What made you fall in love with lifting?

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  • shar140
    shar140 Posts: 1,158 Member
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    Seeing muscle definition made me like lifting.
    Staying the same weight or gaining weight but fitting into smaller clothes made me like lifting.
    Everyday tasks becoming easier because I lift weights.
    Improved my running.
    Less jiggle.
    Feeling like a bada$$

    This!

    Having no issue lifting the 5 gallon water jug up onto the cooler, after carrying it TO the water cooler. ;)
    How awesome it feels when you do your first pull-up!
    Getting random compliments, like about my bubble butt! (which used to be more, well, flat, LOL), or what do I do to get these shoulders
    My clothes getting looser
    Less lower back pain, as long as I keep my back strong
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Make goals. Meet goals. Make new goals. A large amount of the fun is in the progression that you make. Setting new records makes you feel like the baddest person on the planet.
  • teresand77
    teresand77 Posts: 34 Member
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    I really like being strong just like everyone said and I love the way my body is compact and much smaller when I'm lifting regularly. If you plan on having kids (or have kids or even dogs!) it is so nice to be able to play at the playground with them without getting tired. I can lift up my 30 lb 2.5 year old as many times as he wants me to to hang on the bars. I also can haul his huge La-Z Boy looking carseat on the airplane with him in it. I am 36 and I basically feel unstoppable and want to feel like this way for many, many more years!
  • ShibaEars
    ShibaEars Posts: 3,928 Member
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    I love lifting because of how badass it makes me feel!

    For example, I love going to a store and having a heavy bag and them being like "do you need a hand with that?" And I look at them and I'm like "bi*** please". Maybe it's because I'm short and have a bit of a chip on my shoulder haha, but I HATE people looking at me and assuming I'm weak.

    There's all the heatlh benefits like gaining muscle and yada yada yada, but mostly it's the badassery :laugh:
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    Results. Seeing my body change and improve. Having a firm back, arms and less flab.

    Wearing a skirt today and asking myself..."Are those MY legs"??

    Seeing my bar at the gym with the same weight on it as the guy next to me and moving the weight up after other's have been using something (Lat pulldown, leg extension)!
  • JohnMatrix
    JohnMatrix Posts: 59
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    Sschwarzenegger. As a kid growing up in the 70's I was completely in awe at the sheer size and power such a physique could bring. Then I realized it was the best way to control my weight..........and my temper. Now it's something I need just to sleep at night. Few days rest is great, but after 4 days I start to feel physically sick and start having a hard time sleeping at night.
  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
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    I'm in year 2 of lifting and I don't love it while I'm doing it. It's hard work, tiring, it hurts (not like bad-hurt but I-can't-barely-get-this-last-rep-in hurt), and I look like a crazy woman doing it. It's a chore to get to the gym, and a chore to get through the workout.

    I do love how I look and feel every other waking moment due to lifting. And since I spend roughly 47 times more of my life not lifting than lifting, I suck it up and do it.

    This is me.

    Except I'm a man.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Sschwarzenegger. As a kid growing up in the 70's I was completely in awe at the sheer size and power such a physique could bring. Then I realized it was the best way to control my weight..........and my temper. Now it's something I need just to sleep at night. Few days rest is great, but after 4 days I start to feel physically sick and start having a hard time sleeping at night.

    have you ever read his books? I hear they are amazing- just reading summary's of them inspire me- he's really made something of himself. It's incredibly how far he has come.


    Also- random note- I love watching DLB train. Motivates me EVERY time. I LOVE her so much- I want to marry her- except- that would be weird- because that would make me a narcissist since we kind of look alike.

    still.
    mad love. she's awesome.
  • BikerGirlElaine
    BikerGirlElaine Posts: 1,631 Member
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    I like that it's a much shorter little chunk of time. A set is a very short time to focus on. The focus is intense, but it's short.

    LOL- my lifting sessions are way longer than my running sessions- I wish I could go back to that. le-sigh

    No, I meant just a set. You only have to hold the focus for 5 or 8 reps.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I like that it's a much shorter little chunk of time. A set is a very short time to focus on. The focus is intense, but it's short.

    LOL- my lifting sessions are way longer than my running sessions- I wish I could go back to that. le-sigh

    No, I meant just a set. You only have to hold the focus for 5 or 8 reps.

    OH...valid- YES totally
    yeah- I have been doing a lot of single rep sets- so I don't even have to pay attention for 5- takes me longer to prepare than actually life. I get annoyed with anything over 10- I lose my breath and start complaining that I'm doing too much cardio.

    :laugh:
  • KCoolBeanz
    KCoolBeanz Posts: 813 Member
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    What it's done to my body.

    It's the best antidepressant on the planet.

    Because I love to emasculate the douche-bros at the gym.

    Consistently being able to overcome something that you couldn't (last week, last month, last year) is so addictive.

