Friday, September 6, 2013

Getting Started

Maybe you have followed this blog for a while and thought the idea of going shirtless more seemed cool, but you just haven't been sure where to start, a little concerned about what people will think or say. Well, this post is for you. Instead of focusing on various activities where we can promote acceptance of shirtlessness, I want to use this post to help you develop a little more shirtless freedom in your own life. I'll try to include something for everyone, so some of my comments will be addressed to younger guys living at home with their parents, some to guys going off to college, and others to grown men who live alone or have their own families.

Yard work

Yard work is probably one of these easiest places to get started going shirtless. It's hot and you are working, so it gives you plenty of reason for taking your shirt off. One of the concerns that guys often have when they haven't previously been accustomed to going shirtless, is that people will say something to them that they wouldn't say to someone else because it seems out of character. Why are you going shirtless now? I've never seen you shirtless before. When you are working out in the yard, especially on a hot day, you can always say, "Well, it's really hot out here. I thought it would be more comfortable." And shrug it off as something quite natural. Which it is.

Another benefit for yard work is that you are in your own yard, so you don't feel like you are invading someone else's space. It's your own yard after all, whose business is it but your's if you feel like pulling off your shirt?








Running

Another great place to start is running. This is another place where it comes quite naturally, especially in hot weather. And you can always choose a route that makes you more comfortable running shirtless, socially. You may want to avoid routes initially that take you by a lot of people you know. Again, guys are often concerned that their friends will think it is odd because they haven't been accustomed to seeing them shirtless in the past. After you have been running shirtless for a month or two, if you happen to bump into a friend who seems surprised, now you can just casually say, "Oh, yea, I've been doing this for a while." Or, "I always run shirtless when I run this route."

Another thing to consider is choosing a route where a lot of other people run shirtless. If there is a park or track where there are a lot of people running shirtless, you may be more comfortable running shirtless there, too. You will just fit in. You may want to avoid running in areas where small children play or near store fronts. While there is nothing really wrong with it, it may make you feel awkward. Choosing a route where shirtless runners are expected will make you feel more comfortable. Rural or wooded trails are also a good choice.







Around the house

This one can be a little tricky, especially for younger guys who still live at home with their families, but the privacy of your home can be a great way to get comfortable going shirtless. If you have older brothers who hang around the house shirtless, or your dad does, it should make it pretty easy. If not, you might try starting by going shirtless from the shower to your room, or coming in from yard work or running shirtless. Your room may also be a good place to start going shirtless. But respect your family's standards, if mom doesn't allow guys to eat at her table shirtless, don't push it.

If you live with guys (roommates), it should be easier. You have basically equal say in household matters, and it's pretty normal for guys to go around shirtless in front of other guys, so it shouldn't offend their sensibilities. If they say something, you could even make a joke about it, "What? Is this too much manliness for you to handle?"

If you are the head of your own household, that should also make it easier. You may still want to ease into it, starting with things like coming from the shower or coming in from running or yard work, but you set the standard. Don't be ashamed to be comfortable in your own skin in your own home.







Find shirtless activities

Try finding other activities where guys are already going shirtless. Many of the sports previously mentioned on this blog are good options to try. If other guys participating are already going shirtless, it makes it a lot easier for you to do so as well.

Climbing

Rock climbing or bouldering is a great choice where you will often find guys going shirtless. If climbing interests you, you could search for climbing gyms in your area and visit each of them to see if there are guys going shirtless there. You can also ask others if there is a place in the area where they go to climb outdoors. Often guys will go shirtless outdoors, even if they don't in the climbing gym. Take a few lessons, get your own shoes and gear, and hit the rocks.






Ball Games

Casual outdoor games of basketball, tennis, or sand volleyball are also good options. Frequently guys will take their shirts off when playing outdoors, and occasionally you may find guys playing basketball in a gymnasium shirtless. If these games interest you, look around for a place where you find other guys playing shirtless and join in. Often you will find this at a park or outdoor recreation facility.




CrossFit

If you are looking for a good all around workout, you might try CrossFit. Almost every CrossFit gym allows guys to train shirtless and the practice is pretty common. CrossFit emphasizes a minimalist approach, focusing on intense workouts for functional fitness, rather than gear and superfluities.





