Joined A Gym!

So I went and joined a gym. It was super-intimidating to do this. I had to sit n the parking lot for an hour before I was able to gain the courage to enter it and join. I'm not exaggerating - I was afraid I'd have a panic attack once I got inside.

I walked around the equipment and it was all intimidating. So I sat in the locker room for a bit.

Then I tried a treadmill for like 10 minutes and watched a few people use a couple of the machines so a few minutes after they were done I got off the treadmill and tried those machines. It wasn't hard at all. I went to a couple other machines next but couldn't figure them out. It had a diagram how to use the machine but the machine didn't match the diagram. So then I went home.

I'd say it was pretty successful actually. Yah the people in there all had perfect bodies but they minded their own business and the only staff member was working the front desk and she was very nice.

Nothing intimidating or hard at all. Got to figure out how to use some of the other equipment, and the big thing will be I can't go so late every night.

Using a cardio machine (which I'm comfortable with) first was a great idea and I owe splenddbob here for that advice.. I can do that for 10 minutes or so every time. It got me psyched to try out a machine and got me watching people use them.

I am watching YouTube videos trying to learn the equipment.

Exercising in a gym was something I've wanted to do for 10 years or so now but was always too scared to do it. I get so achey at work sitting at a computer all day and then coming home and watching TV or surfing Internet or reading. I am a string-bean too so I hope this helps with that.

I'm not exaggerating. This is Yuge for me.


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lucky you didnt fly off the treadmill like an idiot, just be careful on it next time, try not to think about it.

Why would a silly thing like that happen to me.

just dont even let it cross your mind next time, it may make you nervous and thats when accidents happen - i wish I hadnt mentioned it now.

Congratulations.

Glad to hear it. If when you do your research you have specific questions, I'd be willing to help.

Congratulations on taking the first step.

Just out of curiosity what do you consider a perfect body?

This is huge for me. I've really actually enjoyed going and it hasn't been stressful or full of ***-hats at all.


I learned that you can start it really really really slow and then gradually get faster, then gradually slow down again.

I use the treadmill just to warm up and get those 'relaxing endorphins' into my system so I'm not anxious using the strength equipment.

Why run on a boring-*** treadmill when you can run outside?

So today when I went - my second time - watching the Youtube videos really helped. Really there's nothing much to it! I was also able to figure out a couple other machines at the gym.

Running on a treadmill first for 10 minutes or so allows me to watch people use the machines and releases those relaxing endorphins or whatever that just makes me feel less anxious when I go to the strength machines.

Someday the goal will be to progress to free weights, which is intimidating too, but for now using the machines and **** will have to work.

Another goal will be not to go at 10 or 11 at night but earlier in the evening. (Come home from work at 5, eat dinner, digest for a bit, then go at like 7 or 8 )
I feel like I'll have this goal down in a couple weeks because I'll have learned how to use a lot of the equipment by then.

Oh, you know, skinny with a perfect butt and perky boobs for a girl; a guy super-buff with low body fat.

Super buff = hilariously silly looking. low body fat = good. Please don't try to transform yourself into a beefy roidster. There is a line when it comes to muscle that shouldn't be crossed.

This is all I was trying to teach you, that you have the ability to learn if you look. It's actually much better to do it this way as you can learn what works for you.

Let me suggest something else also, stop looking at this as a way to "earn" a woman, look at it as a way to improve and prove that you can conquer adversity (that's what good training really is, continuously overcoming adversity).

If you do this right you'll come to learn that hard work can make you able to achieve things you couldn't do before (as you'll get stronger), this can affect how you view the rest of your life.

Muscles aren't the only thing that can grow in a gym.

For sure. I just sit around all day at work and then come home on computer/TV/read. (I mean I'll do body-weight exercises and ride my bike and I've run a marathon and used to swim laps and ****) But I feel so achey and get neck strain if I don't exercise and I think going to the gym will really help this. It'll really help my posture too, I think. And I did enjoy going these couple times. I do like to exercise, but it's largely been cardio outside of body-weight exercises and those only help so much.

Even joining and going a couple times is a huge accomplishment. I'd never have done that if I hadn't cured my Social Anxiety Disorder. A couple posters were saying 'wmu you haven't cured your SAD yet.' Bull****. I just went to the ****ing gym bro, something that I was so intimidated by back when I had SAD. I am accomplishing so much in the couple years I've cured my SAD.

