What was the worst shape you ever been in? What made you snap out of it?

[OldbutSTRONG]

I have no problem going to the gym. I love it. It's a ritual for me.

Unfortunately I have bad eating habits. I let myself slide and enjoyed myself too much the past year, even though I routinely went to the gym.

Have you ever been in good/great shape only to pack on some major weight because you stopped going, ate too much, or had an injury/sugery?

 

[Blank]

I was in terrible shape for most of my life. I had a really rough break up (6 yr LTR) and got into all this pick up stuff about a year ago. I started taking muay thai classes and dropped from 180lbs to 155. Then I started reading about nutrition and weight lifting. Started doing MMA and lifting, now back up to 175 but the new weight is mostly muscle.

Working out became a distraction from how much I thought my life sucked after the break up but the results got me hooked. Especially with lifting. Once you start to get in shape, you don't want to stop. I remember the first time I noticed that my back was getting cut. Instant addiction to hittin the weights.

 

[Fuglydude]

I started training when I was 17.... at the time I was 125 lbs at around 5'8" ... yes... I could have been an emaciated female runway model. That's probably the worst shape I've been in.

I hated being skinny and weak. I've been lifting for over 10 years. I didn't know anything about lifting for the first year or so, but still put on good weight. I didn't know anything about nutrition til about 4-5 years in, and even then it was hard to incorporate my knowledge into my lifestyle. The last 5 years have been decent. I got into sprinting and bobsleigh and then moved to a different city of school.

I started dancing around 3.5 years ago, and that meant you had to stay in shape or risk being embarrassed on stage. Many of the guys I've worked with have great genetics and I had to compete against that.

Unfortunately the lifestyle associated w/ dancing is a bit of a siren song, in that its very seductive, but in the end you end up screwing yourself up if you have no self control. It involves liberal amounts of partying, weed, and the occasional use of harder drugs like MDMA and cocaine. I've never taken cocaine, but MDMA is fun shiiite. I'm not even gonna get into the potential for promiscuousity and catching STIs if you're not careful. I was generally in good shape (aesthetically speaking) but resorted to the use of AAS.

I don't think I've ever taken more than 2 weeks off from the gym in the last 10 years or so. Its something that keeps me sane. I have to train. I find the endorphins addictive, and feel like absolute crap if I take more than 3 days off. If I don't go to the gym I need to do something physically demanding. The more I go to the gym the more addictive it gets.

 

[Cure]

Ive never been in "bad" shape per se.
I grew up to about 61kg body weight, then stopped. I was toned but small built and weak, despite doing martial arts and going to the the gym some of the time.

If I hadn't altered my diet and started weight training properly, my genetics would probably have kept me around 60kg for my entire life.

I guess what motivated me to start training properly and gaining (currently 71kg, lots more to go!) was the realisation that I didnt like my body, and wanted to be stronger and more powerfully built. The final kick start was the breakup of my first relationship.

Free time and frastration = moving metal around a lot.

Cure.

 

[danro]

I was in terrible shape for most of my life. I had a really rough break up (6 yr LTR) and got into all this pick up stuff about a year ago. I started taking muay thai classes and dropped from 180lbs to 155. Then I started reading about nutrition and weight lifting. Started doing MMA and lifting, now back up to 175 but the new weight is mostly muscle.

Working out became a distraction from how much I thought my life sucked after the break up but the results got me hooked. Especially with lifting. Once you start to get in shape, you don't want to stop. I remember the first time I noticed that my back was getting cut. Instant addiction to hittin the weights.

Sounds exactly like my story. Was in a long LTR and she broke up with me, picked up MMA to distract me and ended up looking for ways to get in better shape to improve my performance in the sport. Still not completely over her, but now I do MMA and work out for my own enjoyment, not for her. Before the break up I drank TONS of soda, and ate really ****ty. Maybe I should thank her for breaking up with me, haha.

 

[Oppa]

Played WoW for two years. Ate once-twice a day and pretty much never seen broad daylight. I hit an all-time low at 5'8 and 115 lbs.

I looked almost equivalent to Christian Bale in The Machinist. It was f**king gross.

One day, just dropped WoW due to sheer frustration of living life in a hole and got out of the house and started hitting the gym. Talk about people giving you wierd looks.

The motivation at the gym is nuts. You'll always find a bigger person than you which in the end, gives you more determination to hit the weights harder.

I'm at 140 (which was my dream weight for ages, due to my endobody), my goal is 150!

 

[blinkwatt101]

@ Oppa.....dude I'm a WoW *****. Thing is I just don't act like a total tweed outside of the house,so no one knows....about to have 3 80s,so you know I play alot.

I'm still a freak in the gym and have my priorities right....except for when expansions come out...I take a few days off work.

I'm lucky though, my beautiful girlfriend doesn't mind me sounding like a angry nerd on vent,I also go to school and work full time and am training my two puppies so I have no choice other then to keep my life straight.

If you have a toon on Spinebreaker feel free to hit me up.

