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I always wanted to go to the gym but was embarrassed to go alone, 2 years ago I went with a friend who showed me the ropes and we got monthly cards and my friend didn't renew it but I did. I was like fuck it I paid for it, I'll keep going. Main goal was to lose weight, so I went 4 times a week + intermittent fasting and somewhat healthy diet and the results thanks to beginner gains were amazing + mentally I felt 10 times better. I got hooked and ended up going consistently. I think the hardest part is to start going regularly, once you get into some sort of routine, you get used to it, once you skip you feel like a piece of shit - at least I do. The feeling of being tired after an intense workout, knowing you gave it all out is unmatched. I went from 247lbs to 187 for around 5-6 months. I just got back into the gym since they were closed for months thanks to Covid and I'm trying to get back on track.
@Pacofangas is your gym convenient to get to? Trainers I have spoken to confirm this can be another contributing factor to people who keep going.
Very, it's a 2-3 minute walk, previous one was in my building so it was even closer. I'd say that's also a huge factor.
Many transformation stories go like this:
Not me - I was never active as a kid, played no sports, and was always in terrible shape. I was always far, far behind the curve athletically. Bottom 1%, easily.
I still wanted to be in shape, but only to look better. I tried at least a dozen times to start and sustain a lifting routine, and always failed. I was too insecure to go to a gym - so I always had a home gym. Eventually I did try going to a gym, even hired a trainer, but he was terrible. Didn't have friends who could be a training partner - in any case, I would have been a terrible partner. I had too much anxiety, and despite the common advice that it goes away, it never did for me even after months. I determined that a gym just didn't work for me, and stuck with training at home ever since.
It was initially a frustrating process. In the real world, the advice that "anyone can play/enjoy sports, no matter your ability" is wrong. Sports are inherently competitive, and people want to win. Coaches want their team to win. When you lack ability, people assume that you're not trying and don't care. When that happens, peers become reluctant to train with you, and coaches become reluctant to help you. Success in that kind of environment is critically dependent on support, and without ability, you won't get it.
I was for a long time unable to sustain my routine at home. Keeping up the routine just seemed to get a little harder each day until I couldn't tolerate it anymore. I also could never make meaningful progress, even despite once sustaining a program for a year straight.
That said, I started getting much better at sticking to my routine at home once I moved into my own place. The privacy was probably the missing ingredient. I also learned a lot from simple trial and error. I learned that it was OK to not match last week's lifts, that some days would just be bad, that common programs just weren't really for me. I usually only do 1-2 different exercises per day, low reps, and a lot of working sets with a decent amount of rest. It's unusual, but somehow it works best for me.
Nowdays, I pretty consistently lift 6 days a week, though I have stints where I just don't have it and have to take a break. I look quite good now, and don't have particularly bad lifts either. I'm in much better shape than the average man, and overall I consider my mission - which first started in 2010 - a success. It may have taken a decade of attempts, but I managed.
I still see much room for improvement, and have not maxed out my genetic potential, but all in all that will come with time. My circumstances forced me to do everything alone - no trainer, coach, mentor, family, or support network - and I am proud to have succeeded.
I started going to gyms with friends when I was about 17, but it was never anything serious. And after a while my workout buddies all moved on, and I wasn't going to continue alone. I'm too self conscious, always thinking I look like a fool. I fell out of shape completely got extremely overweight, which I didn't even notice until much later. Around 2011 I lost a bunch of weight but not due to the gym. It was just the side effects of love and commuting to work every day using a bike. Which wasn't a conscious decision to loose weight I always liked cycling.
Then I gained weight again. Since 2013 I was trying to get into home workouts but it never stuck, I could not motivate myself and always fell out of routine in a few weeks tops. So nothing came out of it. In 2019 I decided turn one of the rooms in my home into a small gym. Bought all the equipment padded the floor with mats, went the whole nine yards. But still I failed to achieve anything. I'd be missing workouts, only doing it once or twice a week, sometimes not turning up for weeks.
It all happened in june 2020, when something clicked in me. Since then it is the exact opposite, it'S not that I cannot motivate myself, it's that I cannot stop. Even on days when I decide to take a rest day, I'll just find myself in the gym room half an hour later doing at least a light-medium workout. I'm only taking mild off the shelf supplements and half of the recommended dose even of those, and I absolutely have no workout plan or trainer, I'm doing it all from gut and feeling. Whatever I feel like training each day I do. I recently added a bike to the gym to so I can to cardio too now. It's not like I have crazy gains, but there are signs of changes, and those only motivate me even further, because it is proof that what I'm doing works. Multiple third parties noticed it too, so it's not just in my head.
I went through a pretty bad breakup and I was struggling a lot with depression. As a result of said depression, I just didn't care about anything anymore, and I let myself balloon in weight. I was over 200 lbs (which doesn't seem like a lot, but I'm a short guy at 5'6", so it was definitely noticeable,) I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and I just wasn't in good health.
I got treatment for my mental health, and as a result I started to care more about taking care of myself. Two main factors went into starting my fitness journey. The first is, admittedly, because of my attraction to muscular women. I highly doubted that fit women would want to go out with an out of shape guy. The second, however, had more weight toward the start of my journey (pun intended,) and that was my father addressing my weight. He told me that he loved me no matter what my weight or health, but that our family has a history of high blood pressure, which actually led to the death of my grandfather. He said it wasn't about appearance or physique, but that, now that I was 30, I really had to watch my health.
So I did. I joined a crossfit gym (for as much as people make fun of crossfit, the community is wonderful, and I highly recommend it to anyone,) I cut out bad dietary choices like eating fast food multiple times a day, drinking soda and other high-calorie drinks, and basically started cooking everything at home. Over the course of two and a half years, I went from over 200lbs to 165, I got my body fat percentage to 11%, went from a size 35 pant to 29-30, and looking bad it's hard to believe I let myself go as badly as I did, and I will never go back to that old me.
I know this is GirlsWithMuscle, but if anyone is interested, I'm happy to share my before and after pictures.
Edit: I also want to add that, as I mentioned in a previous topic I created, I believe that getting involved in fitness/lifting is one of the best ways to put yourself in a position to meet and attract muscular women, and while that should be a motivating factor to getting in shape, I can't stress enough at how much of a positive impact it has had in my life. I don't feel winded doing basic physical activities, I feel more confident, it helps manage my depression and anxiety, I have a healthier relationship with food and my body, and like I said, I can't believed I lived my life in that poor of a condition for so long. I highly recommend that everyone here gets into a fitness program; the benefits are truly priceless.
I am curious how many of you wouldn’t have gotten off the couch or computer to go exercise and now find yourself working out and exercising relatively regularly and maybe even seeing gains.
What changed in your life to make this happen and do you ever find yourself fighting yourself mentally to keep going? If you do, how do you convince yourself to continue? What’s your story?
To get things started: Myself I have exercised since my teens, but being a hard gainer and not having a real gym buddy does sometimes get to me. I keep motivated by knowing that letting myself go and putting on weight I wouldn’t be happy with my image . I also keep motivated by saying life needs it challenges, so accept the journey isn’t always fun. I also remind myself exercising is a lifestyle and not a quick fix. It’s not always weight training, but sometimes hikes and cycling.