[quote]Wezcattoy wrote:
I wish somebody had taken the time to do the same for me years ago. [/quote]
I had a role model, sort of, but he and I didn’t start working out until after I put on like 15-20lbs of muscle, and when he saw my progress, he adopted me and I finally had the confidence to step foot into the weight room.
WHICH kind of makes me feel like a douche, because I work with a guy who is like 140lbs maybe 5’8" who I’ve thought about working out with, he’s put on a little size but I really want to push myself and I can’t really count on a guy of his size to pull twice his body weight off of me if it comes to it.[/quote]
The way I see it, the idea is to build the kid into a man who will have no problem pulling that weight off of you. But, I guess you’ve gotta do what’s best for you. Nothing wrong with that.
i train with my fiance and she isnt that small thats one hell of a girly man. changing the weights back and forth isnt that bad, and doesnt take that long except for like leg press. in that case i let her go first and ill do my warm ups with her then she finishes and i do my heavier work sets. that way were not taking 4 plates off each side between each set.
Wezcattoy: I was in a similar position a few years back with this colleague of mine. Squat Machine.
I saw him in the gym a few times looking lost so I asked him to train with me. He was about 5 ft 4, weighed barely 50kgs (115lbs). Since I was doing squats that day , I had him do squats as well with just his bodyweight as he could not even balance the bar. He was weak but man was he driven. He did not waste time sweating on the small stuff. The best part was he was always there on training days eagerly waiting to train.
I considered him a training partner and nothing less. The loading and unloading of the weights was not an issue to be honest. Anyways in just about 2 years, his weight went up to about 69kgs(155lbs), his records were a 2.6 BW squat 4 plates per side, a 2.5x BW pull, 95kg bench etc. This was a guy who was struggling to do a proper rep with just a 20kg bar.
He was able to progress so quickly in 2 years basically because of his drive, intensity and attitude. He was not there to argue with me on my training methods (which honestly leaves much to be desired). He just accepted that the way I trained got me to the level I was at and where he needed to get before reaching the next level. He was there to train and train hard. the best thing about it was he did not have to make the same mistakes I did (hence shorter learning curve) and through guiding and training with him I learnt more about training and intensity and got significantly bigger and stronger.
An example of his insanity/intensity - All out set as many reps as possible. Back squats 140kgs x failure (about 10 reps) + 100kgs x failure (about 15 reps) + 60kgs x failure (about 15 reps)+ front squats 1.5 plates per side till failure(about 10 reps) + 60kgs to failure. Good Times - needless to say, he had thighs bigger than his freaking waist.
Iron Lung- That’s actually a pretty good tip. If he doesn’t do a good enough job of eating on his own, that’s exactly what I’ll do. And we happen to work at a little family-owned Italian restaurant…He’ll be eating pasta and veal till he pukes.
Bear- That is a fantastic story, and it gets me even more excited about helping this little guy grow. I might just have to print that out and show it to him when I sense that his dedication is waning. Thanks for posting…It’s much appreciated.
Just my 2 cents. I currently train with 3 friends of mine all of which are smaller and weaker than me. I just wanted to say that training with people that are weaker than you will not hinder. As they progress, it is becomes a very gratifying experience and adds fuel to my fire and keeps me improving and motivated as well. It is a good thing your doing and the best of luck to the two of you.
[quote]Nikki9591 wrote:
Ooh Wez, I’m loving the new avvie ;D
But cereal… 5’8 and 120?! Shit, I’LL steal his girl.[/quote]
Hey, thanks Nikki. I know it’s nothing too special, and I’m not sure if you ever bothered checking out the other pics in my hub, but I think I’m showing some signs of progress.
And if you want his girl, I would be happy to set that up for me…I mean you.
I think this has been mentioned before, but along with everything else, be encourageing. Make sure that he knows that Rome was not built in a day and so on. Proper technique should be hammered home early and often.
Also, if he is selfconscious about being small, you may want to try and get lifting in during non peak hours when the gym is less crowded. Some folks get really nervous/inhibited when they are doing something very new and think that they are being watched.
