Why did I start training: I came home from college for Christmas break after multiple pitchers of beer a week during a successful football season which my roommate and I supported by beer consumption. My next door neighbor commented that I was toting a nice beer belly. First week back in college I began hitting the gym.
Why do I now train: It is who I am. And have been doing so for 53 years.
Same for me. Iāve found that the less skill required to do a sport, the better I am at it. Even running has a lot of technique.
Powerlifting has technique, but at the end of the day, it boils down to: āsit down, stand upā, āpick something up off the groundā and ādonāt get crushedā
I used to train with the sole goal of increasing my three lift total. Everything else was a distant second. It turns out this is not a great approach for continuing to lift heavy past 40. Who knew? Now I train to try to keep the size I have, to feel good and for the health benefits.
With all due respect to powerlifters as Iām an admirer of their methodologies, I think there is a tendency to have āthe big-3ā infiltrate every other style of training. What I mean by this is that there are some whoād say youāre ānot seriousā unless you build a training program around the bench, squat, and dead lift. While I think those are good lifts to build programs around, I donāt think they are that great for most people.
If I could pick my ābig-threeā to build a program around, it would probably be the standing overhead press, the weighted chin-up, and the hex-bar dead lift. There are a few other ābig-threeā combinations I could also think of that would work better for me and I dare say, most others. I may get scrutinized for saying this but itās just my opinion.
With out derailing this tread too much (as this topic could be a thread all of its own) I 100% agree. I was very dogmatic for a long time. āIf you donāt do these lists - is it even worth itā. Over time I have come to regret this. As not only have I avoided training programmes that did not look to progress these lifts - when Iāve not be able to do these lifts through injury Iāve not really trained. As I had a āwhats the pointā attitude.
Now - Iām much more of the mind set that there are no ābig 3ā of mandatory movements. Except the one we set our selves. And they can change depending on the goals you are seeking out.
for instance right now it could be āI want a bigger back. So Iāll take me one arm row from 100lb for 10, to 150lb for 10ā. Or I want a better log clean - so Iām going to work my front squat.
This reminds me of the discussion of weights in prison. Most people think itās a bad idea to let prisoners lift weights, but corrections officials insist itās a great method for managing inmates. Prisoners who are allowed to lift are usually better behaved, and once theyāve been allowed to lift, they donāt want to lose their weight room privileges, so they avoid bad behavior. A lot of these guys never did anything constructive in their lives before coming to prison; going to the weight room can be a first step toward self-improvement.
I mostly train out of fear.
Fear of being skinny again.
Fear of looking my age 61.
Fear of losing the energy I have.
Fear of being weak again.
After doing this for over 35 years, I fear what would happen to my body and mind if I quit now.
I feel the same
why not at this point
feels good to hit PR
I can definitely relate to this. While I still love pumping iron, I have also been introduced to the wonderful world of progressive calisthenics. I love how you can still get stronger with nothing more than using your own body weight and manipulating leverage. There is a sense of freedom in it as you donāt have to go to a well equipped gym to train. If the apocalypse comes, and all the gyms are closed, you can still train.
Thatās funny because your comments almost mirror my reasons for starting too. I was in to the vanity of training and getting a big, strong look. I was just 20 years old and tired of being skinny. Although I did get some attention and complements, it really wasnāt rewarding to make me feel better about myself. Yes it was nice and still is, you realize that perusing external validation is not that rewarding. You eventually just are known as the guy who lifts weights and is big. You become more of a spectacle or a freak in a way. Some people even make judgements about you that arenāt even remotely true.
I once was told by this girl that she thought I was egotistical solely on the fact that I had muscles. I thought in my head if you only knew the amount on insecurities I had, you would not think that about me.
My old motivations are a bit embarrassing to talk about but I am secure enough now to admit them in present company. Now that Iām a bit older, and hopefully wiser, I train for more internal reasons.
It always feels good to hit a PR. I just donāt live for them now and think that my program isnāt working just because I donāt set a new record EVERY SINGLE SESSION.
Before I went to this nearly-all calisthenics kick for upper body, after my one BB show, I was training for general fitness and my big three were dumbbell split squat, weighted chin-up, and weighted dip.
When I made my best BB gains I used a grand total of three three barbell exercises and those were safety squats, barbell row, and EZ curls. As said. Unless one is competing in lifting there are no mandatory exercises. Others feel fine doing barbell exercises. I did for some time too. I never got an injury or aching joints from deadlifts and back squats, but in my mid 30ās they started making me feel awful.
I started when I was 5 years old after I got my ass kicked by the wrestling coachās son. There hasnāt been any reason to quit training since then.