[The Beast1]

If you're a teenager and you aren't eating 3500 calories and lifting compound lifts at the gym you are wasting precious time.

My biggest regret in life is not hitting the gym sooner. I was a classical music nerd all though high school and playing in orchestras. Girls always liked me, but I was always very nervous and never grounded which was what did me in.

If you're a teenager, who sucks, is moderately good at, or even is a solid 10 in the eyes of women hit the f*cking gym. Build that muscle, focus on strength gains as a foundation (with supporting cardio), and understand what it means to be truly grounded.

Being physically grounded will make everything in your life easier. I get favors more easily, i'm more respected, my posture is better, game is easier, and I can get away with things more easily.

There are so many threads on this forum about weightlifting and game. The key take away is this:

Strength training is foundational, game is supplemental and built on this.

You can't have a home without a good foundation and a good foundation alone does not make a good home.

[Deluge]

[Old Fritz]

~ Hit the gym
~ Keep your hair and teeth together
~ Confidence (Cant achieve anything in life without confidence)

This stuff alone can bring any average guy up from a 4-5 to a 6-8.

[Dalaran1991]

Gym should have been compulsory for teenager boys at school.

If you can not easily lift the girl you are with into the air and give her a full swirl around like in Dirty Dancing

then there s only two conclusions:

1. You are a chubby chaser

2. You should hit the gym more or ask the girl if she has an extra dress for you to borrow

If you are not physically strong enough to take her, how can you ever protect her AND yourself?

[The Reactionary Tree]

(09-01-2014 08:45 AM)frenchie Wrote:  

My biggest regret in life is not hitting the gym sooner. I was a classical music nerd all though high school and playing in orchestras. Girls always liked me, but I was always very nervous and never grounded which was what did me in.

Being physically grounded will make everything in your life easier. I get favors more easily, i'm more respected, my posture is better, game is easier, and I can get away with things more easily.

There are so many threads on this forum about weightlifting and game. The key take away is this:

Strength training is foundational, game is supplemental and built on this.

You can't have a home without a good foundation and a good foundation alone does not make a good home.

My biggest regret was stopping weightlifting once I went to college. I lifted throughout high school and got pretty strong. However, I went to college and became lazy - drinking & smoking pot all the time; eating garbage; not working out ever.

High school was 10 years ago, I am 28 now. I am getting back into weightlifting again. Been going hard at it for the past 2 months and still going strong. If anything, the spirit is willing but the body is limiting All those gains I made in high school are long since gone and I am practically starting over new. I can only imagine how different things would be had I kept pushing myself like I was 10 years ago.

Weightlifting is great for several reasons: 1. keeps you healthy 2. gives you a project to work on (your body) 3. improves your confidence and these are just to name a few.

Having confidence in yourself is going to be the core of your game. If you lack confidence in yourself, then you will not be able to effectively game women.

Aaron Clarey did a great video on the two mandatory part-time jobs every man must have: 1. start am independent side business and 2. workout

Clarey is absolutely right. To the younger RVFers, dont skip a day at the gym because it could easily turn into a habit. You dont want to be fat and/or weak. I've been there. Sophomore year of high school I was 240lbs, by my senior year I was 160lbs. Being fat & weak sucks.

[cmrocks]

(09-01-2014 10:30 AM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

My biggest regret was stopping weightlifting once I went to college. I lifted throughout high school and got pretty strong. However, I went to college and became lazy - drinking & smoking pot all the time; eating garbage; not working out ever.

Same here. I was in fantastic shape in high school. I used to lift 4 times a week and train at an MMA club 3 times a week. In university, I stopped training and lifting because "I was too busy with school" etc. In reality, I was too busy getting stoned and fucking around. I went from a very fit 175 lbs (at 5'9) down to a skinny and weak 145 lbs. When I finished school, I got back into lifting but it was basically like starting all over again. I really wish that I would have kept up my good habits throughout my early 20s.

[Old Fritz]

I had stopped working out when high school was over. Had went all the way up to around 250 pounds. I am currently at 185-190. Much tighter, lean, and flexible body. It feels so much better

[RexImperator]

Are you guys losing weight while making progress? Wondering because I was around 215 lb. when I started last year and now I'm up to 250. I'm 186cm tall.

[BadgerHut]

(09-01-2014 01:33 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

Are you guys losing weight while making progress? Wondering because I was around 215 lb. when I started last year and now I'm up to 250. I'm 186cm tall.

Conventional wisdom is that you can't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, that "bulk" periods need to be followed by cutting periods to keep everything in balance. Don't know how correct that is TBH.

If you have gained 35 pounds and aren't using gear you are probably gaining significant fat that's hiding under your increased tone.

