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Serious lifting or athletics in general necessitates cultivating competent time management, planning skills and self control/discipline. Even more so if you rol

Serious lifting or athletics in general necessitates cultivating competent time management, planning skills and self control/discipline. Even more so if you roll into dieting for maintaining weight class or generally aesthetics. Once a lifter exhaust all novice and easy gains which doesn't take long, it's down to planning multi week/month long meso cycles, trouble shooting and learning about about your body, refraining from immediate gratification - i.e. goal setting, developing weaknesses, fatigue management - just generally embracing slow and steady progress. It's one of the few hobbies that can't be rushed. That said, most people never get this serious and conscientiousness is what separates a long lifting career and snapcity (injury). A whole heap of genetics as well, since people who are genetically gifted at lifting tend to self select for staying in the hobby. Instagram culture also doesn't help if your psychologically prone to social comparison. Finally if you progress far enough, there the cost-benefit ratio shifts from health to strength, from experience, some sort of injury is almost guaranteed. It's really one of those things that should be embraced in moderation for the general population. Moderation is really all you need, people only need to develop some function strength and musculature for health benefits. You don't need to deadlift 600 pounds to inoculate your hips from shattering after a fall, indeed the road to 600+ will probably messy you up in the first place.

whamlastxmas 7y ago
Seems like using gear is a pretty easy way to rush this
- GavinMcG 7y ago
  "Gear" is slang for steroids, hormones, and other chemical aids to muscle development, for those who aren't familiar.
- dirtyid 7y ago
  For a subsect of a subsect of the population - those who genetically respond well to training and drugs. The general consensus on gear is you shouldn't start until you're familiar with the nuances of training (3-5 years). Particularly when it comes to ligament health- it's very easy to outstrip recovery ability when progressing fast on gear. That doesn't stop people from being reckless. Plenty of people on gear who doesn't have the basics dialed in and get poor result. That said, I whole endorse more research into gear use, it's sad that purity of sports culture has basically made the area taboo. I think a lot of the population, particularly elderly or sedimentary would benefit from more muscle providing if the true cost benefit analysis are better understood or better gear is developed without current known side effects. The benefit would be compounded with resistance training but that's a hard sell for general population whereas magic juice is not. The health care savings in mitigating falls among elders (one of the largest medical expenditures) alone would be gargantuan.
  - peteretep 7y ago
    > Plenty of people on gear who doesn't have the basics dialed in and get poor result. I don't believe this is true. I read a study (that I can't source right now) essentially suggesting something like: Training +gear: 9kg of muscle gained Training -gear: 5kg of muscle gained No training +gear: 7kg of muscle gained No training -gear: 0kg of muscle gained All that said, I'm left with the same conclusion as you, which is we should be actively shooting up menopausal men with testosterone. When my count goes below healthy, I'll certainly be looking for it.
    - dirtyid 7y ago
      Normal gear raises your genetic limit by ~5-10%, 7kg of leanmass is a great result for untrained people to inoculate against everyday challenges hence my endorsement for larger role in general population who can't be bothered to train. For serious trainers who you can pack on a lot more lean mass than that, whereas ignorant gear users gains + gear bonus might leave some pretty easy gains on the table by training stupid. Genetically exceptional folks aside. That's not to say gear doesn't confer a massive benefit in the short run. But it doesn't give you the knowledge for long term progress, and if one is not willing to be educated on the basics for lifting/nutrition, they're probably not responsible enough to use gear safely. Anecdotally, gear/dark side seems to be a one way street for most users, it's a lifelong commitment with real medical side effects, "rushing" it without understanding the consequences is a bad approach especially when most people reach 95% of their genetic ceiling withing 3-5 years without gear.
      - User23 7y ago
        It really depends. Anabolic-androgenic steroids come in a rather wide variety. It's one thing to inject Test Cyp or some other bio-similar to natural human testosterone in "normal" doses as part of TRT or similar therapy. It's quite another to inject something like Trenbolone[1]. That and similar drugs will produce extreme results in anyone who isn't androgen resistant. And they have all kinds of other nasty side effects too. Suppressing intratesticular testosterone is virtually assured without additional intervention. Interestingly there is some evidence that the effects of steroid use continue even after discontinuing use. Also, thanks to the unexplained secular testosterone decline, pretty much every American man who doesn't medicate is going to be well below his genetic potential. Unless, of course, the secular testosterone decline is a consequence of some dysgenic force. [1]Used to make cattle get meatier. And it works exceedingly well.
leet_thow 7y ago
On the social comparison note, I don't regret 8 years of constant training in the least, however I do suspect that if you do add a lot of musculature to a tall frame it can be a bit intimidating in engineering cultures where most men are out of shape and view the activity as "meatheadish."
- asdfman123 7y ago
  I think if you are fit and in addition dress well and are nice to people, you just come across as someone who has their life together. I suppose there will always be the haters, though.
  - sundvor 7y ago
    As you get older staying fit is even more important. Both for your ability to just function, and also I strongly believe it signals you've still got your sh1t together. In my mid 40s I let myself go and got over 100kg (I'm ~6.3), but have dropped 10kg in the last 1.5 years and also gotten stronger. 2-3 sessions a week of Stronglifts 5x5 and riding instead of driving to work. I reckon my head just works better as well. I find it much easier to concentrate for longer periods of time.
- starpilot 7y ago
  I don't know, in west coast tech centers, it's pretty much a meme that all tech bros rock climb/boulder.
  - nextlevelwizard 7y ago
    Only reason people hate on others improving themselves is because it brings forth their own inadequacies and chips at their ego. Rock/wall climbing is fun and you can really see yourself improve fast if you just have the discipline to get to the climbing gym three-ish times per week. Plus it will make you look good and feel better about yourself which will just make you all around better person.
    - 7y ago
mycall 7y ago
I'm curious how lifting would compare to other core activities, like hiking or lumberjacking.
- 01100011 7y ago
  Hiking isn't generally something that builds mass. Hiking promotes a lean frame that isn't going to intimidate anyone.
  - milkytron 7y ago
    I don’t think that’s the goal for most people. For those wanting to do enjoyable activities, hiking is a good way to get some exercise and enjoy nature, which can be as meditative as any other cardio. If muscle mass is the goal, hiking isn’t the best way to do that. But it can be healthy in a variety of ways for many people.
    - 01100011 7y ago
      OP wondered about the differences between lifting and hiking. Please read my comment in that context. I was an avid hiker for years, so I get what you're saying. I don't think anyone is hiking to build mass. That would be silly.
- blunte 7y ago
  There is something significant about learning to coordinate the firing of signals to a dozen muscles at once (and maintain those GO signals for the duration of the rep) which cannot be replicated any way other than lifting a big weight with one or more major muscle groups. Also, as an aside, for the duration of that one rep, (if the weight is sufficiently heavy for the lifter) the mind narrows focus completely - no other conscious thoughts are present at that time. This is an interesting contrast to how many of our HN-type minds usually operate.
  - devbug 7y ago
    I love lifting for exactly this reason. It's meditative.
lazyasciiart 7y ago
Enough money let’s you bypass a surprising amount of those things, like the time management, planning and troubleshooting.
codingdave 7y ago
> It's one of the few hobbies that can't be rushed. I haven't found any hobby that doesn't have the exact same process and progression. Quickly gain some skills, but have to dedicate serious time to it to achieve more than a basic level of proficiency.
- Tharkun 7y ago
  Indeed. Certainly any hobby that requires hand/eye coordination or any use of muscles at all, cannot be rushed. Doing too much in too little time leads to injury, whether it's lifting, martial arts, heck even rushing playing the guitar will lead to bleeding fingers. Coordination and perception can be pretty hard to improve on.

