Reason's for lifting

Two questions:
Why did most of you guys start lifting, and why do you continue doing it?
I started for the purpose of augmenting the strenght of my lithe frame, and after doing that I am now focusing on physique goals.
It seems that most people need something to keep them coming back to the gym, what drives you guys?

I kept getting the shit kicked out of me in high school, then I joined a gang and hit the weights.

Actually, I hit the weights at 15 to improve my sprinting speed.

because i was too small to make a rugby team.
i dont think i will ever be entirely happy with how big i am. i just stop bulking when i cant fit clothes i like and have to wear ganstar shit baggie jean etc.

Whetu–Size isn’t really a problem for my football team. The strength training coach is so bad that the only weight people put on are from the excess carbs I’m sure he tells them to eat.

Sergius, after reading your other post, I have to ask exactly how tall and how old you are and why you feel a “cutting phase” is necessary when you only weigh 115lbs. My reasons for lifting involve trying to get stronger and better than I was before…always. Regardless of teasing or whatever other motivations may have contributed, I stuck with this because I have never wanted to only be average. The same drive that pushes many of us towards our personal goals is also the same motivation that can inspire possible eating disorders and promote obssessive compulsive disorders that are never healthy. I have to wonder what YOUR goals are and why at your weight, you have come to the conclusion that you are “too fat”.

Pro X-I thank you for taking this interest in me to get me out of an eating disorder. But without sounding like I am in denial I don’t have one.
As I noted I used to be at 20% body fat, I didn’t even know what abs were! Then I dropped three inches off my waist, and am a slender 29" around the navel at 5’6" while only losing five pounds.
I don’t mean to sound redundant, but as I said earlier, I am on the last week of the cutting cycle and will begin doing OVT and Massive Eating in the next week.
I read in John Berardi’s column that it is better to precede a bulking cycle with a cutting one, especially if you are already high in fat. So that’s what I did.
Also if you really want to know why I’m so light it is because I have Crohn’s Disease and an adrenal insufficiency. I had been on high doses of cortisone steroids which make you gain weight like it or not. So I was losing muscle and gaining fat. Now I’m reversing that process.
On a side note the t-dawg 2.0 diet has made for the first time that my body hasn’t been rejecting the food I eat.

Ok, so I’ll be honest and say I started lifting for a girl.

I just started dating a girl long distance, and I was gonna go see her for the first time in a while, and over the phone she said she likes guys who work out (she was heavily into it). So I thought I’d try to look my best before I went to visit her. Well we broke up after a while, but I got hooked on training again (I’d trained competitively in various sports all my life, but took a 2 1/2 yr hietus before this point). My goals have changed ever since, but principly it’s still getting bigger and looking good nekkid.

crohns disease sucks ass. good luck with that.

Same reasons as Z-Man. I started lifting to increase my sprinting speed for the 100m. Still do actually. Need more hamstring strength. Westside is taking care of that quite well. Girls, too.

Now I lift because anything less would just be disrespectful of myself. It keeps me disciplined.

Also, whenever I used to get comments from people like “Why do you lift weights, Chris? You know that you’re never gonna get bigger doing that.” Those comments burned me up, I’d turn em around and use them as fuel in the gym. Bitches.

“Watch n***az kiss my ass without flexin’ a muscle.”

I started lifting because I was the smallest kid in my 4th grade class. I remember crawling under my dad’s barbell loaded with Sears/Ted Williams plastic and concrete weights and performing floor presses at the ripe age of 10 because we didn’t have a bench. Never really put on any weight but, I did get pretty strong (for my size) and it gave me some confidence to participate in sports. Been lifting off and on since then, more on than off.

Also, whenever I used to get comments from people like “Why do you lift weights, Chris? You know that you’re never gonna get bigger doing that.” Those comments burned me up, I’d turn em around and use them as fuel in the gym. Bitches.

I had forgotten about those. I think I really started because I wanted to piss off all the people I knew who had those type of misconceptions about weight training. My favorite is still “it stunts your growth.”
No sitting on your ass, eating pork rinds and watching Kids in the Hall will stunt your growth, not to mention your cock.

Crohn’s adds a whole other dimension to your diet and training. The adversity will only make you appreciate your progress even more.

i started lifting because i fought a lot in highschool and didn’t like losing. now in college i’ve passed my sophmore year and have yet to fight, which is a good thing. so i decided to get big to win fights, but now i wanna get big enough so i don’t havta fight

hey Sergius …i have a friend with a similar problem he has Colitis,i have been talking diets with him(T-dawg) and was wondering what kind of meal combos you make that have been helping your problem? i imagine you have been using fish oils for the anti-imflamitory properties,but what else do you eat/supplement with?
thanks alot for any help

Which time? Different times, different reasons.

At 14, it was because I sucked at most of the sports they played in boy’s PE. The weightlifting class was a good alternative. I farted around alot, but I did learn some stuff and I enjoyed it. Didn’t continue because I couldn’t make the schedule work out the next year.

At 21, it was because I needed some college PE credit and knew I enjoyed it. Eventually got some weights at home and kept it up for a couple years, getting a little stronger but never making any great gains.

At 28, it was because my back was killing me and I knew that it didn’t bother me as much when I was lifting. Had a home gym “device”(little kids and crazy schedules made it the only choice). I felt good doing it but still didn’t make a ton of progress. Stuck with it until a couple years later when I got a job that required about 80 hours a week.

At 34, it was because my blood pressure had gotten so high that I got a nose bleed while arguing with my boss. I was also fairly fat at that point. After about a year of doing a bunch of cardio and spending too much time on routines from Men’s Health, I started reading MM2K and then found this place. I made more progress in the next year or so than I ever had before. Then a bunch of life crap started happening and I just didn’t have the same amount of time or energy to devote to it as before. I never stopped lifting (or reading this site), but it wasn’t really programmed or goal-oriented.

So now, at 40, the view in the mirror ain’t what it once was (but oddly my weight and bodyfat haven’t changed for the worse as much as I would have thought). A while back I reached the “point at which something must be done” and decided to start applying the stuff that’s here again instead of just reading it.

Long answer for a short question, I know.

Good luck with your training. Sounds like you have lots of motivation to stick to it.

It seems that most people need something to keep them coming back to the gym, what drives you guys?

Strength, health, looks, women, self-respect and esteem, youthful vigor, stress reduction. In no particular order.

I lift because I like it, like the feeling I get from it, and also don’t want to be the wimp who can’t do various sports due to lack of strength.

Also do not want to be a father/grandpa who can’t even play with the kids/grandkids.

I like Jim McD’s reply. I first started at 20 because a friend kept pestering me to do it so I gave into peer pressure. I was the type that lost fat and gained muscle as a newbie on a twinkie diet. The compliments started coming in and I was hooked. I got married, stopped, divorced, and back at it as strong as ever.

I think what many of you have described is is what makes a true T-man: shit may happen in your life that would make any other guy quit. But you always manage to pick yourself (and your dumbells) back up right where you left off and go at it harder than ever.