Weight Lifting Is Good for You (Yes, YOU!)

When the average person thinks of weight lifting, they usually see in their mind big, muscle-bound men stomping around grunting and screaming at each other.  But when I think of weight lifting, I see everyone: teenagers, grandparents, women, men, skinny, fat, muscular, lean.  Regular people like you.

There are way, way, way more reasons to get into weight lifting than just trying to get big muscles.  (You can also call it "weight training" or "resistance training" if it makes you feel better.)  

I lift weights because I really, really love to lift.  Weight training helped me get out of a years-long bout of severe depression; I've spoken to lots of other people who also see it as their anti-depressant.  When I leave the gym after a really good workout, there's a spring in my step that I can't get any other way.

And there are lots of reasons why it’s good for you, no matter what your age, or gender, or physical condition, that have nothing to do with growing your muscles.  Here are some ways my life got better when I took up weight training:

• It made me stronger.  Everything from lifting boxes onto high shelves to balancing on one foot to getting up off the toilet is easier when you are strong.  Being strong is safer, too.  You’re less likely to injure yourself while gardening or shopping at Costco when your muscles can manage what you want them to do.  You might be surprised at the difference in your life just a little more strength could make.
• It helped me lose a heck of a lot of fat.  When people think of exercising to lose fat, they usually think of endless hours walking or running on a treadmill, or bouncing around an aerobics room, or pedaling up Mount Everest on a bicycle.  But when I first started to lose fat, many of those things were torture for me.  What lean people don’t understand is how crappy it can feel just hefting your body through your day, and what do they suggest as a solution?  Hefting your body through even crappier crap.  “It’ll feel great!  Because endorphins!!”  Yeah, come here and let me strap 120 pounds to your back and let’s see you on that stair-climbing machine.  I could go on, and I’m sure at some point I will write a whole post about how in many cases weight training is a good way to burn calories, either by itself or paired with a bit of cardio.  But here’s my real point: lifting weights felt good to me from the start, and was not any harder for me as a fat beginner than it would have been if I were a skinny beginner.  And all of a sudden, I learned that I’m not such an athletic failure as I had thought all my life.
• It made me more aware of my body.  I’m much more aware of how to use my body more effectively since I started lifting.  The lessons I’ve learned about proper form in the weight room have also taught me how to mentally break down tasks and movements elsewhere that have some risk of injury and be more cautious to exert myself in ways that will not leave me moaning and groaning.  For example, when I need to lift that flat of bottled water at Costco, I know how to engage my abs, leg muscles, and upper back muscles to keep from obliterating my lower back.
• It gave me confidence in myself.  Knowing I can lift a 500-pound barbell off the floor is fun.  But remembering the many-year journey that began with only lifting the 45-pound bar by itself reminds me that I have tenacity and determination over the long haul when I begin to doubt myself outside of the gym.  And believe me, I am very good at doubting myself.
• It gives me a time each day to set aside the stressful crap.  I don’t know about you, but when I am stressed about something I often get into these death spirals of anxiety that can devour all my attention and happiness.  But when I am in the gym, it’s just me and the weights.  Because I need to focus on my form and count my reps and get everything just right, I don’t have room to worry about my job, or why I’m ticked at my dad, or the funny noise the dishwasher’s been making lately.  It’s just me and the weights.  And when I come out of the gym, I usually have a much calmer perspective and can realize that even if the dishwasher is broken, that may not signal the end of civilization as we know it.
• It gives me something to look forward to every day.  I get so excited about going to the gym, I get up at 4:30 a.m. so I can go before work.  If that seems crazy to you, let me put it this way.  When my alarm goes off, I’m not thinking miserable thoughts about going to work, I’m thinking happy thoughts about how it’s chest day today and I can’t wait to try out that new bench press variation I learned about on the internet over the weekend.  By the time I’m out of the gym and heading to work, I’m in a good mood and ready to face what’s coming.
• Folks with disabilities should consider the weight room their territory, too.  There's a guy I see regularly at my gym who gets around on a walker.  I haven't asked him about his condition--it's not really any of my business--but I love seeing him claiming his spot in the weight room and getting &#!? done.

In the end, what I most wish for everyone is that they find some form of exercise that they enjoy, whether it’s dancing, swimming, cycling, martial arts, racquetball, or whatever.  Searching for just the right form of exercise that will feel good for you might mean trying a lot of different things, but it can have enormous payoffs.  Don’t discount weights as an option!

If you’ve never tried weight training, but want to see if it might work for you, start with the weird-looking machines in the gym that have the seats and levers and stacked-up weights that you stick a pin into to select how much resistance you need.  They’re actually pretty easy to use, because they come with instructions so you don’t have to ask for help.  Though don’t be shy about asking for advice—most people feel flattered if you ask them how to use this or what’s that thingy for.  

And if you get as hooked as I did, maybe I’ll see you in the free weight room some day.  Nothing would make me happier!

Give something a try!
The Friendly Lifter



P.S.  I’d like to recommend the book Weight Training for Dummies as a really good, non-threatening resource to get you started if you’re like me and can’t do anything without researching it first.  I have one of the older editions, by Liz Neporent and Suzanne Schlosberg, and it was really helpful and comforting, but I’m sure one of the more recent editions would be great, too.  Also, I belong to two fantastic Facebook groups called “Gym Addicts” and "Dad Bod Transformation" that are very supportive of beginners. It’s a closed group to keep out the computers and the really mean folks, but any human who has any interest at all in exercise of any kind can join.