whamlastxmas 7y ago

Seems like using gear is a pretty easy way to rush this

GavinMcG 7y ago
"Gear" is slang for steroids, hormones, and other chemical aids to muscle development, for those who aren't familiar.
dirtyid 7y ago
For a subsect of a subsect of the population - those who genetically respond well to training and drugs. The general consensus on gear is you shouldn't start until you're familiar with the nuances of training (3-5 years). Particularly when it comes to ligament health- it's very easy to outstrip recovery ability when progressing fast on gear. That doesn't stop people from being reckless. Plenty of people on gear who doesn't have the basics dialed in and get poor result. That said, I whole endorse more research into gear use, it's sad that purity of sports culture has basically made the area taboo. I think a lot of the population, particularly elderly or sedimentary would benefit from more muscle providing if the true cost benefit analysis are better understood or better gear is developed without current known side effects. The benefit would be compounded with resistance training but that's a hard sell for general population whereas magic juice is not. The health care savings in mitigating falls among elders (one of the largest medical expenditures) alone would be gargantuan.
- peteretep 7y ago
  > Plenty of people on gear who doesn't have the basics dialed in and get poor result. I don't believe this is true. I read a study (that I can't source right now) essentially suggesting something like: Training +gear: 9kg of muscle gained Training -gear: 5kg of muscle gained No training +gear: 7kg of muscle gained No training -gear: 0kg of muscle gained All that said, I'm left with the same conclusion as you, which is we should be actively shooting up menopausal men with testosterone. When my count goes below healthy, I'll certainly be looking for it.
  - dirtyid 7y ago
    Normal gear raises your genetic limit by ~5-10%, 7kg of leanmass is a great result for untrained people to inoculate against everyday challenges hence my endorsement for larger role in general population who can't be bothered to train. For serious trainers who you can pack on a lot more lean mass than that, whereas ignorant gear users gains + gear bonus might leave some pretty easy gains on the table by training stupid. Genetically exceptional folks aside. That's not to say gear doesn't confer a massive benefit in the short run. But it doesn't give you the knowledge for long term progress, and if one is not willing to be educated on the basics for lifting/nutrition, they're probably not responsible enough to use gear safely. Anecdotally, gear/dark side seems to be a one way street for most users, it's a lifelong commitment with real medical side effects, "rushing" it without understanding the consequences is a bad approach especially when most people reach 95% of their genetic ceiling withing 3-5 years without gear.
    - User23 7y ago
      It really depends. Anabolic-androgenic steroids come in a rather wide variety. It's one thing to inject Test Cyp or some other bio-similar to natural human testosterone in "normal" doses as part of TRT or similar therapy. It's quite another to inject something like Trenbolone[1]. That and similar drugs will produce extreme results in anyone who isn't androgen resistant. And they have all kinds of other nasty side effects too. Suppressing intratesticular testosterone is virtually assured without additional intervention. Interestingly there is some evidence that the effects of steroid use continue even after discontinuing use. Also, thanks to the unexplained secular testosterone decline, pretty much every American man who doesn't medicate is going to be well below his genetic potential. Unless, of course, the secular testosterone decline is a consequence of some dysgenic force. [1]Used to make cattle get meatier. And it works exceedingly well.

