Why Bother?

I’m looking for a little motivation here. Why do you bother going to the gym and working out?

When my wife and I separated, my motivation was pussy. I only went to the gym so I could build the body I figured I’d need to get some serious tail.

I’m not going to bore you with my progress, other than to say I lost a bunch of weight, gained a bunch of muscle, and got a lot better looking.

At any rate, in the last few months of separation from my wife, I became a manwhore. I went through at least 1 new girl a week, and ended up doing something like 20 chicks in 3 months. I also ended up killing my motivation to go to the gym… I fucked myself out, and stopped being interested in chasing pussy.

I got back together with my wife, and also stopped going to the gym. I’ve put on probably 20 pounds in the last 5 months, and feel like I should care. But again, the only reason I tried building a good body was for the chicks.

For you married guys, or guys otherwise not in it for the women, why do you bother? What gives you the motivation to bust your ass instead of sitting on it?

One thing that really sticks out is that you did it for pussy. That is the worst fucking reason to lift. You’ll never have permanent motivaton if that is your only goal. Some of us (including me) use it as a daily release and a way to keep ourselves from becoming a useless bag of lard.

Plus it is a personal challenge to make something out of your physique. If you’re gonna lift, you should lift for yourself and not for an exterior reason. Motivation will come from this.

I sit at a desk upwards of 12 hours a day, often more. If it weren’t for weightlifting, my body would fall apart.

I have a daughter. She deserves a strong father.

Years ago, my wife and I rescued a starving stray. During one of our in-town trips off the island to get groceries, the dog tried to swim after the barge (a small thing that could only hold four cars at a time). It tired out quickly and, seeing me suddenly lurch over the side, thought that I was going to scold it, and started to swim away… right toward the motor’s propellors.

Being able to reach down and barely snag a 45 pound dog by the collar, with just my finger tips, and curl the soaking-wet, thick-furred little bitch up to safety instead of watching her get chopped into hamburger… well, that made the gym hours worth it. (And a big fuck you to everybody who says that curls have no practical purpose!) :wink:

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s every reason in the world to train. Training to get attention from women doesn’t even factor in.

I train because I’m inactive all day. I have a desk job and am taking university classes, so I’m seated all day long and its actually become physically painful to not move. Sure, I could have just taken up another activity, but with my schedule, lifting weights is the best option.

Secondly, as I’m getting older and seeing most people turn to shit at an alarming rate - I just dont want to be like them. So its not so much what I want to become, but what I dont want to be.

I agree with Big (as usual)

I recently seperated from my wife for about 4 months and I continued to work out during that time.

Now that I am back with my wife I am training better than ever and it has nothing to do with women.

When I was seperated from my wife I spent a lot of time trying to understand myself a lot more including what makes me happy and what I want to do with my life. One of the things that truly makes me happy is lifting in the gym, and striving to reach the goals that I set for myself. Lifting is only one part of my life, but it is an important one.

If I didnt have those goals or that passion for lifting and was only doing it for the women I would quit after a couple of months I think.

If you are not doing it for yourself, you shouldnt be doing it.

If I didn’t lift weights I’d kill someone.

It lets me appease the primal warrior inside.

[quote]Northcott wrote:
Years ago, my wife and I rescued a starving stray. During one of our in-town trips off the island to get groceries, the dog tried to swim after the barge (a small thing that could only hold four cars at a time). It tired out quickly and, seeing me suddenly lurch over the side, thought that I was going to scold it, and started to swim away… right toward the motor’s propellors.

Being able to reach down and barely snag a 45 pound dog by the collar, with just my finger tips, and curl the soaking-wet, thick-furred little bitch up to safety instead of watching her get chopped into hamburger… well, that made the gym hours worth it. (And a big fuck you to everybody who says that curls have no practical purpose!) :wink:
[/quote]

Thats an awesome story- seriously great job.

Doing it for pussy is a pussy reason. You should be able to wake up, do what you have to do, then go to the gym coming all from your own desire to succeed for yourself.

There are a million reasons why to go to the gym. There are a also a million reasons not to go to the gym, you just have to figure out for yourself the ones that say go to the gym outweigh the ones that say dont go to the gym by a lot.

I’d tell you why I do it but I don’t think I could better explain it than Vic Richards in this video:

I love weight training for what it is, not for what it can get me.

Hope this helps.

[quote]Ironbarr wrote:
I’d tell you why I do it but I don’t think I could better explain it than Vic Richards in this video:

I love weight training for what it is, not for what it can get me.

