One readers asks:

“I plan on starting the Beginner Strength Training Program. Is a training partner critical for all of the lifts?

I don’t have a buddy to go lift with. So most of the time it will be just me at the gym. It’s nice to have someone to push you along and to spot but I don’t think I will be able to have that luxury.”

My First Training Partner. Let me start by sharing my experience. I started strength training in 1999 with two friends. They quit one month later. I trained six months alone before meeting my first training partner.

He had 3 years experience. I saw him at the gym regularly. He was strong & muscular. One day I asked him if I could join him sometime. He replied with: “Join me now. I’m training legs”.

Leg Press first. Then Squats. My first time. I went up to 60kg. I puked. My legs hurt for 5 days. But I came back the next day. We trained 3 years together.

He teached me a lot. Exercises, nutrition, but most of all character. Never did he miss one workout. I was there, he was there. We trained 52 weeks a year. We motivated each others. We had results.

Advantages. One of The Law of Success is co-operation. Especially if you’re a beginner into strength training: find a training partner. It has many benefits:

• Motivation. Bad days or not: go to the gym, lift those weights.
• Learning. Technique, nutrition, attitude, etc.
• Safety. You always have someone to spot.
• Competition. Leads to faster results.

Motivation is the most important reason to get a training partner. Something you have to learn is that your mind often says you can’t, while you can. Bad days are only bad days in your mind.

An example I gave yesterday is training after a night drinking. Even if you have a hangover, strength is there. It’s painful, but it can be done. You just have to get yourself over it. Mind over matter. That’s how a training partner helps you.

Disadvantages. The problem with a lifting partner is that it’s hard to find a good one. I trained with several people, but only one person had the same qualities as my first training partner. The rest was always:

• Unreliable. Flakes. Quits.
• Wrong mindset. Relies on steroids rather than training hard.
• Lack of concentration. Isn’t there to train but to talk.
• Sabotages your workouts. Spots badly on purpose.

Finding A Training Partner. Good ones are a minority in my experience. But you can find them if you keep looking.

• Gym.
• Friends.
• Work.
• Clubs.
• Online.

Look, approach, initiate. Never mind asking. People who are serious about their own training will be receptive. Even if you’re weaker or less experienced. What counts is that you have the right mindset: you’re motivated & motivate them.

Training Alone. Sometimes a friend comes over or I train in another gym. But 90% of the time it’s just me & the barbell in my home gym. It has been like that since 4 years.

This was very hard in the beginning. Especially since I always had a training partner. You have to motivate yourself when you train alone. And you don’t have a spotter. But it has benefits:

• Faster. You don’t need to wait, you don’t lose time talking.
• Freedom. How you want, when you want.
• Character. Training alone builds character.

Set goals. Keep a journal. Track your progress. Put a log online that people can comment. Don’t let the fact that you don’t have a training partner stop you.

Safety. Lack of spotting is the main problem of training alone. Some tips.

• Safety Pins. Squat & Bench Press inside the Power Rack.
• Ask Help. Ask someone at your gym to spot. Just ask it.
• Be Ready. Plan your max attempts.
• Progress Slowly. Add weight progressively.

If you just squatted 70kg for 5 reps, you won’t fail with 72,5kg. The more you lift weights, the more you get a sense of what you can & can’t do.