Why does anyone care how much they lift?

TenthBelt1993

I don't understand why anyone gives a **** how much they lift (unless they are competitively powerlifting).

It just seems to be a wave for insecure guys to show off...

I would not care if i lifted 1kg weights I I looked good.

Reply 1

Zaffre

9

Personally I care because when you spend a lot of your time working out it becomes a tangible way to see progress. Nobody wants to spend five evenings a week training and not see any difference in their ability. I would personally prefer to be getting stronger than lifting light but looking good, although I do lean more towards a powerlifting/strength style of training rather than bodybuilding.

Reply 2

Sexygeekguy

1

This is why you're red

Reply 3

aarora

18

You clearly don't lift bruh

Reply 4

TenthBelt1993

OP

11

Original post by Zaffre

Personally I care because when you spend a lot of your time working out it becomes a tangible way to see progress. Nobody wants to spend five evenings a week training and not see any difference in their ability. I would personally prefer to be getting stronger than lifting light but looking good, although I do lean more towards a powerlifting/strength style of training rather than bodybuilding.

But 95+% of people in the gym are training for looks - surely you can use your appearance change as progress.

Reply 5

TenthBelt1993

OP

11

Original post by aarora

You clearly don't lift bruh

?? Please elaborate

Reply 6

BKS

19

You've got to care about something if you're enjoying lifting so why not the weight? It usually works out much mentally healthier than doing it all for looks

Reply 7

Zaffre

9

Original post by Sabster

But 95+% of people in the gym are training for looks - surely you can use your appearance change as progress.

Even in those cases (which I definitely wouldn't say is 95+%), it's more tangible to see improvement in numbers. When you see yourself in the mirror every day, visible progress can be difficult to see without taking progress pictures - and even then it's largely dependent on the lighting, what you're wearing, how much you've eaten, whether you've got a pump, etc.

Reply 8

hanley9

12

Original post by Sabster

I don't understand why anyone gives a **** how much they lift (unless they are competitively powerlifting).

It just seems to be a wave for insecure guys to show off...

I would not care if i lifted 1kg weights I I looked good.

If you want to argue that people who are obsessed with the weight of their lifts are insecure - you could equally argue that people who lift to look good are insecure. A lot of people, including myself, like to increase their weight in the same way someone wants to be good at football or any other sport or hobby.

Reply 9

SmellyProtein

5

For me personally, and I'm sure this is relevant to most people who go to the gym, hitting a new PB is a great feeling. In fact I'd go as far to say that adding an extra 5kg onto my bench is more rewarding than adding and extra inch onto my chest.

Reply 10

username1539513

21

Original post by Sabster

I don't understand why anyone gives a **** how much they lift (unless they are competitively powerlifting).

It just seems to be a wave for insecure guys to show off...

I would not care if i lifted 1kg weights I I looked good.

This is obviously a troll but personally I do it for functional reasons to improve my physical strength

Reply 11

ibrahim541

2

Because the only way to get increase your muscle mass is to progressively overload to muscle over time. This can be done by adding more weigh, sets, reps or shortening the rest times. I find that once I can do a certain weight for my desired number of reps and sets I increase the weight the next session. If you are squatting 60kg and a year later you are still squatting 60kg then you probably haven't provided enough overload and stimulus for your legs to have grown.

Reply 12

Mpagtches

16

Because lifts are better than stairs :smug:

Reply 13

cole-slaw

5

Original post by ibrahim541

Because the only way to get increase your muscle mass is to progressively overload to muscle over time. This can be done by adding more weigh, sets, reps or shortening the rest times. I find that once I can do a certain weight for my desired number of reps and sets I increase the weight the next session. If you are squatting 60kg and a year later you are still squatting 60kg then you probably haven't provided enough overload and stimulus for your legs to have grown.

But then the obvious question would be why you would want to increase your muscle mass?

You must admit it seems a rather odd thing to care about.

Reply 14

It's****ingWOODY

20

I don't care per se, for example I don't have a clue how much I can barbell bench of barbell OHP because for me they're not the best muscle builders. However, growth is a process in which you stimulate, adapt and grow. If you used 100kg on a certain exercise for 3 sets of 6 for example, the musculature will be stressed by that initially and will grow bigger and stronger to adapt to that stress. If you then go and use that same workload next time, the muscle has already adapted to that, so why would it need to adapt again by growing? You have to make it harder (at least,it appears harder on paper) over time to keep forcing that adaptive response.

Reply 15

SmellyProtein

5

Original post by cole-slaw

But then the obvious question would be why you would want to increase your muscle mass?

You must admit it seems a rather odd thing to care about.

Everyone knows that real men can bench at least 100kg, deadlift 200kg and squat 140kg.

it's fun??>

Original post by cole-slaw

But then the obvious question would be why you would want to increase your muscle mass?

You must admit it seems a rather odd thing to care about.

Well I guess people have different reasons for going to the gym. Some people go to lose fat, some go to gain muscle, some go to get stronger while others go to improve their endurance. In the end its just what about you enjoy doing and what are goals are and for a lot of people that involves gaining muscle.

Reply 18

cole-slaw

5

Original post by ibrahim541

Well I guess people have different reasons for going to the gym. Some people go to lose fat, some go to gain muscle, some go to get stronger while others go to improve their endurance. In the end its just what about you enjoy doing and what are goals are and for a lot of people that involves gaining muscle.