When it comes to weightlifting, nutrition, and general fitness, I am not a master. No, I am but a student. I do not walk over to people in the gym to tell them their deadlifting form sucks (partially because nobody else in the gym deadlifts). If I do approach somebody in the gym it is to seek advice... or a spot on my bench press.

Here are some of the lessons I have learned. Think of them as tips from the student:

• Write shit down. Keep an activity journal that tracks everything you do. If you lift weights write down sets, reps, and weight lifted. If you run write down distances, time, and heart rate. I've even come to write qualitative notes next to my quantitative measurements. For example: "Right elbow sore," or "Easy last set. Increase weights."
  
• Write shit down. This is so important that I'm busting it out into two bullets. Keep a food journal. Write down everything that passes through your lips. A food journal keeps you honest and aware about what you're eating. Personally, I use fitday, witch calculates calorie content and macronutrient breakdowns.
  
• Do something you enjoy. By doing something you enjoy, you are more likely to do continue doing it.
  
• The harder something is, the better the payoff. For example, squats are harder than calf presses. You can easily deduce with of these exercises pays higher dividends: squats.
  
• Don't make excuses. "I can't run because I have weak knees." "I don't squat because I don't want to blow out my back." "I don't lift weights because I don't want to get freakishly huge like those creepy bodybuilders." "I just don't have time to fix healthy meals." Those are all bullshit excuses. (Granted, there are medical conditions that might limit some people, but odds are you ain't one of them.) Look, it's cool if you don't want to be active. There is only so much time in a day and maybe you prefer to work on your car, or weed your garden, or meditate, or hit happy hour with your friends. I dig. Be comfortable and confident with your choices in life. All I'm asking is that you don't say something like, "I should really do yoga and get in shape, but I don't have time." That's a load of guanofuck; if you feel like you "should" then "do." Instead, look me in the eye and say, "I've always been interested in doing yoga, but I'm currently perusing the joys of living in other ways." See, no excuses.
  
• Study and learn. It is one thing to know that you sweat when you run; it is a totally different thing to know why. The "why" and "how" are keys to improvement.
  
• Try new things. You never know...
  
• Be wary of advice that starts with words such as "always" and "never."
  
• Make yourself your biggest competitor. You and I cannot compete with Lance Armstrong when it comes to bicycling, so don't consider yourself a failure if you don't win the Tour de France six times in a row. Instead, draw inspiration from Lance's accomplishments. Conversely, it's not appropriate to compete with the 10 year old cruising through the park on his single-gear dirt bike.
  
• Take time off. I take a week off of biometry every month or so.
  
• Eat your fruits and veggies.
  
• If you lift weights, read the articles at Testosterone. It's the best resource I've come across for lifting, be it Olympic lifting, power lifting, functional lifting, or body building. For me, it’s the right mix of detailed science and practical applications.... like engineering for the body.

...for what it's worth.
...and so it was written, shenry at 3/16/2005 02:17:00 PM.
...and so it was appended with .