Worst enemy of your gainz? Do you know what it is? Maybe the title gave it away. We are all guilty of letting our ego get the best of us. Doing way more than you can handle, get injured, and not be able to exercise. Whether you are trying to show off, are too prideful, or simply cannot wait to achieve your goal. You do too much weight and end up hurting yourself. Here's a story of mine that highlights how my ego ended up setting me back.
I learned this lesson the hard way. Honestly, more times than I would like to admit. One instance particularly stands out. A much younger, dumber me was performing the military shoulder press. Instead of increasing weight incrementally, following the basic principles of progressive overload, I had this idea in my head that I had to be able to do 45lbs on each side of the barbell. De-trained with no idea of where I should start. I threw the barbell up overhead cranked out two reps with decent form and then proceeded to do another four or five reps totally compensating with my spine as my elbows flared out hanging on the structure and connective tissues. Somewhere around rep five I felt a massive pain through my right shoulder. This injury set me back two months. TWO MONTHS. Think of how much progress could have been made in that time. More times than not, were are our own worst enemies. This is why you need to learn to check your ego at the door.
Please do not mistake my point, you should identify and push your limits; however, you need to have a plan and see that plan through with INTENTION. Establish your baseline, don't get hurt, and get stronger then you ever have before.
Unfortunately, it took an eye opening injury for me to learn to trust the plan and to not care what weights other people were doing in the gym. It is all relative to your current circumstances, forget everyone else and focus on yourself. In closing, I hope you learn from my mistakes, save yourself from injury, and see all of the gainz.
TLDR: Check your ego at the door, focus on yourself not others, have a plan for your exercises, don't get hurt and get f$%*ng strong
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