Spar4tee- I’m definitely hoping that will be the case. I think it’s possible that I’ll get a little bit of motivation from pushing him. And maybe, if he ever starts to catch up to me, that’ll force me to push myself even harder…Can’t let the student become the master, and all that.
DoveofWar08- I’ll certainly be very encouraging. I spent a few years coaching my High School’s JV baseball team, and I think that taught me a lot about encouragement/leadership/discipline/etc. Hopefully, I’ll be able to put those skills to good use.
Also, I handle the majority of my workouts after 11pm, so that’s when we’ll be hitting the gym. By the time I get there, I’m usually one of about half a dozen guys, along with half a dozen girls. That is definitely a good point that you brought up, and I’ve got it well covered. Thanks for posting
hey, was just hoping to say a little something in here, cause i used to be that kinda guy that you’re now hoping to train. my friend was consistently pushing me beyond my limits and made sure that my form was always good, cause without it, every training program would just collapse and anyone would look back and feel that he’d wasted months of his life training with absolutely no results. just really glad that you’ve taken a shot at helping this guy out.
maybe you could look deeper into his diet? and definitely give him encouragement about his weekly progress! just because you’re training with someone smaller doesn’t mean you’d get held back, sometimes things might even turn out better a few months later after you’ve help moulded an awesome training partner, no homo to that.
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
you either got it or you dont, its up to him to make training worth it. chances are he’ll quit like the majority of people in a few weeks.[/quote]
Good luck, its a good thing to do if you can help someone like this, though boxing or MMa is likely to be better if he just wants to be able to kick someone’s ass in defense of himself or his lady. I know a 140LB boxer who is more than capable of kicking the average 230lB muscle heads ass, I’ve seen him knock a 240LB (give or take a LB or two) bouncer on his ass with one punch. Being big doesn’t mean you can fight-he needs to understand this or getting bigger may actually put him in more danger if thinks gaining a bit of muscle will transform him into the terminator.
[/quote]
Plenty of these tiny dudes that are so amazing just happen to be national level fighters or more which excludes the overwhelming majority of MA hobbyists. You can’t necessarily count on your average skinny martial artist to simply whoop a far bigger non-fighter like that.
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
you either got it or you dont, its up to him to make training worth it. chances are he’ll quit like the majority of people in a few weeks.[/quote]
Thanks for the motivational speech.[/quote]
I think its true though, to an extent. You shouldn’t have to be afraid of doing the wrong thing that will make him give up. Be supportive and helpful etc but it is not your job to make him want it. That’s his own concern and if he really does want it then he will be showing up every day and doing what he needs to do
Think about yourself. Is there really anything another person could do or try to get you to do that would make you just give up lifting? If you were working out with someone and they were doing a difficult routine would you say ‘this is too hard, I quit everything?’ Lol no, that goes against everything that is the spirit of weightlifting. You become motivated to progress and work harder, as you realize that you haven’t been pushing yourself as hard as you could have been. I believe this is the thought process that anyone who will achieve any success has, and really, if this is not the way you think even at the very beginning, you will probably not develop it.
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
you either got it or you dont, its up to him to make training worth it. chances are he’ll quit like the majority of people in a few weeks.[/quote]
+1
the only training partners i’ve had for extended periods of time have been guys who have lifted on their own for years.
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
you either got it or you dont, its up to him to make training worth it. chances are he’ll quit like the majority of people in a few weeks.[/quote]
Thanks for the motivational speech.[/quote]
Don’t take this statement lightly.
If this guy is really dedicated to getting bigger and stronger, ultimately, you can only do so much. The motivation must come from him. If anything, I would make sure he knows how much work he needs to put in and constantly keep reminding him what his goals are.
I hear that “motivational speech”. Last year a friend of mine said he wanted to train with me. My housemate actually! But when it came time to leave the house in the morning it would be “I’ll be ready in half an hour” or more usually “no I need to sleep in today”.
It began demotivating ME at which point I cut the ropes I had been holding out for him and said if you’re coming, it’s at this time - but I’m not gonna wait any more or knock on your door to wake you up. The net result was I made a lot of progress and he lost a stone in probably half muscular weight, the little he had anyway.
