#1) Weight Training will make you feel strong and fit
There is a reason this is number 1, it is the most important aspect. A feeling of strength and power will give you confidence you possibly never had. We have all heard the saying a strong body is a strong mind and it is absolutely true. Strength IS confidence.
“I have never met a truly strong person who didn't have self-respect.” -Henry Rollins
#2) Weight Training will help to burn more fat
There is a prevailing myth that the only way to burn fat is to do cardio. Nonsense. Building solid muscle mass with an adequate diet is the absolute best way to get rid of those love handles. Muscle mass raises your metabolism. Muscle mass burns fat. Build more muscle to burn more fat.
If you don’t have muscle mass to begin with cardio may help you lose weight but you will not get the toned look. At best you will look skinny-fat if all you do is cardio. That’s good enough for some, but it’s not good enough for you.
#3) Weight Training will increase your energy
It’s an invigorating feeling getting under a bar and lifting what you never thought you could lift. That energy stays with you. There is no better high than after an intense workout, no chemical substance can match the feeling of calm after a great workout.
Enough of the routines, driving to work, needing cup after cup of coffee, only to be exhausted by the time you get home, enough energy to eat pizza and watch tv all night long. Turn off the TV, put down the pizza, and pick up some weights. You will thank yourself later.
#4) Weight Training will teach you discipline and hard work
Our society is soft. Our Men are weaklings. You must remember, nothing good ever came from something easy. It takes hard work, pain, and sacrifice.
#5) Weight Training will make you healthier
After several months of weight training you will notice you get less colds, flus, and other sicknesses. That is because regular exercise improves sleep patterns.
Better sleep + regular training = stronger immune system.
Your body has become stronger from the inside out. Weight Training will also help bone strength and density, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, depression and a host of other illnesses.
#6) Weight Training will improve poor posture
In the age of the computer, many of us sit for long periods hunched over. This is horrible for our posture. Most people have weak backs, weak abdominals and walk with a hunch.
Strengthen your body, especially your back and your abs, and walk upright with a purpose, a drive. Don’t walk hunched over like you’re ready to die at any moment. Life is for the living. Hit the weights.
#7) Weight Training will help you look good naked
Perhaps this should be reason #1. To attract the opposite sex. A strong, virile man gets more women than out of shape oafs. A strong body signals the opposite sex that you are healthy and virile and that is mighty sexy.
There is a reason that all the ads you see feature men with a 6 pack. Weight Training is the only way to achieve that look. It will “tone” the muscles to make them look nice.
#8) Weight Training is FUN
After you get through the initial phase of forcing yourself to get to the gym you may realize you actually enjoy being there. There is nothing better than pushing through plateaus and lifting weights heavier than you have ever dreamed. Breaking past your previous limitations is a thrill. It gets to be damned fun.
And what about calisthenics instead of weights?
If you like calisthenics then that’s what you should do.
hello vic this is Kishan from India. iam 20years old who is very lean and that is my major problem. iam mentally strong guy who knows how to handle tough situations and arrogant bullies but still i feel insecure because of my lean outlook. even gym masters are hesitant to allow me to join the gym because of my lean appearance. some even go to a greater extent saying no matter how much ever i put work still i can’t develop muscles.it is really annoying. i don’t know whether you have written anything for guys like us. i want you to really help such guys. i know this article was posted back 2010 but i felt like commenting on this post.
Hey Kishan,
I know you addressed Vic, but I just thought I’d put my two cents in. I was extremely skinny as well. I have what you would call “dainty” ankles and wrists. It is more difficult for guys like us to add muscle, but you would be surprised at how much you can add with the right training and diet. They key is to lift weights doing compound lifts (squats, bench press, deadlifts, overhead press, etc). Start light so that your form is immaculate. Form is the most important thing of all. Then slowly add small increments of weight each week. Within a few months, you will be lifting some heavy weight. Eat LOTS of food. Protein-dense foods along with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Give yourself a day of rest between each day of lifting. Never lift two days in a row. And get 8 hours of sleep every night. By doing all of this, there’s not a healthy person on the planet who cannot add significant amounts of muscle to their frame. Good luck!
Hi Kishan,
Have you ever heard of or tried high intensity training (HIT)? If so, you may know that HIT is great, because it enables you to build more muscle in less time than do workout plans that generate lower levels of intensity.
