Total noob... what should I start with?

[Jabberwocky]

I'm EXTREMELY out of shape (31 m / USA).

What would you recommend to boost my journey into getting super fit?

I'm not looking to get huge or anything, just lean and toned. I used to be fit in highschool and played basketball/football and even went to the state champs, but that was ~14 years ago.

I'm currently 6'0" and 175lbs, skinny fat. I recently quit alcohol which was literally over 50% of my caloric intake...

I feel like I'm low on testosterone for someone my age...

Anything you guys would suggest? I get so confused looking at "stacks" and pre-workout blends which always seem so fucking pricey.

I just want to boost/enhance my body's natural ability.

I'm kinda scared of steroids, as I once had a huge muscled friend who scared me off it because his dick stopped working...

Would prefer legal supplements but open to all.

One thing about myself: I prefer long distance running over weight lifting, but will be doing them both.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[jackie jones]

I am also curious about this. I quit alcohol and cigarettes 6 weeks ago along with pretty much everything else some time before that. I feel healthier than I have in some time. I am thin, 6'1'' 145, and I can get cut if I put effort into it, yet my muscle mass dissipates quickly when I stop working out. I have been considering some kind of regimen.

 

[Highonlife1]

If you hate weights and gyms try pushups and pull up chin-up exercises to exhaustion, and sprints for lower body legs. This will promote growth hormones etc.(anabolic)

Avoid your long distance(catabolic) tendencies try to compromise and do cardio workouts 30minutes 3/week heart rate approx 80% max, you can also alternate HIT training instead here ONCE you are somewhat healthy again, HIT can be dangerous if you're not ready for it.

Protein shakes after any workouts to take advantage of anabolic window or eating good meal directly after

Best wishes

 

[GrymReefer]

If you feel like you indeed have Low T symptoms then your best bet is to get some blood work and clarify for yourself if that's the cause.

 

[Jabberwocky]

If you feel like you indeed have Low T symptoms then your best bet is to get some blood work and clarify for yourself if that's the cause.

I had a female primary doc 2 years ago. I said I wanted my hormones checked, she literally laughed and called me a hypochondriac (not joking)

She also blew off my other concerns then drug tested me and sent me home (after I was honest about my drug abuse problem)...

I'll find a new doc.

I have legit reasons to think I have low T for a guy my age, but I'm not going to get into that. (no it has nothing to do with my penis)

 

[GrymReefer]

If you're in the US then your insurance will generally dictate whether you require a referral/authorization to see a specialist or not. If you can avoid the gate keeping from a GP, you might be able to find yourself a suitable endo on your own endeavour that will listen.

You could also pay out of pocket to an online site that allows you to specifically order the blood work you want.

I wouldn't go making yourself a lab rat with random AAS to treat symptoms you're perceiving as low T until you have some blood work imo.

 

[wudbutcher]

I had a female primary doc 2 years ago. I said I wanted my hormones checked, she literally laughed and called me a hypochondriac (not joking)

She also blew off my other concerns then drug tested me and sent me home (after I was honest about my drug abuse problem)...

I'll find a new doc.

I have legit reasons to think I have low T for a guy my age, but I'm not going to get into that. (no it has nothing to do with my penis)
Try eating sensibly, exercise, and most importantly, give your body say, 90 days of good living before you hit the doctors up. Be patient, and allow your body to recover.

 

[Genetic Freak]

I'm EXTREMELY out of shape (31 m / USA).

What would you recommend to boost my journey into getting super fit?

I'm not looking to get huge or anything, just lean and toned. I used to be fit in highschool and played basketball/football and even went to the state champs, but that was ~14 years ago.

I'm currently 6'0" and 175lbs, skinny fat. I recently quit alcohol which was literally over 50% of my caloric intake...

I feel like I'm low on testosterone for someone my age...

Anything you guys would suggest? I get so confused looking at "stacks" and pre-workout blends which always seem so fucking pricey.

I just want to boost/enhance my body's natural ability.

I'm kinda scared of steroids, as I once had a huge muscled friend who scared me off it because his dick stopped working...

Would prefer legal supplements but open to all.

One thing about myself: I prefer long distance running over weight lifting, but will be doing them both.

Thanks for any advice.

You'd go a long way just eating healthy, no junk food ie: No sugars, No vegetable seed oils, No grains, No commercial dairy..
Plenty fresh grass fed meat, eggs, chicken, fish, vegetables, nuts seeds cheeses, etc..

