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Other/Mixed what would you tell your 18 year old self about training

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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I’d say:

“Carry on training”.

Many 18 year old, including your’s truly, stop training after high school without mandatory physical educational classes, or our sports team career tops out at high school level, or we move away from home to start college.

And at the time you don’t notice, because you’re still pretty young and healthy and fit.

Then comes a job, wife, kids, and before you know it you haven’t trained seriously for 15 years or more, and there’s a few extra lbs.

I had a pretty decent level of fitness and athleticism compared to my peers at 18. Biggest regret is not carrying on training / running / etc even at a maintenance level.

So I just told my kids to “carry on “ when they left high school and went to college, with no more details than that.

Didn’t care what they “carried on” with so long as they did it. And they did do it — no point complicating things and giving too many parental instructions.

I remember what Jim Boeheim, the Syracuse basketball coach does in time outs: “I only give them one instruction in a time out, they’re kids if I give them several they end not doing any”.

Now in their mid 20s, some of my kids still lift, while others do long distance running, and they’ve remained healthy and fit.
 
1. No, warmups and mobility work is not a waste of time.
2. No, it is not too late to start up a new sport and get good at it.
3. Yes, bench pressing through shoulder pain is indeed retarded and will cause long time injuries.
 
It's interesting seeing all the responses about 18yo self not listening, and thinking back on it... I was bull-headed about some stuff, but not about sports/training. I was definitely the sort who, when a coach told me to jump, would ask "how high". Not that every coach I had knew what they were doing, of course...

For me, current self is far more likely to disregard more experienced folks and do my own stupid thing than 18yo self was. But hopefully these days I'm a better judge of who's actually worth listening to.
 
Fix your sleep issues as soon as possible, this will be the one thing consistently holding you back for most of your life. And as surprising as it may sound right now, switching from caffeine to Adderall does not count as fixing it.
 
1. Get up early, before everyone else, and train; this is YOUR time.
2. Life is a marathon, not a sprint, enjoy the process.
3. Don't compare yourself to others. Everyday compete against yourself, try to be a little better each day.
 
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