Hey all,
I’m a 25 year old guy and for the most part I’ve been skinny like a twig all my life. There was a period where I got chubby, around 11 years old, but I thinned out again as I got taller around 14 years old or so. (Though I admit there is a layer of fat around my abdomen that appeared then and hasn't gone anywhere!) I’ve never been to a gym in my life. I’ve done very basic workouts at home, pushups, crunches, pull-ups, different things that I could do in my bedroom without weights. But now I’m thinking that it’s time I tried joining a gym. I don’t want to get huge or anything, I just want to tone up and gain some muscle to fill out my clothes a little more and not look like a walking, talking stick person. I have a couple of issues though:
1) Having never been to a gym in my life, I’m a bit intimidated about going. I have no clue what to do or how to use the machines or even what types of exercises I should be doing. I also know nothing about general gym etiquette – what to do, what not to do, etc.
2) I still live at home with my parents, and they aren’t controlling or anything…I can come and go as I please and generally do what I want to do. If I go out, I just tell them where I’m going and go (just as they tell me where they’re going when they go out). But I have never really shown them that I had any interest in working out or going to a gym before. They see me as a skinny person, which they think is just fine, and would wonder why I would want to go to the gym at all. Honestly, I’m even uncomfortable with talking to them about it. My family has never been one to discuss body issues of any kind. If I join a gym and start going two or three times a week, they will have to know that’s where I’m going, and I just worry that they’ll be disapproving of it or maybe even think something’s wrong with me, since to them it will appear to be something that has just come out of nowhere, even though I’ve been thinking about it a long time.
So I know all of this probably sounds weird. It sounds weird to me when I read it, and I’m the one that wrote it! But if anyone can offer any advice on the two issues I’ve described, it would be greatly helpful. I really want to join a gym and try to get more exercise, but I’m afraid I’ll talk myself out of it because of these issues, and maybe the right advice from someone here can get me to just do it. Sometimes I just need a nudge from someone else to get me going.
Thanks!
DC
I’m a 25 year old guy and for the most part I’ve been skinny like a twig all my life. There was a period where I got chubby, around 11 years old, but I thinned out again as I got taller around 14 years old or so. (Though I admit there is a layer of fat around my abdomen that appeared then and hasn't gone anywhere!) I’ve never been to a gym in my life. I’ve done very basic workouts at home, pushups, crunches, pull-ups, different things that I could do in my bedroom without weights. But now I’m thinking that it’s time I tried joining a gym. I don’t want to get huge or anything, I just want to tone up and gain some muscle to fill out my clothes a little more and not look like a walking, talking stick person. I have a couple of issues though:
1) Having never been to a gym in my life, I’m a bit intimidated about going. I have no clue what to do or how to use the machines or even what types of exercises I should be doing. I also know nothing about general gym etiquette – what to do, what not to do, etc.
2) I still live at home with my parents, and they aren’t controlling or anything…I can come and go as I please and generally do what I want to do. If I go out, I just tell them where I’m going and go (just as they tell me where they’re going when they go out). But I have never really shown them that I had any interest in working out or going to a gym before. They see me as a skinny person, which they think is just fine, and would wonder why I would want to go to the gym at all. Honestly, I’m even uncomfortable with talking to them about it. My family has never been one to discuss body issues of any kind. If I join a gym and start going two or three times a week, they will have to know that’s where I’m going, and I just worry that they’ll be disapproving of it or maybe even think something’s wrong with me, since to them it will appear to be something that has just come out of nowhere, even though I’ve been thinking about it a long time.
So I know all of this probably sounds weird. It sounds weird to me when I read it, and I’m the one that wrote it! But if anyone can offer any advice on the two issues I’ve described, it would be greatly helpful. I really want to join a gym and try to get more exercise, but I’m afraid I’ll talk myself out of it because of these issues, and maybe the right advice from someone here can get me to just do it. Sometimes I just need a nudge from someone else to get me going.
Thanks!
DC
