The other problem with judging the way other people train, is that there is often more than one way to reach the same destination. One route may be faster, but it’s probably not the only way to get there.
[quote]Davinci.v2 wrote:
The other problem with judging the way other people train, is that there is often more than one way to reach the same destination. One route may be faster, but it’s probably not the only way to get there. [/quote]
Very true, but for overweight people doing hours of cardio followed by crunches is probably not going to get them anywhere. I guess it’s not necessarily judging, but wishing you could tell them that there are better ways to get to their goals.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]chimera182 wrote:
Makes sense, it’s hard to remember that just because someone isn’t dedicated to lifting intelligently they’re not necessarily a bad person.
[/quote]
Haha. It’s kind of funny when you put it like that… if a guy is a shitty fisherman, but loves fishing, who’s going to give him shit for it?
If a guy like painting, but isn’t all that talented and just likes to dabble, who cares? Same with writing poetry or building model airplanes or whatever else.
But if you’re lifting a heavy weight off the ground, probably the simplest task in the history of the world… you’d better be hardcore or I wish death upon you.
Kind of goofy way of looking at things fellas…[/quote]
Here’s how I see it. Painting, writing, fishing, are all (to people that do them) just enjoyable activities to pass the time. You can do them without having a particular result in mind, therefore there’s no expectation of skill or result and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Working out, however, is necessarily with a result in mind. As much satisfaction as I get out of working out, frankly, I would NOT be doing it if it had no effect on my body/strength/appearance and I doubt anyone else would either. Lifting weights is just not something people do for the pure enjoyment of it, its not “fun.” If I could be buff and look great without working out, you could bet I’d probably be painting or fishing or something else. The only reason you get into working out is because you have a particular goal - and whether that goal is getting bigger, stronger, looking better, being healthier, or playing a sport better, you have to be working hard in the gym to reach it. There is NO reason to be in a gym and not be working hard - which is why people that are probably SHOULD be looked down upon, because it shows a lack of discipline/willpower/toughness to reach a goal that you want (which you do want because you are in the gym).
Because people who paint or write do not always have a goal, the question are they applying enough effort or have enough skill is not always relevant. In lifting weights, you always do and it always is.
[quote]thogue wrote:
Here’s how I see it. Painting, writing, fishing, are all (to people that do them) just enjoyable activities to pass the time. You can do them without having a particular result in mind, therefore there’s no expectation of skill or result and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Working out, however, is necessarily with a result in mind. As much satisfaction as I get out of working out, frankly, I would NOT be doing it if it had no effect on my body/strength/appearance and I doubt anyone else would either. Lifting weights is just not something people do for the pure enjoyment of it, its not “fun.” If I could be buff and look great without working out, you could bet I’d probably be painting or fishing or something else. The only reason you get into working out is because you have a particular goal - and whether that goal is getting bigger, stronger, looking better, being healthier, or playing a sport better, you have to be working hard in the gym to reach it. There is NO reason to be in a gym and not be working hard - which is why people that are probably SHOULD be looked down upon, because it shows a lack of discipline/willpower/toughness to reach a goal that you want (which you do want because you are in the gym).
Because people who paint or write do not always have a goal, the question are they applying enough effort or have enough skill is not always relevant. In lifting weights, you always do and it always is.
[/quote]
You do know that all it takes is one person who thinks its fun, but doesn’t really care about getting bigger, to shoot your whole argument down, right?
To question one’s motivations is very pretentious as well.
But hey. Go to your gym and get pissed off… you’re the only one its affecting.
[quote]thogue wrote:
Here’s how I see it. Painting, writing, fishing, are all (to people that do them) just enjoyable activities to pass the time. You can do them without having a particular result in mind, therefore there’s no expectation of skill or result and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Working out, however, is necessarily with a result in mind. As much satisfaction as I get out of working out, frankly, I would NOT be doing it if it had no effect on my body/strength/appearance and I doubt anyone else would either. Lifting weights is just not something people do for the pure enjoyment of it, its not “fun.” If I could be buff and look great without working out, you could bet I’d probably be painting or fishing or something else. The only reason you get into working out is because you have a particular goal - and whether that goal is getting bigger, stronger, looking better, being healthier, or playing a sport better, you have to be working hard in the gym to reach it. There is NO reason to be in a gym and not be working hard - which is why people that are probably SHOULD be looked down upon, because it shows a lack of discipline/willpower/toughness to reach a goal that you want (which you do want because you are in the gym).
Because people who paint or write do not always have a goal, the question are they applying enough effort or have enough skill is not always relevant. In lifting weights, you always do and it always is.[/quote]
I think guidos and broskis turn lifting into a social event. This is why you see six of them clustered around the one guy benching, and four sets of high-fives after a completed set of burnouts. They’re not doing it to get stronger- they’re doing it because it’s fun.
It’s probably because they don’t know how to paint, fish, or read.
[quote]thogue wrote:
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]chimera182 wrote:
Makes sense, it’s hard to remember that just because someone isn’t dedicated to lifting intelligently they’re not necessarily a bad person.
[/quote]
Haha. It’s kind of funny when you put it like that… if a guy is a shitty fisherman, but loves fishing, who’s going to give him shit for it?
If a guy like painting, but isn’t all that talented and just likes to dabble, who cares? Same with writing poetry or building model airplanes or whatever else.
But if you’re lifting a heavy weight off the ground, probably the simplest task in the history of the world… you’d better be hardcore or I wish death upon you.
