The new guy

[envel]

So, here I stand, a college freshman who is fighting an incredibly hard battle unlike most of people thinking about fitness. Althought their might be even harder, people have usually other problems.

Umm, where was I? Oh, yeah... I am 19 yrs old, I study sociology and economy at Charles university in Prague, Czech republic. I like literature and music and my dream is to be an expert on social and economical issues in media (preferably newspaper). When I was younger I studied shotokan karate at local dojo. I completed my first exams for a white belt in quite short time, the second one (yellow belt) took me some time. After that, I never felt ready for another exams. And then, during my fifth year, something happened. I broke my arm and after recovery, I couldn't find the joy in training. I trained only because I had friends there... But they started quitting, our sensei moved to country side with family... That was the end for me. Next year I happened to be one of the few guys who established a football tennis (you should try it, its fun) club at our shool. I was in my last year there (that means I was 15 during the term) and had quite lot of fun, but I also started smoking. (Fortunately, I never became addicted to it and quit smoking in a year.) That was my last experience in organized sport activity.

For one year, I haven't done anything. But I couldn't resist it, I used to take long walks from time to time and hopped around the forest for few hours like Bugs Bunny. So I bought a bicycle, just to have something to invest my energy in. And that is the end of the story. Or perhaps this chapter. :-P

During this summer, I started exercising. I've fallen in love with calisthenics. It's fun and it can be done almost anywhere I am. But I wasn't consistent, which is a thing I'm hoping to change. :-)

So... I was talking about an unusual problem, wasn't I?

But I believe you figured it out before I could even tell you...

I'm incredibly skinny from the day I was born (ok, that might be an over-exaggeration, but let say 75 % of my life). At this time, I'm 187 cm tall (~ 6' 2") and I weight 67 kg before my morning breakfast (~ 148 lbs). My doctor told me I should gain weight (something I know from everyday look into the mirror), but that from any measurments I'm healthy. My BMI is "in order", my body fat is 8,3 % (which should be quite good)... So from medical point of view, I'm incredibly healthy.

I don't eat junk food, I do push-ups (and othe things) two to three times a week... And still no change on the scale.

What do I want?

Well, in a long-term, I want few things:

do 60 push-ups in a row

perform 10 pull-ups

perform one-armed push-up (one on each hand is just fine...)

Gain at least 3 kgs, just to round that number up.

How about something attainable in few weeks?

Starting from the bottom, gaining one kilo would be fine, wouldn't it?

adding two pull-ups to my maximum of 4 repetitions would be also great...

and how about performing 36 push-ups (I did 30 about a week ago)? That sounds sweet to me :-)

and last, but not least, add some stretching to a daily routine. I'm everything but flexible.

So, that might be it. Now I have to explore this site a bit more and then jump in and participate in a challange

[Lark]

Vitej! Pozdravy ze Srbija! Mluvim malo ceski.

[esteel]

Welcome. Well if you want to gain weight i'd recommend doing weightlifting and serious eating. Some beginner program like "Starting Strength" and really finding out how much you need to eat in order to gain muscles. Basicly when doing a good program like Starting Strength and eating right you have to gain some .

[Hiraedd]

I've always had the opposite problem myself, but I know a number of people on here have similar issues, including our rebel leader Steve. Check out his blog for some of the thins he did to gain weight, but also maybe check out the leangains/IF support thread in the nutrition section. There is a method of doing it for a slow, steady bulk without gaining a bunch of fat, and they have lots of info on there (the thread is 51 pages long -- it might take a while!) Anyways, welcome to the rebellion and good luck with your goals!

[Laureleye]

Welcome. This is a great place to get help overcoming your challenges.