    Because it makes me feel like a f*cking unstoppable force.
  • lisalsd1
    lisalsd1 Posts: 1,521 Member
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    My husband showed me how to use all of the machines. We usually lift weights "together" (really meaning at the same time, but doing our own thing) one day a week. It's now kind of like a hobby for us now. And since I have shown more of an interest in what he has been doing, he likes helping me more. I'm more motivated, b/c he kind of holds me accountable.

    I also have a pair of pants that I wore before I started lifting; they are def too big now. I like to try them on and feel how roomy they have become. I don't SEE a huge difference when I look in the mirror, but I definitely FEEL a difference in the jeans.

    I like that it breaks up some of the boredom of cardio. I didn't realize that cardio was boring until I started using the weights/machines.
  • n_unocero
    n_unocero Posts: 445 Member
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    I love upper body days cause of the way I look while lifting....LIKE A BEAST!! (ok maybe not)

    I love leg day because....ok no one loves leg day.....but I like it because it's such a good burn. it feels like cardio and lifting at the same time. it gets my heart rate up AND makes my legs feel like jello.

    I love leg day- so much so I have 3 of them.

    I hate bench- benching sucks. I have evidence of me deadlifting on bench day.

    seriously- scouts honor.

    I love leg day until it's time to actually do leg day...then I hate life. lol. I just like upper body cause i can wear cut-off t-shirts and actually see my muscles. my legs are always covered by pants so it's not as fun to watch myself on leg day.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    Realizing that I didn't HAVE to be the scrawny girl who could barely pick up a backpack. Feeling strong as a girl who had dealt with anorexia for years was a feeling I can't really put words to. Not needing to wait for someone else to help me lift things, get things, open a jar, etc... Realizing I could depend on MYSELF to do things that required strength, both small and great, was life-changing. It's shifted my goals from wanting to be the 95 lb weak girl to being able to be the amateur person at Highland Games (not that I've done that, but I WANT to be able to do that).

    Falling out of clothing I fit in 20 lbs lighter also helps.

    And like others have said... sometimes I don't love lifting. Sometimes I get a bit of malaise, and drop it down a bit, before going back, or just dread doing it... but generally, the fact that it's helped me conquer so many fears about calories I had with my ED (wait, you mean I can eat MORE doing this? And not get "fat"?!), I always make sure to be patient when my passion ebbs. Because it comes right back.
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    I have been going to the gym 5 or 6 mornings a week for about 8 months and have lifted weights intermittently and not enough to really see any results that I can firmly thank lifting for.

    OP, remember that you can't fall in love with something or someone if it isn't working.

    If you've been lifting for 8 months and had no results, then you are doing something wrong, and that's why you haven't fallen in love with it. Just like a relationship fails when 1 side is the problem or when both sides are the problem.

    Either:
    You aren't following a program
    The program you are following sucks
    and/or
    Your diet is messed up.

    Fix it and then you might fall in love.
  • jessspurr
    jessspurr Posts: 258 Member
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    OP, sorry to hear that you haven't truly seen the benefits from lifting. I love it for most of the reasons that other people love it, I love feeling bad *kitten* when I break my own records for weight and when I discover new muscles when I look in the mirror.

    The only reason I haven't really seen the benefits from lifting is because I haven't been doing it consistently enough- I have no doubt that if I got into a routine I would be able to see them.
  • HealthyBodySickMind
    HealthyBodySickMind Posts: 1,207 Member
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    I am the opposite. I only do cardio because i should. However, when i first walked into the gym and saw how beautiful those bodies looked with muscle definition i wanted in. I fell in love with seeing how hard i can push my body out of its comfort zone.

    It has changed me so much inside and out and it is like a therapy to me. If im having a bad day i can go workout and not think about it....you cant do both....

    I am in this camp, too. I know I should do more cardio than I do, but I really enjoy lifting.

    I think what I like most is seeing the amounts of weight I can lift go up.

    <<<ETA, obviously, I'm not upping any 1RM's right now, but I can't wait to get back to it in another several months.
  • jessspurr
    jessspurr Posts: 258 Member
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    I like that it's a much shorter little chunk of time. A set is a very short time to focus on. The focus is intense, but it's short.

    LOL- my lifting sessions are way longer than my running sessions- I wish I could go back to that. le-sigh

    No, I meant just a set. You only have to hold the focus for 5 or 8 reps.

    I got it. That's exactly right. You know when you are in the middle of a set that the pain is going to subside in a few more seconds.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    In to read the responses later. I, too, have tried unsuccessfully to enjoy lifting. The results are nice, but they've not been enough to keep me doing it consistently.
  • jessspurr
    jessspurr Posts: 258 Member
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    Plus, I LOVE the fact that my stomach started to growl more after I started weight lifting so I know that my metabolism is going crazy!!! It's like a weight lifting party in my body!!

    I have experienced this. And increased hunger throughout the day as a reminder that your body is continuing to burn calories. Good stuff.

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