But back to the original topic.....18 years old 5 8" 160lbs.....12-15% bodyfat.....nice stomach bloated look 24/7. I was eating big Texas Cinnamon Roles, Easy Mac....non-stop...took awhile...learned how to eat and properly lift...5 8" 140+ 5-7% all year long....years later 5 8" 156-163 lbs 4-8% year round. (higher end bodyfat for winter when I chow down on my tacos and pizza non-stop)

 

[mrRuckus]

Wow I quit World of Warcraft in 2 months from release. What a terrible game. Get to 60 (at the time) with no effort, no experience penalties, no death penalties, no challenge, no nothing and then just sit on your thumbs. Why are people still playing that? Total button masher. My fingers ache just thinking about it.

 

[Da Realist]

Worst shape ever was probably over the summer. I only got hungary twice a day but was keeping the same weight. My head hurt, I had low energy, and walking around really just felt like it was an effort.

So I said it one day and started running, doing push ups, sit ups, and tried working on being able to do pull ups. I got a little bored doing it since I was used to powerlifting and got into the gym once school started back. I found a workout plan, walked to the gym, and been working out steadily for the past 3 months. I'm about as strong as I used to be, feel a lot better, have slimmed down, and have so much energy I'm running out of stuff to do. My mind even works better.

 

[synergy1]

great question!

in 2001 during my sophomore year, I had a very time consuming first semester. I barely ate, and I ate poorly when I did. I stayed active playing sports, but was in miserable shape...5'10" maybe 130 lbs. I decided to hit the weights when my mother said I looked sick from being so skinny. Also that semester I had gotten a ton of remarks from other chicks about how they wanted to be as skinny as I was.

that pretty much did it; went to the gym with a few of the boys at 5am as we were all embarrassed at how skinny and weak we were. Almost puked after doing some 15 lb bicep curls, some rowing and a shoulder press. Amazing. Stuck with it and am getting better every year! none of the guys who started with me stuck with it very long and have been on and off since than. Its easy to stay motivated as I look good and feel good from doing it.

 

[Huxlly]

Take rest!

Well How can appreciate your post. You must take rest from gym that is better.

 

[Mex]

Worst shape I ve been in is my shape right now. I used to be athletic in high school, and for my first two years in college, then I stopped playing sports (I know that is cliche but...).

I started studying hard and focusing on career goals etc. This is all great, but I did not take care of myself physically. I worked in industry briefly, now I am half-way through a PhD program. But these last three years have been my worst shape. I have done nothing active, just work all day, sitting at my computer reading, writing, crunching numbers, etc. Dont get me wrong, I love what I do, but I feel very incomplete. I am not a total slob, but I am a skinny dude, about 5 foot 7 inches, with a nice beer-belly...not turnin any heads thats for sure...haha.

I have been thinking about getting to the gym a lot over the last year or so, but since I turned 28 about a month ago, I finally said f*** it. I want to make myself feel better and more complete. I have tried working out in the past, but never did the right research, and therefore never got results. I think it is mostly because I ignored diet. Now I am very focused on doing this the right and I am sure that 6 months from now I will be happier. I am going into my 5th workout session tomorrow and I can not wait. Cheers!

 

[backbreaker]

22 years old, 5'8 240.

couldn't fit into a size 38 jeans.

what made me snap out of it? I honestly don't think it was one thing.. just the realization to how much my life sucked and i hated feeling the way i felt, even though i had some **** going for me

 

[old married dude]

So many guys let themselves go after they get married & I was no exception. I'm 5'8" & two years ago my weight crept up to about 175 lbs. That's really not too overweight, but I had a decent 6-pack all my life & that totally disappeared, I had a little pudge & was up to a 33-34 waist size when I had previously been a 29-30.

My downfall is that I would just eat whatever, like cheesecake, soda, pizza, burgers, fried chicken, etc. That was OK when I was 19 b/c my metabolism was way higher & I'd just burn it off, but when that slowed down that's when I got bigger. I still went to the gym 2-3 times a week, but I REALLY cleaned up my diet. No more soda, junk food, or fast food, everything I ate from that point on was mostly low-carb, high-protein, and low-fat. For example, I replaced the burgers with turkey sandwiches on whole grain bread with lettuce, tomato, and a little bit of mustard. I replaced the sweets with fresh fruits like cantaloupe or an apple. After just 6 months of eating well, I found myself back down to around the 150# range & the 6-pack is back!

 

[jocca]

Seems I was self concious a lot earlier than most. I wanted to start getting girls even in grade 7 and I thought at the time that guys with great bodies was all that girls were after haha. Was only really a little chubby but thats the worst I've been, So I started doing mass situps. I also played rep for footy for the first time in grade seven so I was training for footy 5 days a week (in retrospect it was rediculous for a 12 year old to train that much).

Got to the point where I was doing 400 situps a night for 14 weeks straight. But at least it worked

 

[SBW]

About 20-odd kg overweight following a prolonged period of no activity on a ****tail of ever-increasing strength painkillers when a damaged nerve exploded into continual agony. I couldn't climb one flight of stairs without stopping for a breather. Prior to all this, I had been pretty fit and active.

At the end of the period, the medics were talking potential brain tumour but eventually traced the problem to another cause and after a small bit of bone was removed, I soon regained normality. However, after all this, my liver function was down, my blood sugar was rising and my heart was sending out warning shots.

So instead of following the medics advice and living like a cripple for the rest of my days, I joined a gym, radically changed my diet and within months, my blood readings were back to normal and by the end of a year, my weight and musculature was in tip-top shape again.