I hate lifting

Farburnfred
Farburnfred Posts: 333 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Not trying to be provocative but I guess there are others like me out there.

I love to swim, I am training to swim 2 miles in open water in August. I love moving through water, goign further and faster and I adore the head space training gives me.

I have tried with lifting, I have done free weights and machines, I have done bodyweight stuff. And you know what I hate it, I hate sweating, I hate forcing myself to do it and I hate the constant DOMS. SO I have stopped.

It may be that I am doing my body a dis service, and I feel bad about it, but the best way to keep active is doing something you love and can carry on doing
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Replies

  • jalloggio
    jalloggio Posts: 141
    I hate cardio but guess what I do it because its gonna benefit me on the long run.

    Weightlifting is the same thing if you want to lift for just general health and bone and muscle support keep your weights light and reps high do it about twice a week no need to kill yourself. This will help you fight things like arthritis and osteoporosis later on in life.
  • wareagle8706
    wareagle8706 Posts: 1,090 Member
    You sweat in water, too. You just don't know it becuase you're already wet.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    I hate weight lifting too, but my health and the benefits of lifting are far more important than the discomfort of having to lift for 45 minutes to an hour three days a week.
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
    So you like swimming because you don't sweat?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I hate cardio, but I do it because it's good for me.

    Swimming can be a great full body workout, but there are benefits to strength training that will help with swimming.

    It's your life though. Nobody is going to make you do it.
  • darwinwoodka
    darwinwoodka Posts: 322 Member
    Swimming is resistance training. ;^) You're just weightlifting through water. ;^)
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Hate the constant DOMS?

    If you stick with a routine for more than a couple of weeks then you'll stop getting it.

    Sweating?

    Well, when I do cardiovascular type work, I sweat like a pig. Don't really sweat so much when I'm lifting though......

    At the end of the day, you don't have to do anything you don't like. You can certainly live a healthy, happy life without lifting.
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
    I hate cardio but guess what I do it because its gonna benefit me on the long run.

    Weightlifting is the same thing if you want to lift for just general health and bone and muscle support keep your weights light and reps high do it about twice a week no need to kill yourself. This will help you fight things like arthritis and osteoporosis later on in life.

    Second this, if for no other reason than the effect is has on your bones.

    Swimming is actually great for strength, and there are tons of stuff you can to do increase resistance if you want to continue to gain strength while swimming (and increased resistance is what strength training is all about), but nothing beats the bone-building capacity of an out-of-water workout (http://www.swimmingscience.net/2010/07/bone-mineral-density-in-swimmers.html). The problem with swimming and bones is that your bones don't really have to support much in the water, the water does that work for you. It's not much different than the effect on astronauts in low-gravity situations.

    So, hit the weights for half an hour a couple of times a week, then hop in the pool for a good swim. :)
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    Strength training not only makes you look good..it's fantastic for strengthening your bones.

    I won't have brittle bones when I get older.
  • goodtimezzzz
    goodtimezzzz Posts: 640 Member
    awesome!! swimming is great did wonders for phelps!!:)
  • husseycd
    husseycd Posts: 814 Member
    I'm not a fan of exercise just for exercise's sake, so I try to make my hobbies reflect the exercise I need. I love mountain biking or belly dance or cardio, and hobbies like aerial and rock climbing are great for lifting substitutes. I still find I need to do squats and such for my lower half, but from aerial my upper body and core are really well defined. And I haven't done a lat pull-down in years!
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    I hate traditional cardio so I don't do it.

    It's logical. If you've given it a fair chance and you really don't enjoy it, forcing yourself to do it is hardly likely to improve your mindset toward it.

    Swimming is a fantastic crossover of cardio and resistance so keep up with it and you don't really need to lift weights. I found lifting has made me much faster in the pool myself, though. If you want some more resistance, put on some hand paddles and fins. It's all good.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Normally I advocate doing exercise you like because the probability of long term adherence is higher and you shouldn't be doing something that makes you miserable. But then you said you hate sweating and putting in work and DOMS. You lost me.
  • _SusieQ_
    _SusieQ_ Posts: 2,964 Member
    Lifting isn't the be all, end all to fitness. It has MANY benefits obviously, but if you don't like it, you won't stick with it and it won't help anyway.
    If you have found something you like, then do that and don't worry about it.
  • Farburnfred
    Farburnfred Posts: 333 Member
    I do sweat in the pool, I feel the prickle when it starts. I just don't have to deal with it!

    I walk too, so thats good for the bones stuff
  • _DaniD_
    _DaniD_ Posts: 2,186 Member
    Oh. Okay.
  • yummy_
    yummy_ Posts: 248 Member
    Congratulations!
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    I love what it is doing for my body.
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
    awesome!! swimming is great did wonders for phelps!!:)

    More like Phelps did wonders for swimming.
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member


    It may be that I am doing my body a dis service, and I feel bad about it, but the best way to keep active is doing something you love and can carry on doing

    ^this.

    People get so friggin dogmatic in their thinking- both Pro and Anti lifting (I personally get irked more by anti-lifting stuff especially if they talk about women because I avoided lifting so long as a woman because I believed all the hype).....

