why do you lift?

the original answer when this thread was first created was it helps me help others. While that's still my primary goal, so many things go on in my life now that lifting is the only thing I do for myself now. I do it cause I'm competitive, both with others and with myself. Because there is some driving force in me that says "MOVE THE WEIGHT SHITHEAD." Because on days I skip lifting my interior monologue is less than friendly. because I don't want to be average, I don't want to be another out of shape slob that can't open a pickle jar.

I do it because for centuries strength has been a rite of passage into manhood. I do it because everyone will be known as something. They'll be known by those around them as the fat guy, the player, the drunk, the asshole, whatever. If you're like me you want to be the missing link, the ultimate fighter, one strong fucker, tough as nails, or any of a thousand misplaced labels you'll be given when you lift bigger weights. Strength and physical ability and competition is as old as civilization itself and being known as somebody who accells in it is something you should cherish.

I don't ever want to need help and I don't ever want to be unable to give it when it's needed. Currently I lift specifically to supplement my choice of career, and that suits me just fine because it and my reasons for lifting mesh well.

I lift because it's fun. Because when you get into a competition with a friend, win or lose a good time is had by everyone. I lift because my drive to compete, my desire to be superior, to win, isn't satisfied with video games. I lift because I want something more out of life, because with every lb I put overhead, every ounce I pull from the floor, every wrestler's bridge I do I am improving myself and my quality of life, and if I can do that for long enough, I can spend my life helping others and encouraging them to do the same.
 
I lift because, for year... I was the smallest and close to the weakest in my grade. But, around 9th grade... I started hitting the weights hard. Now Im a Junior and Im one of the strongest, and definetly the strongest pound for pound. Im also bigger than most now, so I'm happy that I started.
 
When I was;

16 yo - it was because I was like the guys above wrote. The skinny kid with the fat gut who got little or no respect. I would pump my guns with dreams of one day ripping off my shirt on the beach and having my pick of the ladies.

20 yo - changed to a bit more of a strength focus. I wanted to have big numbers on the lifts, I wanted to have demonstratable strength. I wanted to be the guy in the gym the other big dudes looked at lifting and said "Dang".

25 yo - it started to occur to me that lifting was something that had been with me for about 10 years through thick and thin. It was something for me that couldn't be taken from me (like money, a car, house, gf etc). It became borderline spiritual.

29 yo - I'm starting to notice the difference with my friends as we approach thirty. I still feel prime and can take to things like BJJ and judo without limitation. My friends however seemed to be getting and feeling older. I find it's more an investment in health and ability now.

35 yo - I'll let you know when I get there.
 
Urban said:
the original answer when this thread was first created was it helps me help others. While that's still my primary goal, so many things go on in my life now that lifting is the only thing I do for myself now. I do it cause I'm competitive, both with others and with myself. Because there is some driving force in me that says "MOVE THE WEIGHT SHITHEAD." Because on days I skip lifting my interior monologue is less than friendly. because I don't want to be average, I don't want to be another out of shape slob that can't open a pickle jar.

I do it because for centuries strength has been a rite of passage into manhood. I do it because everyone will be known as something. They'll be known by those around them as the fat guy, the player, the drunk, the asshole, whatever. If you're like me you want to be the missing link, the ultimate fighter, one strong fucker, tough as nails, or any of a thousand misplaced labels you'll be given when you lift bigger weights. Strength and physical ability and competition is as old as civilization itself and being known as somebody who accells in it is something you should cherish.

I don't ever want to need help and I don't ever want to be unable to give it when it's needed. Currently I lift specifically to supplement my choice of career, and that suits me just fine because it and my reasons for lifting mesh well.

I lift because it's fun. Because when you get into a competition with a friend, win or lose a good time is had by everyone. I lift because my drive to compete, my desire to be superior, to win, isn't satisfied with video games. I lift because I want something more out of life, because with every lb I put overhead, every ounce I pull from the floor, every wrestler's bridge I do I am improving myself and my quality of life, and if I can do that for long enough, I can spend my life helping others and encouraging them to do the same.
Click to expand...

Urban > you
 
i do it for the same reason i do most things. i enjoy it. wieght lifting is a really fun and rewardin activity
 
Presently i do not lift weights.

mainly because of curiosity. I want to see how big and freaky strong i can get without weights. It's a road full of challenges but i'm getting there.

one tip i'm playing with right now is when intensity is not an option to increase, increase frequency.

I already tried one bout of this but it lead to sever burn out in 4 days flat. so now i'm trying again with a little less intensity.
 
