it is Zone 2.
Having just a day of training arms is asinine. Coincidentally, many of those in the guido culture prefer training arms only on Fridays.
I still think it’s dumb because you can work on arms during a normal training day. You don’t need an arm day. Guido culture…. well, that is a blast from the past. I was a PT manager of a gym on Long Island, and I would often be there later on Friday nights. The number of dudes who would come to the gym all dressed in club clothing, train their arms, and then leave to catch the train to the city was always funny.
The triceps and shoulders are the key to a big bench.
This never changed. Ever. The bench press is only as good as your triceps and shoulder strength. This is why you see big benchers look the way they do.
Having a strong back will help with every… single… compound… lift you can think of.
Your back is your support system. It holds the weight when you squat, it stabilizes the weight when you deadlift, and it provides a shelf when you bench press and overhead press. A big back equals a strong person. This is indisputable.
The single greatest destroyer of your progress in the gym isn’t diet or bad training, it’s excessive alcohol use.
Funny, I wrote this at a time when I was blacking out weekly from drinking. It doesn’t change the truth, though. Excessive alcohol intake is awful for you, and I wish I had listened to my own advice instead of drinking the way I did. Lesson learned. I don’t drink anymore, and it’s because I have a disordered relationship with alcohol, and it’s not worth it to me. It’s such a slippery slope I don’t want to slide down.
I went through a lot of years of struggle with alcohol before I finally decided enough was enough, and my only wish is that I had quit sooner.
Alcohol is too glorified and celebrated in our culture.
Forget what you think you know about eating to gain or lose; if you want to know how to manipulate your eating, talk to a competitive bodybuilder.
Nobody knows how to eat to gain size and eat to cut fat quite like a competitive bodybuilder. Of all the athletes in strength sports, they have that part on lockdown. The amount of discipline it takes to gain the size they need and cut it down to stage-ready shape is intense. I got a taste of that when I competed in Men’s Physique, and it was enough to make me not want to do it again.
Steroids do NOT guarantee results. They just ensure you have extra testosterone floating around. If you eat and train like a pussy, you will get pussy results regardless of what you are taking.
I would choose a better word than pussy today, but I am leaving it in because 2013 me and 2025 me are different people. I am not sure what I would use today, but it doesn’t matter. Steroids work, but they only work if you are already doing the work needed to capitalize on the extra testosterone in your body. You don’t just take them and magically grow. There are way too many men who take them and have awful results.
Genetics, diet, training intensity, and how well you respond to them all matter.
They are not a magic pill for getting strong and jacked, and more is definitely not always better.
High rep training isn’t just for hypertrophy; it can help sore joints. If you are sore, back off a few weeks with high rep work, and you will be amazed at the results.
I have done this numerous times, and so have my clients. We all know the value of lifting heavy weights, with heavy being relative to the person, but there are times when your body needs a break. I know it’s trendy for many people to harp on effective reps, and HIT training has made quite a comeback. If you are not sure what HIT training is, take a look at Blood and Guts by former Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yates.
The research says (although this is disputed among Exercise Scientists) that effective reps are more efficient at building muscle, and are defined as reps closer to failure. For example, if you are doing 10 reps in a set, and the last 4 reps are challenging reps, those 4 reps are effective reps. Does that mean the first 6 reps are worthless? It doesn’t, but the closer you push to 1–2 RIR, the more effective those reps are. Others have bastardized the research to say that you can do sets of 6 reps and still stimulate hypertrophy. Technically, you can, but for some people, pushing heavier weights consistently would cause joint pain and increase their injury risk.
This ties into the discussion about myofibrillar versus sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which, to be honest, isn’t something I want to write about in this update (but I will later).
It is smart and advisable to switch up periods of heavy work with periods of lighter work. It gives your body a break, it offers a different stimulus, and it challenges you in other ways.
If you are trying to train through soreness, stop and change it up for a couple of weeks. Let your body rest from the grind and get a pump instead. Forcing adaptation through pain only leads to injuries.
Humility is the greatest quality any lifter or coach can have. Arrogance is easily seen through.
