Is there a point to lifting weights?

waldo56

As a dude asthetically men look better with muscle tone (take it from a woman...skinny guys aren't so hot).

^^This!! Why in the world would a man NOT want to lift??

Mainly because I find it mind numbingly boring personally. Bodyweight exercises aren't so bad, but I find weights dreadful. And it seems that bodyweight exercises are all you need to build muscle, definition, and strength.

Bodyweight exercises can build muscle up to a certain point. Once your body becomes accustomed to the resistance you will not build anymore muscle. The body will adapt and will not change if it's not challenged.

BS.

Just because YOU don't know of harder bodyweight exercises, doesn't mean they don't exist. Progressive resistance exists to infintiy in the upper body, and to extremely high levels in the legs (and is easily weighted with small dumbbells or other light resistance in the deleveraged position on out to infinity).

Bodyweight exercise difficulty extends into the theoritical realm, as in there is noone on this earth strong enough to do the exercises that theoretically should be possible (the master step of the handstand series in Convict Conditioning, a one arm handstand pushup, is one such theoretical exercise, there is no documented evidence of it ever having been performed).

grantdumas7

As a dude asthetically men look better with muscle tone (take it from a woman...skinny guys aren't so hot).

^^This!! Why in the world would a man NOT want to lift??

Mainly because I find it mind numbingly boring personally. Bodyweight exercises aren't so bad, but I find weights dreadful. And it seems that bodyweight exercises are all you need to build muscle, definition, and strength.

Bodyweight exercises can build muscle up to a certain point. Once your body becomes accustomed to the resistance you will not build anymore muscle. The body will adapt and will not change if it's not challenged.

BS.

Just because YOU don't know of harder bodyweight exercises, doesn't mean they don't exist. Progressive resistance exists to infintiy in the upper body, and to extremely high levels in the legs (and is easily weighted with small dumbbells or other light resistance in the deleveraged position on out to infinity).

Bodyweight exercise difficulty extends into the theoritical realm, as in there is noone on this earth strong enough to do the exercises that theoretically should be possible (the master step of the handstand series in Convict Conditioning, a one arm handstand pushup, is one such theoretical exercise, there is no documented evidence of it ever having been performed).

I am not saying there aren't any difficult bodyweight exercises such as 1 armpushups, planche pushups or handstand pushups but the average person will probably not do these exercises. They will do the basic pushups, bodyweight squats, lunges, stepups, and pullup variations. I agree people can gain muscle doing these but once somebody can do 50-60 pushups and say 30-40 dips then the body will need to be challenged. I believe pullups and chins may be an exception for most people as most people can't do more than 10-15 pullups.

dondimitri

I know several people who thought lifting was boring when they were just starting. However in every case once they started seeing the results they got hooked.

One mentioned to me that there should be a warning sign at the entrance to the weight room: "Warning: This activity can result in addictive behavior!"

waldo56

As a dude asthetically men look better with muscle tone (take it from a woman...skinny guys aren't so hot).

^^This!! Why in the world would a man NOT want to lift??

Mainly because I find it mind numbingly boring personally. Bodyweight exercises aren't so bad, but I find weights dreadful. And it seems that bodyweight exercises are all you need to build muscle, definition, and strength.

Bodyweight exercises can build muscle up to a certain point. Once your body becomes accustomed to the resistance you will not build anymore muscle. The body will adapt and will not change if it's not challenged.

BS.

Just because YOU don't know of harder bodyweight exercises, doesn't mean they don't exist. Progressive resistance exists to infintiy in the upper body, and to extremely high levels in the legs (and is easily weighted with small dumbbells or other light resistance in the deleveraged position on out to infinity).

Bodyweight exercise difficulty extends into the theoritical realm, as in there is noone on this earth strong enough to do the exercises that theoretically should be possible (the master step of the handstand series in Convict Conditioning, a one arm handstand pushup, is one such theoretical exercise, there is no documented evidence of it ever having been performed).

I am not saying there aren't any difficult bodyweight exercises such as 1 armpushups, planche pushups or handstand pushups but the average person will probably not do these exercises. They will do the basic pushups, bodyweight squats, lunges, stepups, and pullup variations. I agree people can gain muscle doing these but once somebody can do 50-60 pushups and say 30-40 dips then the body will need to be challenged. I believe pullups and chins may be an exception for most people as most people can't do more than 10-15 pullups.

Bodyweight exercise does not imply repping out with easy stuff to infinity, same as weight lifting doesn't mean lifting little pink dumbbells out to infinity.

The concepts of progressive overload apply to all forms of resistance. Training adaptations, strength and muscle mass, are no different for various forms of resistance.

sccet

Well 90% of the people on this site and other researchers say you can't build muscle while at a calorie deficit. Some disagree, I''m not sure. That's really the point of the question because if they believe you can't build muscle, then why try to lift if you can't while at a deficit. You can get stronger without building muscle, I get that, but I don't really care about getting stronger. I do eventually want to get toned, and I'll always do cardio.

90% of people are wrong, or you are mis-interpreting what they are trying to say. You may not be able to get huge muscles on a calorie deficit, but you can certainly build muscles and get stronger. Your body learns by what you do to it - so if it thinks you are going to be lifting heavy objects often, it will build muscle. It doesn't say "nope, tough luck, you need to eat 1000 calories before i do that" Granted, there are exceptions, but as a general rule your body will adapt to its surroundings.

this

WORD x 'finity.

PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot

I've dropped approaching 50 lbs doing nearly all cardio via running, and while I've made great progress, I can tell that the running does catabolize muscle, especially if you're eating at a calorie deficit. I've recently re-added some cross training and a day of straight weights to try to gain back some muscle mass that I've obviously lost in my upper body. Just my opinion.

Lt_Starbuck

Its the difference between getting the scale number you want, or getting the body you want.

No one will make you work for a body if all you want is the number. More room in the weight room for the rest of us.

mperez57

to each their own and your body will eventually plateau its all goal related.