Originally Posted by
enterprise 
well me and my buds are thinking of joining the gym. were not fat or anything in fact gaining weight there is my goal as i hear muscle weighs more. anyway i figured it would belong in personal development. assuming some people here do also any advice or anything for a 15.5 year old whos just starting out. we've been twice and we exercise but you never know if your doing it right.
what is your goal? simply to gain muscle and cut some fat?
i'm 22 and have been lifting since i was 15 or 16 probably, but seriously lifting since i was 18 (knowing precisely what i was doing)
I'm what you would call a gym rat, i go 5 to 6 days a week (weights), I do high intensity interval training 2 to 4 times a week (cardio). I wake up and that's what is on my mind, making sure i go to the gym, like eating breakfast.
Anyway, if you want some advice I will tell you this from my 2 wasted years in high school.
Let me first explain what I did. I pretty much benched and did bicep curls for two years in high school, i ate pizza at lunch (school menus, lol...pathetic, no wonder obesity is at such a high level), I consumed tons of sugars day in and day out from sodas and tea, i really knew absolutely zilch about nutrition.
Eventually I became addicted to weightlifting and adapted the whole lifestyle, and majority of my reading now is done on training and nutrition. I try to learn more and more each day so I'm like a fitness encyclopedia ideally.
When you begin my suggestion would be to learn about nutrition first, and be prepared to train your entire body, don't get roped into bench pressing contests like I was. Everyone loves to bench but it only develops a small portion of your body.
Get help creatine a routine that will target your shoulders, triceps, biceps, chest, back, legs, calves, forearms, abs, etc...It will be easier for you to start with something simple like upper body one day, lower body the next, then take either a rest day or a cardio day on the 3rd.
I can't stress how important nutrition is though. If your not consuming the right things your hard work in the gym is not going to pay off and your not going to get the results you want. You need to cut out sugars, you need to cut out processed foods. Read up on proteins and complex carbs, read up on essential fatty acids. It will take a while to acquire the info but its not very difficult terminology.
A book called Lean Bodies by Cliff Sheets is really a fantastic beginners guide for nutrition. You can probably get it on half.com for like 5 bucks or less.
It can help fill voids in your life to a degree, gives you attainable goals, constant positive feedback if your working hard and making gains and reaching those goals. But in all honesty, its not really for everyone, you might despise it.
I know lots of people train and get fit to improve self esteem, it honestly has not drastically improved my self esteem, i was probably more friendly when i was younger and out of shape, and probably more approachable.
I know this response is kind've a jumbled up mess but i'm watching a movie and replying at the same time so.....sorry
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