7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Lifting

As with anything in life, you should try to learn from people who you look up to and who have done what you want to accomplish. If you are looking to get fitter in the gym, here is a video titled 7 things I wish I knew when I started lifting from Jeff Nippard.

Jeff Nippard is a natural professional bodybuilder and fitness coach who shares tips and training programs on his YouTube channel.

Nippard is well respected in the fitness industry. Not only he talks about mistakes a person needs to avoid in a particular exercise, but also workouts backed up by science to get the best results, be it hypertrophy or fat loss your goals.

And that is why you should listen to what Nippard says when he talks about 7 things I wish I knew when I started lifting, so that, perhaps, you don’t need to make the same mistakes he had to go through.

7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Lifting

Here are the 7 things I wish I knew when I started lifting according to Jeff Nippard. According to him, this can help you get results faster or save time and wasted energy.

1. Don’t Let Others Influence Your Training So Easily

This is most common in young lifters and the most dangerous way this happens is when someone tries to impress their friends by lifting heavier than one should.

Get this in your head: no one cares how much you lift if it’s not done with proper form.

2. Building Muscle and Losing Fat Can Be Simple

There are so many influencers in the fitness industry telling different things that can be difficult to understand what really matters for your personal goal. But building muscle and losing fat can be simple and Nippard explains it in one tweet:

“Lift weights with good form, mostly 6-12 rep range, mostly compound movements, be consistent, train hard, have fun, eat enough protein, calorie surplus to gain size faster, calorie deficit to lose fat.”

And that is what you need to know.

3. Genetics Matter

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to get stronger because your genetics do not favour you. In fact, it is just to say that some people have faster progress than you, and you should not be discouraged by that and compared yourself with others.

4. Physique Looks Different Depending on Light, Pump, Time of the Day

You should not base your progress on an hour-to-hour or even day-to-day basis, but rather on a longer time scale. Use objective means to track your progress, such as once or twice a month, and make sure you are getting progressively stronger in the gym which is a much better indicator of how you are doing instead of how you are looking.

5. Be Analytical About Your Nutrition and Training

Next in Nippard’s 7 things I wish I knew when I started lifting is that taking a look at your gains from an analytical perspective is a good way to make progress as a beginner.

Have some form of a workout log book, or an app, track your weights and reps from week to week and don’t forget to do similar with your nutrition, keeping track of your macros and calorie intake.

Eventually, you will understand your body’s needs and you won’t need to track everything down. Being analytical, from the beginning, will also help you learn more about yourself and help you progress more effectively.

6. No Need for Steroids for an Impressive Physique

Sure there are many bodybuilders who take steroids and look muscular with an impressive physique, but you don’t need to do that to look better. “Steroid use when you’re new to the gym can set up a slippery slope for serious mental and physical health issues down the road.”