Kind of goofy way of looking at things fellas…[/quote]
Here’s how I see it. Painting, writing, fishing, are all (to people that do them) just enjoyable activities to pass the time. You can do them without having a particular result in mind, therefore there’s no expectation of skill or result and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Working out, however, is necessarily with a result in mind. As much satisfaction as I get out of working out, frankly, I would NOT be doing it if it had no effect on my body/strength/appearance and I doubt anyone else would either. Lifting weights is just not something people do for the pure enjoyment of it, its not “fun.” If I could be buff and look great without working out, you could bet I’d probably be painting or fishing or something else. The only reason you get into working out is because you have a particular goal - and whether that goal is getting bigger, stronger, looking better, being healthier, or playing a sport better, you have to be working hard in the gym to reach it. There is NO reason to be in a gym and not be working hard - which is why people that are probably SHOULD be looked down upon, because it shows a lack of discipline/willpower/toughness to reach a goal that you want (which you do want because you are in the gym).
Because people who paint or write do not always have a goal, the question are they applying enough effort or have enough skill is not always relevant. In lifting weights, you always do and it always is.
[/quote]
You contradicted yourself at the end of your post when you put that people who paint or write do not always have a goal because some do and will do anything to reach their goal. Same as the gym some people have no clear goal, while some do have goals and will stop at nothing to get it.
It’s just that the people who write or paint that have a clear goal don’t act superior to the people that don’t have a goal unlike people that inhabit the gym.
This thread made me offer the squat rack (which I was using to do high pulls) to two guys squatting in the smith machine. They turned me down 
[quote]Kamel wrote:
[quote]thogue wrote:
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]chimera182 wrote:
Makes sense, it’s hard to remember that just because someone isn’t dedicated to lifting intelligently they’re not necessarily a bad person.
[/quote]
Haha. It’s kind of funny when you put it like that… if a guy is a shitty fisherman, but loves fishing, who’s going to give him shit for it?
If a guy like painting, but isn’t all that talented and just likes to dabble, who cares? Same with writing poetry or building model airplanes or whatever else.
But if you’re lifting a heavy weight off the ground, probably the simplest task in the history of the world… you’d better be hardcore or I wish death upon you.
Kind of goofy way of looking at things fellas…[/quote]
Here’s how I see it. Painting, writing, fishing, are all (to people that do them) just enjoyable activities to pass the time. You can do them without having a particular result in mind, therefore there’s no expectation of skill or result and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Working out, however, is necessarily with a result in mind. As much satisfaction as I get out of working out, frankly, I would NOT be doing it if it had no effect on my body/strength/appearance and I doubt anyone else would either. Lifting weights is just not something people do for the pure enjoyment of it, its not “fun.” If I could be buff and look great without working out, you could bet I’d probably be painting or fishing or something else. The only reason you get into working out is because you have a particular goal - and whether that goal is getting bigger, stronger, looking better, being healthier, or playing a sport better, you have to be working hard in the gym to reach it. There is NO reason to be in a gym and not be working hard - which is why people that are probably SHOULD be looked down upon, because it shows a lack of discipline/willpower/toughness to reach a goal that you want (which you do want because you are in the gym).
Because people who paint or write do not always have a goal, the question are they applying enough effort or have enough skill is not always relevant. In lifting weights, you always do and it always is.
[/quote]
You contradicted yourself at the end of your post when you put that people who paint or write do not always have a goal because some do and will do anything to reach their goal. Same as the gym some people have no clear goal, while some do have goals and will stop at nothing to get it.
It’s just that the people who write or paint that have a clear goal don’t act superior to the people that don’t have a goal unlike people that inhabit the gym.[/quote]
I figure if people are screwing around in the gym, at least they’re working out. It’s better than sitting on your ass all day and whining about being fat.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
You do know that all it takes is one person who thinks its fun, but doesn’t really care about getting bigger, to shoot your whole argument down, right?[/quote]
Sure. But I don’t believe that person does exist.
[quote]To question one’s motivations is very pretentious as well.
But hey. Go to your gym and get pissed off… you’re the only one its affecting. [/quote]
I never said or meant that certain motivations are better than others, or that you have to be trying to get huge to deserve being in a gym. I was saying that everyone who works out has a goal and because every one of those goals requires working hard, there is no reason not to be. Even if your motivation is just to casually get in shape that is fine - point is that you will still be working hard (maybe you just won’t be as strict with diet, or you will miss workouts here and there), because the thing with exercise is that if you don’t put in near full effort you will get near no results.
I did overlook the social aspect of it. I don’t know what to say about that. Except even in these cases, if you asked these people why they are in the gym, would they really say to socialize? Or if they honestly say, I just want a chest and biceps, and I don’t care about getting strong or big, then fine. But I think they are more likely to say they are trying to get get strong and big. And there is something wrong with that, just as there is with a person who draws in coloring books and thinks they are a great artist, or a person who learns a few chords and thinks they are a guitar prodigy.
I didn’t mean to contradict myself - by saying “not always”, implies that sometimes they do. But I believe everyone who works out does have a goal of some kind.
Yes, I don’t mean to justify acting superior, which is always a classless thing to do. And it would be silly to think a person’s value can be judged by what they do at a gym. In real life almost every circumstance comes down to respect and if that is there there are no problems. This is mostly an intellectual debate, I certainly don’t get pissed at people lol
I understand you’re thinking because why would someone waste time and money on doing something and get nothing in return. It’s also naive to think that way because some people just don’t care enough to progress in the activities they do and just enjoy doing them. Take people who go to the gym to persue healthy active lifestyles. How do you even set goals for that?
[quote]chimera182 wrote:
This thread made me offer the squat rack (which I was using to do high pulls) to two guys squatting in the smith machine. They turned me down :([/quote]
Meh, you can’t win them all