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Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - TheKaizenWay - 03-04-2012 04:41 AM
A bit of background story, I'm 17 and recently graduated from high school (non-US so we have a different education system). Which basically means that 90% of my friend have move on with their life and only a few solid ones remain and even then we don't meet each other much (all male, sadly due to being in an all-boys school). Right now I am trying my best not to rot at home.
After I start reading stuffs around here and a few forums, I start talking to people every time I have the opportunity (mostly small chat with random strangers). Start reading a bit about male fashion and style but couldn't buy much (just a few basics) due to having a limited budget as right now I'm having a low-wage job as an office boy before going to college or some further education.
Right now I'm hoping someone can tell me what to do at this age? Should I do PUA stuff or what because I feel I'm too young too do it and a lot of advice seems to tell me not to do PUA stuff at a young age but focus with building my life first? Can anyone give me any insight or some action plan for a slightly confused teenager, please?:confused:
Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - Halo Effect - 03-04-2012 10:32 AM
Don't do PUA. By the way, you neglected to mention what kind of success (or lack of it) you have experienced with girls?
If you start now with building some fun skills and experiences, you will be awesome once you are in your twenties. Pick up a guitar if you like music. Or become a DJ like all the kids these days, lol. Do strength training (buy Starting Strength) to get in shape. If you get the chance, travel. If you're European, you don't have to go to the other side of the world right away. You could visit hostels in European countries. You don't need to change continents to have the time of your life. A change of mindset is enough.
Read good books. Move out of your parent's place when you can afford it.
Get a nice social circle. You don't have to do PUA to meet girls. You can do team sports, all sorts of group based activities, volunteering.
Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - TheKaizenWay - 03-04-2012 12:40 PM
Hey Mr, thanks a lot for your reply.
Here are the answer,
1.) I rarely have the opportunity to talk to girls when I'm in school due to being in a all-boys environment. So yeah, never been friendzone before by a girl because I don't have any female friend to start with. Still working on it changing that.
2.) I like music. Currently practicing the piano. Hopefully by doing that I will bring value (dunno whats that really mean but have a rough understanding how it works).
3.) From South-East Asia btw, family will never let me travel alone and let me move out at a young age (financially unfeasible too).
4.) Reading...hmmm...will try too google around for the latest book that is good. Besides, I always blank out and ran out of topics to say when having a small chat with strangers.
5.) Gym are expensive here in Asia (even more so for a mere office boy) and the transport fees to go to gym is basically murder for my wallet. So, right now I bought a cheap sets of dumbbell, pull-up bar, jump rope and running shoes for cardio exercises to get started. Don't worry, right now I'm saving money to set up a home gym so I can start SS program.
Thank you, you never realise how happy I was to receive advice from the internet on lessons that my father should have taught me.
Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - FirstAidKit - 03-04-2012 12:51 PM
Is there any way you can join some other mixed sex group activities? Someone suggested volunteering, dance classes are also good (TONS of ladies! not many men!). Not necessarily to pick up women but it's a good thing to have women in your social circle - for one thing, it's usually the easiest way to get introduced to more women. It also takes a lot of the mystery out of talking to and relating to them when you interact with them more often.
Good luck with everything!
Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - Halo Effect - 03-04-2012 01:53 PM
TheKaizenWay Wrote:1.) I rarely have the opportunity to talk to girls when I'm in school due to being in a all-boys environment. So yeah, never been friendzone before by a girl because I don't have any female friend to start with. Still working on it changing that.
Kaizen, I also recommend that you join a club, activity or sport that has both women and men. This is the best thing you can do right now. It can be anything, as long as it is an activity where you interact with girls your own age. This way you automatically come in contact with girls. In fact, this alone may be enough to land you a girlfriend! It can be a little scary to do something like this, but I promise you that you will benefit a lot from it.
Quote:2.) I like music. Currently practicing the piano. Hopefully by doing that I will bring value (dunno whats that really mean but have a rough understanding how it works).You don't have to care about "value". Girls like men that have passions in their life. Men who are motivated to learn something, to achieve something, and who enjoy doing what they do. Being good at a musical instrument shows many of those attributes. And on top of that, music in itself can be used to express emotion and it can trigger emotion in her, so that's probably why girls like musicians.
If you can tell a girl you'll play a song for her and then look her in the eye and casually play this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCSe66pWNmc then you're in. 
Quote:5.) Gym are expensive here in Asia (even more so for a mere office boy) and the transport fees to go to gym is basically murder for my wallet. So, right now I bought a cheap sets of dumbbell, pull-up bar, jump rope and running shoes for cardio exercises to get started. Don't worry, right now I'm saving money to set up a home gym so I can start SS program.
