# Why don’t you lift weights? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** diet-weight-loss\ **Created:** [August 15, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144 "2020-08-15T01:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/121 "2022-02-05T17:16:40Z")
I’m not a fan of electric bikes. What’s the point of cycling if you aren’t getting much exercise? I guess it’s better than sitting at home. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/122 "2022-02-05T17:30:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m not a fan of electric bikes. What’s the point of cycling if you aren’t getting much exercise? I guess it’s better than sitting at home. - Easier than actually cycling, don’t require a DL like a moped (may vary by state). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/123 "2022-02-05T17:38:41Z")
My friends who have them CLAIM they only use the electric boost on steep hills… I’m not that disciplined, I’d cheat. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/124 "2022-02-08T17:20:48Z")
I don’t lift weights as frequently as I should, mostly because I find it boring as hell compared to running & walking. I did start a spinning/weights/yoga class with a few of my friends, which makes it more bearable, so I do actually lift a bit now, but if I don’t have an instructor I find it hard to keep my focus. I also see more immediate results with running in terms of pain management (I believe I have the start of arthritis in my knees and hips and high-impact aerobic exercise seems more effective for me in eliminating pain than weight lifting). I didn’t realize that electric bikes were used as anything other than mopeds! I’ve seen them around the neighborhood a couple of times but assumed that they were just skinnied down motorbikes. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/125 "2022-02-08T17:54:03Z")
This is mostly a myth. I mean, you can rely on the bike to do everything, but I guarantee you can get a killer workout with an e-bike. I now have one and I can go 22-25 miles in one hour (this includes hills). I am getting a workout and have the heart data to prove it. What the e-bike allows me to do is pick new routes I wouldn’t take on my road bike or mtn bike. And, cover more terrain faster. And, it’s a helluva lot of fun. Now to the OT: Pandemic forced me out of the gym which is where I did most of my weight training. However, before the pandemic, I had to slow it down due to a herniated disc in my neck. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to push as much weight so I’m looking at lighter weights and more reps. BTW: I’m early 50s. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/126 "2022-02-08T19:34:36Z")
I miss lifting. I used to do a lot of lifting. Not to get big just as exercise. Now my gym has all new awesome equipment and is getting more. I switched to swimming exclusively (where I used to lift and swim) because swimming gave me that one-shot cardio and resistance. Now I’m just a lazy goddamn slob who doesn’t swim anymore (the pool is always rented out to kids swim groups! GEEZ!) but I do tai chi 2-3 days a week, which keeps my core and legs strong. Balancing my whole beefy body on one leg over and over does a lot for leg strength. But my upper body is sad. It was sad before but now it’s super sad. I’m lazy. This is why I don’t lift weights. Anymore. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/127 "2022-02-09T00:43:40Z")
First let me be the braggy daddy. My eldest got into power lifting and fairly recently hit his personal bests of a 535 deadlift and 445 squat. 62 now and lift some but I see no need to build to personal bests at this point in my life. It was never my primary focus but in a previous house I had a nice rack and bench set up and was motivated by those personal bests whether it was lifting of doing a tri (which I don’t do anymore either). Past that. Moved to condo and sold off the bulk of the set except for the set of dumbells. Kept the rower and the elliptical, a balance disc, and got a pull up bar with rings from it, all squeezed into a tiny space. Now back in a house (decided condo living was not our style) and have a basement again, but no interest in replacing the rack. My boy can do the deadlifts and big lift squats. Still the rower, elliptical, balance disc, and dumbbells. (Ceiling low for the rings but maybe I’ll try some set up yet, just for dips and reverse rows.) On one past fitness thread here ([over 11 years ago looking it up!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-physical-fitness/553229/95)) I declared my fitness goal as follows: [quote] > [@Define physical fitness.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-physical-fitness/553229/95): > > I’ll speak only for myself. I am a 51 year old Jewish guy. My youngest is my 9 year old daughter. One of my fitness goals is that when she gets married in maybe 20 years, that I won’t only still be around to celebrate, but that she’ll feel confident in having me be one of the people lifting up her chair above our heads and dancing around, or maybe even her husband’s. If I am going to have enough strength and endurance to do that at 70 plus, then I’ve got to work on preserving or increasing it now. Moderate aerobic alone won’t be enough to have me be that obnoxious proud 70 year old father, embarrassing his daughter one more time. It still applies and that’s why my weights portion is focused on goblet squats lifting the dumbbell over my head, and squats holding dumbbells while on the balance disc! But clearly I’m no longer making major deposits into the fitness bank, I’m just delaying the bigger withdrawals. Of course who knows if I’ll ever have that wedding … ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/128 "2022-02-11T13:34:59Z")
