Someone online asked what 5 pieces of advice I would give to a younger me, before I started worrying about fitness. Here’s what I came up with.
Lift heavy things.
There’s nothing wrong with cardio. I wouldn’t regularly do 50+ mile bike rides if I thought there was. It’s great for endurance and will probably make me live longer.
But when I’m moving furniture, the thing that makes it easier is being strong. Carry a bedroom set down a flight of stairs, across the street, and up another flight, and tell me if you need strength or endurance?
Joint strength and mobility FTW.
It’s nice being able to pick up heavy stuff when you need to, but how much are you lifting while rehabbing from shoulder surgery?
It’s easy to let muscular development out-pace connective tissue development – tendons and ligaments, the things that connect the muscles to the skeleton. And it’s surprisingly easy to damage your joints without feeling anything until after it’s too late.
You’ll have this body longer than you’ll have those friends.
What kind of habits and routines are you developing? Do your friends know that you don’t stay out late during the week because you’re in the gym early every day? Or do you blow off your workout every time someone suggests a night out?
No matter what your “thing” is – fitness, music, schoolwork – good friends will respect your time commitment and join you when you’re free.
Good food tastes better. Learn to cook it.
That pretty much says it all.
Joint strength and mobility. Seriously, I’m not kidding!
Yeah, it’s worth saying twice.
Life doesn’t always come at you in straight lines. Twist while you’re lifting that couch and you could be out of commission for months. Very few people get strong enough to tear muscles while using them correctly, but put a joint in the wrong position and it doesn’t take much.