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0 pointsmatwood2y ago0 comments

> without getting bored with it

You're not going to like this, but lifting is about finding joy in the grind (like a lot of life). Gains are often incremental, but add up over time. For me, lifting is my alone time to listen to music and think. The lifting part is automatic.

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5 comments · 2 top-level

Brendinooo2y ago· 2 in thread

I’ve clocked 4300 miles on my running app since 2011, after growing up hating running, so I’m aware of the grind. But there are different ways to run and some are more enjoyable to different people. I have to believe this is true in the lifting world as well.

If I would have told someone "I don't like running on the treadmill or on the track, it's super boring", the better response would have been to tell me that there are different ways to find enjoyment in running rather than just saying I should suck it up. For me, that was running in flat-ish urban-ish settings to take in the sights while signing up for an occasional race to give me something to work for. I never liked running in the rain so I just...didn't, unless I was on a training plan for an upcoming race or otherwise couldn't work around it. And so on.

For my lifting: variety, access to a sauna, and a public setting that allows me to watch and talk to other people have helped a lot. I'll see how far it carries me! (And I welcome more advice for making it enjoyable.)

matwoodOP2y ago

Of course find what works for you, but 4300 miles even in your ideal setting ends up being discipline based over motivation. By that point you're running because you're supposed to run, not necessarily because you want to run. That's what I mean about lifting.

There's only so much novelty in a squat, so you have to find something beyond that. For me it was powerlifting, for others it's getting bigger, and others it's getting better in their sport.

Also, I deal with people and complex problems all day long. The gym is my retreat. I speak to no one and focus on the relatively simple task of picking up a weight.

hultner2y ago

Not sure I agree. At a point in my youth I ran 3000 miles in a year based on motivation (college competition, I was really motivated to keep the number one spot in the leaderboard).

davedx2y ago· 1 in thread

Gatekeeping weight lifting? Come on. Let people work out the way that works for them.

matwoodOP2y ago

I don't think of it as gate keeping at all. I'm being honest that anything you do for a long period of time becomes about discipline and not motivation. People say things to me like 'you must really like working out!' I don't think about it in a like not like way. It's just something I know is good for me and I do it.

And the reason I mentioned accepting the grind is because exercise is a life long activity. There is only so much novelty, so the faster someone finds the discipline to do it beyond novelty motivation, the better.

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5 comments · 2 top-level

Brendinooo2y ago· 2 in thread

matwoodOP2y ago

There's only so much novelty in a squat, so you have to find something beyond that. For me it was powerlifting, for others it's getting bigger, and others it's getting better in their sport.

Also, I deal with people and complex problems all day long. The gym is my retreat. I speak to no one and focus on the relatively simple task of picking up a weight.

hultner2y ago

Not sure I agree. At a point in my youth I ran 3000 miles in a year based on motivation (college competition, I was really motivated to keep the number one spot in the leaderboard).

davedx2y ago· 1 in thread

Gatekeeping weight lifting? Come on. Let people work out the way that works for them.

matwoodOP2y ago

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