[Deadlift]

Too many reasons to list them all, but one main one as others have mentioned is so when I'm an old man I can still do physical activities. Lifting weights is the closest thing to anti-aging treatment that most of us will have access to.

[thoughtgypsy]

Why do I lift.

A good question.

Life is comfortable. There is no good reason to lift heavy weights when all is already provided for.

I remember when I first went skydiving, a common joke was "why jump out of a perfectly good plane?"

The question is just as valid today as it was back then. And I expect, many years from now.

Perhaps it's become a habit, but I think lifting has become much more than that in my life. Not only has it been a humbling experience, it's been an outlet to test my ability to overcome my own limitations and push against the laws of nature. Where else can one challenge the forces of gravity itself and walk away humbled and reverent? I will continue to walk towards the bar, not as a conqueror, but as a disciple.

[Sidney Crosby]

I lift because I want to get more respect than an average person would and to bang hotter girls.

[britabroad]

Confidence
Aesthetics
Endorphins
Meditation

[rhodey]

Lifting for me is like leveling up in a video game. Only difference is the benefits are real instead of imagined.

[ElJefe1]

To quote Lester Burhnam from American Beauty "I just want to look good naked...."

[Gentleman Josiah Crown]

There's a company called Ranger up (military vet stuff) they make a t-shirt that says something along the lines of "train to be the hardest person anyone has ever tried to kill." that's my why. I want a family someday. And I want to be secure in my ability to protect them. Also, I want to be a role model for my younger brothers. Being a fatass and telling my younger sibling he "really ought to lift more" simply won't do.

[Rico Ramon]

Because if you do it right, you get a rush every time and your body feels good. It affects your outlook on life, you look better in clothes and when you have sex, you have sex with your whole body, not just your cock.

Plus, it's something primal with women no matter what some say, when they see a muscular or in-shape guy get on the train or walk in the room, they notice and study you and probably compare you to what they may have waiting at home for them. Not saying they are going to cheat just because they see a muscular guy, but women fantasize about strong men.

[spydersuit]

(02-27-2014 07:22 PM)runsonmagic Wrote:  

I was listening to some personal development stuff today and they said often you don't hit your goals because you aren't clear on your "why."

I've been futzing around with my fitness goals recently, and I realized the reason I never quite seemed to hit them was I wasn't clear enough on the why.

Working out feels good. I am happier and feel better when I workout. But goals around "getting big" or under 10% body fat haven't clicked yet because I don't have a good enough why. I'm comfortable and able to get laid at my current state so why push it the lizard brain says. After all, I live in the 21st century, when this isn't a survival need.

I realize this applies to many goals, and areas where I'm trying to move from "good" to great. I'm curious what why others use for their lifting why, and how you shift your mind from "good enough" to pursuing excellence.

Not in any particular order:

- because I was an infantryman
- I like to choke out idiots
- I like to be able to defend myself against multiple attackers
- being fit increases survival after receiving severe wounds
- being fit reduces the negative effects of mental stress
- I am vein and I like to look good
- It makes getting laid much easier
- fat people are disgusting
- I like to set an example for my fellow man
- I want to be able to help others in the event of an emergency

I look around the gym at the undisciplined douchebag bros chatting with each other instead of lifting and become instantly motivated to push myself to the next level.

Pain is temporary, discipline is forever.

[Laurifer]

I took a weightlifting class as a fat high school freshman a decade ago and saw my body transform in a matter of months - lost nearly 30 lbs.

I'm in my mid-twenties now and have been at it ever since (at various levels of intensity).

If I go a length of time without being in the gym the urge gets too great and I need to lift.

I've come too far now to stop.

[d_hzy]

Nothing feels better than a 10 min plank session after some heavy squat sets.

1. Confidence boost. It feels good to throw away that tee that no longer fits because your shoulder gets wider.
2. To be a better basketball/rugby player. your weight/strength plays an important role of how you perform. When you are a better player on the court/field, that's another confidence boost.

[fortysix]

I have an office job and sit on my ass all day.

I look at older partners at my firm - I've talked to them about fitness, and some of them told me they used to jog when they were younger, but had to give it up with age. They never lifted. They don't look good.

I want to look good and feel good as I age.

I don't want to become complacent.

Gym is also a social avenue for me - I either roll with friends or try to talk to people there.

I want to build up endurance that carries over to my work.

Its an additional way that you can control your destiny by making yourself look better, healthier.

[ShotgunUppercuts]

Short list of why I lift


I want to look like a super sayin

My brother will think twice before stealing from me again knowing I can put him through a fucking wall

To make physical work easier

I don't want to be fat

To release my anger instead of doing something stupid

[Ivanis]

Funny, I recently pondered this myself.

As a bit of a backstory, I was fat as a child, I am still overweight but I have lost over 50lbs in the year I have been dieting. I starting lifting to up my kcal/per day to help with fat loss, then it started to become for girls, I would think that I was the shit benching a PR or deadlifting over my bodyweight, I soon realized how stupid ego lifting was and just started a normal routine.


It was a competition between me and the weight; when I first started lifting it used to be “I need to lift this weight to lose fat.” I didn’t have any idea how good weight lifting is for mindset, it was solely for losing weight at this point. Nothing else.


After the first couple months it became “I need to lift this weight because I want to.” This is when I started enjoying and looking forward to lifting. It’s something that was and is done for me, and only for me.


