Topic: "Go Hard or Go Home"

[Ryan Fletcher]

My alias is Ryan Fletcher. Powhatan, VA (30 min West of Richmond).

I'm a novelist, noob break-dancer and now -with a lot of work and a little heart- a freerunner.
My decision to put my heart into this is the result of 15 years of Peter-Parker-style sob story which resulted in me putting every last of my faith in a girl who recently got a boyfriend... I've never felt so completely alone. I have no real friends: just aquaintances. I barely have anything to be proud of: I'm nineteen, I weigh a buck twenty. I get no respect: I look like I'm twelve, I can't get a date, and I'm still living with my mom. I feel worthless: I'm relatively unattractive, I have a hole in my heart, severe ADD and a easily-aggravated knee.

Please guys, I need help. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I have the potential to be great. And I'll die before I give up or squander that potential. I want to be good at something that I love and that has social merit (Eleven years as a writer lays the foundation for a future, but it's not a great social medium)

If you give advice I'll hear it. If you wish to constructively criticize, I can take it. Help me.

[Jason C. Astor]

You, sir, are going through the end of teens (Child hood) freak out stage. A fun time for most young men and women. You see people with their relationships and friends and stuff, and you compare your life to theres. Problem is, you don't see there issues or how they feel.

 You feel as though you should have life figured out. "I should have a girl Friend" "I should feel like a man" "I Should blah blah blah". Life is not some straight line that everyone walks together in the same way. I'm not going to tell you life gets easier, cause it doesn't, it gets harder, but with the right state of mind it gets a lot more fun. When you truly understand that life is about overcoming hardships, you will realize that those who had hard lives live the greatest lives.

  I could tell you about my failed engagements, my child hood house burning down, that I started losing my hair at 15, how I was about 125lbs at 21, how and why I dropped out of highschool or how worthless I considered myself for a long time and much more. Or I could just tell you that I love the person that I am now, how I woke up, got degrees, have no problem getting a girl (keeping one is tough still ) how I'm starting a business, Have a good job, do parkour, climb, kayak, shoot, and engage in all kinds of awesomeness.

  The Radioactive spider isn't what made Peter Parker into spider-man, It just gave him some power, his confidence, swagger, trash talk and love of swinging around New York. It was the confidence and morals that made him a hero. We all have a hidden power inside of us, just gotta find it.

Hope this helps, If ya ever need to talk, Myself and this community are actually very understanding to these types of things

[Ryan Sannar]

Start practicing rolls, view tutorials on youtube (Ryan Doyle's is helpful) practice those every day.

Also start doing more bodyweight exercises. Pushups, Leg lifts (not crunches), Pull ups, Squats, etc...

Contact us with a weeks journal of what you eat and a basic description of how you train.

You've got this man, we're here for you. Lets set up a workout schedule and a good diet and have you out there kicking butt in no time.

Also I don't know if you think this. I know I do when I'm feeling down. YOU ARE NOT WORTHLESS. YOU ARE IMPORTANT. WE NEED YOU. So... No more moping, you can do that later (like when your 80).

Welcome to the community.

[Joe Brock]

I am officially the last guy in the world you want as a motivational speaker, but here goes:

HTFU!  There's very little that we can maintain in this world, but our strife to improve and our dignity are paramount to what makes us who we are.  Life is not going to get any easier, I assure you, but over time you'll learn to deal with it in more efficient ways.

These strange points where things get hard are what separate the average from the heroes.  Which one you are is a choice.

Beyond that, We're glad to have you here.

[Jason C. Astor]

Joe, why do I want to do squats after I read any of your posts?

[Ryan Fletcher]

Because he's a better motivational speaker than he gives himself credit for... or maybe doing squats is something you do spontaneously anyway.

@Jason: thanks, man. I appreciate that. I apologize for complaining (as it's something that I promised myself a long time ago that I would not make a habit of). I guess I just hit a rough spot and decided that I was tired of living far beneath my potential. So I picked a dream to dust off.


@Ryan: Starting tomorrow, I'll keep track of what I'm eating. I've got a quickie though; I was doing leg lifts until recently, when someone told me that his therapist said leg-lifts hurt your back. How much truth is there in that?


Oh, btw, I sort of picked up a bunch of old tires and cleaned out my garage today so I could build training equipment. I have some 2x4's, spare carpeting, power tools and a bunch of trees out back. What kind of stuff should I build with that? (There aren't any local gyms that meet my needs). I was thinking maybe a couple rubber-padded rails. What else?

[Joe Brock]

Dip bars, or something to work basic strength and conditioning.  If you can make a way to do pull-ups, find a tree limb, whatever...then those skills will pay off dividends later.  Most traceurs underestimate the usefulness of being strong.

If you need help with how to work these things, check out some of our topics (or start one of your own after reading the stickies) in General Fitness.

