What were you lifting the FIRST time you touched weights?

[needsleep]

I remember it well, it was a Saturday morning in November of 1992, I was in 8th grade, the high school and middle school at the time were in the same building, and I walked into the weight room, and telling this story now I have to laugh, I was like "Holy Fuck!!!" When I saw kids benching with 135 on the bar, I thought putting a 45 on each end was some serious shit, then some of the upperclassmen were working out with 315 and I was floored......My very first weight training experience went as follows......Bench Press....Barx12, 75x10, 95x6, 115x3......The reason I stuck with it is because I was EXPECTING the older guys banging out 315 plus to make fun of me, kick my ass, etc, BUT they didn't, they encouraged me, helped me with form, a program etc, and made friends with me, if it weren't for that experience in November of '92, I probably wouldn't be where I am today......thats why I am willing to help and encourage anyone who is serious about training, because we all start somewhere...By the tim i was a SR in high school I was throwing around 315 on the bench for 6 reps, I was maxing out at 375, and whenever I finished my sets and some some scared looking 8th grader or heard some Freshman say to his buddy, What the fuck? We don't belong here, I would make a point to walk up to them, introduce myself (they already knew who I was, but it is the point), and I would help them with their workout.....One of those scared kids I helped out ended up playing D-Tackle at a BIG TIME college and he got drafted Saturday, It felt like he was my little brother, thats why I love these boards, everyone encourages everyone, no matter what....to this day if I see some lost kids not doing anything right at the gym, I introduce myself, and ask if they want a good program, because if nobody helped me out, I wouldn't have found my true passion.....WEIGHT TRAINING!!!

That's really cool of you, I personally just go inward when I am in the gym, I wear long pants and long sleaved top and have earphones in and I hardly ever look at others (okay call me antisocial), I just do what I go there to do and try to give my all. BUT I make sure I treat everyone with respect, from the biggest guy down to the smallest when I do interact, I have a lot of respect for anyone training and it's hard to go and train if you're small/skinny/fat and keep seeing big guys around the gym.

I’m not a big guy but at 220lbs you can see my decent shape under my all covering attire so I make sure to never be a jerk even though I am usually to inward looking and focused to notice much. On the other hand when the big guys are polite to me, it makes me feel good, it is a nice feeling to have people be polite especially when they are big strong dudes. Even the way you look at someone conveys some sort of feeling, looking at anyone with any sort of superior expression is bad mojo in my book, I usually give a very slight bow of the head under most circumstances, i.e standing aside to let someone past which is about as much as I interact.

Heh I don’t sound friendly at all, I have trained with a couple of trainers at my gym and I’ve had a great time and talked a lot during those sessions, so even though I am very quiet normally I do believe they know I am a friendly guy and I’m not mute.

I have to say I found it intimidating when I first started, especially when I changed from machines to free weights and I had to go into the free weights area where everyone seemed to be in at least two’s or three’s, just a smile by someone was enough to give me confidence though.

Heh when I first lifted weights I was 14 (haven’t trained solidly since then though I was always off and on and doing fitness stuff instead for a few years) I went into my school gym and guess what everyone uses to test their strength…. The bench press, I managed to lift 35kg (75lbs ish) on the bench machine for a single. All my friends were stronger than me and when I used to go in at lunch time I got to lift 50kg after a while but my friends were lifting 80kg and looking at their muscles. I’d love to see my old friends from then (I never saw them again after I was 18 as I moved across the country, well in fact to a different country), I’d love to see them and have them see me now a full 80lbs heavier. Though I wouldn’t rub it in, of course not…

 

[The Red Dragon]

Last month

BP - 60 lbs
MP - 40 lbs
DL - 140 lbs
Squat - 120 lbs
(when starting)

 

[TheOak84]

I must admit, in 8th grade I was performing 400 push ups a night and curling a 10 dumbbell for 20 minutes. . i would switch from arm to arm and rep out for 30 seconds. I knew absolutely nothing about training.

thats similar to what i used to do in 5th grade when i started "lifting"

i had two 5 pound DB's, two 10 pound DB's, a five foot hollow pipe and 120 pounds in cement weight...no bench ... i would do pushups and pullups one day and curls presses and ext of all types on the second day.. i would watch CO-Ed training and learn from them... once and a while i would have my dad load up the bar with some weight and put it on my back so i could squat
i really didnt gain much weight because i wasnt eating enough, but i had little peaks and thats all that mattered