I’ve never used free weights - just never appealed to me. For a while, I’d use various machines in the gym - does that count?
In any case, I’d rather take a brisk walk than mess with weight training. My weight-lifting now mostly involves a toddler.
If that’s your spotter, you’re not lifting enough.
:flees:
Because I get my exercise on a mountain bike.
THANK YOU!
Good point. Both points - she’s just 30#…
Because I don’t want to.
I have a mini farm with horses, goats, cats, dogs for which I do all the care. That means 60+ lb hay bales, 50 lb bags of feed, full wheelbarrows and muck tubs, hooking up the bush hog mower, working all the machinery, sweeping, raking, etc. I also ride and that IS exercise and a helluva lot harder than it looks.
My job also entails a lot of lugging of boxes, climbing ladders with boxes, bending, squatting, moving all day.
Could I improve overall fitness with a regime of weightlifting? Yep, probably. Do I want to? Nope. BTDT, not my thing. (I did a serious bootcamp class 4-5 mornings a week for 4 years. I’m over it.)
My experience with the gym is negative. I had never lifted weights before, and I wanted to learn the core lifts, such as deadlifts and bench presses. A newbie really should not be doing bench presses without help.
The gym itself is cheap. The trainer is not. The trainer did not want to teach me the core lifts, but his own program, which would take longer. So when I go to the gym I’m stuck using machines. I wish I was friends with a gym goer, as maybe they would teach me the lifts.
Also, for the lift of me, I could not find out how much weight I should start with. A few places said “start with 135 pounds” for some types of lifts, which is a great way to go to the hospital or suffer damage to the ego.
I go out of my way to use a fairly heavy fork, I count that as weight lifting.
Was the trainer employed by the gym or was it a private hire? In either case, that was no real trainer. A real trainer would know the value of learning the basic lifts and would not insist their program is the only program. No program is “one size fits all”.
Starting weight is a weight you can lift easily with proper form. Learning form is the most critical first step, weight comes after form.
This will sound odd but you might try a strength training/strongman/powerlifting gym. They would be more likely to be accommodating of a newb(though the “culture” of a specific gym will matter, some are too hardcore for their own good) or could recommend a place.
He worked for the gym.
I didn’t know such places existed. I will have to look up such a place on Google.
Like!
+1
QFT
Exactly the type of response I was going to give. This is like the “why don’t you love economics” thread.
Good reason to avoid him. My old gym had those and they were the same kind of clown you had to deal with. I suspect they don’t have any real training credentials.
I think weightlifting is kinda all or nothing.
Meaning: yes there are some benefits to going rarely, but probably not noticeable differences, so you won’t get the compliments or see the gains that might motivate you to go back again and again.
Right now I have a physique I’m trying to maintain, so I’m going regularly. But if I was just trying to be overall fit, I’d drop it entirely in favor of more fun stuff
I have reasons why I don’t engage in some hobbies. Of course, it’s not a complete list. Not all hobbies are as polarizing, bring benefits, and have as many valid reasons to be disliked. I’m curious as to why people may dislike this one. I’m not judging anyone by the hobbies they enjoy.
Using machines absolutely counts.
Like hell I’m going to a gym right now. And my home is small.
But I do like it over other forms of exercise for the sake of exercise. Mostly because I can wear myself out quickly without running, which I dislike.
One factor is that weightlifting has more immediate benefits when you are younger. The muscle packs on quicker and bulkier, and recovery time is shorter. And there is also the social recognition factor that decreases as you get older. When you’re young and dating, having impressive muscles can be a big advantage. But when you get older and your life is more about job and family life, not as many people care if you have impressive muscles or not. Sure they may still admire the muscles, but it’s not as socially impressive as it is to younger people. When you’re middle aged and barely have any free time as it is, spending hours on weightlifting isn’t really worth it. It’s a lot more practical to do some kind of 30-60 minute aerobic+strength workout.
I use a 10 lb weight bar and dumb bells (4 and 8 lbs). I also use resistance bands.
My main focus is strengthening my shoulders. It can help protect from rotor cuff tears and other injuries. My physical therapist gave me a list of exercises to do.
I gave up heavy weights a long time ago. I much rather get exercise hiking and riding bikes.
It is. There are condescending people in many hobbies and weightlifting in particular. But that wasn’t what I was trying to do. I didn’t use that phrase.
I like weightlifting. There are still many times in my life where I gave it up for several months or don’t feel motivated to do it on a given day.
There are lots of people who tried it for a while and stopped doing it. There are lots of reasons why. Most of us had plenty of negative experiences at the gym. I wanted to hear about people’s experiences.
Nor is lifting weights morally superior to any form of resistance training including bands or body weight exercises. Or other exercise you might enjoy (or not).
Jeez, I don’t even have reasons for all the hobbies I do engage in, definitely don’t have the time or inclination to explain the ones I don’t.