I had the same thing, put on ~18 pounds in 6 months and it wasn't all muscle. My doctor told me at my physical and I was like, shit gotta cut down.

I realized I was eating 4 meals thinking I needed the extra cals, but not using them efficiently in the gym (read: wasn't lifting often enough or with enough volume so was chubbing up).

Normally if I'm eating right and hitting the weights, I gain tone and lose a few pounds but don't gain a lot of muscle and don't drop a lot of weight.

[Paeter]

I always tell every guy I become friends with that I think that every man should lift weights without exceptions. A few girls have gotten pissed off at me saying not all guys are suited to muscle. The most important thing for aesthetics for girls is to be lean, then muscle. But the way lifting weights changes you goes far beyond that. Muscle is like big boobs. Not every man wants big boobs, but to many guys it's a bonus, but no man is turning down a hottie because she has big boobs. Not every woman wants big muscles, but for some it's a bonus, and no one turns you down because you have muscles.

Fitness builds up your mind. That's why it's so important.

I couldn't put it better than this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zX2LZ3N5sQ

[BadgerHut]

(09-02-2014 10:44 AM)Paeter Wrote:  

I always tell every guy I become friends with that I think that every man should lift weights without exceptions. A few girls have gotten pissed off at me saying not all guys are suited to muscle. The most important thing for aesthetics for girls is to be lean, then muscle. But the way lifting weights changes you goes far beyond that. Muscle is like big boobs. Not every man wants big boobs, but to many guys it's a bonus, but no man is turning down a hottie because she has big boobs. Not every woman wants big muscles, but for some it's a bonus, and no one turns you down because you have muscles.

Fitness builds up your mind. That's why it's so important.

I couldn't put it better than this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zX2LZ3N5sQ

You really can't listen to women when they tell you they don't like "muscles."

When I used to hang around mixed-gender forums discussing/game/dating/etc, girls would roundly state a preference against "big" guys. Then you'd link photos of Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt and other fit-muscly guys and the girls would go nuts about how hawt they were. And no girl was ever seen to say Ryan Gosling was meh.

Somehow in their minds, the debate had only two sides - skinny runner hipsters or gear-addled bodybuilders oiled up in posing gear.

There was another thing - the very idea of weightlifting as a "meathead" pastime has lots of political overtones in girls' minds. It's like they think if they say they like guys with muscle mass they will be thought of as gym bunnies and jocksniffer groupies, like those chicks in Pumping Iron or the girls they knew who blew the football team. (Never underestimate symbology and female identity as motivations for what women say, e.g. girls will invent rationalizations for why they're not a slut even though they do the same shit their slutty friends do.)

Then you brush your built body by them, or get them into intimate situations, take your shirt off and their eyes pop.

As always, watch actions over words. Girls don't tend to get hot for guys in the super-cut, bulbous competition phase (was a whole thread about "is there diminishing returns for lifting"). They do go nuts for guys who are fit and hard with definition.

[The Reactionary Tree]

Since imbibing the red pill I generally ignore the "advice" of women regardless of what it is. To be honest, I dont even take the advice of my male friends because they are all plugged into the feminine imperative. I come to RVF for advice... or do the exact opposite of what a woman says.

Lifting weights will not make everyone look like Arnold. If you do a strength/powerlift program, you wont look as jacked as say a bodybuilder. There are different types of lifting.

Women like men who are fit. That's the truth. They may say they are not turned on by the physique of a body builder but are they turned on by the physique of some fat fuck or scrawny little bitch? No.

[The Beast1]

(09-01-2014 01:33 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

Are you guys losing weight while making progress? Wondering because I was around 215 lb. when I started last year and now I'm up to 250. I'm 186cm tall.

Don't worry about how much you weigh. Just lift heavy and eat right. You're 6ft 1 and at 250 lbs dare I say it you're HUGE.

I'm 6ft tall and ~183 lbs to put it into perspective.

(09-02-2014 12:55 PM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

Since imbibing the red pill I generally ignore the "advice" of women regardless of what it is. To be honest, I dont even take the advice of my male friends because they are all plugged into the feminine imperative. I come to RVF for advice... or do the exact opposite of what a woman says.

Lifting weights will not make everyone look like Arnold. If you do a strength/powerlift program, you wont look as jacked as say a bodybuilder. There are different types of lifting.

Women like men who are fit. That's the truth. They may say they are not turned on by the physique of a body builder but are they turned on by the physique of some fat fuck or scrawny little bitch? No.

Just don't take any advice from women. Not worth the energy. For every pound of gold you get metric tons of poo.

[MidWest]

(09-01-2014 10:30 AM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

Sophomore year of high school I was 240lbs, by my senior year I was 160lbs. Being fat & weak sucks.