What’s weird is that recently, it has become “I need to lift this weight because I won’t allow this weight to sit on the ground. I as a man will use my strength to move this weight if it is the last fucking thing I do.” It has almost become a personal thing, thinking to myself that this inanimate object will submit to me. I leave no room fail a lift. I will lock out that deadlift, I won’t bail out of that squat. I will not allow it, I am stronger, I will persist more, I will overcome gravity, and I don’t care if anyone says different because I know that I won’t stop until that fucking weight is racked.



I guess this has become a bit philosophical for an explanation of why I lift but this is the most compact answer I can come up with. Being introduced to Neomasculinity and RVF has had an impact on my lifting and personality as a whole. I find myself just not giving a fuck anymore about what people around me think. I do what I want and when I want. This I think adds to the aspect of failing a lift. Women can reject me, my family cannot support me, and that is all fine. They have free will, which is their gift, being born a human. But when I can’t lift the weight, it is like the bar is laughing at me, and that gets me mad. I often find myself thinking while in the gym “you are going to let this bar dictate your lift?” meaning that if the bar stays on the ground it isn’t kneeling to me, I am kneeling to it. Personification to the max, I know, but it is a good motivator. It is very powerful taking something personally, thinking that the bar isn’t ALLOWING you to lift it. Don’t blame your muscles, get mad at the bar, directing anger properly is an amazing asset. Since this started happening I have noticed that my lifts are getting better. It is very odd…

[joecolombia]

lifting is relaxing for me. Plus, I love to see results and improving my weights. I am one of the strongest guys at my gym so i also enjoy the looks from people when i start lifting heavy. I am 75kg so its awesome to lift as much or way more than a 100kg guy.

[Mister Fingers]

Maybe my 'why' is vague, but I got committed to lifting because I didn't want to be a weak piece of shit for the rest of my life.

For most of my youth I was skinny as hell. I graduated high school no more than 125 pounds soaking wet. I got sick of people commenting on how tiny I was. I could run all day long but struggled to bench press 150 lbs one time. Even today, I don't get results as quick as other people but barring some kind of injury, you'll never see me at the gym less than 3 times a week.

I've lifted so no matter what people think of me, they'll never see me as frail or skinny. Fuck that shit, I'll let people think I'm a jerk so long as I'm physically fit.

[sterling_archer]

I was pretty much fat as a child and in my opinion worst kind, a "skinny fat", so thin arms and big hips, belly, thick legs; a inverted triangle body shape.
I lost 16 kg of fat recently and decided I need some serious muscle mass. I still have little bit of stomach fat but there is no point in shredding it completely now as that would make me under 60 kg.

So I am currently on bulking phase, slowly gaining muscle mass and very little to no fat; I plan on shredding rest of the fat when I gain at least 5 kg of muscle mass.

[Plus Oultre]

Why? Because it enhances my life muti-dimensionally.

[DamnShame]

Because nothing beats the feeling of looking like a stick thin nobody, only to take your shirt off and have girls fawning over you..

"wooooooow, you've muscles?"
"whoa where did THOSE come from?"
"omg you work out?!"
"dude... you're freaking RIPPED!"

At least, all that^ is why I started lifting.

These days, it's to keep the anxiety/stress of daily life from frying my circuits. NOTHING relives that god damn stress like going in and hitting the weights hard. Plus, it really keeps the aches and pains of aging at bay.

[anonymousspam]

3 Reasons

1 Is to keep healthy especially during the winter.

2 Is because i enjoy it.

3 Is because i enjoy the high afterward.

[Corollary]

I had a strong why when I started lifting years ago: to gain more control over my life. I felt I was drifting along in life, and lifting seemed like a good first step to take control.

Now after training for so long, it's hard for me to motivate myself to deal with the pain of chasing more gains. I can maintain my progress out of habit alone, but anything more than takes desire I'm having trouble finding.

[alexdagr81]

I just want to be strong.

[vonSudeten]

To scare off packs of gypsies

[needhelp]

To get hotter girls
It feels good
It raises testosterone
It helps increase your ability to survive (avoid fights, helps add power to punches, enhanced ability to withstand pain)

[Anarchist101]

I have successfully made lifting a habit. I used to lift very hard, and my schedule became erratic and I always went through a cycle of "lift hard, overtrain, lose interest, stop going, lift hard..."

This time around it is different. I have been able to go to the gym, on a regular basis for 6 months now. Generally I only go 2-3 days a week. Thus I do full body workouts, concentrating on complex moves, where my out-of-shape body will let me. I also changed my diet for this.

With those two things I have seen a great success. I lost 26 lbs in 4 months and gained about a quarter-inch of muscle. Nothing great on the muscle front, just enough to catch my eye in the mirror and say "huh..."

So why do I lift?

I lift because since I changed my diet, I don't want to lose muscle mass while I am losing weight. I changed the way I eat, and developed new habits. I don't like the idea of "going on a Diet". I will continue eating the way I eat.

I lift because I get a noticeable confidence boost, when combined with riding my motorcycle, and changing my wardrobe (nothing fits anymore!). This is necessary for dealing with my Approach Anxiety.

I lift because I simply want to be stronger. I used to try to workout like I wanted 20lbs of muscle that week. I don't do that anymore. My old goal was simply not to lose mass while my body adjusts to my indirect calorie deficit, however seeing the increases in weights I lift, and the noticeable muscle under my skin now, makes me look forward to taking it a step further. A bit addicting.