Recording your performance is very helpful as it allows you to adjust your weights or add reps or sets to further workouts to push progress. 

You can also look back on your workout notes and soreness levels to see how to adjust the following week if needed.

What is not recorded, is not only lost but is not able to be used to guide your decisions on how to progress your next workout. 

Fitness apps like Fitbod make this extremely simple to do, and even have the ability to do the thinking for you and progress your workouts every week based on the performance of past workouts.

10. Keep a Journal to Review Your Workout and Next Day Soreness Levels

Beginners should write down any notes they had on the sessions, such as anything that they found challenging, a cue that helped them dial in the movement, and a rating of how sore they were after the workout.

Most workout apps do a great job of having you record your sets, reps, and weight, however, I recommend beginners (and all lifters) take things a step further by recording a brief summary of their workout. 

All of that info is helpful to look back on the following week to try to repeat “the good” from a prior workout and to fix “the bad”. 

I really enjoy looking back on my notes from prior weeks on how well I was able to feel the muscle during a certain movement, and often find it helpful to remember my soreness levels to help dictate how hard I can push in the next workout.

11. Take a Before Picture

One of the most common regrets beginners have after training for a few months is that they don’t have a good “beginning” picture to look back on. 

Most of my clients are not overly excited to document their beginner physiques, lack of muscle tone, and excess body fat stores.

However, looking back on the picture throughout your process is a great way to stay motivated, but also to see how far you have come. 

Every day when you look at yourself in the mirror, you might not notice significant changes because it’s hard to see small changes over time. 

That’s where a picture from a specific date can be extremely valuable. 

12. Workout Sometimes WITHOUT Music

This is one that some people may scoff at, but I have come to love working out without music for a few key reasons. 

The first is that I find so many lifters (of all levels) become externally dependent on what song is on their playlist or get bent out of shape when the music playlist isn’t good. 

Relying on music to motivate you 100% of the time is a huge handcuff to your overall success. 

Learn to drive yourself, and learn to do it from the onset.

The second reason is that people tend to space out on rest periods when listening to music. 

By not focusing on your next set or your rest interval, people tend to just drift mentally, only to then lose workout efficiency.

13. Eat Enough Protein to Fuel Recovery and Muscle Growth

When looking to build muscle and recover fastener, protein is essential. 

I recommend that beginners aim to consume .8g of protein per pound of body weight, per day. 

Once you are consistently hitting the minimum, you could bump that up to 1g per pound per day.

Why? Protein is a building block of all tissue in the body, and it is also a key nutrient necessary for hormonal production.

Focus on sources like lean meats (chicken, lean beef, pork), eggs, fish, and greek yogurt. Depending on your diet, you may need to supplement with protein to increase your overall intake.

14. Use Protein Powder to Increase Protein Intake

If you are someone who is able to get enough protein without protein powder, then you don’t need to supplement with it. 

But, in my experience as a coach and trainer for almost 20 years, I find that almost every single beginner consumes half of the recommended protein needed to build muscle.

Protein powder is a supplement that is used to increase your overall protein intake. 

Protein powder is simply protein (from various sources, which you can choose based on performance) that has been concentrated into a powder form, making it a fast and easy way to mix into a liquid and drink.

I suggest you go with whey protein (unless you cannot have lactose), as it is inexpensive and easy to find.  Here’s a list of the cheapest protein powders that are still high quality.

Most protein powders should deliver 20-30g of protein per serving, and be under 200 calories. If your protein powder doesn’t hit those two criteria, then I would not recommend you choose that one.

15. Try Creatine to Help Increase Strength 

I recommend that all lifters supplement with creatine throughout the year.

Creatine has repeatedly been shown to be a safe and extremely effective supplement to help all-level lifters build muscle and increase strength. 

Aim to consume 5g of creatine per day in the form of creatine monohydrate. 

Any other form claiming to be more potent, more beneficial, or cutting edge is just trying to take your money. 

You should be able to get creatine monohydrate from any health food store, just be sure the ingredient list says creatine monohydrate, and nothing else.

16. 200-300mg of Caffeine Can Help Boost Energy to Crush Workouts

Caffeine can be a very potent supplement for all-level lifters to take before workouts. It increases mental focus and energy levels. 

While it is not essential to supplement with caffeine, you may find it helpful from time to time to have a cup of coffee or a pre-workout (just be sure it is not pumped with sugar) on days you need an extra jolt.

One caveat to this is when beginners get overly dependent on a pre-workout. 

You should be able to have great workouts without caffeine. If you cannot, then you are becoming overly dependent on caffeine, and may in fact be using it to mask poor sleep, nutrition, and recovery.

Remember, caffeine is addictive, and the more you take to get a benefit, the more you will need to take it in the future to get the same benefit. 

This is why it is important to not use it every single session otherwise your receptors will downregulate and you will be left to rely on caffeine for every workout thereafter (or until you break your habit and your body upregulates its receptors).