When do I even lift?

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24

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  • sarahertzberger
    sarahertzberger Posts: 534 Member
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    Well, I'm probably someone whom you would never call a "lifter" but, still going strong at just about 9 months pregnant and lifting 4 days a week, I'd still say I'm a lifter. If you lift all the time and push yourself to lift as high as you can, then you're a lifter.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    Wow, this thread is chalk full of stereotyping!

    I'd personally work on putting more weight on the bar and stop worrying about how you'll be labeled.

    ^this...

    ...although I can relate to where OP is coming from. Apparently, perseverance, consistency, and intensity are the solutions to this problem, but there just seems to be wildly varying degrees of results in different people. I suppose that's just life.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    You're a beginner lifter right now.

    Get two years consistent training under you belt and we can talk again ;)
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    I'm a lifter! I don't "look" like a lifter either, yet. My goals are a bit different from most lifters...I'm not cutting and bulking, I'm just trying to lose weight while retaining lean body mass. But just because my goals are different, it doesn't mean I'm less of a lifter than they are. :) The first time you pick up a weight, and say "heck yeah, let's do that again!" you're a lifter.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    You're a beginner lifter right now.

    Get two years consistent training under you belt and we can talk again ;)


    I feel like this would be the same as telling someone they're not a runner unless they've ran a marathon. :ohwell:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I look around my weight room and there are all kinds...there are the body builders...there are the power lifters...there are people doing circuits using the free weights...there are people doing primarily body weight exercises but maybe mixing in a little weight here and there...there are people using barbells and people using dumbells and people using machines...there are people squatting and there are people curling...there are people doing things that i can't even figure out...but they're all lifting and thus I would consider them lifters. Some of them are fat and some of them are skinny...and some of them have muscles popping out of their ear holes...but they're all lifters.
    I'd personally work on putting more weight on the bar and stop worrying about how you'll be labeled.

    and I'll 2nd this...
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    You're a beginner lifter right now.

    Get two years consistent training under you belt and we can talk again ;)


    I feel like this would be the same as telling someone they're not a runner unless they've ran a marathon. :ohwell:

    One has standards you know!
  • bornofthorns
    bornofthorns Posts: 143 Member
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    I like to think when you start getting that lil bit of swagger, you are a lifter. For me, it was the first time I pushed through a set and involuntarily let out a "wooo" and popped up with adrenaline. That is subjective, though. Generally, I agree, if you lift, you are a lifter. You may be a novice lifter, but a lifter none-the-less.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    You're a beginner lifter right now.

    Get two years consistent training under you belt and we can talk again ;)
    Bolded the key word.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    You're a beginner lifter right now.

    Get two years consistent training under you belt and we can talk again ;)


    I feel like this would be the same as telling someone they're not a runner unless they've ran a marathon. :ohwell:
    Why? A beginner LIFTER is still a lifter.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    You're a beginner lifter right now.

    Get two years consistent training under you belt and we can talk again ;)


    I feel like this would be the same as telling someone they're not a runner unless they've ran a marathon. :ohwell:
    Why? A beginner LIFTER is still a lifter.

    I completely agree in that regard. The two years training part kind of made me feel that way haha. I've been lifting less than a year, but several of my numbers are already out of the newbie stage of lifting. So I think time isn't a good marker of newbie/beginner/seasoned lifter status. Lifters lift...that title doesn't change because you've been lifting not as long or not as much weight as someone else.
  • catneon
    catneon Posts: 911 Member
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    OP why so worried about labelling! Be happy about what you do and congrats on lifting!

    Glove no glove, chalk no chalk.....do what you gotta do:flowerforyou:

    cuz that moment when you get to the gym and you realize that your gloves don't match your outfit...FML:grumble:
    Workout-Barbie.png
  • DeltaZero
    DeltaZero Posts: 1,197 Member
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    OP why so worried about labelling! Be happy about what you do and congrats on lifting!

