workout tips*

*for someone who had exactly the constraints & preferences of saul_2024Q3. i’m just sharing what worked for me, and what tips i would give my past self. YMMV, caveat emptor!

• work out with other people. for the first few months, this was the single biggest mediator of “okay but did i actually work out tho,” swamping basically any other consideration. some attributes of a particularly good gym buddy:
  • they’re about 6mo to 2y further than you in gymming about
  • you already hang out with them (even occasionally) outside the gym
• focus on the exercises you like. optimizing is good, but secondary to how much you enjoy your workout. (for example, i don’t squat, deadlift, bar bench, etc)
• it’s actually completely fine to barely keep track of how much weight you’re doing for each exercise. you’ll get a sense of it over time, and you’ll slowly build a system for tracking weight that works for you.
• yes, eating more will cause you to gain more muscle, but if you work out enough the mediating factor here will be operationally ensuring that food was available at times that you’re hungry, not stuffing yourself to oblivion.
• get a gym bag. it means you can change at the gym, which significantly lowers the friction to “walk out the door of your house and into the gym”