Ever since I was just a young boy, I was fixated on those who were the best, the strongest, the fastest, the true king of their chosen arena. For a long time I wanted to be a writer, but eventually I had to face the fact that I really didn't have the ammount of talent necessary to make a living at it. I did very well at TKD as a child, and got into MMA circa 1999 as a fan, and quickly wanted to try it. There were no gyms worth their salt in my area at the time, so I decided I'd start working hard with the weights my dad had gotten me a while back, and ask if I could get some more (including a way to squat) and get strong while I looked for a good MMA school. Eventually it became clear to me that I was pretty good at lifting, and not only that, I enjoyed it immensly. It gave me self-esteem like nothing else in my life had ever provided, and I saw something that I had a shot at being the best at.

You guys can hen peck and put me down all you want, but I lift weights so I can someday be the strongest powerlifter there has ever been, and that's what I will do, or break myself trying to do.
 
All through highschool and first 2 years of college I was 6' 155lbs and one weak little fucker! I started lifting and running and playing rugby and mountainbiking and now mma about 2 years ago and all of a sudden I'm bigger, stronger, more fit, more confident, and I actually look forward to getting out of bed in the morning, whereas before I never wanted to get out of bed cause I was actually afraid of what the day might bring.

...so in short, lifting kinda helped me get out of some depression
 
Lifting is also part of why I decided to quite using hallucinogens and dissociatives (LSD, mushrooms, ketty, DXM, whatever really). I found out fast I couldn't do that shit often and still work out for real.
 
I lift to be strong, which is a nice, confident feeling. Occasionally I compete in something, and I like to win, and strength helps. There are tons of fringe benefits to lifting, too. Mental focus sharpens, pain tolerance increases, balance improves, metabolism raises, body appearance improves, lots of good stuff.
 
desertbake said:
All through highschool and first 2 years of college I was 6' 155lbs and one weak little fucker! I started lifting and running and playing rugby and mountainbiking and now mma about 2 years ago and all of a sudden I'm bigger, stronger, more fit, more confident, and I actually look forward to getting out of bed in the morning, whereas before I never wanted to get out of bed cause I was actually afraid of what the day might bring.

...so in short, lifting kinda helped me get out of some depression
Click to expand...
After seven years of lifting, there is a direct correlation between my mental well being and whether or not I'm staying on top of my shit physically.
In other words, when I don't lift for a while I'm not a happy boy.
 
JoeU1741 said:
When I was;
29 yo - I'm starting to notice the difference with my friends as we approach thirty. I still feel prime and can take to things like BJJ and judo without limitation. My friends however seemed to be getting and feeling older. I find it's more an investment in health and ability now.
Click to expand...

This is so true. All my mates have beer guts so big they look like they are about to give birth, cant run more than a few steps without looking like they'd pass out and are starting to look far older than their years. I have the same waist as when i was twenty but have more strength and muscle and with the added cardio im fitter than ever.

For me i think it was the same as alot of people skinny teenager who wanted to put on some weight, kinda went on off for a bit including a stint in the army which gave me the discipline to start working out properly in my early twenties until now. Now its something i do because i enjoy it just like running and mma practice im away from all my stresses and can just concentrate on something thats mine.
 
this thread turned out great. good stuff.

lifting is carnal's anti-drug tho.
 
I lift for strength over my peers(always someone stronger)...Feeling afterward...Look...etc.
 
i lift to release the demons inside me.




hahaha, no really. i lifted off and on for a long time. i was 5'11" 125 in highschool, and had a terrible self-image, and wanted to lift to "look good". so id do these bodybuilding programs, burn out, and quit. got into college, and began to realize that i wasnt a bad person because i was skinny (getting a hot GF raises ones self esteem considerably). i really got serious around my senior year. you see, before that, all my problems, whether it be school, love, life, etc pretty much either got bottled up or got drowned in alcohol. i remember my first "real" session, and just visualizing overcoming my problems and lifting that weight. when you hit a PR you feel like you can do anything. my life began to improve. not just my lifting, but my grades, relationships, etc. i had a new form of confidence, that whatever problems might happen, i could get through them. now, i cant imagine life without lifting.
 
next to sex...lifting brings me more joy in my life than anything else. Without it...I could not go on in this festering sea of bullshit that people call life.

Here are a couple of reasons....

1. Helps with MMA training
2. Makes people respect you...even if they don't want to
3. Chicks
4. Gives you a place to release your rage and anger
5. Chicks
6. The gym is my Church...pain is my God...weakness is my Devil.
7. Chicks
8. Empowers me to achieve other goals...such as school
9. Chicks
10. encourages me to eat and live healthy...something not many people in my family do
11. Chicks
12. and the real reason....Hell...we all just want to be Carnal...PULL FUCKERS!!!!
 
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