leet_thow 7y ago

On the social comparison note, I don't regret 8 years of constant training in the least, however I do suspect that if you do add a lot of musculature to a tall frame it can be a bit intimidating in engineering cultures where most men are out of shape and view the activity as "meatheadish."

asdfman123 7y ago
I think if you are fit and in addition dress well and are nice to people, you just come across as someone who has their life together. I suppose there will always be the haters, though.
- sundvor 7y ago
  As you get older staying fit is even more important. Both for your ability to just function, and also I strongly believe it signals you've still got your sh1t together. In my mid 40s I let myself go and got over 100kg (I'm ~6.3), but have dropped 10kg in the last 1.5 years and also gotten stronger. 2-3 sessions a week of Stronglifts 5x5 and riding instead of driving to work. I reckon my head just works better as well. I find it much easier to concentrate for longer periods of time.
starpilot 7y ago
I don't know, in west coast tech centers, it's pretty much a meme that all tech bros rock climb/boulder.
- nextlevelwizard 7y ago
  Only reason people hate on others improving themselves is because it brings forth their own inadequacies and chips at their ego. Rock/wall climbing is fun and you can really see yourself improve fast if you just have the discipline to get to the climbing gym three-ish times per week. Plus it will make you look good and feel better about yourself which will just make you all around better person.
  - 7y ago

mycall 7y ago

I'm curious how lifting would compare to other core activities, like hiking or lumberjacking.

01100011 7y ago
Hiking isn't generally something that builds mass. Hiking promotes a lean frame that isn't going to intimidate anyone.
- milkytron 7y ago
  I don’t think that’s the goal for most people. For those wanting to do enjoyable activities, hiking is a good way to get some exercise and enjoy nature, which can be as meditative as any other cardio. If muscle mass is the goal, hiking isn’t the best way to do that. But it can be healthy in a variety of ways for many people.
  - 01100011 7y ago
    OP wondered about the differences between lifting and hiking. Please read my comment in that context. I was an avid hiker for years, so I get what you're saying. I don't think anyone is hiking to build mass. That would be silly.
blunte 7y ago
There is something significant about learning to coordinate the firing of signals to a dozen muscles at once (and maintain those GO signals for the duration of the rep) which cannot be replicated any way other than lifting a big weight with one or more major muscle groups. Also, as an aside, for the duration of that one rep, (if the weight is sufficiently heavy for the lifter) the mind narrows focus completely - no other conscious thoughts are present at that time. This is an interesting contrast to how many of our HN-type minds usually operate.
- devbug 7y ago
  I love lifting for exactly this reason. It's meditative.

lazyasciiart 7y ago

Enough money let’s you bypass a surprising amount of those things, like the time management, planning and troubleshooting.

codingdave 7y ago

> It's one of the few hobbies that can't be rushed. I haven't found any hobby that doesn't have the exact same process and progression. Quickly gain some skills, but have to dedicate serious time to it to achieve more than a basic level of proficiency.

Tharkun 7y ago
Indeed. Certainly any hobby that requires hand/eye coordination or any use of muscles at all, cannot be rushed. Doing too much in too little time leads to injury, whether it's lifting, martial arts, heck even rushing playing the guitar will lead to bleeding fingers. Coordination and perception can be pretty hard to improve on.