 

[dopamimetic]

I'm thinking about the same, I probably have low T from opioid use and during use of them I lost much energy and condition. I was never into heavy sports but liked to go for a walk every now and then and to use stairs instead of elevator if it's just a few levels etc.. also I'm mostly vegetarian and eat very little junk food. Unfortunately it's difficult to manage a healthy diet when you're borderline-homeless and don't have access to a kitchen nor the money to buy quality food.

As I am in my early 30s now, also natural T production will start to go down and I certainly don't want to keep my body going downhill so fast.. I have read that roids & SARMs are effective only if you already exhausted your natural training abilities and would do nothing besides harm otherwise but it doesn't make sense as this would apply to T too?

Then we had this SR-9009 drug which was labeled 'exercise in a bottle' and literally simulated aerobic exercise in lab rats but there were concerns about cancer. The WADA issued a warning about that, which is both concerning as well as I just don't trust an anti-doping agency about such things. Also the rat breed used in the cited paper was one that is specially for cancer research and is very susceptible to developing tumors, read that many chemicals would show cancerogenic features in that breed.
But for sure it's nothing to mess with as long as there is even a tiny probability of it being a real cancerogen.

Strangely I have less issues with lifting weights than endurance training like swimming or running for 30-60mins 2-3x a week, it's awkward but no way that I would keep such a schedule up for longer. In my early 20's I went to swim for 1km or so 2x a week but this involved DXM and even then it became boring.

My primary problem is that I feel exhausted so easily and readily, think it's artificially trained from bad experiences with school sports and not really the body telling me to stop. Maybe malnutrition too but my attempts to get blood work done failed in a similar manner as you report @SnafuInTheVoid, it's sexism but males do the same, do the routine bloodwork that doesn't check for many relevant things and write everything off as hypochondria or mental weakness.

 

[Jabberwocky]

@dopamimetic

Yeah, after thinking about it I can definitely blame how I feel on 17 years of opioid/alcohol abuse and horrid diet. I was put on blood pressure medication at 29...

I live paycheck to paycheck and its so hard to find the money to eat healthy. Maybe I'm just making excuses. I'm sure I could eat healthy if I put in the research and effort. I used to meal prep, maybe I should start doing that again.

I'm the opposite when it comes to exercise, I love running/biking but I find lifting weights incredibly boring for some reason.

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

[dopamimetic]

I'm the opposite when it comes to exercise, I love running/biking but I find lifting weights incredibly boring for some reason.

It is boring but also easy reward for me. Listening to music makes the time pass easily. Running is just constant fighting against fatigue while lifting weights makes it easy to reach physical limits where the body releases endorphins but then again I never managed to keep it up, one excuse was that gym is expensive but it's not true anymore probably.. In past I liked to go walking in the nature for hours while sky high on DXM, it is a hell of a norepinephrinergic which provided me with plenty of energy but it doesn't work anymore.

Yeah, agree with the food. Even when I had some savings it requires planning to shop, cook etc. for just one person. With my ex I cooked every day fresh vegetables and stuff and certainly was in better shape without really doing anything besides going to walk the dog (a good thing btw).

 

[thegreenhand]

Plant based diets can be done extremely cheaply. Just buy whatever produce is on sale that week and cook it up with some rice and beans or make soup or something.

@SnafuInTheVoid I love cardio too and I almost never lift (though I have been using resistance bands at home lately). Obviously there are no races anytime soon but if you already enjoy running and biking you should look into doing a triathlon. There's a wide range of race distances for any fitness level. and swimming can be difficult at first but soon becomes very enjoyable after learning some technique.

@dopamimetic Try trail running if you have the chance. The nature aspect makes the endorphins set in much quicker and it's just overall more enjoyable

 

[Jabberwocky]

I counter-intuitively gained a ton of weight after quitting booze, so I guess don't fall into the same trap. Just wild, wild sugar / carb cravings.

My method to losing it again was straight-up all plants / no empty carbs. No bread, no pasta, no rice, no corn, no potatoes, no sweets of any kind, no dairy except some whey protein here and there, definitely no meat, no cheat days. I even kept fruit pretty modest. If you stick with it the trick is not losing weight too fast and chewing through muscle or rebounding and spending a month eating cake.

I'm not even trying to lose weight. I'm not overweight, just soft. Trying to gain lean mass.

I also dislike sugar (I guess carbs are a different story). That's not my problem.

I just need to get off my ass really.

