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The Zen of Weight Lifting

nytimes.com

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Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#31

Post by klenwell »

Brendinooo wrote: post #25

I've tried a few times to get into weightlifting. I can never stick with it, though. It's not necessarily a self-discipline thing, because I've run thousands of miles over the past decade. When you run, you get outside, you go somewhere, you see and feel different things. There's a race ecosystem that encourages you to get in when you can barely run a mile without stopping and allows you to push yourself as much as y…

I heard an interesting interview this weekend with a clinical psychologist and ultra runner who gets into some of the physiological effects of running:

Thompson says that running has worked as a powerful medicine for the mind, and that, much like the analyst’s couch, the running trail has become his therapeutic space, allowing his traumatic memories to be processed in a safer way. Ultra runners, he explains, experience physiological changes in the brain, entering trance-like states that alter perception and enhance free movement of thoughts and memories.

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/life-examined/jm-thompson...

Not a runner myself but found it pretty interesting. Goes a bit beyond the usual "runner's high" stuff. I imagine there are comparable effects across physical activities.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#32

Post by lghh »

I'd love to buy a squat rack and other lifting tools to keep at home. I don't live close to a gym but have enough space to lift what I'd like to in my garage. Though, I am worried about the potential for injury or getting myself in a lifting situation that I can't get out of where if I was at a gym someone would run over to help.

Is that a reasonable concern? Or am I overthinking it?

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#33

Post by silicon2401 »

Brendinooo wrote: post #25

I've tried a few times to get into weightlifting. I can never stick with it, though. It's not necessarily a self-discipline thing, because I've run thousands of miles over the past decade. When you run, you get outside, you go somewhere, you see and feel different things. There's a race ecosystem that encourages you to get in when you can barely run a mile without stopping and allows you to push yourself as much as y…

It's entirely subjective. I'm neutral about running outside, but I enjoy running on a treadmill because I can get into a kind of zen mode or watch something. Similarly, I love weight lifting because the experience of hard muscular exertion is intensely satisfying for me, and the overall lifting session gets me in a similarly zen mode.

> When you run, you get outside, you go somewhere, you see and feel different things.

I disagree. When I run outside, I see the same thing every time. Maybe if I lived in a wide open meadow or forest where I could take infinite paths it would be different, but in a suburb/city, it's just buildings and streets. Not that interesting to me.

> There's a race ecosystem that encourages you to get in when you can barely run a mile without stopping and allows you to push yourself as much as you want

I hate group sports. I don't want to see other people at all when I'm exercising, so this 'race ecosystem' has no value to me.

> if you pick the right spots it's safer.

I don't really understand your point here. Are you saying running is inherently safer than weight lifting? I would need to see some evidence. Safer than strongman or powerlifting, maybe. Safer than light-moderate lifting with proper form? I'd be skeptical of that claim.

> But the gym is the same sights, smells, and sounds over and over again

Again, I feel the same way about running outdoors. For me the differences from you seem to be (1) I don't need novelty, I exercise for the health and physical sensation of exercising itself. If I want novelty or new sights I'll watch a movie or take a trip somewhere. (2) I love the sensation of lifting itself, just like I also enjoy the sensation of running or biking.

Maybe find a way to focus on the exercise, not the environment. Or just watch videos or listen to music. There's no way around it, weight lifting is inherently repetitive

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#34

Post by Apocryphon »

gadders wrote: post #8
m463 wrote: post #3

I would like to know how to start strength training at home - to counteract sitting at a computer (strengthen the core, etc) and to trade some fat for muscle, becoming lean. any recommendations? EDIT: thank you for the overwhelming response

Read Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.

Never quite understood why r/fitness was so against it and StrongLifts:

https://thefitness.wiki/faq/starting-strength-and-stronglift...

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#35

Post by zzbzq »

Brendinooo wrote: post #25

I've tried a few times to get into weightlifting. I can never stick with it, though. It's not necessarily a self-discipline thing, because I've run thousands of miles over the past decade. When you run, you get outside, you go somewhere, you see and feel different things. There's a race ecosystem that encourages you to get in when you can barely run a mile without stopping and allows you to push yourself as much as y…

Game-ify it by tracking and focusing on progression, tracking your weight and reps for each move to increase your personal bests. Celebrate your new personal records to encourage better dopamine activation throughout the next training cycle.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#36

Post by emerged »

Brendinooo wrote: post #25

I've tried a few times to get into weightlifting. I can never stick with it, though. It's not necessarily a self-discipline thing, because I've run thousands of miles over the past decade. When you run, you get outside, you go somewhere, you see and feel different things. There's a race ecosystem that encourages you to get in when you can barely run a mile without stopping and allows you to push yourself as much as y…

I’ve always found lifting to be unbelievably boring. Contrasted with an obsession with cycling which has been maintained daily for many years.

I can’t seem to find any mentality which makes lifting enjoyable at all for me. Yet somehow sitting on a bike for hours at a time, even indoors, is great fun.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#37

Post by PaywallBuster »

lghh wrote: post #32

I'd love to buy a squat rack and other lifting tools to keep at home. I don't live close to a gym but have enough space to lift what I'd like to in my garage. Though, I am worried about the potential for injury or getting myself in a lifting situation that I can't get out of where if I was at a gym someone would run over to help. Is that a reasonable concern? Or am I overthinking it?

how much do you push yourself?

trying to beat PR or casually exercising?

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#38

Post by [deleted] »

m463 wrote: post #3

I would like to know how to start strength training at home - to counteract sitting at a computer (strengthen the core, etc) and to trade some fat for muscle, becoming lean. any recommendations? EDIT: thank you for the overwhelming response

[deleted]

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#39

Post by psyc »

Brendinooo wrote: post #25

I've tried a few times to get into weightlifting. I can never stick with it, though. It's not necessarily a self-discipline thing, because I've run thousands of miles over the past decade. When you run, you get outside, you go somewhere, you see and feel different things. There's a race ecosystem that encourages you to get in when you can barely run a mile without stopping and allows you to push yourself as much as y…

It’s an expensive solution (heck I can’t even afford it at the moment) but my solution for this was a personal trainer. If I have an appointment with a human being who’s expecting me and will be cross if I don’t show, I’m going to go. After I let the trainer go, I had a SO who would have raised an eyebrow had I quit lifting, so that kept me going until we broke up. In other words, if you can, enlist someone to whom you can be accountable.

Re: The Zen of Weight Lifting

#40

Post by bowmessage »

lghh wrote: post #32

I'd love to buy a squat rack and other lifting tools to keep at home. I don't live close to a gym but have enough space to lift what I'd like to in my garage. Though, I am worried about the potential for injury or getting myself in a lifting situation that I can't get out of where if I was at a gym someone would run over to help. Is that a reasonable concern? Or am I overthinking it?

It's a reasonable concern, but if you buy squat rack spotter arms and use them correctly, you can avoid these dangerous situations.
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