Even the kids often go shirtless at CrossFit (yep, they have a CrossFit Kids program).




Submission Wrestling and MMA

If you are inclined to sports with physical contact and aggression, or interested in learning to defend yourself, you might try submission wrestling, no-gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or MMA classes. While it is very common to train and compete in these sports shirtless, some schools require shirts to be worn in training. Visit the school or ask before you sign up.





Really get into it

Whatever you do, really get into it. Don't just use it for an excuse to hang out shirtless, that's weird and you'll miss out on most of the fun and fitness benefits. It really misses the point.

Going off to college

When you go off to college is a great time to start new habits, to remake yourself in a sense. Nobody has a bunch of preconceived notions about you, so even if you have always been hesitant to shed your shirt in the past, it won't seem odd or out of character for them. Plus, a guy's dorm is a great place where going shirtless is widely accepted as normal. Embrace the opportunity to make a new, more confident you.




Getting in shape

I don't want to imply here that you need to be in great shape and have a six pack to take off your shirt. In fact, I explicitly encourage guys not to worry about their imperfections, to be accepting of their own bodies and comfortable in their own skin. But getting in shape can certainly help improve your confidence and has it's own obvious benefits. In fact, encouraging fitness is one of the key benefits of going shirtless.

There are two paths to shirtless freedom and if we want to get the real benefits of it, we must balance the two of them. One aspect of this is accepting ourselves and our bodies. We don't have to like every aspect of our bodies, but we should be comfortable in our own skin. But while dwelling on our imperfections to the point of causing stress and anxiety would not be good, it is also a mistake to become so comfortable and accepting of ourselves in an unfit state that we no longer care about taking care of our bodies and bettering ourselves. Going shirtless should motivate us to care for our bodies and promote life-long fitness. Part of the shirtless experience is feeling a connection with our own bodies, it should make us aware of our bodies so that we appreciate and care for them.

So if you don't feel comfortable with the way you look shirtless, it may help to try to get in shape first. But don't feel like you have to attain perfection to shed that shirt. It is a journey and going shirtless should help encourage you along the way.

Exercise

Exercise is the foremost thing you can do to improve your fitness and your physique. But it doesn't have to be complicated and you don't need a big gym with a lot of equipment to do it. Regardless of your goals, I recommend for everyone to do a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training.

Running is one of the simplest things you can do. If you aren't fit enough to do much running, start by walking, then begin jogging sections until you can run a good stretch. If you are already reasonably fit, you can get better results in a shorter time by doing high-intensity intervals, ie- running as hard as you can (110%) for a short space (30sec-1.5min), taking a short rest, and then hitting it as hard as you can again.

For resistance training you can do calisthenics, like push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups or crunches, and leg raises, plyometric jump squats, and other basic exercises that require little or no equipment. You can also lift make shift weights. I have known guys to do squats with a large rock found in the park, etc. If you have access to weights at home or in a gym, pick a weight you can lift eight to twelve times. You should work each muscle group two or three times a week and rest at least 48 hours before working that muscle group again. You could do one to four sets for each muscle group. Especially for beginners, doing just one set gets a lot of the benefit you will get from doing two or three sets. Each additional set provides some additional benefit, but there is a law of diminishing returns, so the additional benefit is never as great as the benefit of the previous set. Of course, if you want to be competitive in any way, additional sets are absolutely mandatory. But for basic fitness, a single set may suffice and makes for a short workout that is easy to fit into your schedule. If you do additional sets, you should rest 2-3min between sets.

Getting involved in a sport really is one of the best ways to get exercise because it makes it fun and easier to stick with when you are doing something you enjoy with other people who encourage you.

Diet

Diet can be a complex subject, but the basics are fairly simple. Eat a balanced diet of healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, dairy, eggs, and whole grains. Eat more fresh foods and avoid highly processed foods. When it comes to watching your weight, the main principle has been understood for a long time. You must burn more calories than you consume. Everything else it generally either a minor tweak, or a gimmick. You may find that you can get by with generally choosing healthier foods, eating when you are hungry, and getting regular exercise. Many people find that when they do these things, their appetite self-regulates. If you need to count your calories and want to track your progress toward your goals, I recommend myfitnesspal.com.

