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Heavy weights also make an exceptional therapist. You can tell anything you want to a 200 pound loaded barbell, over and over again...

amelius 8y ago
Some tips for beginners: - Make sure you don't overtrain, as it can make you feel burned out, which can last a week or longer, and certainly will not help a depression. It also will not make your muscles grow faster. It's better to start slowly. - If you can't do an exercise in a controlled manner, reduce the weight. - Also don't target the same muscle-group more than once a week. Your muscles need time to recover. - Muscles grow most if you load them (slowly) while they are being stretched. - Find a training buddy. - If you take supplements, be aware that they can have an effect on your mood. For example, L-glutamine and taurine (which are in many protein shakes) are known to affect neurotransmitters.
- naasking 8y ago
  Untrained individuals really don't need to train very hard or frequently at all. Their bodies will respond to pretty much any kind of stimulus because it's so new. Also, training a muscle once a week is bad advice. Protein synthesis for trained individuals drops to normal after 48 hours, and for untrained individuals/novices after 72 hours. Your muscles aren't growing after that. The only reason to wait longer than that is if your workout incurred a lot of muscle damage. Muscle damage should be avoided at all cost. People used to believe that it was a trigger for muscle growth, but many studies later we know that that isn't the case. Load a muscle twice a week if a novice or intermediate, up to three times a week if advanced. Use lower volume per workout to ensure you don't incur too much muscle damage.
IAmGraydon 8y ago
I lifted weights 4 times per week for many years. It got me a lot of attention from the opposite sex, but never helped my depression or anxiety. Then I started running, and the effect was undeniable. It’s just one data point, but we evolved to run. I’m convinced it’s something about using your body to do what you were meant to do that helps alleviate anxiety and depression.
- gameswithgo 8y ago
  we clearly evolved to lift weights too or it wouldn’t work.
  - EADGBE 8y ago
    Or maybe we evolved weights to work for us
  - IAmGraydon 8y ago
    Not quite. That's a bit like saying we evolved to play football or it wouldn't work. Just because we can do it doesn't mean it was a fundamental part of our evolution with a survival mechanism behind it. We evolved to be able to pick things up, but we did not evolve to lift weights in the way one does in the gym. Running, however, was our main mode of taking down prey. The animals we hunted could run faster than us, but they could not sustain it. Humans evolved to be able to sustain running for long enough that the faster prey would eventually get tired and could no longer outpace their hunters. These hunts would take DAYS in many cases. This running endurance was central to our ability to survive, and as with all survival mechanisms, using that trait was and still is hugely rewarding, releasing a flood of dopamine even in modern humans.

amelius 8y ago

Some tips for beginners: - Make sure you don't overtrain, as it can make you feel burned out, which can last a week or longer, and certainly will not help a depression. It also will not make your muscles grow faster. It's better to start slowly. - If you can't do an exercise in a controlled manner, reduce the weight. - Also don't target the same muscle-group more than once a week. Your muscles need time to recover. - Muscles grow most if you load them (slowly) while they are being stretched. - Find a training buddy. - If you take supplements, be aware that they can have an effect on your mood. For example, L-glutamine and taurine (which are in many protein shakes) are known to affect neurotransmitters.

naasking 8y ago
Untrained individuals really don't need to train very hard or frequently at all. Their bodies will respond to pretty much any kind of stimulus because it's so new. Also, training a muscle once a week is bad advice. Protein synthesis for trained individuals drops to normal after 48 hours, and for untrained individuals/novices after 72 hours. Your muscles aren't growing after that. The only reason to wait longer than that is if your workout incurred a lot of muscle damage. Muscle damage should be avoided at all cost. People used to believe that it was a trigger for muscle growth, but many studies later we know that that isn't the case. Load a muscle twice a week if a novice or intermediate, up to three times a week if advanced. Use lower volume per workout to ensure you don't incur too much muscle damage.

IAmGraydon 8y ago

I lifted weights 4 times per week for many years. It got me a lot of attention from the opposite sex, but never helped my depression or anxiety. Then I started running, and the effect was undeniable. It’s just one data point, but we evolved to run. I’m convinced it’s something about using your body to do what you were meant to do that helps alleviate anxiety and depression.

gameswithgo 8y ago
we clearly evolved to lift weights too or it wouldn’t work.
- EADGBE 8y ago
  Or maybe we evolved weights to work for us
- IAmGraydon 8y ago
  Not quite. That's a bit like saying we evolved to play football or it wouldn't work. Just because we can do it doesn't mean it was a fundamental part of our evolution with a survival mechanism behind it. We evolved to be able to pick things up, but we did not evolve to lift weights in the way one does in the gym. Running, however, was our main mode of taking down prey. The animals we hunted could run faster than us, but they could not sustain it. Humans evolved to be able to sustain running for long enough that the faster prey would eventually get tired and could no longer outpace their hunters. These hunts would take DAYS in many cases. This running endurance was central to our ability to survive, and as with all survival mechanisms, using that trait was and still is hugely rewarding, releasing a flood of dopamine even in modern humans.