Would your life be better or worse overall if you never started gymcelling?

[Army of One]

If you never started lifting weights, would your life be better or worse?Does the respect your size gets from some men outweigh looking tryhard or low iq to others?Was the time spent eating,lifting etc better spent than just staying lean and say focusing on money, meditation, inner peace etc? Would you have more years left in the tank without multiple cycles of steroids?Would you trade those years back right now for a skinny body for the rest of your life?

[IroNat]

Which question?

[Humble Narcissist]

My life would be worse if I never started lifting  BUT  if I knew then what I know now I would have done things a lot differently.

[keanu]

My life would be worse if I never started lifting  BUT  if I knew then what I know now I would have done things a lot differently.

   Bingo. Weight lifting is a part of the puzzle. Your body has to be trained in many ways and remain flexible. I know many people that have aches, pains, injuries and quit from not seeing the big picture.

[robcguns]

Honestly wish I never picked up a weight in my life.I love it but it has caused me so much shit over the years,fights,anxiety,drug abuse, etc...

With that said I love it very much but I wonder what it would be like to just not give a shit like normal people.

[Kwon]

My life would be worse if I never started lifting  BUT  if I knew then what I know now I would have done things a lot differently.

Same here

MANY things differently.

[Pray_4_War]

My life would be worse if I never started lifting  BUT  if I knew then what I know now I would have done things a lot differently.

This is exactly my answer.

[oldtimer1]

I owe a lot to lifting.  My career was based on being able to be physical.  Just today a man came to my retirement employment job and said I wish I was built like you.  Now I realize bodybuilding fans would laugh at my body but I look in shape.  The down side I feel I wreaked my body to a certain extent.  One shoulder is gone and the other isn’t that far behind.  I have other pains anyone with decades of lifting has.  If I had to do it all over again I would be a runner and body weight trainer. Maybe some martial arts thrown in.   

[Henda]

Much worse, even if it’s just the fact training on weekends helps keep off the drink as if probably get pissed every Friday and Saturday night If didn’t train instead of just going out every now and again and limiting drinking to those times, I think it helps in my line of work showing up to price a job I think people like to see someone in shape as opposed to A fat slob showing up, me and my mates are all getting to late 30s and being the only one in shape can still get the odd bit attention from women in 20s when we put on drink, not saying it would be like fish in a barrel fat from it haha but the only one of us that get the odd look in.

[honest]

I owe the gym everything, its saved me from myself by keeping me balanced and structured, taught me the value of goal setting and achieving, and the most important thing i have learnt which has served me well in my life outside of the gym identifying weak points whether in yourself personally or in business early and focusing and working harder on them than your strengths. Learning this early set me up for life.

[Humble Narcissist]

I owe a lot to lifting.  My career was based on being able to be physical.  Just today a man came to my retirement employment job and said I wish I was built like you.  Now I realize bodybuilding fans would laugh at my body but I look in shape.  The down side I feel I wreaked my body to a certain extent.  One shoulder is gone and the other isn’t that far behind.  I have other pains anyone with decades of lifting has.  If I had to do it all over again I would be a runner and body weight trainer. Maybe some martial arts thrown in.

I was a runner in my 20's and that tears up your body as much, or worse.  Bodyweight exercise is good if you don't overdo it on reps.  The shoulders aren't meant to push your bodyweight for a thousand reps a day just like they aren't made to bench 500.  I always found bodyweight only workouts boring but I like to include pushups or squats in my weight workouts.

[Megalodon]

I was a runner in my 20's and that tears up your body as much, or worse. Bodyweight exercise is good if you don't overdo it on reps.  The shoulders aren't meant to push your bodyweight for a thousand reps a day just like they aren't made to bench 500.  I always found bodyweight only workouts boring but I like to include pushups or squats in my weight workouts.

What type of running?

[_bruce_]

Way worse - training is fun and builds the body. It also has a huge influx on how you eat... you learn that there's a reason for certain foods to consooom or avoid.

[Humble Narcissist]

What type of running?

I ran 1 marathon and a handful of half marathons and 5 and 10 mile runs.  I did this while simultaneously training with weights on a powerlifting routine.  Complete opposites.  I used to run 1 day a week on Sunday for 15 miles at the local high school track.  One day when I was 28 years old as soon as I competed my run I said "I don't think I want to run anymore" just like Forrest Gump, and have never run distance since.

Check out marathoners who are over 35 years old.  Most look like shit.