It is an excellent start to begin with body weight exercises like chin-ups, pull-ups, dips, push-ups and ab exercises. You don't need money for those exercises.
RE: Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - Matt T - 03-06-2012 07:56 AM
(03-04-2012 01:53 PM)Halo Effect Wrote: It is an excellent start to begin with body weight exercises like chin-ups, pull-ups, dips, push-ups and ab exercises. You don't need money for those exercises.
It's not. It's initially hard to progress on bodyweight exercises since the growth is so quantized. It takes a loooonnnng time to go from 1 pullup to 2, for example.
Anyways, you can do nearly all your necessary movements with nothing but a barbell and a few weights. Well, you won't be as good as pushing since you can't squat heavy or bench at all, but you still can do squats for high reps (provided you can clean+press the weight) and military press + weighted pushups for pecs.
RE: Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - Traindom - 03-06-2012 10:51 PM
I disagree Matt T. Even if he can't do one pull up, he can still try many easier variations until he can finally do one pull up. He can use bands, employ negative pull ups (which is essentially the eccentric part of the pull up), and more. And if he wants to increase his pull up numbers, he can always grease the groove. The same goes for the push ups. There too are many easier variations of it.
Here's a 60 day program that I have completed in the past: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/plp_the_60day_challenge
I've done it and I can definitely say that you get used to the progressive volume. I thought I was going to die when I was to do 60 pull ups, push ups, and bodyweight squats but it was surprisingly mild. The trick is adding one repetition to your total volume everyday. It doesn't matter how you divide it up in terms of sets, just make sure you meet the quota of repetitions for each exercise that day. I'd say this program will keep you busy for a while.
If you want to experiment with even more bodyweight exercises, Jason Ferruggia posted a great selection: http://jasonferruggia.com/top-20-bodyweight-exercises-for-building-muscle-strength/
Although bodyweight exercises may look harder to progress in compared to barbell exercises (that you can just stack another plate and know you're progressing), it pays dividends to invest in them anyway. Most people would agree that the chin up is superior to the lat pull down. One's less mechanical than the other.
I'd also like to suggest this article to you as it seems right up your alley: http://anthonymychal.com/2012/02/solutions-for-the-skinny-fat-ectomorph-part-iii-programming-and-training/
I promise you all you need to know for building muscle, progressing, and such is right in there. I wish I had the above a long time ago. Trust me.
But if you do take the SS road, don't be freaked if you can't stack more weight on your lifts. The gains are not meant to last forever. And the Gallon of Milk Daily is inadvisable if you're looking to be lean. The SS program is great, for powerlifters. Yes, the principles and mechanics in it are great as part of your foundation of fitness knowledge, but don't take the program to be more than it is, which is a beginner program for powerlifters, not necessarily for those who want aesthetics.
I'd also like to say that if you're looking to build muscle, I'd skimp on the cardio unless it's for a sport or you're looking into cardiovascular benefits. Long walks are great and fantastic as an easy alternative, but yeah, I wouldn't tax my body as a beginner if there isn't a purpose behind it. Long walks aren't as taxing on the body and are great for health and a multitude of other things. You can always shift calories around if you've been feeling a little puffy for a while.
If I've hit you with too much too quickly, please refer to that last article I linked. Read the whole series. It will clear up a whole lot.
RE: Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - IdEngager - 03-07-2012 06:31 AM
My advice for a teenager? Stop worrying too much and enjoy being a teenager, and do everything you can to improve your lifestyle and get more comfortable with girls. Don't get bogged down with too many PUA details or anything like that. It seems like you don't really interact with too many girls regularly, so I'd first try to get myself into environments where you interact with a lot of them before worrying about seducing them into bed. And anything to improve your lifestyle and show some ambition, even if it's just keeping a steady job to have some spending money and taking classes to get a better job is a huge help.
I always get a little
when I see no one actually likes to run here... I feel like I might be the only person on this entire website who enjoys running (mostly sprinting) at things!
RE: Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - Matt T - 03-07-2012 06:55 AM
That program wouldn't be for everyone. Having long arms and weighing over 200 pounds, I've always struggled with pullups. I can deadlift 370 and I still can barely do 8 deadhang pronated pullups. I prefer pullups and dips to pulldowns and floor presses, but that's because I've trained for a while and am (unfortunately) not a beginner.
RE: Advice for teenager? The stuff post here seems to cater for people aged 20+ - Traindom - 03-07-2012 12:12 PM
Of course not. There are always going to be some people who can't do it and that's okay. But he can sure try and experiment with the program and challenge himself. It's great to see you like bodyweight stuff as well.
One thing I will mention though, to this day I can only do eight chin ups, maybe 12 before I gas myself out. I was still able to finish the program with success. So I'd say if he ever gets to eight reps straight, he can finish it as well.