Something Else I Wish I'd Known about Fitness in My 20's
I was in my twenties when I started as a trainer. I had some success and had happy clients. Now that I'm in my forties, I see that work a little differently, even though I still follow the same broad programming I did then.
One thing that I think differently about is that I would emphasize baby steps more than I did. What kind of baby steps? The beginning and basic parts of each exercise pattern. Learning to hold yourself in a push-up position, handing from a pull-up bar, etc. Doing the part that you can do and working on that until you can do the whole exercise.
I didn't encourage and require baby steps because so much of the personal trainer's job is sales--convincing people to start and continue with training. I was always afraid that all my clients would leave and then I would have no income. I would modify push-ups to doing them on suspension straps like the TRX instead of having them work on basic shoulder, stomach, and wrist stability. I would try to figure out how to alter other exercises like squats, lunges, and step-ups, so that clients can do them instead of making sure that they were stable and strong in the basic positions.
It's interesting that I came back around to doing basic stability and strength exercises because the certification program that I used (American Council on Exercise) encouraged stability as the first stage of anyone's fitness journey. I was in too much of a rush personally and professionally to emphasize that for myself and for my clients.
These days I use baby steps and stability work myself all the time. I hang in a pull-up position as long as I can during my warm-ups and hold myself in a dip position for time (I use a walker--the medical kind). Both of those are really challenging for most adults and having strong and stable shoulders, elbows, and wrists does wonders for my strength and safety on other exercises. I do reverse lunges with lighter weights and add 1/2 reps to them to make them harder without blowing out my back (I've found that my legs can handle more weight than my back can safely do).
I also slowly work my way up on harder, more technical exercises just one rep at a time. I used to be totally against that kind of thing. I've been working 1 rep at a time on the Power Wheel hamstring bridge and curl. That is the most difficult exercise for hamstrings that I've ever done. I'm satisfied with 4 or 5 good reps these days. I can often feel that exercise for the rest of the day. I work on it one rep at a time. I am struck on pressing kettlebells overheard and have been for 2 years. I'm stuck because I cannot press 44 or 52 more than 5 reps at a time; I've noticed that my speed slows down halfway through each rep. I think grinding through the rep is part of what limits my progress. I stopped grinding through presses; I started doing one fast rep at a time. I hope to add one rep per week to see if I can bust my way through that plateau with baby steps.
When I was younger, a few months or a couple of years felt incredibly long. Now I realize that time will pass and that a little bit of steady progress will add up if I am consistent. If you have something you can't do in your fitness, break it into parts and tackle it one baby step at a time.