This slacker hopes to be... tighter

[CarpenterSynth!]

Hey everybody!

I'm CarpenterSynth! and a friend pointed me here after I posted my desire to start exercising on Facebook.

A bit of history, it's also kind of a confession/self-intervention, so I hope I don't bore anybody too badly:

I'm 29, 5'11" and around 11st. I can't be entirely sure about that as I don't have scales in my flat. What I am sure about is that I'm developing a bit of a flabby tummy and I want to do something about it. Sadly, I have absolutely no idea how.

When I was young, I convinced myself I was anti-sport and exercise. The people who could do that stuff were often the people who I felt locked out from because I had no frame of reference to discuss it and some were even openly pretty nasty to me for being nerdy and awkward. I was thin, so I assumed I was okay. Health didn't matter to me, I was able to do the pale, rail-thin indie kid thing and that suited me just fine. Sports were for jocks and gyms for yuppies. I'm incredibly ashamed to admit I held this opinion into University, where I really threw myself into my studies, sadly writing off the notion of getting involved with a club or society (although it worked for me academically).

The only exercise I've ever done in my life that wasn't in school was that I attended a Hung-Ga class for a while with a friend, but I quit in embarrassment a few months in. It kicked my butt and it felt like I was waving noodles around instead of limbs. I had no co-ordination or strength and I was pretty sure my instructors were fed up with me. I enjoyed it when I didn't feel mortified, but I don't think I can go back.

I have no ideas what my goals are or how to establish them, no fitness role models or anything. I guess I just want to lose the flab and maybe learn to take control of my life more generally. I can be really self defeating and my mind can take some really dark turns ("Hey, tubby, you'd look stupid at a gym and being sweaty and bored is unpleasant, just die at fifty, Beergut."), but I understand exercise can help people's sense of well-being and I think it might help me wrestle control of my own destiny in a general sense and help me appreciate life as something worth living.

I've also got some friends that have have slapped the residual stupid, sulky teenage emo out of my brain. One of my best friends is an established and respected swimmer, but also one of the nicest people I've ever met and a producer of crazy electronic music. Another friend who's the gothiest-goth who ever lived (he has a coffin in his bedroom) just ran a marathon for charity, so it's totally possible to reconcile fitness and alternative tendencies without morphing into a "look at my guns, bro!" guy.

I wish I could be more specific with my goals, but right now it's:

-establish a kind of exercise I would enjoy

-lose gut

-get high on endorphins

-???

[Trad_Climb]

1. Find yourself a decent gym

2. Find yourself a strength trainer, one who currently competes in ANYTHING, it doesn't matter if it is with your goals. If he/she competes he/she is worth listening to.

3. Learn how to squat, bench, dead-lift, dip, pull-up, clean, snatch PROPERLY!

4. Pick up a sport, join some team/club, compete. Even if you know you will lose every single competition or game you enter, just compete it will help you have much better progress.

5. ????

6. Profit.

[Ocelot]

Hi CarpenterSynth!

My first thought would be... Don't call yourself names. You might think it's going to inspire you onwards, but actually it just ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm not saying getting strong is all in the mind but... it is quite a lot in the mind, hahaha.

You don't have to join a gym, you can workout at home. I do body-weight exercises on the floor. Push-ups, squats, lunges, planks. Beat your PBs. Going outside gives me energy and I get lethargic without it, you could go for walks and try a little bit of short fast paced running maybe, that's supposed to be good for weight loss. (Unlike the long runs I do!) Read up on clean eating and decide what you can (or have to) live without (like sugar, or grains, or starting easier just soda or fast food). Start from where you are and make your own goals.

I know itd be better to find something you love doing and just do that... but that might take some experimentation so my advice would be to do some high-intensity stuff (things you find very hard work, maybe sprinting or push ups or pull ups etc) for a short amount of time, then at least you won't get utterly fed up because it's over and done quickly.

My final advice as one beginner to another is to set yourself out some very clearly defined goals and join a guild here and post about them, so that you can be accountable and track your progress. If you don't aim high enough, nothing will change and you can readjust. If you aim too high and can't actually stick to your plan, you can always step it back. People will help you out!

best of luck!

[ErikAndress]

Dude, no need to knock yourself! You are taking the first steps towards a healthier you and for that you have every reason in the world to be proud! Best of luck on your awesome journey forward. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3512[/ATTACH]