The OTHER Benefits Of Strength Training

Check out this, there's a lot more to strength training than just building muscle. It's about your life.

http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/238-the-new-man

It's a great radio show but for the purpose of this thread check out 'Episode 22: Rob McNamera: What is Strength?', the Shawn Phillips interviews are also great.

I haven't heard the show but there is definitely more to strength training than just muscular accrual.

Among other things, it teaches:
- Discipline - with your nutrition, cardio, workout schedules
- Mental strength and toughness
- Courage - putting 500-1000lbs on your back and squatting it takes guts
- Camaderie - the strength training community is generally full of great people willing to help each other (not so the bbing community a lot of the time)
- HUMILITY - it's only through strength training you realise how weak you actually are
- Ambition (hitting PRs and getting stronger, not being satisfied with mediocre weights)
- Internal drive

I believe strength training is actually a really primal thing we were all born with, but through circumstances or constraits or whatever, it has been suppressed in us.

The Ancient Greeks use to preach that the complete man was of 'strong mind and body'. The ancient tribes revered strong men (they were the leaders). The songs and sagas of old talk of heroes slaying a hundred monsters. Strength has always been respected throughout the ages, it's only in the modern world where guys are discouraged from strength training and are told to use the pink dumbbells and swiss balls instead.

Plus, when we were kids, what toys did we play with? Personally it was GI Joes, He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, Transformers .. all of these toys were figures of heroic characters with rippling muscles and capable of great feats of strength. My favourite actor was always Arnie (and probably still is since I have about as much acting prowess as him ).

That's what we gravitated towards as kids when our instincts were most 'primitive'. Being strong is what being men should be about. Not just physically robust, but when you constantly test yourself against heavy weights and always strive to improve through PRs or bettering your technique, it resonates into your personal and professional life as well.

'Course most young guys just wanna get buff 'for the chicks' but they're robbing themselves if that's their only motivation to work out (it's a good motivation to get you started but if 10-15 years later you're still only training because of what the girls say, I really think you're missing out. Some people can be content and happy with this, I wouldn't be...)

Strength training will always be my one true love.
In just over a year it really changed my life in all areas.

Confidence, concentration in class, lowered my ADD, increased sex drive, made me look better, mentally and physically toughened me up, met great friends, eliminated stress, approached by women, may have saved my life when I was mugged, I studied my health, diet and cooking, increased energy levels, I've read millions of articles on lifting which has improved my dyslexia to no end. I even think I'm a nicer person

Seriously, what other activity can deliver these results?

I believe that improving your body is just as important as the mind, if not more. Because training you body trains your mind at the same time.

How are you going with your training SinJester?

Wow...some great things being said here. Arnolds movies are amazing. Nothing like watching arnie pull off a hand dryer in a public bathroom and slamming it over the bad guy's head haha funny stuff. Or just the constant tossing of people.

Something about pushing yourself to the limit makes you feel alive

I-tallionStallion said:

Something about pushing yourself to the limit makes you feel alive

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^^^^^^^

Yeah if you guys haven't listened to what I linked, it goes over what you are all explaining. I've been getting into meditation a lot lately and basically when weightlifting is done with the same focus it is bringing teaching you to be in the moment during high intensity. It can actually increase your presence in everyday life. By pushing yourself fully to the limit using weights it teaches you to do the same in life itself. I can see how it increases concentration and helps with ADD because it is a meditation in itself. I'm not covering the look better and be healthier bit, because everyone knows that. It's mental and physical strength. It's confidence. Confidence doesn't come from the mind, it comes from the body.

I like what Sean Messenger (former Pickup 101 instructor, now owner of LVO3) says - "The weights always kick you the real deal, you find our where your at, you try and lift more than your ready to lift you wont end up lifting anything heavier than a salad fork for three months. Every time you go to the gym you are measuring yourself as a man against an absolute. There's no way to lie to yourself. When your lifting, when you got the weights on there, when you rack them up and you go to lift you know the answer right away. No bull****."

How are you going with your training SinJester?

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Well you might say not too good at the moment. I can't walk and I'm not allowed to lift anything heavy for 6 weeks. Slows down things a bit.

I like working out because of the way it makes me feel. I have a lot of energy and confidence. My body looks good and I get compliments on it (that's an added bonus). I find myself thinking about my next workout and things I'd like to improve upon. When I push myself to lift more (as I've done recently on my DLs and presses) it is a great feeling because it reminds me of why I started working out in the first place. This is about peace of mind through a healthy body and spirit. When you can lift amounts that far exceed your own weight it energizes you on the inside. I think it's an emotion that very few people experience: a feeling of exhilaration knowing that you can indeed go beyond your present self and always become better.