Now I can't back out!

[cryptonomicon]

Hey there, I am a complete newb to the whole working out thing. Well, I do some cardio since I enjoy jogging, but a couple days ago I looked in the mirror and realized I was 27 but I look like I have the body of a 50 year old woman. I decided things must change, so I have been reading up on things and I have got some training sessions at a gym near here.

I am sure I will be asking a ton of stupid questions.

My primary goal is in one year to look a whole lot better. I want to put on muscle, I hope I can do that while continuing to jog. With my body type I am not sure, but I have read about the importance of a diet and I am putting one together.

And best of all, now that I have made this thread and posted pics, I can't back out!

EDIT: 6/2/2006 -- I've posted progress pics. I look sooo much better now. A lot of my definition is washed out by the flash, I actually have a clearly defined six pack when viewed in better light. As you can tell I'm still having trouble actually gaining much weight (need to spend more time working on the diet I guess), but I have filled out quite a bit. Also, I didn't post leg pics, because the leg pic in the 'before' pics isn't that great. Rest assured I am indeed lifting hard on legs, in fact I went from 3x8 @ 95 lbs on squats, to 3x8 @ 265!

[BBAddict]

Welcome! You remind me of when I started working out. My defining moment was when I tried to flex my bicep and nothing happened! That was a long time ago but I remember how I felt then and never wanna be there again. I wish I had taken pics like you have here-you'll appreciate them in a year. There's a ton of info here, so get acquanted with the search button, read up and start growing.

FYI, I ran a marathon while I was bodybuilding and you can put on muscle while running a lot. You just have to make sure you balance your training and eat properly. Keeping track of calories is more important if you're doing lots of cardio.
Again, welcome to SM!

[Gainward]

You came to the right place man there is tons of great info here. I know its been a huge help to me. Just read read read read cause damn near everything you ever wanted to know is here.

GL man and welcome

Gain

[Alin]

Originally Posted by cryptonomicon

Hey there, I am a complete newb to the whole working out thing. Well, I do some cardio since I enjoy jogging, but a couple days ago I looked in the mirror and realized I was 27 but I look like I have the body of a 50 year old woman. I decided things must change, so I have been reading up on things and I have got some training sessions at a gym near here.

I am sure I will be asking a ton of stupid questions.

My primary goal is in one year to look a whole lot better. I want to put on muscle, I hope I can do that while continuing to jog. With my body type I am not sure, but I have read about the importance of a diet and I am putting one together.

And best of all, now that I have made this thread and posted pics, I can't back out!

i like that you have a long term goal in mind. you can make tremendous stride with physique in one yr.

[coffee-guy]

Welcome - good work on the diet...

[Pumpdogg]

Welcome to the board... Lots of info and great people here

PD

[infiniti1982]

bulk for a year and i think youll be happy. good luck in all endeavours.

[THE BOUNCER]

good luck man. you have a good attitude. aslong as you keep your goal in mind you will not fail.

[go Yankees]

so good to see you here, it takes a lot of guts to post pics here sometimes, and that says a lot because there are people who compete who get a little shy about their bodies sometimes...

a word of advice though, enjoy the process...if you become, as my fianceé says, "process-oriented," you'll enjoy it even more. Soon you'll have your workout together, know what to eat for each meal, what to avoid, and you'll see that while it isn't as great as drinking beer or hanging out every free second you have, you're shooting towards a great goal. But don't think of it as sacrifices you're making to reach your goal -- try to love the process. If you soon enjoy your diet, enjoy working out, enjoy learning about fitness and so on, you'll (literally) be set for life

and, try to find a workout/diet partner, and subscribe to a mag like Men's Fitness, so the two can keep you company along the way

[Puma]

Weclome.

Your going to be amazed at what your body will do if you give it the chance. Workout hard (but not too hard in the beginning) and eat plenty of food. You can probabaly expect, that by the end of the year, you will no longer look at yourself at a 50 year old woman.

Because your quite lean already your going to see the gains come really quickly. Its only when you've been working out for a long time that everything really starts to slow down. Your body is not ready for what your going to do to it; its going to have to adapt to the new stimulus and you will see changes faster then any of us who have been working out for years do.

The other great thing is that once you hit that point where gains come more slowly; guess what? Your probably pretty big already; people are going to look at you like the "in shape" guy in your office or work and you will get the admiration of your peers.

Who cares if you only put on a little muscle every year after your first 1-2 years in the gym. By the standards of 99% of the world your already "jacked".

Good luck; and remember, getting there is half the fun!

[slipshady]

post your current diet in the nutrition section im sure everyone can give you great tips and you can gain alot of what your looking for from eating? welcome by the way

[cryptonomicon]

Thanks everyone, I'm happy to say that I have gained 6lbs since I posted this thread a few months ago. Not a lot in 3 months but it's something right!!! I am still working on tuning the diet and I will post it some time for comments.

[coffee-guy]

Originally Posted by slipshady

post your current diet in the nutrition section im sure everyone can give you great tips and you can gain alot of what your looking for from eating? welcome by the way

His diet is pretty solid bro. He posted it a while ago and it was pretty good.

Cryp - the only thing I will ask you about your diet now is have you adjusted it since your body may have become used to it etc? It was pretty clean so you may want to add some good calories in there (in the form of either carbing up or a good couple of cheat meals during the week).

[meat12]

welcome

[cryptonomicon]

Just wanted to say that things are progressing nicely. I took some pics today, definite difference from the pics above and I have gained 5 pounds (does not sound like much from October till now, but I had to stop lifting for 7 weeks because of a surgery). I will post pics in a few months, I think you will be impressed at my change.

[rado]

Seen those pics before around the net....What other boards do you frequent and under what name?

Welcome !

[infiniti1982]

nice, dude

[buyb12]

welcome do a search for "eat to grow " and and stay away from gear for 3 year of lifting. suma root will help you.

[cryptonomicon]

Hey rado,
I'm not on any other boards, just this one. Another skinny-fat guy's pics maybe, lol. Anyway I am seriously looking good if I do say so myself, I will post progress pics in early March. Gaining a little fat around the ab area but I guess that's kind of expected. Definitely gaining poundage and definition.

[rado]

Originally Posted by cryptonomicon

Hey rado,
I'm not on any other boards, just this one. Another skinny-fat guy's pics maybe, lol. Anyway I am seriously looking good if I do say so myself, I will post progress pics in early March. Gaining a little fat around the ab area but I guess that's kind of expected. Definitely gaining poundage and definition.

Good to hear....Just thought I've seen those pics before posted on another site...Well glad to hear you're doing well.

[cryptonomicon]

Bumping! See first post for progress pics!

[FitnessBrat]

Excellent progress! You sound a lot more confident than you did in your first post as well - great job

[coffee-guy]

Re- post your diet bro - would be glad to check it out if you get the chance...

Great progress btw....

[DS-COUSIN]

looking tons better man. great job. I am trying to go in the reverse direction. I will do some posting in September..