Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

I joined a new gym last week, and have been going everyday so far, so I guess a few people might have noticed me. First guy came up to me, and said I should be doing upper/lower body splits. He said because I'm a beginner. I told him I'll look into it. Later in my workout, an older person came up to me, and said I shouldn't be lifting heavy weights. He said its better to do lower weights to feel the stretch. First guy was definitely in good shape, like the cross fit type. Second guy was an older person, but also in relatively good shape.

Here's the thing. I would definitely classify myself as a beginner (been working out for over 10 years, but never more than 3 months consistently). But I've been doing a program called Max-OT, which is based on low reps, and heavy weights. I've been doing this for about 4 weeks now, and I have seen more results than I have ever seen in my life. Not just that, but my strength is going up from week to week, and I'm losing fat too. In this program, I workout 1 muscle group per week.

I'm not sure if my body shape is changing because of new muscle growth, or fat loss, but I'd like to think its a a combination of both right now, since I have been losing 1lb per week.

But what the first guy said, influenced me to the point I am looking up upper/lower body splits, or even push/pull splits. i'm really confused now. should i stick with what i'm doing? or does he have a point?

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

Generally the biggest issue if people come up to you and offer you unsolicited advice, you should care if they are advising you that your FORM is bad. That is something that you may not be able to detect on your own, and it is something that you should try and correct if it is a problem.

Have you considered videotaping yourself lifting a couple of your key exercises and letting people review them for form?

I assume you are talking about free weights, right?

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

Unless they were giving advice on form...I'd tell them to "beat it geek"

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

As long as what you're doing appears to be working for you I don't see why you should change anything right?

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

If someone tells you you're doing it wrong and they have no idea what your specific goals are i'd say just ignore them because there are different methods of training for different goals. If you're happy with your results dont fret about it.

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

If your form is great and you are not at risk for injury, don't listen to them. Everybody has a different genetic make-up, and what works for someone else, might not neccessarily work for you. I would only be concerned with your routine if you are not seeing any results long-term, it's not a race, but a marathon. Keep a level mind, eat plenty, and get rest, the best factors for lifting.

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

thanks for the replies. now that i think about it, they probably saw i was exercising with bad form? the second guy who said i should decrease weight, i was being nice, and told him i agreed. i said its better to decrease the weight and have better form, than to attempt heavy weights with bad form. he agreed, and left. the first guy probably thought i was working out too intensely?

i really don't know, but with low reps (4-6) its easy to do heavy weights, so i probably looked as though i was overdoing it?

i think i'm just going to stick with what is working, which is my current routine. the moment i stop increasing in strength, or stop seeing progress, I'll switch it up.

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

max ot is a great program...I just watched that movie "I want to look like that guy" and he used to max ot. amazing results. I echo he others, use a program you believe in and unless it was about form thank them and go on with what you're doing. I like full body workouts myself (beginner) but a lot of people are like "oh my god you're not doing a split!" full body works best for me right now. keep up the great work, when you notice progress it feels so good doesn't it.

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

I am gonna have to agree with this guy, I personally don't lift so heavy (although somewhat `very` heavy), I aim for 12 reps in every move even on the 4th set (i do 4 sets all the time). coz my goal is to burn more more more body fat not bulk. but if I was bulking I'd lift for 6-8 and lift heavy. so I guess it depends on the goal.

but form is important if they are giving you advises on the form that should be fine.

 

Had 2 People approach me in the Gym today, telling me I'm doing things wrong.

i saw that documentary too, its what got me into max-ot. i really like that program a lot, but its really taxing. more than the heavy lifting, I enjoy the mental aspect of it. I think it really emphasizes using your mental strength to lift weights.