If you’ve been kicking around the fitness space for a while you’ve probably done some things you wish you hadn’t. Such as crossfitting the shit out yourself. Or eating raw bull testicles because the liver king said it’s going to make you superior to all the other earthlings.
I too have done things I wish I hadn’t. In fact, I tried to count the exact number and it’s somewhere around a shit-ton. So let’s go over a shit-ton of things (six, to be exact) I wish I did when I started my fitness journey.
1. Be more chill about nutrition and training
I’ve done my share of carrying meals in Tupperware and training when more enjoyable activities were available to me. I’ve tracked calories and macros in situations where I shouldn’t have. All that for the sake of getting fractionally less fatter and more buff. Fuck that.
As Jordan Syatt once noted,
“We’re living at a point in human history in which “grinding” 24/7 is apparently cool. Fucking. Relax. Fitness is supposed to enhance your life, not control it. If it’s causing you more stress than necessary, it’ll do more harm. Learn to shut off and relax.”
If you’re just a recreational lifter, relax. If you missed a workout or ate off plan, don’t sweat. No one ever, in the history of ever, got fat by eating one bad meal or got ripped by doing one extra workout. Progress, in either direction, takes time and consistency.
2. Buy fewer supplements
How many people you know owe ripped and healthy bodies to supplements? Thought so.
If you don’t have some type of nutritional deficiency or condition that requires supplements, they’re not necessary.
I used to buy BCAA, L-carnitine, fat burners, and pre-workout. Then I got older, wiser, and went all ew gross and threw that useless shit out.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some great supplements for gym performance — protein powder, creatine, caffeine, and a few others — but the vast majority of supplements don’t do anything except take money out of your child’s college fund (although, that can be a waste of money too).