Work balance and technique, and alternate that with strength and conditioning.  This will help you make steady and measurable improvements.

[Ryan Sannar]

I've never heard that. Just start slow and work your way up the full leg lifts. My suggestion. Check out convict conditioning if you don't have access to a weight set. Then after you've got that down I'd buy either Building the Gymnastic Body or Overcoming Gravity (by our very own Steve Low!).

Just a suggestion.

Also glad your out of your depressing-ness thingy. I know how that can get difficult.

[Ian Want]

good luck man! Looking forward to hearing of your progress.

Its easy to quit because god knows training doesn't get easier. But progress... progress is addicting.

[Nick Fernandez]

Dang it....everyone already said all the motivational stuff that I was going to say. Guess I was too late. But once you start learning some new moves and getting stronger, you're going to feel a lot better and happier. I know for me that if I don't at least do a couple pull-ups or dips every day I just feel like a couch potato with no energy. Along with your workout routine, you should also work on being a lot more active when you're inside the house. Help your parents, friends, whomever with the groceries and carry them inside, help them with gardening, chores, or something like that. Simple things can really get your heart going and you'll feel a lot more pumped to do something for the rest of the day.

Then after you've got that down I'd buy either Building the Gymnastic Body or Overcoming Gravity (by our very own Chris Low!).

I think you mixed up Chris Salvato with Steven Low, lol. 

/contributed to thread ^.^

[Ryan Sannar]

hahaha. Well that's fixed now.

[Ryan Fletcher]

I have my training/diet journal up here.

[Ryan Fletcher]

I really don't know if I'm doing this right. Can you guys check out my training journal and give tips? I could really use a few.

[DeAndre Walker]

First of all, much respect for opening up on here like that. Secondly, I'm 19 too(until next week). I would consider myself relatively attractive (But I am biased of course) and I can't get a date either! It's not all about looks man, if you get your confidence up you'll see a change in the way you view yourself and how others view you. As for the broken heart, all I can say is keep your head up! It happens to the best of us. Maybe use it as inspiration in your writing. Most importantly don't dwell on it! You (we) are too young to let that kinda stuff ruin your life before it's even started! I'm glad that you know you have potential. Keep that positive attitude and you'll be great! Its hard to believe that you don't have any friends, but if you want you can pm me. Best of luck to you!

[Ryan Fletcher]

Forgive me everyone, but I'm going to gripe for a minute because this is the only place I can really talk   You really don't even need to read it. I just needed somewhere to say it. I stop complaint just for the last paragraph, in case your interested.

So, this is how my week has been:
I drove around for forty minutes trying to find parking so that I could attend a parkour meet, then ended up just driving home. I managed to feel optimistic anyway.

Then something awesome happened: the girl wrote me back! She told me that she'd just been busy and that she wanted to chat with me ASAP.
Eight hours later, I found out that my best friend had never been my best friend at all, but that he was in fact a homosexual petophile and that he had used me to get into my house and that he'd been sexually molesting my nine-year-old brother for the past twelve months and that I'd been too dumb to see it. Then, the next evening (on a completely unrelated note), I had a reality check that told me my bad heart and my bad knee were probably not getting better any time soon, meaning my church may not let me serve as a missionary. Then, as a cute addition to the week, I got a $200 speeding ticket on a stretch of road that I was certain was 65 mph. Inexplicably, it was 45. I was a hair away from a reckless driving rap.
But that message from my friend made it all reasonably bearable. BTW, I finally called her last night. Her wedding is in October.

On a happier note, I have gained four pounds of lean muscle in three weeks, I can talk without stuttering and I don't have to to waste money on herbal-remedy ADHD medication anymore. Lastly, I'm finally figuring out how to complete a full front flip. I'm also going to start hunting for a new job, seeing as CFA isn't paying me enough and working as a night clerk will give my more time to write. All in all, life could be worse.

[Marco]

Hey, Ryan! How do you feel about coming to jam with me sometime in july? I graduate high school next month and am planning on going to Virginia Beach to do a week of hard training. Im not very good, but I certainly can teach you anything you want parkour related. I've taught lots of kids at my highschool on procedures and tips, and if you still dont got front flips by the time we go(if we go) i can help you with those. I'm 18 years old (as of 2 days ago) and i weight 145, im not the strongest, but I workout, like Joe said, people underestimate the physical fitness of parkour and just go. Remember, when not training outside, workout inside! its what i say:)

and you seem to be a emotionally strong guy for what is going on, you can certainly talk to me during our training sessions about anything, I've have given help/advice from elementry kids to even my friends parents.
Hope to hear from you!!
~Marco.

[Ryan Fletcher]

I would love to go, assuming I can find a place to stay for that week. I have a few friends out there though, so that might work out

I really appreciate the offer. I've sort of needed a trainer, lol.