Enjoy the journey

Exercise should help to improve your confidence and sense of well-being. Remember that you don't have to be perfect. You should feel good not only about who you are, but about who you are becoming. Enjoy the journey.

Begin

I hope these simple steps and ideas will help you begin your journey. Remember, it's about comfort, confidence, and becoming a better you!

22 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I have been shy of taking off my shirt for the major part of my life. Going out shirtless, no way. The first time I did it on the street was when a torrential rain started and I had no umbrella, the wet shirt was so sticky and bothersome, I had to take it off. The rain and the wind on the bare skin feel awesome, I just love walking shirtless when it`s raining. Also, my city is considerably hot all the year, the weather is around 33°C/91.4°F during the day, so taking the shirt off when walking in the early afternoon is extremely relieving.

    Now, in spite of the city`s frequently brutal weather, you can`t walk shirtless with the same freedom everywhere. People are shirtless-friendly or not depending on the neighborhood. I believe there`s a sort of a social taboo about it. In my impression, the middle-class seems to associate walking shirtless on the street to a "lower class habit". In the richest neighborhoods, a rare sight of someone shirtless would be a bricklayer or some other manual worker on activity. In a more modest (but still not poor) neighborhood it is possible to have, say, elderly men sitting shirtless in front of their houses, guys playing soccer shirtless on the sidewalk, shirtless students heading home from school, but practically every establishment requires shirt to enter, some in my neighborhood have signs of "do not enter shirtless". In the poorest areas, the slums (favelas) and near surroundings, lots of people walk shirtless everywhere outdoors and even inside some establishments, like bakeries, bars, shops in general.

    A personal experience: in any school there are dudes who like to play soccer during the interval. When I studied in a relatively cheaper school, they were allowed to take their shirts off to play; later I moved to a more expensive school, and there they weren`t.

    Now a curious fact that occurred in this non-shirtless-friendly high school when I was there. My class was given the work of producing a play. We were at the auditory of the school, and before the rehearsal started, one of my classmates took off his shirt for some reason. A school employee went all mad to him, asking why the hell he undressed his shirt and telling him to put it back on immediately, which he did after some scolding. Ten or fifteen minutes later, everything on the stage was set and we could start the rehearsal. Everybody changed to their costumes. My referred classmate`s character was an Indian - and his costume was shirtless.

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  3. I'm a ballet dancer since I was 12 years old. In our Studio we were only 4 Boys among many Girls. So I was asked for pas de deux when I was 15 to learn a Variation with mainly floor work, only few lifts, with a Girl of my age. Several days before public performance we had costume rehearsal, and our choreographer told me I had to dance in red tights with no shirt, my girl partner had a longsleeved red leotard. I had not been prepared about dancing shirtless on staget, because up to that moment we boys had always tight shirts for performance. Of course I had seen shirtless male dancers before but These were older guys and I had not realized that as a matter for me. Before rehearsal started the whole of dancers met behind the curtain in their costumes and I was the only shirtless boy among many Girls in tutus and leos, the other boys in other roles had shirts or leos. I felt quite embarassed but I tried to hide it as well as I could and tried to concentrate on our dancing.My girl partner told me I'm looking good and my upper body is hot and everybody encouraged me but that time I was slim rather than muscular and muscles not so defined..
    In the meantime, some years later I've got used to shirtless outfit, I feel it's more often that I dance barechested than I dance in a costume with a top. But I still remember the feeling of my first time age 15.

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    1. Wow, I'm a male dancer as well! Were you performing Arabian Coffee from The Nutcracker?

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  4. I have been shy taking my shirt off when in public but when im alone its my hobby to take it off. Since I was 8 or 9 I am not allowed to be shirtless like when I take it off they want me to put it back again . But when I reach the age of 12 they want me to take it off . I startrd sleeping shirtless when I slept to my lolas house. I dont have such 6 pack abs but I m not that skinny , just normal.

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  6. How about another category for Getting Started :
    Walking !

