It sounds so easy: Get weights, Use weights, and you will see results! It sounds easy yet so many people dont do it. When I first started I saw amazing results, I new nothing of supplements, I didnt know what even help muscles, I new nothing of protein, creatine, NO2, Amino Acids, (I ate one big meal a day) and the list goes on.
Now I after 3 years (I've been lifting since I was 14) I find it hard to keep and stick to goals with all these damn different ways to "Get Big" I see in magazines, all these supplements promise mircles, and even wrose I'm classified as a "Hard Gainer". So I ask everybody, Is weight lifting hard? Should we blam people for now getting off their ass?

Getting the weights is the easy part. People in this earth are both undedicated and lazy. People might lift weight, but they dont eat right and stop because they dont see results. Some times people don't have a lot of determination, like they could be going for a while but they get too "busy" and stop going. Personally getting the weights and lifting is easy. And eating right is someone i have to do to see my results. But i love what i do, i love eating in class when people are staring. I love going to the school after school and working out with my friends, but some people are lazy and get bored. And go to the gym for a week and never, ever go again. But to answer your question is weight lifting hard?, no but you need to change your lifestyle, which most people can't do.
-Mike

No. It's not hard.

But it does require passion. And the desire to do it every day or at least enough to make it a habit.

The qutting, the starting, the qutting.. that makes it seem hard to the average joe.

What's so hard about "moving" and lifting some weights? Nobody said that most people ever had to go near failure. Nor do they have to bust ass on the cardio machines.

But if you ask many of the people who have failed in the gym, they don't even take 20 minutes a day to walk around the block.

So it's not hard in the physcial sense but it is hard to change your life.

I don't think weight lifting is hard. Just grab some weights and move them. Now if you actually have goals and want to gain or lose, it takes some work... but more discipline than anything.

One of my co-workers is a hard gainer. He said he ate all the time. I hooked him up with fit day and asked him to track his food. He's 5'8" 125 pounds, basically a stick with 5% bodyfat. He found that he is eating about 1300 calories. He doesn't eat breakfast and only eats three times a day. The problem is simple EAT.

I think the biggest thing I have learned from this forum that proper nutrition is the most overlooked aspect of a weight training program. For me I would rate nutrition as 60% of the results. I have total respect for the proffessional bodybuilders. The act of eating is part of the wokout and not done for fun or pleasure. Your body being 17 probably use a ton of nutrients just keeping up with your bodily changes, so gaining requires even more.

In regards to the fancy supplements, get your food on track, then worry about that other stuff. If you want to get a supplement stick the basics, multivitamin, protein powder and creatine when ur ready.

As you get older your metabolism will slow down and it will be easier to gain weight. Something to look forward to now, and when your there you'll miss how you are now...lol lifes funny that way.

i dont know bout you guys but it's kind of like an addiction, at first it's hard to push yourself to go 4 or 3 days a week but then after a few months of consistent training it becomes habit and when u miss a day you get all irritated and anxious, that's atleast how its like for me

Dito on everything everybody said. Consistent effort produces consistent results. The more you put in, the more you get and all that… Improvements in any form should be viewed as results. Either a 5 pound increase in weight or whatever. To look at the big picture and to compare what the guy next to you is doing is very discouraging. It’s the small things that count, all the small things along the way add up over time. Breakfast, eating every three or so hours, good nights sleep, good form, etc… If some guy is naturally gifted and can walk into the gym and have a awesome workout with his mind a million miles away… good luck to him, that’s not me. All those factors contribute to you giving it 100%. Do what you can do and not worry about everybody else. I think that people secretly want someone to hold their hand for them. It’s one thing to hire a trainer and get some tips or whatever, but to start making excuses to not go to the gym because of this and that is just plain lack of “passion”, like MDA said.