It's frustrating as hell though it seems to be all for nought...........

My goal isn't to be a body-builder. It's just to gain some weight, look like I exercise, and it's to help my achy-ness from sitting all day at work, and I'm sick of being such a string bean.

Congrats. Nice to hear it's working out for you and you're getting through the initial stages like it was no big deal after all. Sure there could be some bad times or days, but I found doing the weight machines helped phase out the bad memories of the day easier. Yeah, I know for me in particular with severe SA having more muscle or not has minuscule effect on dating, so early on I went mainly for the feel and the strength development and to distract after a bad day at work with *******s. And after a while of routine it actually can get addictive where you can feel the itch to go like missing out if you didn't get the routine done for the night. Nope, I never used 'roids, but I did use those creatin supplement pills and muscle 'milk'. I can say it's helped with "lifting" groceries, "pushing"&lifting to move furniture when needed, easier to swing my tennis racquet etc, and probably just general toning which probably helps as one ages.

You should do 30 minutes on the treadmill or 30 minutes of cardio! Soooo much research out there that 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week significantly reduces anxiety! Also, you can go back to the 10 minute intervals after you reach the 3 times a week 30 minute non stop goal has worked wonders for me

I think some of the 'no big deal' is that I'm going to late. I don't want to go so late forever. Eventually I'll want/need to go at about 7pm-ish.

I agree on it being great for 'feel' and development. It is relaxing.

Why? I am trying to gain some weight. I feel like I don't really need to work on cardio as much. I have a 'runner's body' where I can just go out and run a few miles fairly easily. I have history of running a marathon, track and cross country in high school, biking, and even some swimming laps.

I don't mind doing a 10 minute warm-up run on the treadmill or exercise bikel, but I didn't join the gym to do that and don't want that to be my focus. If I want some cardio, I'll run outside or ride my bike.

Sorry for sounding like I'm slapping you in the face, because I appreciate any and all responses.

Make sure you step up your calorie intake. You can't grow if you don't eat enough. A lot of people overestimate how much they eat, too. Best to track your calories.

Yes, I'm already seeing that's going to be an issue..................I just don't have the body for this ****.

nope, its np wmu, just do what @JH1983 says, go to myfitnesspal.com and log your calories every day, it takes 2 minutes once you are up and running and have your regular meals set in. If you don't have the caloric surplus it isn't going to work.

2 things:

1. The weight you are lifting goes up over time
2. You have a very slight caloric surplus

then you gain muscle. When your body fat gets too high, you keep training and switch to a deficit, rinse and repeat. There isn't any point in being one of those guys who goes to the gym, doesn't do this and just lifts the same weight forever.

I'll have to eat non-stop. Keep in mind how much I have to eat just to maintain my scrawniness. I am the runt in the litter. I was scrawny compared to other kids even though I ate more then they did and before they started to lift. And if I eat non-stop, will the gains be worth it?
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I definitely need to cut the cardio
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I know all too well. I'm eating 4000+ calories a day just to maintain my weight.

Just some tips:

Shakes are a must between meals. Not just protein powder, but stuff like whole eggs, oatmeal, olive oil (120 calories per tablespoon), peanut butter, fruit and veggies, Greek yogurt, milk, etc. It's easy to make two 1000 calorie shakes and get them down between meals.

Start small and build onto your meals. Like 3 regular meals and add something small to them a little at a time. A serving of peanuts, a banana, a glass of milk or whatever you can get down easily. Build your meals up and eventually start adding a fourth or fifth meal or whatever works for you. Cereal is good, too. Easy to get down. If I get behind or just struggling to get in calories I'll get up in the night and eat a few bowls with a glass of milk.

Tracking your calories is a must. Eating until you're full isn't going to cut it. Set your calorie goals and reach them. Get your gram or gram and a half of protein per pound of bodyweight and fill the rest with whatever ratio of fat and carbs works for you. Personally super high carb makes me really bloated, so I go a little higher on fat. I'll do cheat weekends sometimes, too. Not where I eat more, but eat less. Not so much less it sets me back though. I'll eat whatever I want and quit when I get full. Good for a mental break from constant eating.

First thing you need to do is figure out what it takes to maintain your weight and start eating about 500 calories over that every day. You'll have to adjust occasionally as you gain weight. Don't say you don't have the body for it, you can get used to it if you want it bad enough.