nice sounds kinda like something i did almost a year ago doing shrugs... my back still aint right

You wouldn't think it, but hurting yourself doing shrugs is somewhat common. It's easy to be fooled into thinking that you can just load up on the weight, due to the limited range of motion. My guess is, you were probably working with way too much weight which caused you to have to do some sort of jerking motion to do a full rep.





You would see some slight shrinkage when coming off the product, because Creatine supplements cause your muscles to hold more water. The mass you would lose would simply come from the water. Likewise, some of the mass you'd obtain during the course of a Creatine cycle wouldn't be muscle exclusively.



Hurting yourself doing curls is very hard to do, so you must have been doing something very wrong. Make sure you learn the movements properly before you start working with them, and also don't be too proud to start off with as light a weight as you need in order to perform an exercise correctly. If that means grabbing the pair of 2 pound pink aerobics class weights, then so be it.

I shouldn't neglect to mention that it's not really a good idea for novice lifters to spend too much time with isolation movements such as curling. The program in the link below is widely regarded as one of the best in putting size and strength on beginners. The whole thing is designed around THE three essential lifts, the squat, deadlift, and bench press. Every other lift, other than the big three, is really just supplementary, and any program not built around the three lifts will go nowhere fast.

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/ ... r_Programs

It was the last rep and I was struggling, I let the weight drop instead of lowering it down properly, and I think it jerked my arm. It's hurting less now at least, so I hope there's no lasting damage down.
I had a set of bulky 7.5kg dumbbells that I used to use but I was able to do too many reps with those. I was using my new set of 10kg iron dumbbells and I think the problem was that I'm still not used handling to the extra weight.

I checked that link so but I don't have a barbell and gyms do not appeal to me, I'm currently doing a variety of different dumbell exercises & weighted sit-ups.

I answered "embarrassed to show up and be a beginner". I was looking at 'Starting Strength' and various flavors of '5x5', and while I know everybody starts somewhere, it's still something of a mental hurdle knowing that you should start '5x5' with basically zero weight. I've tried the gym thing before, went in with best intentions, and just left feeling like an idiot. I couldn't find anyone who worked there who was willing to tear themselves away from whatever they were doing to just show me proper form for 5 minutes. Granted, it was a public facility not a 'members' type club.

Oh well. At least I got a 30 minute walk out of it.

Cost is a secondary concern, but honestly if I stopped drinking I could probably handle the monthly rates pretty easy. And stopping drinking at the same time as exercising would be a 2-fer admittedly. Maybe I could meet someone at an AA meeting... we'd already have SOMETHING in common. So maybe a 3-fer.

Time isn't a concern. Really, I have nothing but time. I could probably be there 5 times a week or more.

Lifting weights has increased my lean muscle mass immensely - 57KG when I was around 18-19 to about 81KG now (age 22). I compete in powerlifting and so my muscles are not just for show and I feel a LOT more confident in myself. It is my primary emotional support in life and my whole life is fit around getting to the gym 4 times a week. However, it has done jackshit for improving my success with women.

I completely understand because I went through the same things. The great thing about strength training is that you don't need a gym. In fact, gyms in general are totally unnecessary. You can strength train at home, but it takes a small investment. If you have space and can cover the start up costs, you'll never have to pay another penny. And there's thousands of internet instruction videos these days on how to do any exercise, so even the need for trainer is non existent.

..

Listen to this man Incels.



If this is all that you're going to do, then I wouldn't bother spending anything on supplements.
And don't be surprised if you don't see the kind of aesthetic results you see in these pics.
When I say jacked, I'm talking about the kind of physique that turns heads, not the kind that "runs marathons goddamit."

I was gonna write a long reply but it comes down to two things

1. I don't want to go alone and none of my friends are into it, or I would be as well probably. I don't know what to do with the fucking machines and stuff.
2. I'm a relatively skinny fuck so that bothers me as well.
3. I don't have the energy now, too depressed.
4. I don't believe it's the cause of my incel or that it would solve it though it may help in certain conditions.


That's about it.

i mostly use machines. i know freeweights probably work better but i'd be a bit self conscious to start using them. but at the moment i'm focusing on losing weight. according to the gym machine, i'm about 220lbs without fat so i figure there must be muscle in there somewhere

This post seems to be directed at incels who believe their looks are the main source of the problem.

You need to be more than jacked though. You have to both show it off, and be socially savy enough to captialize on it. For some people the process of getting jacked(and thus sexually accepted by women) might be enough, but others will need to get comfortable with themselves after they get jacked. If you can get jacked, hold your liquor, and dance with chicks in a club, you really should be able to beat incel. For real. You can't be extremely LS though. You have to be comfortable with chicks finding you attractive.

i used to have issues with that too. But once you realize that nobody really gives a shit what other people are doing in the gym it's easy. My biggest issue was lifting more weight than I should have been which caused bad form. And having terrible form not only risks injury but you look ridiculous. That's the one area where I do think people are like "look at this guy", when you're bending and twisting like an idiot. Machines are good if you're trying to avoid injury, but they isolate muscles in unnatural ways and free weights are just all around better. Dumbbells are a pretty easy place to start to gauge where you're at and you can do so much with them. Once I got into a routine and knew what I was doing, it was actually a huge confidence booster for me. Noticing beginners watching how I was doing exercises, and trying them out themselves was like a mini "fuck yeah" in my head.


also yeah I had too much weight on the shrug machine and bad form= messed up spot in my back.

i don't think machines or freewights make that much of a difference, you should be able to cover all your muscle groups using machines, in the gym i see plenty of guys who are really big who mostly use machines

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/strengthening/a/aa050702a.htm

A good program would probably incorporate both.

My reason is simple.

Results are a combination of:

1. Genetics.
2. Diet.
3. Sleep.
4. Technique.

1. is the most important. If you don't have 1. you're severely disadvantaged. I don't have 1.. In spite of not having 1., I'm still willing to work out. So 1. isn't my reason for not working out. 4. is no issue. I understand how to work out.

My reasons are 2. and 3.. My job is erratic so I'm unable to set up a proper meal and sleep schedule. Without proper food and sleep you shouldn't even bother working out if your genetics suck to begin with.

Oh and I wouldn't get jacked for women, only other reasons, like health.