You can have the greatest genetics in the world, but if the guy next to you has a stronger will power to succeed, he will leave you in the dust. Every waking minute you have the right to move closer and closer to your goal. Mentally visualizing your next workout or planning in your head what you will have to eat if you are going away for work or something. It’s all up to the person… no one ever made an excuse for being a success; excuses are only made for failure. (Stole that line, and a bunch of the others…)

I am a so called hard gainer as well. I was 6’ around 135lbs when I graduated high school, my parents are naturally thin, I have small joints… and the first gym I had ever belonged to the trainer there pulled out a book and explained to me what a difficult time I was going to have building muscle. He described that my muscle bellies and insertions were inferior to the others around me. There people with prosthetic legs doing Powerlfiting competitons, Squatting and all that. People with all kinds of obstacles in their way, everything in there life is telling them to quit, but they refuse to… mind over matter and all that. Lance Armstrong said it best –

"Time is limited, so I better wake up every morning fresh and know that I have just one chance to live this particular day right, and to string my days together into a life of action, and purpose."

My older brother is a perfect example of someone who doesn't work out- He'd rather not waste the time and effort to lift, run, or any of that stuff- Of course, he doesn't seem in the least bit interested in his health or appearance either, so I guess it's a matter of preference and what you want out of life. It might seem weird to us, but makes sense to him somehow.
As far as lifting weights being hard goes, I think it's definitely hard for someone like my brother to get started since he does NO physical activity at all- Even though everyone should start at their own pace and amount of weight, if you're going from a complete stop to doing any sort of workout, it shocks the body- You might feel sore, and say "To hell with that, I felt better when I wasn't working out at all." Or, you might not like the fact that you get tired after a workout- And a lot of people seem to think that if you work out, that's how you're going to feel all the time. Something's going to hurt, and you'll be tired, so why bother.
I've tried to tell him that the body adapts, and feeling sore and tired is only temporary, but of course he's just one of those people who doesn't seem to care about getting to that point.

Yall are crazy, i think its hard. I love to do it, but after i work out im in pain. I usually take a nap.

guys thats my signature on this forum
when i first joined that is what it was
i think it does become an addiction if you are commited to it
i love it
i like being able to control to a certain degree what my body looks like
that makes me feel like an artist with weights being my sculpting tool and my muscles as the clay
lifting steel and iron makes you hard as steel and iron but i dont think most people want to work for anything anymore
todays society lives in a mcdonalds world, wanting everything instantly
that i think is a horrible way to live your life
i think the phrase "no pain, no gain" because i think it is talking to us bodybuilders and weightlifters
and all in all i think we are an elite group
keep liftin strong guys and gals

later

ps sorry to get on a soap box

well aperently working out is hard i get people all the time saying ohh i wish i was as ripped as you i whish i had those veins i whish i whish i wish
 
the point is if your one of these people who whishes inorder to make that whish come true you have to do something? care to take a quess?

true so true lol it is addicting because once you see results you go AHHHH COOL you become like a cave man ME WANT MORE when i dont workout for a while i go crazy im like you need to workout you need to workout

you dont want it bad enought thats why

man sorry i post once and go crazy
and sorry for mispelling im in a hurry
 
see poeple think they can lose weight by workingout or gain muscle by dieting or lose weight by dieting and gain muscle by working out
this is true but when people cry about how hard it is and how its not working how they would want it its like...........are you straight up retarded you have to work and if its "to hard" for you to not continue on then either you dont want it bad enough or have a low self-esteem and dont care

THOSE LAZY FAT CHMPS THINK BECAUSE THEY DONT SEE RESULTS EMEDIETLY THEY CAN JUST STOP.I AM A 12 YEAR OLD AND IF I CAN DO IT THAN THE 20-30 YEAR OLDS CAN DO IT.

I think I will join in on this.
 
For once in my life I have been the more built one compared to someone who doesn't do weights, it just made me want to continue and get bigger and stronger, the compliments really encourage me to keep going, like friends etc saying that I am getting bigger.
 
Also, living in Australia, this is the off-season for ice hockey and football, so this is my chance to overtake everyone while they arent doing anything physical.