This is one question that I definitely have a proper answer for: because I tried it and didn’t like it. Around 20 years ago I realized I needed to do something to keep fit so I got a gym membership and worked with a personal trainer to set up a workout program. I kept it at for two years, diligently doing my leg days and shoulder days and so on. The only part of the routine that I found enjoyable was the cardio part. I really enjoyed running. After two years I decided that weightlifting was tedious and boring, but no one can say I didn’t give it a fair shot. I kept running–I do thirty miles a week. The funny thing is, many people who do weightlifting find running to be tedious and boring. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/129 "2022-02-11T16:24:14Z")
Exercise is funny. You get the most benefit doing the things you are bad at. I like to sprint. After gaining muscle from weightlifting, running became a lot slower, and I was never a fast distance runner. Many weightlifters are bad at running. Some powerlifters become winded climbing a few flights of stairs. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/130 "2022-02-11T16:33:21Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I kept running–I do thirty miles a week. > The funny thing is, many people who do weightlifting find running to be tedious and boring. Yup, running is dull as ditchwater. I like to go to social dance events, because I get some cardio mixed with enough social time that it’s not hideously tedious. I just did some weight lifting with my personal trainer. Can’t say I love it, but it helps prevent a bunch of physical issues (no shoulder troubles at all since I started, for instance – and I started why my physical therapist said “go ye forth and do this on your own”) and it’s not horrible. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/131 "2022-02-11T16:46:02Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I like to go to social dance events, because I get some cardio mixed with enough social time that it’s not hideously tedious. We used to go to a once-a-month zydeco/Cajun dance. I loved it except for one thing. Anyone who wasn’t dancing was considered fair game to be asked to dance. If my gf went to the ladies room there was a woman who would _immediately_ ask me to dance. That was fine, but she had hyperhidrosis. After we danced I’d be soaked with her sweat. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/132 "2022-02-11T16:48:49Z")
I enjoy venues where everyone swaps partners at the end of each dance. Not that I enjoy every partner I get stuck with that way, but overall, I enjoy the variety and the socialization of dancing with a lot of different people. I usually dance either the first or last dance with my husband. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/133 "2022-02-11T22:05:30Z")
I don’t lift weights because I don’t see any need to. I’m mid fifties and I weigh within a couple of pounds of what I weighed in my twenties. I can’t think of a single time in my life that I’ve wished I was toting around another 50 pounds of muscle. I like to get my exercise doing things that I consider fun. I hike, bike, play softball, tennis, touch football, volleyball and 3 on 3 basketball. I also like gardening and have done quite a few landscaping jobs for friends or family. I probably shouldn’t say this, but for me the health benefits of exercise are secondary. The main reason I exercise as I do is for the fun. I suspect if what I do wasn’t fun, I would just be a couch potato. 😀 > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Exercise is funny. You get the most benefit doing the things you are bad at. I like to sprint. After gaining muscle from weightlifting, running became a lot slower, and I was never a fast distance runner. Many weightlifters are bad at running. Some powerlifters become winded climbing a few flights of stairs. I’ve found this true, and not only in running. It can also make a difference in hiking. It’s actually in a conversation about this that I first heard the “I only have to run faster than you” joke. > **Summary** > > Two men hiking come across a bear. The first man yells “Run!”. The second man says “You can’t run faster than the bear.” The first man says “I don’t have to, I only have to run faster than you.” ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/134 "2022-02-14T16:57:16Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I don’t lift weights because I don’t see any need to. I’m mid fifties and I weigh within a couple of pounds of what I weighed in my twenties. I can’t think of a single time in my life that I’ve wished I was toting around another 50 pounds of muscle. I’m skinny. I used to lift hard and I might’ve added 10 lbs of muscle (I doubt it was even that much). The thought of me adding 50 lbs would be impossible without some serious steroid regiments. At 52, I am 6’3" and 180 lbs (I’m in pretty good shape - I still hike, walk, and do a lot of road and mountain biking). When I was in super good shape and 30’s, I was 165 - 172. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/135 "2022-02-14T17:31:56Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > The thought of me adding 50 lbs would be impossible without some serious steroid regiments. Serious weightlifters are pretty well known for steroid and other substance use. You can still pack on quite a few pounds of muscle if you are the gym rat type that works out five or six days a week. > [@wguy123](#): > > At 52, I am 6’3" and 180 lbs (I’m in pretty good shape - I still hike, walk, and do a lot of road and mountain biking). When I was in super good shape and 30’s, I was 165 - 172. Sounds like you are in pretty good shape and fairly active, same as me. Which is why I see no need to do something I don’t like to do to add muscle that I have never had any need for. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/136 "2022-02-15T13:57:27Z")
I didn’t lift weights reliably for the first 50 years of my life. I did a lot of biking and hiking, and was always in excellent shape, but not strong. Occasionally, I’d go to a gym, or use some dumbbells at home, but I hated it. It’s terribly dull. I’d quit within a week. Then a friend told me about a simple lifting program that could be done in 10 minutes or less, 2 or 3 times/week. He also pointed out that as we age, we lose muscle mass and bone density. Lifting can reduce these losses. I tried it out. I found that if I didn’t dawdle, I could be in and out of the gym in 8 minutes. I still hate it, but I’ve been able to stick with it. I haven’t added noticeable muscle mass, but I never wanted to. I’m measurably stronger, I feel stronger, and I never get the backaches that used to disable me for several days. If you think lifting weights is a hobby, as some posters describe it, it’s not. It’s about preserving your body’s physical capabilities for as long as you can. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/137 "2022-02-15T15:56:36Z")
Yes! This is why I try to lift…just to preserve. I’m not out to muscle up, which is impossible for me to do anyway. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/138 "2022-02-16T05:34:50Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > If you think lifting weights is a hobby, as some posters describe it, it’s not. It’s about preserving your body’s physical capabilities for as long as you can. This is absolutely why i lift weights. I have zero interest in bulkier muscles. I’m not doing it for fun (although i don’t hate it). I’m doing it because I’ve reached the age where if you don’t use it you lose it. And I’d like to be able to carry packages, and not develop shoulder and back pain, and generally remain functional. And lifting weights regularly helps me maintain that. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/139 "2022-02-16T13:42:52Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > This is absolutely why i lift weights. I have zero interest in bulkier muscles. I’m not doing it for fun (although i don’t hate it). I’m doing it because I’ve reached the age where if you don’t use it you lose it. And I’d like to be able to carry packages, and not develop shoulder and back pain, and generally remain functional. And lifting weights regularly helps me maintain that. Mom, now 88, never exercised much, and never did any strength training. Now her bones are so fragile that her vertebrae are fracturing; 3 so far. It’s very painful, and it’s painful to see how debilitating it is. The only silver lining is that she inspires me to keep my core muscles strong. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144/140 "2022-02-20T00:48:16Z")
If you are in your mid-50s there’s zero chance you will have to tote around an additional 50 lbs of muscle just by lifting weights, unless you take PEDs AND eat a substantial caloric surplus. At best/most you would probably “recomp” so that you would be around the same weight but have a “better” body or gain a couple pounds of muscle. adding 50 bs of muscle is probably like a best case lifetime result for a super-responder with elite bodybuilding genetics. This is like when people (especially women) say they don’t want to lift because they don’t want to get bulky, and reminds me of an old episode of the Beverly Hillbillies. it doesn’t work that way. Not wanting to do it and being fine with your current body and health is more than fine though, don’t get me wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-you-lift-weights/918144.md?page=8)