Thanks though

 

[dopamimetic]

@SnafuInTheVoid Here the same, I don't like excess sugar at all, chocolate for example is overwhelming in taste and many cakes contain too much sugar for me. The same with fast food and excessively fat stuff but I love pasta and rice, still these carbs shouldn't be as bad as flour (there's a book about the effects of cultivated wheat and that it's almost nothing like the wild variant, containing some peripherally-selective morphine like chemicals even).

Thought stims would help to get off my ass but the euphoria also makes me do senseless stuff instead, and with time of using drugs the brain gets re-wired about direct reward instead of investing energy first, sigh. We need something that antagonizes DeltaFosB, that addiction memory protein.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I have an 8-months-on LSD-related leg injury (oops) that's keeping me from doing serious cardio or hiking and I'm really feeling it.

xD I'd love to know the story behind that. I've torn my groin twice from running, but was sober lol.

@SnafuInTheVoid Here the same, I don't like excess sugar at all, chocolate for example is overwhelming in taste and many cakes contain too much sugar for me.

Thought stims would help to get off my ass but the euphoria also makes me do senseless stuff instead, and with time of using drugs the brain gets re-wired about direct reward instead of investing energy first, sigh.

Yep, I hate chocolate. Actually gives me a headache/stomach ache in just small amounts. I also HATE cake frosting, I scrape that crap off! Can't stand most wines either, needs to be bone dry and no sugar.

And yeah, stims do not make me productive. I guess they work while I'm AT work, but on days off I do nothing but play video games/watch youtube/ jack off.... lol

When I feel good I just want to feel MORE good.... what a terrible condition...

 

[Jabberwocky]

@SnafuInTheVoid - I don't have any words of wisdom but I do have some words of encouragement...

I'm a 50 year-old man (yes folks, half a century!) who became obsessed with bodybuilding in my mid 20's when I was extremely thin. At 5'9", in a couple of years I went from 120 to 155 lbs. and looked great. Then life happened and I didn't pick up a weight for almost 25 years.

I developed a classic case of "dad bod" and became pretty much a couch potato. This year I decided to start getting back in shape again. I started eating healthier, lifting weights moderately and walking on alternate days. In 6 months I went from 189 lbs. with a 41" waist to 160 lbs. with a 37" waist. I'm starting to see my muscle definition for the first time in decades!

You're still very young. You'll figure out what works best for you; just stick with it my friend.

Peace, Love and Faith,
Dreamflyer

 

[Jabberwocky]

@dreamflyer

Thanks, man. I quit alcohol (let's be honest I greatly reduced my intake, but none for almost 3 weeks). Somehow I gained 8 lbs in those 3 weeks. Was kinda shocking. I've been running and lifting again and feel amazing.

At least my BP is down and my liver is healing.

Just need to take it slow. I've had several injuries all from pushing myself too hard when exercising, usually running, because I love pushing past the pain chasing that runners high.

Being in your 30s is weird. I don't feel old but I no longer feel young. Whatever, this is my decade to shine. I completely wasted my 20s. Not this time.

Thanks for the words.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Being in your 30s is weird. I don't feel old but I no longer feel young. Whatever, this is my decade to shine. I completely wasted my 20s. Not this time.

In my own personal experience, the older that I get the more fondly I look back on my past experiences. I went through years of addiction, toxic relationships and other poor choices, but I learned from them and they made me who I am today. I also had a lot of good times in the process. I'm happier and healthier than I was 20 years ago!

 

[thegreenhand]

@dreamflyer

Thanks, man. I quit alcohol (let's be honest I greatly reduced my intake, but none for almost 3 weeks). Somehow I gained 8 lbs in those 3 weeks. Was kinda shocking. I've been running and lifting again and feel amazing.

At least my BP is down and my liver is healing.

Just need to take it slow. I've had several injuries all from pushing myself too hard when exercising, usually running, because I love pushing past the pain chasing that runners high.

Being in your 30s is weird. I don't feel old but I no longer feel young. Whatever, this is my decade to shine. I completely wasted my 20s. Not this time.

Thanks for the words.

Cycling can provide a similar “athlete’s high” if you will sans the neuromuscular stress

 

[Jabberwocky]

Cycling can provide a similar “athlete’s high” if you will sans the neuromuscular stress

Thanks. I used to ride a lot of dirt BMX.... until some kid broke his neck trying to do a backflip off a 6 footer. Continued to ride but more road bike type stuff. I've had 3 bikes stolen in the last 10 years and just stopped buying them :/

Might give it a shot, though. I really do like aerobics.