What made you fall in love with lifting?

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.

I you Shelbs

Feeling like a boss when I get done with a session.

Doing things that I never thought I could do (or even thought I shouldn't do).

Achieving, after only 2 months of lifting, the changes in my body that I really wanted and didn't get with years of cardio.

Catching people scoping out my guns or being told that my legs are amazing, and knowing that it's all from lifting.

Knowing that I can take care of myself in this big bad world.

Looks like the most important points have already been covered. Weight training should always be a little bit of a struggle. If you do a lift at one weight and can handle it without any discomfort, you need to go heavier. 8-)

What hooked me first was vascularity. When I saw my first bicep vein, it was a big deal. Then you start seeing some definition. And if somebody (cute) thinks your chiseled calves/thighs/shoulders/abs/whatever looks sexy, well. You'll never go back.

- the awesomeness of adding more weight to each lift. It comes much slower for me now, but I'm still able to increase the weight by a good 5 lbs for chest and shoulders and 10 lbs for lower body (squats and deads) pretty much every 4 weeks or so. It's a huge sense of accomplishment.

- having a little bow in your barbell is pretty awesome

- Getting tight...when all I did was cardio and diet I was losing a lot of weight but was pretty flabby. I actually weight about 5 Lbs more now then when I hit my goal but I'm leaner and tighter.

I'd personally recommend doing an actual program that is progressive and structured. If you're just sorta willy nilly going in and doing some machines or whatever here and there, you're never going to get the results you're after. When you do an actual intelligent program, it will dictate what you're doing on any given day and whether you should be trying to do more than last time or de-load or whatever...it's all laid out for you and you get the results.



^^190 Lbs in January 2013...cardio and diet only



^^^ 183 Lbs...just a few Lbs shy of my goal. This is after about 3-4 months of lifting and following a progressive programming routine.



^^^@ 185/186 in November 2013...5-6 Lbs heavier than my initial goal but leaner and tighter. Roughly 10.5 months of following a progressive programming routine.

The barbell is mighty indeed...

You will never experience a runners high like you will from lifting- the chenical reaction just isn't there.

It's different.

It's a sense of power- and accomplishment. Not a high.

I walk out of my gym feeling like I'm a motherfncking god. I do not do that when I run. I feel good- but it's not the same.

When you start to get really heavy- if you are doing a real weight training progressive lifting program- you set goals and accomplish them it gains satisfaction.

All the sudden lifting triple digits isnt' scary- it's your warm up. All the sudden your PR is now your OWN body weight.
All the sudden the idea of lifting 300 some pounds off the floor doesn't' seem like an impossible feat for you.

These things make it satisfying. Keep at it- it gets better as you start gaining.

I've started lifting over 30 years ago. I loved it from the first drop of sweat & the first callus on my hands. I am a effing god as you mention before, during, & after I step into the gym. Its a amazing rush.

But in all respect, I have only been running for 10 months. Two months into my first steps, I ran two half marathons in two days. That is 26.2 miles in two days. A month later I ran my first 5K ever, taking 2nd place in my age group. Two months later I took first place after pulling my hamstring 5 days prior. Last month I ran over 175 miles after been being hit my a car on my bicycle and injuring my hip and wrists. By the end of this year, I will have ran 1200 miles. All while lifting heavy & all while dealing with a joint destroying disease that had me walking with a cane last Christmas Eve. When I finish each and every run, I am just as bad *kitten* as when I walk out of the weight room.

I may not get a "high" when I hit the weights, but I get every bit of a "sense of power- and accomplishment." when I run as well as lift.

I started out very underweight, sickly, weak, and terribly broken down. What weight training has done for my mental state is incomparable. I was falling over doing bodyweight lunges. I couldn't do a squat, even at 113 lbs (I'm 5'9"). But I also worked with trainers that were afraid of pushing me, and I was still too afraid to push myself. Add into that terrible anxiety issues and severe asthma, and I'm a bit of a mess.

It took two years of consistent work to get to the point where I felt confident enough to start pushing myself, but that's an internal issue. It took me another year of working with a REALLY good trainer to learn REAL form and weight work and start gaining in strength. But then, I started from 20 pounds underweight - and I think it's a little different...

Things went really really haywire last fall, and I lost all of my grounding. I started gaining stress weight really fast, and I couldn't find focus at all. I sat down with my trainer and talked to him about how to fix it and how to heal, and I also started reading and learning a lot more about fitness and diet and found MFP. So about a year ago, I recommitted, changed my goals, and started lifting progressively heavier. I have been in a deficit for most of the year since, so I haven't been building much muscle, but ZOMFG, what I have gained in strength and confidence and control.

Lifting helped me cope with a whirlpool of tragedy. It helped me find my center, myself. The aesthetic gains have been nice, but when you have zero self-esteem, it doesn't matter much. I keep lifting heavy 4x a week because I love what I can accomplish, both in the gym and out of it. I can manage my grief and my stress, knowing that none of that matters in the gym.

I see the strength gains every day in my life - just last week, I was able to walk into Target, pick up a great big 5-shelf bookshelf I've wanted for 6 years, but couldn't lift into my car or up the 2 flights of stairs into my house. I refused the help of the clerk and the gentleman in line behind me and it's now built out and bolted perfectly set in my living room. I was able to out-lift my 10 year younger, 100-pound heavier cousin at Thanksgiving. And I can do anything I want, all on my own.

I keep lifting because it has taught me to respect myself, something I didn't have for 37 years. I have confidence in myself that I have never had either. And, I hope that someday, it will start to grow into self-esteem... I have stopped hating myself for the most part in the past couple of months, so it's a start.

TL;DR - I lift much more for the mental health aspects than for the physical aspects, and that's completely fine with me. Like I said, the physical is a great bonus, but I've grown so much more mentally and emotionally, and that's what I needed.

I hate cardio! I would rather lift for an hour than do 15 minutes of the elliptical. I have a really strong lower body, so I love to see what my legs can do. I do work my upper body as well, and I love the days where I up my weights to see if I'm getting stronger. Unfortunetly my body needs cardio so I've reluctantly put my weights down and bought an elliptical for my house and spikes for my shoes so I can walk in the winter. It sucks, but it has to be done right?

Why put the weights down? Why not do both?

Because it makes me look awesome and makes me feel awesome. :smokin: