How to be a life long lifter.

[drtbear1967]

Only two types of people will be life-long lifters. The first includes those people who truly love lifting and have developed a passion for it. The second type includes those who are able to connect the benefits of lifting to what they truly care about most. For them, lifting supports deeper values.
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The reason other people stop lifting is that they don't connect their goals to what really matters. Ask the average gym bro about his goals and you hear words like, "jacked” or “ripped." Those are fine, but in the grand scheme they don't mean much after all is said and done. No one is lying on his deathbed regretting his slightly smaller biceps. You need to go much deeper and ask the bigger question: "Why do I want to build muscle, burn fat, or gain strength?”
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Maybe deep down, what you really want is self-confidence and the ability to attract a mate. When these real reasons become your focus, you won't become another New Year's resolution drop-out stat. Training will feel like more of a responsibility.
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Then as life goes on, continue to add reasons for lifting based on your new phases of life. Examples:
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• To build inner strength
• To look good for your spouse
• To be respected by your kids
• To be physically able to defend your family
• To increase productivity
• To defy the traditional expectations of aging
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Maybe these aren't things that matter in the context of YOUR life. So find what does. When you connect lifting to what you value, the reasons for doing it keep adding up. Your motivation can actually increase with age as these values accumulate. And you'll find that over time, you'll become someone who loves lifting (the first type) and this will make it even easier to be a life-long lifter.

 

[Bigjim551]

Well said! One of the greatest posts I've ever read. Congratulations. I discovered lifting to me was more then just a passion when I was about 25. I started lifting seriously at about 19 and haven't stopped. I'm now 46 and I find new reasons to be obsessed and passionate on a regular basis. I am probably more passionate today then I was at 20 and it is because of the many really deep seeded reasons why lifting/training is so important to me. Not just to be ripped and jacked(but it is still a part of it).

I could write a book on what is has done for me physically and emotionally. It is beyond a passion. Its also my favorite past time and hobby not to mention, Its my career(I'm a trainer and gym owner). I began my career as a trainer at 20 years old and struggled for years until I realized who I was. I've actually done quite well for myself considering most people in my shoes struggle financially.

I'm also a cancer survivor and my experience with that as well as a very diffucult 3 year chemo and radiation protocol has allowed me to discover new motivation and reasons to lift.

It is who I am, what I do and what I love. Once I discovered this the work I put in in the gym is not only easy(figuratively speaking)but absolutely necessary for my existence.

I am the person ive become because of my love of lifting. I was a skinny, shy, insecure person until my mid twenties. I slowly became another human being now that I am 46. Self confident, disciplined, motivated, successful are just a few words that people close to me would likely use to describe me(besides maybe a few not so great words but just a few) and I attribute this growth to my commitment to weight lifting for over 25 years.

Thanks again for the inspiration to write this. I hope others will reply with their personal reasons for making lifting a part of their life.

Thank you.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[The Survivor]

Well said! One of the greatest posts I've ever read. Congratulations. I discovered lifting to me was more then just a passion when I was about 25. I started lifting seriously at about 19 and haven't stopped. I'm now 46 and I find new reasons to be obsessed and passionate on a regular basis. I am probably more passionate today then I was at 20 and it is because of the many really deep seeded reasons why lifting/training is so important to me. Not just to be ripped and jacked(but it is still a part of it).

I could write a book on what is has done for me physically and emotionally. It is beyond a passion. Its also my favorite past time and hobby not to mention, Its my career(I'm a trainer and gym owner). I began my career as a trainer at 20 years old and struggled for years until I realized who I was. I've actually done quite well for myself considering most people in my shoes struggle financially.

I'm also a cancer survivor and my experience with that as well as a very diffucult 3 year chemo and radiation protocol has allowed me to discover new motivation and reasons to lift.

It is who I am, what I do and what I love. Once I discovered this the work I put in in the gym is not only easy(figuratively speaking)but absolutely necessary for my existence.

I am the person ive become because of my love of lifting. I was a skinny, shy, insecure person until my mid twenties. I slowly became another human being now that I am 46. Self confident, disciplined, motivated, successful are just a few words that people close to me would likely use to describe me(besides maybe a few not so great words but just a few) and I attribute this growth to my commitment to weight lifting for over 25 years.

Thanks again for the inspiration to write this. I hope others will reply with their personal reasons for making lifting a part of their life.

