I think it was late 2009 when moot announced a batch of three new boards, one of them being "Health & Fitness". of course, I had never seen the inside of a gym in my life and only had taken my shirt off in public one time, and had been mercilessly laughed at, so I didn't even consider checking it out. I was 22 and hated everything about my body.
then, a few months later, I accidentally clicked on Jow Forums when I was trying to click Jow Forums (you only really visited Jow Forums.org/frames in those days) and discovered I was a self-loathing, skinnyfat loser with 35% BF who might actually be able to look normal one day if I manned up and did something about it. (I didn't learn I was a manlet cuck, because those weren't things back then.)
I had only done a few pushups and pullups in my bedroom to that point, out of fear of public embarrassment, or an unwillingness to pay $30 a month, or whatever other excuse. when I finally worked up the courage to join a gym on Jow Forums's advice, I failed a 135lb squat my first day and leaned a 7ft bar against a wall and it fell and broke a mirror. I almost walked out and never went back. I took a shirtless mirror pic that day. it's still my low point.
but over the last 9+ years, I stuck with lifting and learned and changed a ton. I don't visit Jow Forums very often anymore—I'm over 30 with a career and a gf, I train people part-time, etc—but I feel like I've got some wisdom to share so if you want to ask anything, no matter how stupid, ask away.
agreed If my squat is only 315 after 8 years kill me shits already 270 in 3 months I'm not gonna plateu for 8 fucking years
Michael Thomas
wanted to say this >look fat and 22%+ bodyfat at 145 lbs youre obviously a severe manlet and thus should have no excuse not to look muscular after 8+ years of lifting
I didnt read your diary post either.
Xavier Lee
you're really taking your time, huh ...
Hunter Watson
Post timestamped bodypic, I'll provide proof I'm not OP.
Jackson Perry
do you even lift?
Christian Green
>also you look like shit and have made 5 months of gains in a fucking DECADE. >look like shit >5 months of gains in a fucking DECADE.
Parker Watson
Genuinely the same. This is redd*t tier AMA faggotry.
proof that you won't make it unless you leave Jow Forums
Nathaniel Phillips
But op left Jow Forums
Cooper Gutierrez
obviously he keeps coming back
Leo Smith
hahaha. well, the negativity is integral to who Jow Forums is. I knew that when I posted. and it's also a necessary part of who each of us is, as we learn and grow. "you look like shit", "you aren't progressing fast enough", etc, are all things we say to ourselves in the mirror for the first few years. it's real and it needs to be addressed, in personal terms, or everyone would give up after 18 months or so.
I've found those deeply negative feelings won't ever go away until you spend a lifetime in different gyms, meeting people "at the top" and "at the bottom", comparing yourself to both (see pic), and seeing a clearer distribution of human genetics and abilities across the spectrum. at least, for me they didn't.
and that's the central paradox of Jow Forums, in my opinion. it's a deeply, deeply negative place, full of big dreams and imagined lives that'll never materialize. but it does give you a starting point from which, once you shed the toxic veneer of shitposting, you can grow and be a happy, complete person.
I also learned that for every 40 neg posts, there will be at least that many silent readers who will learn from a thread they never contributed to. so no genuine thread is worthless.
Yikes, let's see if we can save this thread. I've been on 4chain since before Jow Forums as well, except I bench OP's squat. 183 lbs, pic related, ask away.
the three most popular ways I've seen people be successful at personal training are: 1. get certified by an accredited org, and then work at a globo-gym. money isn't too good, hours can be long, and you generally are training boomers on machines. you can get certified through the globo-gym of your choice usually (just inquire/apply at a 24 hr fitness or what have you) 2. don't get certified through a globo gym, but be huge and train independently, usually with a verbal agreement of a mom-n-pop gym owner. (I used to work out where Joey Gloor of "boom, powerstance" fame did this). you can make bank and train only who you want to train. but if you don't reel in the clients, you're out on your ass. 3. offer online training. most popular nowadays. you just need to look good, take good IG pics and market yourself. I have no idea how much the average person makes doing this, but I assume not a lot.
I go the second route and generally train friends-of-friends. I make enough money at my job, so I just do it for fun.
Austin Evans
Not saying I'm not a manlet, but I'm 5'9".
Here's my greatest achievement in life. Working on high reps again, 4 plate Soon™ youtu.be/yVv2on9VJ-E
Alexander Foster
35% body fat is mordbidly obese, not skinny-fat.
Camden White
sick dude. benching that much with arms that long + visible abs = really impressive. is it your strongest lift, relatively?
Mason Robinson
Nice
Oliver Johnson
I've been on this site from day one, I OHP this guy's max deadlift for reps and my shoulders pass a doorknob in height AMA
My arms are normal, my wingspan is exactly my height. My deadlift is my best of the big 3, but my weighted chin-up is probably the strongest of any lift I do.
Are you fags getting the towel rack confused for a doorknob or something?
What is your weighted chins at? I feel like my lifts are around the same as yours. 1rm all kg Dead - 235 Squat - 180 Bench - 165 Ohp - 110 (3 reps) Weighted chins - 60 (5reps) Dips - 80 (12 reps) I weigh in at about 90-95kgs
Cameron Robinson
you look pretty short but not abnormally, and your good physique really helps it out
Zachary Reyes
I've hit a 160lbs weighted chin at 183lbs bodyweight, 100lbs for 5 reps. Wish I'd gotten a video of the 1RM, gonna start getting videos of PRs for posterity.
Hit a 200lbs weighted dip, too, ran that cycle concurrently with chins.
Zachary Turner
So you have been lifting for 4 years, how old are you now? What belt you using?
Asher Foster
Do you do high volume training or all intensity? I feel like a chest that bench 3plate could be a lot bigger...
I've been lifting for ten years, maybe half of which were serious. It ebbs and flows - I stopped lifting as much after the widowmaker video, for example. Graduated, got very busy with new job, made no gains for 2 years. Stress is the gainskiller.
I'm 28 now. I have an Inzer 10mm leverl belt, but my dip belt probably gets almost as much use.
I do all kinds of training, but I'd say I tilt more towards intensity. I chase a rep max I feel I can hit that day, be that 1RM or 20RM. If I can't get it, I do extra volume as penance. My philosophy is that if I keep hitting PRs, I'm doing enough volume, and however I look as a result is however I should.
Also I bench reverse grip, which is a bit more triceps dominant. I have old shoulder injuries, it's the only way I can bench.
