New guy looking for fellow members for inspiration

[imgonnagetya]

First off, I'm glad to be here for I'm hoping this is a passageway into a new life for me. A little rundown of myself. I am in my early 20's, an Air Force vet, a single father, and VERY INSECURE about my overall appearance. I am 5'8 120lbs! STOP; before the flaming, I have dealt with a lot of stressful times in my life which has reduced my ambition towards gaining weight. When I was entering the Air Force I weighed in at 117lbs. At the end of my 7 week training I weighed in at 135 and i could tell. I then got a divorce, found out my father had prostate cancer, etc... and here I am. I just recently broke up with my girlfriend of 2yrs and now I'm back to the same insecure state. ANY and all advice is appreciated. Reading through some of these threads are very inspirational and I look forward to being a part of a great community. I work out here and there and say to myself that I won't put on the weight but I won't know until I really try. Thanks for those who read through all of this! Also, I have a phobia of the gyms since I hear friends talk about how guys look down on the skrawny bunch...I want to be able to put forth my all physically and mentally.

[Killazer]

Put a workout plan together, hit the gym hard, and eat like an animal and you will for sure put on at least 40-60 lbs in fairly short order. Since you havent trained before a good deal of those lbs will most likely be muscle. Id say try to spread the weight gain over 1 year for your first year and most of that gain will be muscle.

Dont worry about what anyone thinks at the gym, most guys arent all that strong. All these 600 lb deadlifts and 400 lb benches you hear about, trust me, most people cant do that.

[pgsam]

what helped me when i was started was to get a membership at a large commercial gym, with alot of people. When youre training with 40 other people, you dont feel like all eyes are on you. read around this site, get a feel for how everything works, and learn about proper nutrition. At 5'8 120, your biggest priority will be to eat. dont hold back on anything- if you do it right, you WILL gain muscle and self confidence. Ive found weightlifting to be a great fallback in life- youll always have your gains. muscles wont break up with you.

[The Real Deal]

the only people who care about size are usually the teenagers just starting out and think they are big $hit when all they do is biceps and chest. the older and experienced lifters usually are helpful and glad to dish out any advice. most of us have been that skinny kid just starting out so we know wat its like. plus half the time serious lifters are too busy concentrating on the lifts.
the more you go, the more comfortable you will be.
and also never stop reading, either bb.com or these forums. you can gain a lot of knowledge which is priceless.

[50joe]

Just wanted to say good luck!

Dont worry about if you're "scrawny" lol, who cares! Everyone starts somewhere, and maybe in a few years you will be one of the biggest! Ditto on the join a decent gym thing. Dont go to the hardcore one that has the syringe needle pen that you sign in with (I'm serious too haha). It will make you more comfortable at a more commercial type gym, because you said you are the self concious type. I was too, but BB has helped me in every part of my life, it is really the best sport.

I reccomend #1: Read, Read, Read some more, about nutrition. It will probably take you years to get to know what your body wants/ needs. I recently came to the realization of what other lifters have been saying for years. It is all diet. I finally figured out what diets work best for my for bulking/cutting just this past year...it was the most incredible year for my BB hobby. You can train like crap, but eat perfect and make incredible gains. Now don't train like crap, because think of what would happen w/ a great diet and great training !! Don't just eat everything. Do it intelligently.

Good luck !

[RobDude]

When I started lifting I felt out of place going to the gym. I didn't lift very much, I was pretty small. It's only been 3 months, and my lifts are going up, and I'm getting bigger - it takes time.

Think about it though, you are going to the gym for the same reason as everyone else. Nobody is getting paid; I doubt there are any professional athletes or bodybuilders at your gym (there aren't any at mine). Nobody goes because they have to. There isn't a coach standing over them telling them that if they don't lift they are off the team.

Everyone is in the gym because they want to make themselves better. Some people are losing weight, some people are gaining weight, different goals, different approaches - but we are all there, together, trying to accomplish something. I have a lot of respect for everyone at the gym (except for the huge wave of new people that come Jan 1st. Anyone that is still there in Feb gets my respect.)

[50joe]

Originally Posted by RobDude

I have a lot of respect for everyone at the gym (except for the huge wave of new people that come Jan 1st. Anyone that is still there in Feb gets my respect.)

ROFL, I know exactly what you mean by that...the crowded couple weeks. haha

[Killazer]

haha....

[Ned_Flanders]

"Also, I have a phobia of the gyms since I hear friends talk about how guys look down on the skrawny bunch"


A guy that weighs 100 lbs but is in the gym busting his ass will get more respect than some guy who weighs 200 lbs and walks around the gym acting like he is the ****. Work your butt off for the first 12 weeks and thats all you will need. After that 12 weeks you should see great improvement and you will be hooked to train all the time.

[imgonnagetya]

Thanks for all of the replies, I already feel better. With proper weight train and nutrition, how much can I expect to put on in a 3 month period?

[pgsam]

i would expect around 10 lbs. if everything is going well, you should be able to gain about a pound a week. so thats about 12 weeks- so maybe if you put on some fat too, 10-15.

[ChrisCan]

I got divorced in May 2002 and then my Dad died about 3 months later. There was a hole in my wall for a few months after I punched it in the night they called and told me he was gone. So I can sorta relate.

But I patched up the hole, and held myself together. When I was going through my divorce, I took up seriously lifting weights (vs the 1-2 day a week workout-of-my-biceps-only thing I was doing) to take my mind off all that was going on. It was a retreat in many ways.

My advice is this:

- RE people who look down on you: ignore them (this is the nicest way I can put it . If you can't do it on your own, get some help- I mean a good MP3 player, that is what does it for me- I can't workout w/o it nowadays and I get totally zoned out with it when I go to the gym, I don't notice much around me the whole time I am there (ok- there are those really cute girls sometimes, LOL- gotta stay focused). Have a buddy go with you to alleviate some of the tension you might have.

- If you feel a little embarrassed at first, remember that it is not unusual to be embarrassed when you first start something that other people already know how to do; I still feel that way sometimes in the gym after going now for over 3 years (e.g. I just started doing "real" squats and I feel bad not being able to do good weight yet). It's nothing new- there are many times in life where we are beginners, it takes time to get better, and there are always jerks who make it harder than it needs to be. All part of life.

- Eat lots of the right foods (it really is the key to size, emphasis on RIGHT foods), get rest, drink lots of water, be consistent (but don't go everyday), and don't worry about how much weight you are lifting- focus on form (especially if you are just starting a serious program). Workout the whole body (I wish I'd done this and not neglected my legs early on).

- Ask questions in the gym (trainers, these boards or other people you think are approachable- you will figure out who they are in time)- even if you are small, people respect it when you are trying to learn the right way (not to mention the ego boost they get, knowing you see them as being where you want to go . This is also a route to making friends, and you feel more comfortable around friends, right?

- Read the boards, especially stickys on this one and the nutrition one; I am doing ok now, but I wish I had done that to start out.

Remember not to look down on the little people when you start getting huge ok? Help someone else out.

Sorry it is kinda long but I know how you feel.

Good Luck

ChrisC

[imgonnagetya]

You guys are great, I appreciate the feedback ChrisC. As I said I feel better already because I have new found ambition and I think weight training will be be very therapeutic for me. Thanks again for everything, now time to use the search button!