Honestly, I was always the scrawniest kid in my P.E. class. Being 5' 11'' and less than 9 stone 5 pounds, I was underweight. My ribs protruded horribly. About two months ago I started working out. I had no gym membership (nor did I desire to get one; the image of embarrassing myself in a room brimming with bulging muscle-men did not appeal to me), nor did I have any weights, so I had to improvise.
When I started, I found that I was only capable of 2 push-ups before I simply physically could not do anymore. Yep, you read that right.
2 push-ups. I found that I could only hold myself in the push-up position for 60 seconds before I collapsed in a quivering, panting mess. Using the rucksack I use for sixth form, I would do curls. My rucksack weighed a mere 12 pounds. I could only manage 3 sets of 12 reps before I could do no more.
I was ridiculously weak.
However, through much effort and willpower, and the help of this
WikiHow article, I have improved greatly. My new consecutive push-up record - which I just set - is 29. With my 12 pound rucksack, I now do 5 sets of 20, then a sixth set where I work until failure, which is around about 40. The other day I stuffed my bag as much as I could with books, taking it to 16 pounds. With that, I did 4 sets of 12. The last time I tried (about a week ago), I was able to hold myself in the push-up position for 2 minutes 39 seconds. I am confident that if I were to try it again, I would be getting close to 3 minutes.
Conversely, I have very good lower body strength. I cycle every day, and having done karate for nearly 4 years, my core and legs developed from having to stay in grueling stances for extensive periods of time.
About 10 or so days ago I weighed myself and the scales showed 9 stone 5 pounds. I then made the decision to try to put on some weight. I don't know how much I weighed before I started working out. I'm now about 9 stone 8 pounds. My ribs are now somewhat less visible.
I'm hoping to get some dumbbells for Christmas to work with, so that would be helpful. Obviously a rucksack isn't the most ergonomic thing to be lifting.
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Please, share your own progress stories in terms of fitness, be it weight gain, weight loss, weight lifting, body shape, or anything!