And that’s simply because “intensity” is the #1 key to muscle growth stimulation. The higher the intensity of the exercise, the greater the muscle growth is likely to be.
But as good as HIT is, it doesn’t go far enough. If you really want to build maximum muscle, especially ” maximum muscle in minimum time “, you need more than high intensity training ( HIT ). You need MAXIMUM Intensity Training (MIT). And to achieve maximum intensity and maximum muscle growth for any motion that you do with weights, you obviously need to know what exercise intensity is, as it relates to strength-training and muscle growth stimulation.
But nobody in history has ever defined exercise intensity correctly and completely, and made that knowledge public yet.
And that’s why most people don’t know that you can’t achieve maximum intensity or build maximum muscle from doing the bench press, or most compound exercises for that matter.
Usually, the only exercises that enable you to achieve maximum intensity and maximum muscle growth are isolation exercises; if you do them the right way.
In fact, there are actually at least 42 different types of motions that the human body can perform with weights. And each one of those motions recruits a unique combination of muscle fibers, some of which don’t come into play for any other motion. So all 42 must be done for full development of your physique.
But only about 9 of those motions are included in compound exercises. So what about the other 33? They can only be done as isolation exercises.
In fact, some muscles can’t be effectively worked at all using compound exercises. Those include all of your forearm muscles, your calves, and yes, your biceps. Isolation exercises are the only way you can develop those muscles.
So in your case, I would go all out and do all 42 of those motions as isolation exercises, and make sure you generate maximum intensity for each one. That’s the only way you’ll build maximum muscle in minimum time naturally, and fully develop your physique proportionately.
Hello Kishan,
You should also know that although compound exercises usually won’t enable you to generate maximum intensity or build maximum muscle, they do have their place in any good workout plan.
Compound exercises have actually been shown to be more effective than isolation exercises in regards to stimulating the endocrine system. And that gets your body to produce more testosterone and human growth hormone (HGH). The squat especially has been shown to be the most effective weight-lifting exercise in this regard. Although the deadlift might be even better than the squat for that purpose.
So in your case (or for anyone who wants to build maximum muscle in minimum time), do all 42 of the motions that I mentioned in my previous reply to you. And do them as isolation exercises, and do them so that you achieve maximum intensity for each one.
Then add compound exercises (especially the squat and the deadlift) to your workout regimen for the endrocine-stimulating effects of those exercises.
Already translated as: “8 Razones por las cuales Todo Hombre Debe Levantar Pesas por Victor Pride”
Weight training really raise testosterone. 6 years ago I had a really bad ski accident and they gave me heavy shots of morphine for a couple of weeks, I didn’t know it at the time but morphine and other opiates are really bad for test levels and I was 15 at the time, so I was in middle of puberty, you can imagine how harmful it was for my development. The next 5 years were very tough. No energy, I woke up tired in the morning, no energy at school, could not concentrate, no motivation, no drive, no self-confidence, depressive, fear of the girls, shyness, I was like in a mental fog… I was weak and miserable and I didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with me. I started weight training almost a year ago and at age 21 I feel way better, now that I’m learning about testosterone and all, I know what was wrong. I feel better now, But I know I’m not where I should be, My hormonal balance is something I’ll really have to fix completely soon because I’m not living my life 100%.
A “man” should already know about #4.
But their are a lot things I “should” know, and do.
but I find your thinking sound.
Dear Vic, I have recently sustained a wrist injury and will not be able to lift weights for the next few weeks. Could you please give me some advice on what to do, as this is still my first year of weight lifting. Ty
Ryan, bypass the wrist.
Using wrist and ankle weights you could strap 20-30lbs to each forearm, maybe a bit more.
You won’t make any gains, but you could mitigate some losses.
Good luck with that.
nice
This is the post one year ago which made me buy 30 Days of Discipline and Body of a Spartan.
This is the post that made me stop and think if the road I am going down right now is the right one.
This is the post that made me turn around and go back to find my balls where I lost them.
This post made me choose a different path.
A path of pain and glory - the path of a Spartan.
Thank you.
Hello Victor.
I am in.
Gold!
I had to go and re-read this…8 years already…holy sh!t…crazy!