Do you think it's possible to get in shape at the age of 21?

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I'm pretty skinny and untrained. I've tried doing some light exercises but my arms, wrists and legs are pretty weak, no matter what I do afterwards I feel like I've overloaded my body parts so I'm afraid of doing to much. I also have troubles with my left wrist, it seems to hurt on occasions and now even my fingers start hurting, doctors and specialists keep telling me it will heal on it's own but it's been like this for 8 months and it still hasn't healed, also because of that it's difficult for me to do exercises because I don't want to use my wrist to much. I also feel like I'm starting to get light RSI, my other wrist, my back and my legs start to hurt as well. After all I'm on my PC pretty much the whole day so it can't be healthy. I really want to change this and start doing some light bodybuilding exercises but with my wrist that won't heal and other body parts that apparently can't handle the stress I feel like I'm stuck like this forever. I'm not even sure if I need to do more exercises to train my body parts or if I should just wait so that I don't overload them. Any thoughts?

have you tried doing only excercises with your own body weight like push ups sit up pull ups and some excercices that increace core strength. also you could look at doing something else as bodybuilding to work up you muscles i climb and am quite muscular for it you should start out slow with climbing though. just some ideas i don't have any medical knowledge whatsoever.

i think you can get in shape at any age unless you are very old and even then there are some excercises you can do. i personally can't stand weight training but have done some. i would start with just walking fast, then work up to jogging and running. you can add some weight training elements to your workout by getting some of the ankle/wrist weights. i know you said your wrist hurts but they should not effect it much since you will just be doing the cardo with them hanging on your arm rather than pushing up against them. you are supposed to feel tired and sore when you first start working out. when your muscles feel like that they will get the message that they need to get stronger and your body will start growing more. if it wasn't hard it wouldn't be called a work out. i know when i first started training i was really sore afterwards. especially the first couple weeks. i'd go home and i'd be starving, munch out on some carrots or whatever and fall asleep. you can also drink some protein shakes to help your body build up faster. if you want to do weight training and it's too hard on your wrists ask a trainer to show you some excercises on a resistance machine (if you are using a gym) another way to start building up strength is by doing yoga. the beginner moves are pretty simple.

Yes LIFT LIFT LIFT!

It's possible to get in shape at any age, but the younger you are,the wiser you are to embark on a healthy lifestyle change.

Try stretching and a light strength regimen.

Try stretching and a light strength regimen.

Hmmm...the difficulty of getting into shape is the initial crappiness of the first few workouts. But it feels really good after a while...

Weird-I have never felt "crappy" after exercise. Incorporating moderate exercise at first is a good lifestyle change,try walking albeit really fast,after dinner for an hour.It becomes part of your natural cycle,helps your digestion,relaxes you and prepares you for a restful sleep.

Yes, I started to get into shape much later. When I joined the army I didn't really get much choice in the matter. I was pretty unfit to start with but training on my own + basic kind of sorted me out. All you need is a little motivation. Go low impact if you are super unfit.

/sarcasm: oh no! You are an old man at that age. Give it up!

Dude you are 21! !! Still a kid.

I think (can't prove it!) that aspies have issues with gaining muscle mass due to glutamine deficiency. Why do I think that? Glutamine is largely metabolized in the intestines. And aspies typically have intestinal issues (IBS etc..) which are greatly helped by glutamine intake. Which suggests there's a glutamine deficiency. Glutamine is a key ingredient for muscle development.

Let's add you as one more datapoint in this theory:

Whatever you do, be it running or lifting, dissolve one teaspoon of glutamine in a glass of cold water and drink that twice a day. And of course you'll need to eat a protein rich diet.

Glutamine is an non-essential amino acid; meaning it is produced by the body. So it is natural and perfectly safe. It appears as white powder and is sold at Whole Foods and other health food stores.

(History of this site suggests that my advice will go ignored. At least I try... )

tried swimming? Just do as much as you can and build up at your own pace. You can do any stroke you know or kicking with a kick board. Just another idea.

I'll look into it. Swimming is 1 thing I'm not going to do though, I can't swim well.

I'm concerned as to why you would have wrist and other pains, at 21. I am more concerned that your doctor won't give you a straight answer, or maybe if you have health insurance, it won't pay for sports medicine? I'd look deeper into why you're having things like that. A pulled muscle should take a week or 2 at most to heal when you're that young, and even a damaged tendon should heal in a month or so if it truly doesn't need surgical repair. You could have certain things wrong that would cause this... Vitamin deficiency, hormone imbalance, or if you're taking medications for other things, joint & muscle pain could be a side effect. It's not rocket science to do a few basic tests to see what's going on, but it can be expensive if you don't have insurance, or if it won't pay (and most won't pay for that kind of diagnostics, since they're not considered illnesses for some stupid reason).

Don't give up, and don't accept "Forget about it and it will heal" bs from your doctor!

Charles

Well I've actually done an MRI scan a month ago to see what's going on, my specialist even showed me the x-rays of the scan, it showed a small white stripe on my wrist where it hurt. He told me it was nothing to worry about and that with time it would resolve itself. There was also some fluid in my wrist but he said it's nothing bad. It's not like he didn't give me a straight answer, it's just annoying that it takes this long to heal.

You could always ask your doctor, or even get a personal trainer. There are probably ways to make it work, even with a wrist that won't heal. A trainer might help you get started and "learn the ropes", or even working out with a friend who already works out on a regular basis at the gym. There is always hope, even at the "ripe" old age of 21