Too fat to lift weights?

I started out at 300lbs and turned my garage into a gym. Invested in some weights from Academy and a stationary bike. Wife bought me a treadmill for Christmas one year but I was still over weight and the treadmill had a limit of 250lbs so it wouldn't work till I was under that weight limit. Throughout my journey I stayed on the weight training and daily cardio. 3yrs in Nov and I'm still going strong. Invest in some equipment if you are not feeling the gym. Stay strong you got this!

Also, people who are fat usually have a fair bit of lean body mass (including muscle) because we have been hauling around a lot of extra personal poundage over time. So in fact, OP, as an overweight person, you are probably particularly qualified to start lifting weights!

At the gym I go to, there is this one particular guy who weighs appx 300 + lbs. He started a couple of yrs ago and focused mainly on weights, eventually feeling like he had enough change in his body to do cardio. He has many times of stopping and starting (he told me he likes to eat and fights that all the time). However, that man can pump out 25 minutes on the step mill like nobody's business. He didn't start that way, but even now, with extra weight....he owns that thing and I believe it has a lot to do with his weight lifting that he started with. You just know he is packing muscle under the excess.

Personally, I would love to see him shed the extra fat layers just to see what he'd look like, but also for him alone. I want to see him succeed. He never asks for any advice and I don't just offer any...but I always give him a thumbs up or a nice to see you when I see him there. I do believe someday he will break through in the way he needs to, but for now....it is just great he is there. He keeps on and doesn't let anything in the gym derail him.

Just go and do your thing....you never know who you will be impressing!

I do recommend getting a trainer to at least show you proper form. If you pick a beginning lifting program like Starting Strength or StrongLifts, you can stick to that instead of keeping a trainer on board to work with you long term (hiring a trainer can get pretty expensive).

People in the weight room might look intimidating, but they're really no different than people anywhere else: a few of them might not be super friendly, but most people are pretty nice as long as you don't get in their way. In general, watch where you're going and don't walk where anyone's range of motion is while they're lifting. If you catch people looking at you they are either A. thinking about how cool it is that you're getting into lifting or B. eyeballing that heavy weight you're lifting just in case they need to jump in and give you a spot so that you don't squish yourself. I worked out in a giant commercial gym full of meathead types for close to a year and never once did I see anyone being mean to anyone else.

The gym is a weird little community. In general, people don't want to talk to other people while they're working out, but everyone wants to see everyone else succeed... especially when you get into it and become a familiar face.

Oh and afterthought, I recommend using free weights as much possible (dumbbells & barbells) - get well acquainted with those, particularly the big lifts (full body compound lifts like bench press, deadlifts, squats). You will get the most "bang for your buck" with those as they work out your whole body.

........I will never be the strongest, I will never be ripped, ..............

I will be both those things. Where's your sense of adventure people? Where's your sense of purpose?!

Get an 'awesome' personal trainer man. A good one will get you started and teach you what you need to know until you get the hang of it.

I know a lot of people are "self-taught", but if you can put the cash out to be taught by an expert, do eet.

You're never too fat to lift weights. That's just preposterous. LOL tell it to all the happily fat powerlifters out there. If you're interested in weights it's the best route to fast results in body composition change.

Good luck man.

Never say never. U can do it.

Right or wrong, most people DO judge one-another. I've judged the thin guys who are doing a workout that, to me at least, looks ridiculous and not productive. I'm sure that they judge me for my weight and struggling through what would be easy for them. Etc Etc. That said, I probably spend about 10 seconds doing that, and then am back to doing my own stuff, and I imagine that they are doing the same. I've never said anything to anyone, and nobody has ever made comments or made me feel out of place or anything. They do their thing, I do mine. Actually, after a few months of getting more exercise in (most NOT in the gym though), I did have one person come up to me while I was on an elliptical who wanted to ask me some questions to get his own motivation/courage/whatever up. It was a little strange, but actually kind of cool; I never expected I'd be giving any fitness advice.

I made a ton of excuses for not going to the gym, or cycling, or whatever at first; people will judge me and make fun of me, I'll feel out of place, it will be too busy, I'll get hurt, I'll fail at something and look stupid, etc. It turns out that none of that has happened, and slowly I started to figure out which friends/acquaintances like to go to the gym, cycle, ski, whatever.

The best part of doing any exercise with a quantitative component is seeing how you progress. How much weight you can lift compared to a month ago. How long you can be on a piece of cardio equipment. How fast you can ride up a hill or what gearing you can maintain. How steep a hill you can ski down in control, or how long you can go without stopping. Every time I cycle a road or a trail and realize, "at the beginning of the season, you were in the lowest gearing, now you're near the highest," that makes me smile. The feeling from that is 100x stronger than any feelings or worry that the person cycling the other way thinks I'm a fat *kitten* with no place on two wheels.

I used to be overweight too and had those feelings long ago... Just do it. Even try to be friendly. Some people are jerks, but some are nice, and everything in between. Make some new friends there and that will help you to keep going. IF you need some training wheels for the first few times (don't do this all the time or you won't make friends): use headphones and be in your own little world - work out to the music and let it pump you up! Bonus tip: (be VERY careful if you try this): Looks like you wear glasses. Unless you totally can't see anything - leave them in the locker room... the muscular guys will then be fuzzy and you won't know if they're overweight or muscular This may even help you go up to some fuzzy fit people and make new friends or at least spout out a "hey how are you doing?" easier. I've gone back and forth over the years with weight so was occasionally the fat guy and other times the muscular guy. Now I'm committed to staying the fit/muscular guy. I put myself in a position where I coach people and help them stay accountable getting fit, so I have to be a good role model - now I am forced to stay fit! (In your 30's losing fat gets tougher, and gaining fat easier.) Another bonus tip: When you start lifting regularly and the fat melts off - you will naturally likely have AWESOME legs from carrying the extra weight for so long - something that people that come from skinny childhood struggle to get. Chisel them and OWN it