I was introduced to strength training by older brothers of a friend I went to school with. They were working out in their basement one day, and I was wondering what they were doing. I distincly remember them showing me how to do a concentration curl. Of course, as I was in around Grade 6, I was weak and could barely do what they were doing. I also remember it hurt. I still found it interesting, and you could say that - at that point - that’s when the fitness bug first bit me.
Now I was skinny. Very skinny. Tall and skinny. In high school I was over 6 feet tall and maybe 150 pounds soaking wet (and that was after I had started working out…that’s just what I remember). I remember looking through the local paper and finding an ad for a weight set. 50 bucks. I asked my dad if I could get it, and he did. I remember it was winter and quite cold, and on a Saturday we went over to the guys’ place to buy the set.
The set was an old red Weider incline bench with 3 steel iron rods (2 dumbbells and a barbell) with stainless steel sleeves, a few collars and around 150 lbs in weights. They were blue Weider weights that were filled with sand. The incline bench had been reinforced with a 2×4 so it wouldn’t tip over, as it was quite skinny. The guy I bought it from sure looked like he had used it. He had muscles. Maybe not big ones, but he was a bigger dude. We gave him his money and threw the set in the back of the truck and took it home.
I set it up in my bedroom. My room was in the basement and it was a fairly good side, so in it went. I started reading into how to actually work out, since I didn’t have the slightest clue. I remember the first book that I read that really got into the practice of lifting weights.
I think initially got it from the library, but I would go on to buy it, as it was just that good of a book. It was called Getting Stronger by Bill Pearl. That book was AWESOME!! There were programs in there for all sorts of sports, from basic bodybuilding to windsurfing. Along with the guide saying how to perform all the lifting, there was nutrition information, a history of Mr. Pearl (which fascianted me in its’ own rights), and I think even a guide as to how to stretch. I loved that book. I took my first workouts from that book and followed them to a tee. I had that book for years, and in university I lent it to a friend. I’m not sure what happened to it after that. He said he gave it back to me, but I don’t think he did. Anyways, that book was the foundation for all my future weight training endeavors.
Of course, in high school there was also the school gym that had the monolithic universal machine in it (I swear it was straight out of 1969), but I wasn’t confident enough to go and use the weight room in high school. See, like I said, I was skinny, and also a bit of a nerd (maybe a lot of a nerd) and didn’t take jeering well. I did try using from time to time, but I would mostly work out at home.
I remember one of the first supplements I took. It was some sort of Weider’s weight gain powder. I remember the picture on it had Mr. Weider with his big mustache smiling and it was blue and yellow on a cardboard can. I didn’t like it very much, and I wasn’t sure I was using it right. I never did finish that first can, as I found it years later. I chucked it out straight away, as I was too scared to open it…
A short time later, my parents got me a new weight bench for Christmas. Along with the incline bench, it had a squat bar, and leg extension/leg curl/preacher curl attachments. That one was black, and it was a lot softer than the red Weider bench. I enjoyed that one too. I moved the red Weider out of my room and setup the black one in there.
One last thing to mention about the red Weider is - one summer I decided to work out outside. I brought it outside and carried some weights out. It was quite warm, but I still got a bit if a workout in. There was a girl that lived a few houses over who I guess noticed me. I should note that at this point, girls were pretty much non-exitent in my life (see the nerd point above), nor would the be a part for years to come. I didn’t know much about this girl at that point, other than who she was, but she ended up calling me a little while later. Just to chat. I guess something caught her eye. Nothing did come of it, but looking back on it, I can’t help but smile a little at this little story.
Should I just forego the trying to gain and cut at the same time and just focus on one?
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