    Glove no glove, chalk no chalk.....do what you gotta do:flowerforyou:

    cuz that moment when you get to the gym and you realize that your gloves don't match your outfit...FML:grumble:
    Workout-Barbie.png

    Don't forget your makeup, dear.
  • bornofthorns
    bornofthorns Posts: 143 Member
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    OP why so worried about labelling! Be happy about what you do and congrats on lifting!

    Glove no glove, chalk no chalk.....do what you gotta do:flowerforyou:

    cuz that moment when you get to the gym and you realize that your gloves don't match your outfit...FML:grumble:
    Workout-Barbie.png

    Eh...I sorta get where he is coming from. You don't want to start into a conversation about your exercise routine with an experienced lifter and next thing you know, you are feeling stupid for not knowing everything they know.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,473 Member
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    you should be a runner....
    or a hola hooper er.
    yep, a pink hula hoop.
    do you wear boxers or briefs???
  • MiloBloom83
    MiloBloom83 Posts: 2,724 Member
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    When I lift, I only wear one glove, ala Michael Jackson. And I moonwalk from station to station.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
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    Really?

    3303877717_742520b279.jpg

    LOL - Love it!
  • juliewatkin
    juliewatkin Posts: 764 Member
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    Years ago I was a sporadic skier. I remember standing in line for the lift with my husband looking at all the people with the kick *kitten* ski gear. I thought, 'wow, they must be really good.' Then I saw them come down like it was their first time on a slope. My skiing was nothing to write home about but clad in my sweats and old jacket, I was much more skilled than they were.

    My point is that you can't judge anyone's abilities by the paraphernalia they have or are wearing.

    I've been competing for years and no one would know I lift if they didn't see me do it.

    Don't worry about not knowing as much as someone else. There will always be people who know more than you just as there will always be people who think they know more than you. Learn from other people. However, you should consider the source. I'm constantly picking the brains of my team mates. Some things I try, others I don't.
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    Well, real lifters don't wear gloves, so you're good there. :tongue:

    You're a lifter when you lift things. Period. Doesn't matter how much, how heavy, or how long.

    I'd stay away from the Smith machine, though. That thing is pretty much designed specifically to injure people (I assume it was horrible oversight, and not intentional, but maybe Smith was an orthopedic surgeon in need of patients...)

    So you lift, ergo, you're a lifter.
    If you're not wearing gloves, you're probably not lifting heavy enough.

    You'd best check for callouses on the hands first before you say that ;) I actually used to use gloves too to prevent heavy callousing, but when I used them, I did start to find that I could pack weight higher on the bar for shrugs than I could hold through all the reps, at about 420lbs I had a problem holding on to the bar more than shrugging the weight and this was at a shrug machine/station, free weight was even worse. I think gloves increase your grip, but cause your gripping muscles not to be worked as much, causing a deficit in grip strength development vs muscle strength, especially at higher weight, I've found. But I still dont like the callouses.

    As for when are you a "lifter", it depends on your definition ... could be a standard 90th percentile strength test on bench (1.2x bodyweight at 40yo age range and x .6 for women) and squat or maybe the normative data for college football defensive backs (307 bench and 415 squat 1RM)? Or, anyone who lifts weight in the gym regularly to get more fit?
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    I like to think when you start getting that lil bit of swagger, you are a lifter. For me, it was the first time I pushed through a set and involuntarily let out a "wooo" and popped up with adrenaline. That is subjective, though. Generally, I agree, if you lift, you are a lifter. You may be a novice lifter, but a lifter none-the-less.

    Are you serious? Being excited at your own lifts is one thing, but getting "Swagger" in the gym is usually for the ones who go through the motions and like to act tough and make others feel inadequate. I get so tired of those people in the gym, hooting and making noise like they are something special and acting like they are "above" others, giving you attitude looks. These are the guys that make the OP feel bad and question whether he's a lifter and belongs in the gym, dont be "that guy".

    Those guys are however fun to go lift next to and give a dose of their own medicine when they get too loud: I like to watch their machismo disappear as you sit down calmly and smoothly lift more than the weight they (while grunting and groaning and hooting and puffing up after) were previously doing. Then, you tell them you are feeling a bit down today and increase the weight again for the next set...they usually shut up and clear out. ;)

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