    Running on very hot days is too sweaty, and I wanted to be out all day from early morning to sunset with no
    shirt and no backup.

    I set out with just shorts and athletic shoes, and a small
    shoulder bag for things like keys and money. I found a
    bus driver that let me get on (no airconditioning on the
    bus) and went about 3 miles to a coffee shop with a
    sunny outdoor terrace. Sat there shirtless, read the
    paper and talked to lots of folks. The owner came over
    and laughed, said he wanted to dress like me too.

    I went on to visit a park, then to another coffee shop,
    then back home at the end of the day (this time, the
    bus driver required a shirt, so I just walked). Best
    summer experience I've had, and I've repeated it many
    times. Walking around all day sans shirt is the best.

    What can I do now that it's winter for the next 6 months?

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  7. I was shy about taking off my shirt as a young boy when I was very skinny, but my dad went shirtless around the house 24 hours a say even when we had company, he asked me to take off mine when I was 14 and by the time I was an adult I became obsessed with it. And now I will keep my shirt off 24 hours a day at home. Adopted a permanent bare chested life style, and I'm shirtless as I write this

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  8. This week I've helped out with shirtless yard work, with my shirtless neighbor, who's bare chested 24/7 just like me. And I'm currently hanging out at my friends house this week while shirtless. He's also bare chested

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    1. Good for you, you’re doing your bit promoting male shirtlessness. If more guys did gardening, DIY and washed their cars stripped to the waist it would greatly encourage other guys to do the same.

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  9. I would love to spend a lot of time shirtless in the summer, unfortunately I have very pale skin, burn easily and have to wear factor 50 sunscreen. I am worried about getting skin cancer. I would appreciate any useful suggestions as to how I can safely spend more time outdoors shirtless.

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  10. Most of the time, when my ride home picks me up after I get off of work, I find myself taking my shirt off as soon as I get into the car just before I put on my seat belt

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    1. In the UK in the 1970s & 80s it was very common to see men driving shirtless in the summer, now this is rarely seen and I have no idea why. It’s such a great feeling taking off your shirt when getting into a hot car I cannot understand why more men don’t do it.

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    2. I am literally always shirtless as soon as I get into the car when spring arrives. I do get some disapproving looks but I don't care who sees. It's just more comfortable, only problem is the United States is just so full of prudes.

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  11. I've also ridden my bike around the neighborhood with my shirt off before too. I burn as easily as you, so when I don't want tto wear a shirt I limit the amount of time I go outdoors when I don't have to be. I live in Arizona where it gets past 118 degrees, so I use sunscreen all the time and just limit the amount of time I spend outdoors so I won't burn

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  12. Good on you man, I will try and adopt your refreshing attitude.

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  13. When I stay indoors, i also keep my shirt off no matter what, sometimes even during dinner too. Once showed up at my friends house shirtless just to see if he'd say anything about it.

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  14. I live in Ireland where we don't get much good weather unfortunately. When we do get a rare week or two of blue Sky's and hot sun It is great, however I rareley go out shirtless even though I want to.

    I believe it is because of my parents atititude towards it. They think its strange to be shirtless unless your about to go swimming. Not even my brother likes seeing me shirtless in the room we share.
    Because of this I feel very nervous about what people in public would say about me being shirtless. It is very annoying.

    Recently I have tried cycling shirtless in a local park. I only do this in good weather and when I already see other shirtless people, but even then I find myself putting the shirt back on if I'm near people I think might say something.

    My goal by the end of the summer is to cycle one complete lap around this park shirtless no mater what the situation.

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  15. Cool this blog, I met him for a blog post with the same intention "end the shame to take his shirt"
    Executando o descamisamento¹
    . Since I'm not from the United States and I can't speak English (I'm using Google Translate), I didn't know the blog before that. But I liked it here, and I will keep waiting for the posts, unless this blog is already over.

    If you are wondering where I am from, I am from Brazil.

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  16. So far nobody has complained about my having my shirt off quite literally 24 hours a day, mostly influenced by meeting other men who also kept their shirts off 24/7, not always when it's hot, but because I simply don't like wearing shirts.

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  17. Why is it less acceptable in TX than up north?

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