Thank you.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

drtbear posts some outstanding material no doubt!
At the end of 2021 I'll be at the Iron game for 40 yrs, its been a long road full of potholes and setbacks but somehow I still manage to get at it. At 60 I cant get below parallel on squats and I have bit of arthritis in my hips, a diastatis recti and atrophy in my left arm so I'm bloodied but unbowed

I have up a high paying job as an Ironworker to buy a gym and at times I wonder why I did it......like many people I lifted in hi school for sports but gave up after graduating. Then I lifted to get some pussy and it worked like a charm, hence began my career as a male ho, the world was my vagina and I took w/o giving. It was in my mid 40's the pootang started drying up.

That being said, I now lift to try and keep my GF's great cooking from turning to bodyfat and to keep my rep as a trainer. Its so much better now I dont try and keep up w the younger guys!!

Keep lifting. Its a lifetime endeavor that gives many more times than it takes

 

[Presser]

"DEAD BULLY"
sorry had to give this shit a title


I actually think its an amazing topic and ive been lifting since 6th grade on my own and real serious since high school mandatory weight room for football lol and never looked back! For me its been all about the longevity since i was in mid 20's!! HOWEVER.............. in the beginning it was strictly so i could defend myself and then as i progressed it was so that i would unquestionably look like someone you did not want to fuck with! It's True!

In middle school 6th, 7th and 8th grade I was 6'2 , and skinny as hell! Sadly my school was grades 6th through 12th , and small as hell! So i would be changing classes between periods in school with highschool kids too, and i looked like a giraff walking among my middle school peers , so i really stuck out, and you know what happens next! The highschool kids start bullying ya!


By 8th grade i was bullied so bad it got to the point where 4 to 5 of the same 10th and 11th grade kids would eventually wait for me outside school every mornng before the school opened to let everyone in for the day so they (2 kids) could throw me into the same bush in front of the school. One kid would take my hands and the other would take my feet and they'd swing me back and forth while counting with each swing of my body "1" "2" "3" and away i would go into the bush! It happened so often that the other kids waiting to be let into school would draw a crowd and theyd all count aloud as a group with each pass of my body. "1" !!! "2"!!!!!!! "3"!!!!!!!!!!

Now by 8th grade you could tell i was lifting, i know thats hard to believe but ya could, the problem was i still had an 8th grade mind and was terrified of fighting back!

So towards the end of 8th grade we had something called "township day" where the community would come together and there would be events, booths and tables with people selling stuff. And of course i would cross paths with these same assholes, well 2 of them anyhow and they expected me to just let them swing me into the nearest bush, and im looking around for my mom , or anyone really but im on my own. So i say NO! And it turns into me getting smacked around, until i finally blackout and i apparently beat the living shit out of this one kid and im told the other kid took off thinking he would get into trouble when the fighting started. AS GOD AS MY WITNESS I DONT REMEMBER MOST OF THE FIGHT. I just remember someone the end with someone pulling me off the the kid, and ill NEVER forget the look of shame and embarresment on this kids face when he realized that the entire town it seemed at the time watched an 8th grader kick the shit out him!

NOW the sad part! Monday morning school day, im half excited too see who watched me kick this 11th graders ass, and half scared to death of what "the bully crew" is going to do to me now!

I get to school, and NOTHING! I see the bully crew but not the kid i just whooped up on. Homeroom bell rings, and we hear an announcement over the loud speaker, its our principal, and he wants to take a moment of silence after he tellls everyone that "Rob K" has died and is no longer with us and that anyone seeking to speak to a grief counseler at school may do so.

You guessed it, this kid went home and put his dads shotgun in his mouth and killed himself cause he couldnt bear to come to school after an 8th grader beat him up in front of everyone.

Talk About NOT KNOWING HOW TO FEEL! I will tell you my first thought though after the announcement of his death. "I Guess I'll Never get my Redskins Started Coat back Now" lol, Yep, this dickwad made me take my Washington redskins starter coat off and give it to him, not so he could wear, but because he had the same exact one and i was making it uncool for him to wear. So he took it from me! This mother fucker tormented me so bad that out of all of the bullying crew he was by far the worst, likely cause he looked like the weekest in his group.

So in short thats likely the real reason i first ever picked up a weight at such a young age! WEIGHT WORK! LMAO