Why Do We Lift?

Just wondering why we all do it? What are our motivations and our targets?

Me - i was sick of being 10 stone at 6ft and having no meat on my limbs and being too narrow. At 20 my legs looked like they did at 14… Now im 12.5 stone and 24 and am generally happy with my appearance give or take.

I look much better in a t-shirt. People I havent seen for awhile comment. And at least if some knucklehead feels the need to walk into me on purpose on a night out I can give as good as I get … haha. You get the idea.

I think Brad Pitt in Fightclub might have been an inspiration too. That guy got all the girls looking…

Anyone else care to share the motivation behind why they workout?

Vision Quest

here is the link. You should read this. it will answer all your questions and probably make you ask a few of your own.

http://www.T-Nation.com/findArticle.do?article=06-atomicdog-047

get over brad pitt and his skeleton physique in fight club.

  1. Improve my health (I have secondary hypogonadism and need more muscle, better insulin responsiveness, etc.)

  2. Make up for lost years: I’m 36. For all those years I wanted to be strong but couldn’t due to low T, I now want to build a bigger and stronger me to show that “I can do it!”

  3. To be big.

  4. To be strong.

  5. It’s a fun hobby, it feels good, and it’s my thing that I do for me.

  6. I like the camaraderie of brothers and sisters who love iron.

  7. I love to eat, so this let’s me store my excess calories as muscle instead of fat.

  1. Because the pump is like coming. Coming in the gym, at home, coming everywhere. It’s great!

/Arnold

I lift for sports. If I want to bring my game at 41, and school all you punks, then I need to be conditioned. The work I do in the weight room assures that I won’t look like an ass in front of kids half my age.

DJ

To become super geek.

Because I fuckin’ love it. I like the pain, I like the pump, I like the results, I like getting stronger, etc. I just love it all, it’s a total addtition.

Because I, unlike 90% of people i know, can wear ANYTHING I want. I never have to worry about, “oh this fits weird” or “oh this makes me look fat” or anything like that. I used to be like that, where I was so picky with what I would wear because I was insecure. Now I wear anything I want. Seems kinda like a girly reason Im sure, but you’d be surprised how many STRAIGHT guys worry over this.

To crush my enemies see them driven before me and to hear the lamentation of the women

Poontang.

Why do I lift? Such an estrogen induced question. BECAUSE I CAN!!! Or better yet…

I say to live it out like a God sure of immortal life,
Though you are in doubt,
Is the way to live it.
If that doesn’t make God proud of you then God is nothing but gravitation,
Or sleep is the golden goal.

Edgar Lee Masters
Spoon River Anthology

cuz i like lifting heavy things, do we really need to get more specific. at the heart of it, there is this primal instinct of lifting big things to be strong.

-believe it or not, i have found that after enough working out (and by no means am i big) clothes started fitting worse as i go to be honest

-i’ve noticed everything is made for shapeless at the least, or poorly shaped and unless i wanted to spend Alot of money (even then at times) it doesnt fit well

-for myself, i want to be explosive, to be competetive in the oly lifts, and stronger all around (hoping some size and looks will keep on coming too of course!!!)

I am man, therefore I lift.

I believe TC said something along the lines of, “I’m a superhero, that’s why I lift.” It isn’t a direct quote.

Because i dont want to be like everyone else.I am not the strongest guy around but i am stronger than 99% of people i come in contact with on a daily basis and i like that.I look like i lift weights, not all ripped but strong looking.Getting that WTF look from someone you havnt seen in awhile is good motivation to.

Friends Dont Let Friends Lift Light.

[quote]bonzi50 wrote:
Vision Quest

here is the link. You should read this. it will answer all your questions and probably make you ask a few of your own.

http://www.T-Nation.com/findArticle.do?article=06-atomicdog-047

get over brad pitt and his skeleton physique in fight club.
[/quote]

He may not be a body builder, but he still had a better physique than most people his age (36 at the time).

As for my reasons for lifting. I’d rather use it than lose it. My old man lives a very sedentary life and it’s come back to haunt him. At 47 he has degenerative disk disease and lives in constant crippling pain. I’d rather not end up like that at 47.

Hell, if I play my cards right, I may not end up like that at all. There are at least a dozen other reasons (nursing an inferiority complex, looking good nekkid) but this one is first and foremost my biggest priority.

Giving in to a primal desire to be big and strong, and also to delay the moment when I start to get older and weaker.

[quote]Sliver wrote:

He may not be a body builder, but he still had a better physique than most people his age (36 at the time).[/quote]

Dude, anyone who isn’t completely out of shape over the age of 30 “still has a better physique than most people that age”. Most people let themselves go apparently, right after high school or college.

Today, if you are over 30 and don’t have a huge pot belly with a body fat percentage over 25-30%, you are doing better than “most people”. This is a bodybuilding forum. I would hope Brad Pitt in Fight Club isn’t the standard to judge “elite” by.

I’m not even knocking Brad Pitt as a person, I just get tired of that name coming up every single time a newbie expresses a goal…that and looking like an extra on “300”.

When I was 6 yrs old I was pushing, pulling and wrestling my bicycle over a huge flight of stairs only to begin shaking from exhaustion and terror of falling down backwards.

Right when I knew I was screwed as can be and going down hard, this old man picks up my bike from behind me like it was made of air and carried it all the up to the top of stairs. He puts the bike down, leaned it against the hand rail, smiled, waved back at me and walked off.

I was speechless and awestruck by his heart, the unhuman strength that I perceived him to have and how he totally saved me. It was nothing to him. Hell, I don’t think I even thanked him at the time. God, it fuckin’ hurts that I didn’t, because I made sure to thank him the next time I see him, but I never saw him again.

Curious how small things shape you. I’m sure he has passed away by now, but the memory of him will stay with me.

Hey old man, thanks for helping me.