Question, I was in a similar situation. How was your confidence like at 240? Cause my confidence was horrendous. I used to be 235 pounds at 5'5 and with gynecomastia. I wouldn't talk to anybody, I was very self-conscious of myself, I couldn't get girls to save my life.

Now Im in shape but man that was a scary time especially as a teen.

[The Reactionary Tree]

(09-02-2014 01:24 PM)MidWest Wrote:  

(09-01-2014 10:30 AM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

Sophomore year of high school I was 240lbs, by my senior year I was 160lbs. Being fat & weak sucks.

Question, I was in a similar situation. How was your confidence like at 240? Cause my confidence was horrendous. I used to be 235 pounds at 5'5 and with gynecomastia. I wouldn't talk to anybody, I was very self-conscious of myself, I couldn't get girls to save my life.

Now Im in shape but man that was a scary time especially as a teen.

It was terrible. I had zero confidence. I was fat, 5'9", 240lbs, had a big gut and man tits. I had a very chubby, baby face. On top of that I am pretty shy & introverted around people I do not know. Having zero confidence, being shy and introverted is not a fun place to be. You are literally trapped in your own misery. I was terribly depressed and often had thoughts of suicide.

Even with the weight drop, I was still feeling pretty depressed. I lost my mother and our home was foreclosed on. I was pretty lost because I was raised by my mother and was not close to my father really even though they were married the whole time. They invested more resources into my younger sister. My depression continued a long time, literally all throughout college and after graduation.

Before I found this community, I was still terribly depressed, still suicidal at times and flirting with alcoholism. The blue pill world was very unkind to me.

Since finding the manosphere, I have felt great. I made several improvements in my life: back in the gym & going hard (makin all kinds of gainz), reading tons of great books, writing now, removing negative people from my life, no longer fapping my brain into oblivion with hardcore porn, paying down debt, avoiding alcohol (except for social gatherings) and learning game. I feel great and have a positive attitude about life.

I can honestly say that the manosphere saved my life.

[RexImperator]

(09-02-2014 01:06 PM)frenchie Wrote:  

(09-01-2014 01:33 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

Are you guys losing weight while making progress? Wondering because I was around 215 lb. when I started last year and now I'm up to 250. I'm 186cm tall.

Don't worry about how much you weigh. Just lift heavy and eat right. You're 6ft 1 and at 250 lbs dare I say it you're HUGE.

I'm 6ft tall and ~183 lbs to put it into perspective.

I think I need to get down to the 220 or 225 range eventually. Not sure how or when to do that exactly. I certainly gained too fast over winter, then lost some of that, and now I eat only just enough so I can recover from my workouts. But that's still about a 1/2 lb. of body weight gain per week or so.

[Blackliter]

im not making enough gains.. annoying. vegetarian here, trying to figure out what else I can eat thats healthy, has protein. have 2 whey protein shakes with spinach and peanut butter and banana, cereal in the morning, lunch is cooked food, so is dinner.

Been doing starting strength for a month. still at 95lb squat, 85lb bench, 95 deadlift, 25lb bicep curls

[thedavidgt]

(09-03-2014 07:24 PM)Blackliter Wrote:  

im not making enough gains.. annoying. vegetarian here, trying to figure out what else I can eat thats healthy, has protein. have 2 whey protein shakes with spinach and peanut butter and banana, cereal in the morning, lunch is cooked food, so is dinner.

Been doing starting strength for a month. still at 95lb squat, 85lb bench, 95 deadlift, 25lb bicep curls

What is your height and weight?

Take a picture of everything you eat in one day and post them here.

And why have you decided to be a vegetarian?

[The Reactionary Tree]

(09-03-2014 07:24 PM)Blackliter Wrote:  

im not making enough gains.. annoying. vegetarian here, trying to figure out what else I can eat thats healthy, has protein. have 2 whey protein shakes with spinach and peanut butter and banana, cereal in the morning, lunch is cooked food, so is dinner.

Been doing starting strength for a month. still at 95lb squat, 85lb bench, 95 deadlift, 25lb bicep curls

Are you a vegan or vegetarian? What about eggs and/or fish for additional protein? What's your height/weight too?

How long have you been doing Starting Strength?

In your SS 5x5, have you been attempting to increase the weight you do each workout? Stronglifts 5x5 is very similar to Starting Strength and it recommends that you should always be increasing the weight you do each session by little increments 5-10lbs.

If you have been following the program for more than 4 weeks, your lift strength should be rising quickly.

