I've never lifted anything heavier than a few pounds before

[Virtú]

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you; that is indeed my current level of fitness and muscular development.

In the last month and a half, I've tried probably all the beginner workout routines out there, everything from HST, through all the 3-way 3x8 splits, to the super short hardgainer routines ... all seem too advanced for me.

I could just be unfamiliar with my body and unaccustomed to physical activity, but I want to make sure of it.

Is there anything out there that would work for a guy like me?

 

[Anhslaught]

hopefully you can lift the bar. I've met a few ppl who cant lift even the bar. I think just about anything you do would benefit you at this point. Lift a lil heavier than you usually do, just eat randomly, no set schedule and I'm sure anything will get you a lil stronger. After you get stronger, you can deal with something alittle more advanced.

 

[familyguyfan]

No offense meant by this, but are you really overweight, or are you just a really skinny guy that doesn't like sports or physical activity?

 

[white cloud 8]

thats pretty sad if you can't even lift the bar

 

[belividere]

There is nothing sad about that. The fact that you have recognized your situation and are trying to change it impresses me. Maybe your best bet would be to hire a personal trainer for a couple of months. Get on a bulking diet and learn how to lift properly. Once you learn to do things with perfect form you will start to grow and then you can train to gain strength. My guess is that you will put on mass quickly if you find a good routine and diet that you stick to. Check out skinnyguy.net and search this forum. A lot of folks have had great successes. Seriously though cheers for realizing your shortcomings and having the motivation to overcome them. That alone speaks volumes of your character.

 

[eggnawgkid]

How much do you weigh dude? I could bench at least 70 pounds when I weighed 100 pounds. That was 2 years ago. In January I started bulking and weighed 104 pounds. As of today I'm 121. So you see you can gain quite a bit in 2-3 months. I may still be skinny as hell but I'm definitely looking better than I ever have. I think you'll be fine as long as you eat A LOT. That's been the hardest part for me. For the last two weeks I've been hovering around 119 and 120. Yesterday I decided that I would start getting serious about eating again, and what do you know, I gain a pound. Just EAT, EAT, EAT and you'll be good. I'd say get a couple light dumbbells and work from there. Good luck.

 

[-HPNOTIQ-]

Originally posted by belividere
There is nothing sad about that. The fact that you have recognized your situation and are trying to change it impresses me. Maybe your best bet would be to hire a personal trainer for a couple of months. Get on a bulking diet and learn how to lift properly. Once you learn to do things with perfect form you will start to grow and then you can train to gain strength. My guess is that you will put on mass quickly if you find a good routine and diet that you stick to. Check out skinnyguy.net and search this forum. A lot of folks have had great successes. Seriously though cheers for realizing your shortcomings and having the motivation to overcome them. That alone speaks volumes of your character.

Agreed...it takes more character to recognize a problem and fixing it than to make excuses about it.

Yea, it would be good to know if you're overweight or underweight so the fellas here can help you accordingly. Regardless, start off slow, make gradual changes...ROME wasn't built overnight. The more gradual the progression, the more likely it will become permanent.

Good luck bro..and repost your measurements.

 

[Fumbduck]

thats pretty sad if you can't even lift the bar

Give him a break...everyone needs to start somewhere. Good luck with your transformation. Should you get into a routine of lifting and eating well from day to day, you'll start to see EXCELLENT results. The first year or so of dedicated training is when you'll see your biggest difference.

-FD

 

[rudygee2]

If a few pounds is all you can lift, then start there and gradually build up. If you cant lift an olympic bar, try using dumb bells for whatever exercise you need to do.

 

[Virtú]

Wow, I wouldn't have thought people would take the title so seriously ... sorry for deceiving everyone.

What I should have said that I'm coming from a background as sedentary as humanly possible, perhaps even more so. Every ounce of muscle that I have and every pound I can lift I owe to my half-assed puberty, nothing else.
I have lifted many things heavier than a few pounds, I've moved furniture and carried concrete blocks and televisions before, but never regularly enough or often enough to derive any benefit from it.
I've never played sports or exercised regularly before, so physical activity is still totally alien to me ... and the healthy athletic lifestyle even more so.

At 5'6" tall I weigh 150 pounds at 25% bodyfat - fat, but not overweight (since I'm so scrawny).
I actually weighed 170 through HS - my growth spurts all turned to fat because I sat on my ass all through puberty
I can lift my 45-pound Olympic bar as easily as I could any other similarly awkward object, and I add 30-40 pounds depending on what lift I'm doing ... but all my major lifts are below 100 pounds.

What I meant by this thread is that my lack of strength isn't what's holding me back; it's my unfamiliarity with using my body, with the pain and difficulty of weightlifting that's causing problems. I am so out of shape and so unathletic (mentally as well as physically), that I pretty much can't handle it, at least not well enough to stick with it.

I know that building a great body will take years and years of superhuman dedication and effort, but a great body isn't even on the table yet. Right now, the best I can hope for is to work up to the point where achieving a great body becomes a realistic, if monumentally difficult, goal.

I don't need the World's Best Muscle-Building Workout Program, what I need is to learn how to lift, to get used to using my body on that level.

 

[Double]

yeah if i could make it easier for you (and me ) i would but thing is you have only 2 options: 1.)give up and die the lonely death of a pathetic loser or 2.)KEEP TRYING TILL YOU MAKE IT........there are no other options......the people who are successful today had the same exact choice and they choose number2....the people who are disrespected, made fun of and gamed did chose option1. there were many people in your shoes who failed, and there are many who succeeded, it is only YOUR decision if you keep on trying long enough till you make it.

 

[medik167]

wow that was inspirational and it applies to many things...not just lifting.