Hope this helps.[/quote]
Now you are preaching to the Choir

I don’t know guys… if I could get pussy because of lifting- I probably wouldn’t turn it down…

Because I love how I have completely changed the shape of my body and how it continues to grow.

If I didn’t lift I’d be about 78kgs. At 6’3" that doesn’t look good. But from lifting weights, at 95kgs, I look better than most of the population. And I like that.

If you are looking for us to give you the “magic motivation” I think you are barking up the wrong tree.

You have to find it within yourself why to do it…did you like the benefits it gave you before? DO you like to be stronger? Do you like not breathing heavy after walking up 10 flights of stairs?

I, personally have a few reasons for lifting.

  1. I want to be a good physical specimen to represent that people of my religious belief <MANY members of religion neglect their body/health and chalk this belief up to a selfrighteous (and misguided) “not being vain”> can indeed be strong and in shape. I want to glorify God in my body as well as mind/and actions. (ok…enough religion stuff…but wanted to state this point because it’s the truth.)

  2. I like to be strong. I like knowing that i can handle many things that “joe normal” can’t handle.

  3. I lift to release aggression/tension. A strange sense of peace and happiness happens after a workout (most times…unless I have a crappy lifting day.).

  4. A certain level of comraderie can develop in the gym. Even if it’s unspoken, it’s a social outlet.

  5. Health benefits too numerous to mention.

  6. I enjoy the progression…you can see the results (fat loss, strength gain, size gains). This is not too common in most aspects of life because it seems we’re on a treadmill of life…always running in one place.

This is all I can think of for now, but I’m sure there are more.

two reasons:

  1. exercise has taught me that hard work through time really pays off.

  2. i kiteboard and i want to be able to do maneuvers that require a great deal of strength and endurance.

So to sum up…our motivation to lift comes from the fact that we want to be the best we can be.

[quote]Jack Dublin wrote:
I went through at least 1 new girl a week, and ended up doing something like 20 chicks in 3 months.

I got back together with my wife,
[/quote]

Not to be a dick, but did you get tested when you got back together with your wife? It might put a damper on your newly reformed relationship if you give her the clap.

As for your question, I will echo what the other members have said. I lift to be better looking and stronger. It is nice to be the strongest guy in your group of friends. I also like setting goals and achieving new PR’s.

Jeff

Jack–

I actually think Northcott hit it on the head. Before we all die each of us will be called upon at some time to either be a hero or a goat. Northcott’s example is a good one as was that guy a few weeks ago that was talking about how he was going to get chewed up by a chipper except that he had been squatting which gave him the strength to push off.

You never know when that moment will be and how you handle it will stick with you for the rest of your life. It may be kicking the crap out of some guy you see raping a girl in an alley or running into a burning building and having to pull some kids out. You may find yourself 30 years from now humping a rifle and a pack in a forest in Virginia in a second civil war. You might have to punch through a window to get your kid out of a car wreck. You just might find yourself on a hijacked airplane headed toward the Pentagon with the only thing between catastrophe and a heroic stand is your two fists.

That is why I work out. We each will have a moment like that once in our lives and when it comes I damn well won’t be caught unprepared.

Mike

Kind of a hijack here, but not really. My girlfriend dropped her major for General Studies and she backed it up with a quote from Robert Heinlen that I think fits this situation rather well:

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnett, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

Mike

[quote]Mikeyali wrote:
That is why I work out. We each will have a moment like that once in our lives and when it comes I damn well won’t be caught unprepared.
[/quote]

Hell… and even if it doesn’t, the benefits are many. From simply finding small physical tasks to be much easier, to being more capable in helping friends who need a hand moving heavy furniture or appliances – real strength has real benefits.

Do you love the people who love you? Do you think they deserve to have the best ‘you’ that they can have?

It’s all about the big picture.

The attention from women is nice, but there are many more reasons to train than that.
Athletic performance- I like being able to play rugby well into my 30’s.
Health- surely this is massive.
My students and the athletes I coach respect me more, because I can also ‘Walk the walk’.
A feeling of well-being and security, knowing I can account for myself in a street scuffle or I can (probably) knock out a burglar.
But most of all, a sense of personal pride. Now I know what a good physique looks like, I don’t want to look like shit, ever again. Till I die.

‘Because life’s too short to be small’.

As for you- it sounds like you don’t have it mentally. Just give up, and be like 90% of the population, with no motivation, and no pride. Go on.