I have been doing something fairly similar to Stronglifts or Starting Strength: Victor Pride's Body of a Spartan ebook. Very similar. I have been doing it for about 5-6 weeks and all my lifts have increased by about 30-40%. My starting numbers were low, as low as some of yours, but I have been going 5 days a week and have seen tons of gains in my strength.

[Blackliter]

(09-03-2014 08:31 PM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

I have been doing something fairly similar to Stronglifts or Starting Strength: Victor Pride's Body of a Spartan ebook. Very similar. I have been doing it for about 5-6 weeks and all my lifts have increased by about 30-40%. My starting numbers were low, as low as some of yours, but I have been going 5 days a week and have seen tons of gains in my strength.

Really? I'm at 3 weeks now. I'm vegetarian so not vegan but I don't eat eggs or fish.

I'm around 5'8 130lb. I tried increasing squat to 105 and failed on first set, did the same for bench 95 and failed first set as well. I go to the gym every other day on routine. On off days I do ab ripper X from p90x. bought some extra food today prob need to eat even more, not sure.

[The Reactionary Tree]

(09-03-2014 10:05 PM)Blackliter Wrote:  

(09-03-2014 08:31 PM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

I have been doing something fairly similar to Stronglifts or Starting Strength: Victor Pride's Body of a Spartan ebook. Very similar. I have been doing it for about 5-6 weeks and all my lifts have increased by about 30-40%. My starting numbers were low, as low as some of yours, but I have been going 5 days a week and have seen tons of gains in my strength.

Really? I'm at 3 weeks now. I'm vegetarian so not vegan but I don't eat eggs or fish.

I'm around 5'8 130lb. I tried increasing squat to 105 and failed on first set, did the same for bench 95 and failed first set as well. I go to the gym every other day on routine. On off days I do ab ripper X from p90x. bought some extra food today prob need to eat even more, not sure.

Yea, I'm 5'9", 200lbs. I am way bigger than you. Being bigger does help a lot in the press exercises.

[The Reactionary Tree]

(09-04-2014 08:36 AM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

(09-03-2014 10:05 PM)Blackliter Wrote:  

(09-03-2014 08:31 PM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

I have been doing something fairly similar to Stronglifts or Starting Strength: Victor Pride's Body of a Spartan ebook. Very similar. I have been doing it for about 5-6 weeks and all my lifts have increased by about 30-40%. My starting numbers were low, as low as some of yours, but I have been going 5 days a week and have seen tons of gains in my strength.

Really? I'm at 3 weeks now. I'm vegetarian so not vegan but I don't eat eggs or fish.

I'm around 5'8 130lb. I tried increasing squat to 105 and failed on first set, did the same for bench 95 and failed first set as well. I go to the gym every other day on routine. On off days I do ab ripper X from p90x. bought some extra food today prob need to eat even more, not sure.

Yea, I'm 5'9", 200lbs. I am way bigger than you. Being bigger does help a lot in the press exercises.

I need to lose weight ultimately. Luckily, I have an body structure (wide shoulders) that I can carry weight well though I do have a little bit of a gut. My goals are put on muscle & strength and to lose weight to get down to a more svelte physique.

[Blackliter]

(09-04-2014 10:50 AM)objectivist tree Wrote:  

I need to lose weight ultimately. Luckily, I have an body structure (wide shoulders) that I can carry weight well though I do have a little bit of a gut. My goals are put on muscle & strength and to lose weight to get down to a more svelte physique.

Nice, ya i'm the opposite, I'm constantly losing weight so I eat a shit ton just to maintain. even more to build.

I just got the 105lb squat and 95lb bench press down today. had to have someone spot. Think I messed up my barbell shrugs though.

need to figure out how to do power clean and barbell rows now. Doing the ICF routine.

[BarryInSF]

Another good reason to hit the gym is endurance and stamina. Sexually, that is. When I started going, it was to build muscle, but now I'm mostly running so I can fuck all night without getting exhausted. It's paying off.

[The Beast1]

(09-03-2014 07:24 PM)Blackliter Wrote:  

im not making enough gains.. annoying. vegetarian here, trying to figure out what else I can eat thats healthy, has protein. have 2 whey protein shakes with spinach and peanut butter and banana, cereal in the morning, lunch is cooked food, so is dinner.

Been doing starting strength for a month. still at 95lb squat, 85lb bench, 95 deadlift, 25lb bicep curls

The problem with the lack of gains is because you're a vegetarian. You aren't eating enough of the right foods.

Go to myfitnesspal.com and enter in your meals for the day. You should be getting at least 3000 calories and 100+ grams of protein. if you're having trouble meeting your macros go with whole milk.

Also, eat a bigger breakfast. Milk and cereal are woefully not enough food in the AM. My breakfast includes turkey sausage, bacon, eggs, and oatmeal.