8/16/06
I have been seriously bodybuilding/power lifting for 4 years now. For some reason I have been questioning why I lift. When I was in high school I lifted and trained because I wanted to be the strongest and fastest I could be for football. During the summer after high school and before I went to college, I stayed motivated and kept on training. I had no real reason why to train.
The reason I kept on training at school was because we have power lifting competitions at my college. They are just for bragging rights and it is intramural. I made many friendships through the two competitions which I believe is more important then being the best lifter.
This summer after my first year of college, I then questioned why I lifted. I always had basic reasons why I lifted. When I was younger, I wanted to get in shape and not be chubby. Then I lifted because I wanted to be strong for football. The first year of college I trained for power lifting competitions. I then questioned myself for lifting for the sole purpose of power lifting competitions. Why does it matter if I win my competitions at school? Who cares if I can deadlift almost 2.5 times my weight? Why am I tossing around heavy bars and dumbbells for no reason?
I then realized why I really lifted this summer. I thought of all of the times I was frustrated with something then went to the gym, hit the weights, then felt great. It was a way that I got rid of the stress that I had. There is also a deeper reason why I lift though.
Can you remember being a young child and having no cares in the world? Woke up at 5:30am for no apparent reason but to just wake up. Never were stressed out, did not know the concept of being stressed out. Then going into high school one has to get good grades to go to college. After that, one has to do well in college to obtain a good job. Then maintaining a job in order to live independently is extremely stressful.
There is only one place that I forget all of these stress causers. Can you guess? The gym of course. It is the only place where I can forget everything and not have a care in the world but lifting heavy objects. It’s the only thing that brings me back to the carefree attitude that I had as a young child.
This is the reason why I power lift and train so hard.
Whats your reason for lifting? Everyone has there own unique reasons that can not be captured in one sentence. If I can get some feedback on this that would make my day. Thanks guys
.
-nick