    The key to success is to ENJOY LIFE. Most of my weight was lost just enjoying life. Riding bikes....with my friends in the sun. Surfing. Rock climbing. Dancing. Hiking. Dancing while I cleaned the house. Gardening. Doing things that made me feel alive.

    If you are doing some exercise that you aren't enjoying, it's not sustainable.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    Okay. It's good that you found something you like to do, but why start a thread with a negative comment about something you don't like? Simply promote swimming.

    Things I do:

    Lift weights
    Do bodyweight exercises,
    Run 5-10km (not so much right now because of a knee injury)
    Run interval sprints
    Jump Rope
    Swim
    Hike/walk

    For me those work though I'm always thinking of other things to add to the cardio side to keep things fun. Again, I'm glad you found something you enjoy.
  • dcr5452WECHANGED
    dcr5452WECHANGED Posts: 121 Member
    I'm not really into lifting either but I do it anyway because it works the parts of my body that cardio doesnt. I like cardio much better because I enjoy a thorough sweat. I always say it beats a cup of coffee for waking up in the morning.

    I also swim but get bored with it pretty quickly. If you really hate it (lifting), try to find something else that will accomplish the same result. I might not enjoy torturing my core for 15 minutes but it feels great the next day. The muscle aches I get from cardio dont feel quite as good the next day. I know this might not be too helpful but I do know where you're coming from-except for the sweating part. I love a good sweat.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    I'm the exact opposite - I love lifting, hate cardio. I'm currently training for a triathlon, don't know why I signed up for it because I hate every minute of running, swimming, and biking I'm doing (okay swimming not so much - it's kind of fun and I used to be on swim team). After I'm done training I'm probably going to do almost no cardio and mainly strength train, which is what I used to do and saw great results.

    If you don't like it, you don't have to do it. I do believe strength training is very important, but at least swimming uses a lot of your muscles. Maybe instead of lifting in the gym, look into some strength DVDs like the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution ('m doing it right now and I love it). It's more of circuit training and it goes by really fast.
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
    I know a lot of people who swim, and they sweat, you just don't feel it because you're already wet.

    Your profile says you enjoy Pilates. Isn't that, technically, a form of bodyweight-resistance work? (I actually know nothing about Pilates so I'm asking a serious question) Pushups, planks, squats, and lunges are all technically "lifting"--you're just lifting your body weight instead of a barbell or dumbbell.

    I love lifting and I know it's good for me, so it's part of my workout routines. (I also run half marathons so clearly sweating is not a concern lol) If you really hate lifting, don't do it, but keep in mind that strength training of some sort will support bone health and can help to prevent issues like osteoporosis as you age. And it will help with things like flabby underarms and all those lovely things we women start to see as we age.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    Yes, that's what fitness is all about ... being comfortable and doing only what we like.

    Look, I don't like sweating either. I like cranking the A/C down to about 60 and chilling out and watching movies all day. But that ain't gonna make the magic happen with this body (especially considering my refusal to stop eating steak, cheese, chocolate, and peanut butter). It's not going to allow me to admire my *kitten* in every mirror I walk past. So I do what I have to do. I lift heavy weights.

    I hate any and all forms of cardio, but I still do it (HIIT barbell & kettlebell complexes) because it's good for my heart to get it beating out of its comfort zone.

    I think it's time we all got over the idea that everything we do is supposed to be a fun time.
  • IronPlayground
    IronPlayground Posts: 1,594 Member
    I do sweat in the pool, I feel the prickle when it starts. I just don't have to deal with it!

    I walk too, so thats good for the bones stuff

    I think it's important for everyone to find some form of exercise they enjoy. The probability for success increases exponentially. Good for you for finding what you enjoy.

    Oh... And, good luck with your "bones stuff". :noway:
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
    I do sweat in the pool, I feel the prickle when it starts. I just don't have to deal with it!

    I walk too, so thats good for the bones stuff

    I think it's important for everyone to find some form of exercise they enjoy. The probability for success increases exponentially. Good for you for finding what you enjoy.

    Oh... And, good luck with your "bones stuff". :noway:

    Yeaaaaaahhhh, about that....
  • airen123
    airen123 Posts: 149
    I love to sweat, it feels like the "bad" is leaving my body. I like lifting, and I like how it's shaping my body.

    If you hate lifting, that's fine. Of course you should do what you love.

    I hate running, but I love Zumba, so that's how I replaced that cardio. Maybe there's a way you can add resistance training in your swim routines?
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    Maybe I'm the weird one but I love DOMS. When I get sore, I spend all day poking at the sore muscle, just kind of enjoying the ache. I cant stand cardio; painful, wheezing, side stitches, lung pain .. but it works, so I do my 2-3 mile run 3x a week. But I'd rather lift 6 days a week.

    Maybe it sucks, but I think having a multi-pronged approach to exercise is going to do far more than just slim you down. Cardio, strength, and functional (agility, compound movements, that kind of thing) will give you the best over all health, athleticism AND looks
  • weinbagel
    weinbagel Posts: 337 Member
    I love swimming, too. Mix it up! Maybe lift once a week?

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