You cannot be a good coach or athlete if you are not open to improvement and learning. Even cocky athletes have enough sense to know this, and they improve. Arrogance is a problem. It’s one thing to say, “I am good at what I do,” but when you think you are the best, or you are too full of yourself, don’t be surprised when others pass you by because your arrogance prevents you from true self-improvement. Arrogance is not confidence; it is insecurity projected as a defense mechanism.
I fell victim to arrogance that was disguised as unhappiness and insecurity. I look back on that period of time, and I cringe. I have grown, but I am not going to deny that there was a period of time where I was that asshole. I would have sworn to you then that I wasn’t, but I was. There is no denying it.
I am thankful I am not that person anymore.
On the day I first pulled 600 pounds, a smaller lifter in the same gym pulled 615 for reps. As I was happy with my deadlift, the fact remains that there is always room to improve, and there is always someone stronger.
This was at Titan’s Gym in Cleveland, OH. His name was Concrete Mike. He was called that for one simple reason. He was a concrete worker. I bet you were expecting me to say that because he was built like concrete. That he was, but it’s because of his career.
He would come to the gym after working a long day running crews, and he was one of the strongest dudes I ever saw who never competed and had no desire to compete. He was about 5’9” — 5’10” and built like a truck. He was decently lean, and he moved some big weights casually. On this day, I broke through the 600 pound mark in the gym after a major injury, and I was happy with that because it took me a while to recover. He pulled 615 for a set of 6.
Of course, I wasn’t upset; I was happy, and I loved to see Mike pull that weight, but the truth is the truth; there is always someone stronger, and that someone could be a concrete worker who has no desire to step foot on a competition platform.
Here’s to Mike, lifting weights because the man just loves to lift. We need more of him in this world.
Double-check dumbbells for loose bolts before using them over your face.
I saw this happen, and it was eye-opening. I was spotting him, and the end nut came off just as he was pushing the weight up on a dumbbell bench press. Thank God the nut was on the outside and the little plates hit the floor, but I still had to move fast to prevent the rest of the dumbbell from being his forced lunch. Ever since then, when I see those types of dumbbells, I check the bolts before using them. I do not want that to happen to me, especially since I train alone.
Never trust people to load the bar for you; always ensure it’s loaded properly. It’s your weight, it’s your responsibility to make sure it’s right.
I’ve seen this happen too many times to count, even at powerlifting meets. If someone is loading your barbell, or they are helping you, double-check to make sure it’s loaded correctly on both sides.
I never saw the value of wearing a weight belt doing barbell curls until I witnessed a man doing cheat curls with his back almost parallel to the floor. He had insanely large arms, which ties into the genetic freak comment. Every rep was like that, every single one.
I don’t recall his name, but I can actually see him in my mind. He had an incredible physique, was an extremely nice man who was always kind to others, and he worked with autistic children in a clinical setting. How I remember those details and not his name escapes me, but I do.
He would do these cheat curls, and I was amazed that his back wouldn’t give out with that type of body english. They clearly worked for him since he looked like he did, but as I said in 2013, this directly ties in with the genetics point I made at the beginning of this article.
One could argue that he didn’t need to train that way, and you are correct, but dude had arms that looked like sides of lean beef, so who the hell am I to argue?
This was an enjoyable blast from the past to revisit, and it’s eye-opening to see what I remembered from 12 years ago, what has evolved, and what has stayed the same.
I have 1000+ pages of old blogs to go over, and I will be rewriting some of those and publishing them as time goes on because it is pretty cool to see the changes I have made in myself, my training philosophy, and my writing over the years.
I am accepting clients for nutrition and training services. With over 25 years of experience in the fitness industry, I can help you achieve your goals.
Studying for my Master’s in Psychology from APUS
BAS in Applied Nutrition and Health from ASU
AAAI/ISMA — ISSA Strength and Conditioning — Pn1 Certified — ISSA Sports Nutrition
Former Superleague Rugby player
Competitive Strongman from 1999–2010
Former NPC Masters Physique Competitor
Former assistant rugby coach for Mentor HS (OH) and former Assistant Rugby Coach at Liberty HS (MO)
2011 Speaker at Denison University’s Strength and Conditioning conference
Three self-published training books
Multiple magazine articles for Muscle and Performance, Muscle & Fitness, and Ironman
Published on PPSC, Elite FTS, and top articles of the week from Ben Bruno and PTDC
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