hey guys, thanks a lot for the advice i appreciate it more than you think. Since i’ve been going to the gym ive just worked on certain body parts on certain days, without a routine. I would just go into the gym and do any exercise that would work that muscle.
Now, i am going to look into the ‘Are you a beginner’ post and find a good routine which i will post here.
Thanks again.
I know the feeling man, I started going to the gym when I was about 16 and stoped because I felt weak and was embarrassed. Now I’m 21 and I started going about a year ago and ya know what, I wish more then anything that I had stuck with it when I was your age.
I’m still weak, compared to my friends, and especially compared to the other guys at my powerlifting gym. My bench is up 205 now and I’ve lost a total of 40lbs of fat since I started going.
Stick with it, gains will come…I realize now that most people don’t care how “weak” you are. I know all the guys at my gym who I was so intimidated by are now helping me and really a great encouragement.
Don’t worry about others because I bet you they arnt noticing what your lifting and every one of em has been where you are now. Good Luck Man, I’m pullin for ya.
[quote]LTD wrote:
hey guys, thanks a lot for the advice i appreciate it more than you think. Since i’ve been going to the gym ive just worked on certain body parts on certain days, without a routine. I would just go into the gym and do any exercise that would work that muscle.
Now, i am going to look into the ‘Are you a beginner’ post and find a good routine which i will post here.
Thanks again.[/quote]
Excellent! Like everybody else has said. Just show up and bust your ass. Anybody who doesn’t respect that over what your beginning numbers are is somebody who’s respect you can live without.
When I first started there were women outlifting me where I trained and I was in my twenties. Talk about a confidence killer. Committed consistent effort will get you everywhere in this game.
Some very good advice given thus far.
Just a brief psychological reflection. When beginning weightlifting going to the gym can be an intimidating experience. This is because you have not been emersed in the atmosphere and sport for along duration.
Due to the sport leading to continous and measurable strength gains (when done properly) most people tend to shift from viewing it as merely an egotistical activity to one of self mastery.
In other words it is you verse your personal best which results in a lifelong battle to constantly perform better.
People who reach this level of weightlifting maturity cease to compare themselves to others in the gym and adopt an attitude of assitance and pride that they can through their own knowledge and accomplishments help others.
You are never judged by true weighlifters.
For additional information Dave Tate has written an excellent article titled ‘The Education Of A Powerlifter’ which should be required redaing for any person who thinks of touching a weight
Long Live The Bodyscience
I honestly think that most veteran male gym-goers give a young kid (or anyone , I guess) props for just showin’ up regularily and givin’ it your all while you’re there .
when I moved from machines to free-weights , the guys that I started with (PL’ers) had me benchin’ bare bar/95 lb for about a month . fuckin’ HATED that !! I mean , my SHIT WAS WEAK !! but I sucked it up . still plenty of stronger guys than myself at my gym(YMCA), most are bigger than me. but I’ve definitely gained on the ones that are my size (5.5 tall , 180ish). very few of those guys blow the wad in the gym . and rarely does anyone else miss a lift besides me . it takes a lot of guts to miss a lift …really . most guys only push themselves to a certain point…and missing a lift is on the other side of that line . they may be somewhat strong , but they’re not getting any STRONGER . they onlt attempt what they know they can do .
so the point is…fuck 'em . play your cards right and you’ll catch most of them . and hats off to those you dont .
oh yeah…I ripped 3 PR’s this week !!
Every artist was first an amateur. -Emerson
It doesn’t matter what anyone else in the gym thinks because everyone started somewhere. Have goals, stay dedicated, improve when you can and the gains will come.
Confidence is a belief in yourself that you can accomplish what you set out to do, that you have the ability/drive/etc. to succeed. Depending on your goal it may take a while, but that’s ok - challenging goals take time, but are worthwhile.
Confidence shouldn’t depend on how much you can lift relative to others. If you truly have confidence, that is irrelevent.
Good luck 
Hey man, you gotta start somewhere. I was like you once upon a time. When I first started lifting, I was real embarrassed, went in there with really no plan and wasted a lot of time because I wasn’t working hard; I was afraid to let anybody see me getting fired up for a lift or really straining because that would mean that I was trying my hardest and still only deadlifting like 200 pounds!
At a certain point my mentality shifted and I just stopped caring what other people thought and just worrying about myself. About three years later and I pulled 555 the other week. I’m a ton stronger than I was before but there are still people who would think the weights I’m moving are a joke. It’s all relative so just keep showing up and don’t be afraid to work hard.
The only person whose lifts matter are your own (and your training partner if you have one - don’t be one of “those” spotters). It’s not a competition, and even if it was, you can’t affect what other people lift anyway.
Anyone who looks down on you because you bench / squat / whatever less than them is a douche and therefore it doesn’t matter what they think.
Thanks again for all the advice.
This might be a dumb question, but I’d feel better to just get it off my chest and ask. I was remembering when I was in grade 9 and we did weight training for gym, I bench pressed 110lbs 8 times for 2 or 3 sets… now I’m benching 75lbs 10times for 3sets.
Is it possible for my strength to go down in these last 2 years, I’m now in grade 11, im taller and weigh more (thought I would be stronger now?).
I thought that I probably miscalculated the bar weight or something… but now that I think about it I played a lot more hockey, and took gym, so maybe it is possible?
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
You’re doing 10 sets of 3 reps of 75lbs?!
I think he meant 3 sets of 10 reps.
To the OP - as others have already said - dont worry what other people think of the amount of weight you are lifting - hell ive had people catch me in the middle of one of my 100 rep burnout sets with like 7.5 lbs on the machine.
It bothered me at the beginning too but once the gym regulars see you coming in day in and day out they’ll realize how dedicated you are and for the most part I’ve seen that they really respect that.
Keep on workin’ hard - good luck to you in the future.
[quote]LTD wrote:
Thanks again for all the advice.
This might be a dumb question, but I’d feel better to just get it off my chest and ask. I was remembering when I was in grade 9 and we did weight training for gym, I bench pressed 110lbs 8 times for 2 or 3 sets… now I’m benching 75lbs 10times for 3sets.
Is it possible for my strength to go down in these last 2 years, I’m now in grade 11, im taller and weigh more (thought I would be stronger now?).
I thought that I probably miscalculated the bar weight or something… but now that I think about it I played a lot more hockey, and took gym, so maybe it is possible?
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.[/quote]
I would bet that you mis-calculated something . and besides , that was then…this is now .
go lift heavy shit
Start deadlifting and eating and watch your mass and strength go up week by week.
[quote]LTD wrote:
This might be a dumb question, but I’d feel better to just get it off my chest and ask. I was remembering when I was in grade 9 and we did weight training for gym, I bench pressed 110lbs 8 times for 2 or 3 sets… now I’m benching 75lbs 10times for 3sets.
Is it possible for my strength to go down in these last 2 years, I’m now in grade 11, im taller and weigh more (thought I would be stronger now?).
[/quote]
Yes. Simply being out of condition can account for that. What you used to do has nothing to do with what you can do now. If you take a year or two off your lifts are always going to be less than what you did at your best…regardless of age. unless you stopped when you were 2 and started again at 15 of course.