[funk51]

wish i would have just lifted. i played too many sports in my youth especially football. too many broken bones and joint injuries have taken their toll in my old age.

[Mr Anabolic]

Pros:
 - Increased strength.  Much stronger/larger than the average male.
 - Increased blood flow = better health and more youthful appearance
 - Enhances overall mind-body connection.
 - Develops discipline and tenacity.
 - Strengthens mind as well as the body.

Cons:
 - My back hurts
 - My neck hurts
 - My knees hurt
 - My shoulders hurt
 

[FitnessFrenzy]

I pulled more ass from having some muscle, that is for sure.

I also like working out, so overall I would say it has been worth it.

[Rascal full]

I owe the gym everything, its saved me from myself by keeping me balanced and structured, taught me the value of goal setting and achieving, and the most important thing i have learnt which has served me well in my life outside of the gym identifying weak points whether in yourself personally or in business early and focusing and working harder on them than your strengths. Learning this early set me up for life.

Very pleased to see this answer, sounds like you have successfully translated the benefits properly into your life. I also would like to say I have tried to do this, and truthfully am continuing to try to do this and get the right balance into my life.

Good luck to you.

[Megalodon]

I ran 1 marathon and a handful of half marathons and 5 and 10 mile runs.  I did this while simultaneously training with weights on a powerlifting routine.  Complete opposites.  I used to run 1 day a week on Sunday for 15 miles at the local high school track.  One day when I was 28 years old as soon as I competed my run I said "I don't think I want to run anymore" just like Forrest Gump, and have never run distance since.

Check out marathoners who are over 35 years old.  Most look like shit.

That's a lot but sounds like your body could handle it. I remember reading goofy bb magazine articles about over training that would say 'don't stand when you sit', 'don't sit when you can lie down', etc...as if the slightest body movement outside of workouts would negate recovery.

I know someone that went from marathons to a yearly triathlon and it turns out that the biggest risk from that is a bicycle accident because they do all their training on roads or freeways.

[IroNat]

Does the respect your size gets from some men outweigh looking tryhard or low iq to others?

Never had the problem of looking stupid.  I always looked that way.

Was the time spent eating,lifting etc better spent than just staying lean and say focusing on money, meditation, inner peace etc?

Training was always a hobby so stayed focused on making money throughout life.  Training gave me improved discipline to achieve more.

Would you have more years left in the tank without multiple cycles of steroids?

Never did all those drugs.  Saw early on how foolish it was.  I resist being addicted to anything.

Would you trade those years back right now for a skinny body for the rest of your life?

I'm not fat now and still train regularly and would not want to be scrawny in any event.

[LurkerNoMore]

Interesting question.  I am sure everyone will have a different answer at different ages.  What you feel at 30 years old might not be the same answer you have at 60 years old.  You may look back with regret at all the time and $$ you put into being selfish and not spending it in other areas of your life.

[MAXX]

I'm smarter than average but I'm not brilliant, or genius, so I wasn't going to win the nobel prize in anything anyways...

If I didn't lift I would probably wouldn't have spent the time improving my intellectual game by reading phliosophy anyways, but rather probably spent the time on racking up game hours on Steam or smth stupid like that.

[B_B_C]

If I never started silly threads , would my  life be better or worse? Does the pity my size gets from some men outweigh looking tryhard or low iq to others?Was the time spent eating,lifting etc better spent than just staying lean and say focusing on money, meditation, inner peace etc? Would I have more years left in the tank without multiple cycles of steroids? Would I trade those years back right now for a skinny body for the rest of my life?[/font]

only you can answer those questions

[Army of One]

only you can answer those questions

not a silly thread at all, I know many people who wish they had never started lifting and just stayed lean.Also know many where it literally saved their lives by giving them purpose.Im sure we will get a few surprise answers from people we didnt expect.

[harmankardon1]

Pros:
 - Increased strength.  Much stronger/larger than the average male.
 - Increased blood flow = better health and more youthful appearance
 - Enhances overall mind-body connection.
 - Develops discipline and tenacity.
 - Strengthens mind as well as the body.

Cons:
 - My back hurts
 - My neck hurts
 - My knees hurt
 - My shoulders hurt

This is a nice summary^

I ran (track) until about 23, then I got serious about bbing for a few years (lots of steroids) then quit the roids cause I could feel it was not at all healthy.

If you live a competitive training lifestyle you will have pain, and if you don't you will most likely have pain too. Pain is a unavoidable part of life as we age.

Best then to train sensibly and get all the advantages it brings.