Lifting Weights

[KarateKen]

I have not lifted in months because I hate it. I have always hated it. I hate the entire process. It's boring, it's tedious, it is a pain in the butt, and I feel sore and painful the next day. I have worked with personal trainers and both times it started out where I was going to make myself do it and slowly dwindled away until I quit all together. My question is, how many of you hate lifting and are committed to it anyway, and what advice do you have to make it less miserable?

[DarthPenguin]

I will answer from a slightly different answer with things that i find work for me (multiple options)

- firstly work out if it is lifting you hate or certain lifts: eg i never liked bench press and biceps curls much, so in the past i neglected them and focused more on deadlifts etc which was a mistake! (due to my build i am much more suited to pulling than pressing exercises). Now i consciously make an effort to plan in those exercices (and maybe have erred slightly too far in that direction!).

- make a plan in advance and stick to it. I don't even mean a session by session plan. My current routine was planned out for 6mths in advance: it has key lifts that need done and then i am allowed to fiddle with the accesories based on feel.

- write down / enter into an app the workout before you start it so you aren't just going by feel.

- i am very very sceptical of personal trainers. I know a couple of decent ones but , from what i have observed, most are useless. Look into their credentials a lot if you decide to pay them. Tbh for what a lot of them charge i would personally use one of the highly rated online coaches as i at least know they are good in their field.

- give yourself a metric to evaluate performance using. This is based on lifting to benefit another sport (eg a martial art!). Lift for a bit and see if your flexibility has improved; kick has gotten harder; throw X has gotten more explosive etc.

- take a look at the modality you are following. Eg some may love kettlebells and hate barbells and hence progress better; some might find weighted bodyweight exercises like push ups work better for them; some olympic lifts etc etc.

Anyway they are just some thoughts, hopefully of some use to you!

[Zaine]

DarthPenguin has a lot of great tips here, and I don't think I could have said it better myself.

However, I do want to offer another way of looking at this. Why do you have to lift weights? What is your goal in lifting weights? There are so many ways to work out and to get healthy. Is this to supplement your martial arts? Weights can certainly help, but it's not a requirement, there are other exercises that you can do! The best way to make exercise and self-improvement a habit is to find something that you enjoy doing. For me, that is riding a bike. I can easily motivate myself to ride a bike, but it's difficult to motivate myself to lift weights.

[DarthPenguin]

Very good points from Zaine: we have both looked at different points on the decision tree (As it were). My comments are based on "given you are going to lift weights what would help with doing so", his are based on the even more fundamental step of "should you lift weights yes or no"

I totally agree with him though. Weight training is very beneficial (in my opinion) but not essential. What i would say though is i personally have always found it to be beneficial to martial arts and additionally there is a lot of research linking strength / muscle training level to greater quality of life in later years. There is also a lot based on using grip strength as a predictor of longevity.

These don't have to be achieved by weight training though: a strenuous calisthenics routine can achieve a lot of these goals (just look at gymnasts) or other activities such as climbing.

For those that say there is no need to strength train in martial arts i would refer them to pictures of some of the old time guys: they are usually built like the side of a barn! Even slightly more modern: look at the Karateka Terry O'Neill (i am a member of a KUGB club so he comes to mind straight away) in his youth. Also look at the Hojo Undo equipment used in the past and the equivalents used in China too. Body conditioning and strengthening used to be viewed as important parts of training and it is only relatively recently i think that this has waned (whether the waning of this and the rise of McDojos ran by people who look massively out of shape is a coincidence isn't for me to say!)

[Nidan Melbourne]

I have not lifted in months because I hate it. I have always hated it. I hate the entire process. It's boring, it's tedious, it is a pain in the butt, and I feel sore and painful the next day.

I understand that, as your training your muscles and whole body in a way that it isn't typically accustomed to.

I have worked with personal trainers and both times it started out where I was going to make myself do it and slowly dwindled away until I quit all together.

Depending on the PT you get and where, they are a hit and miss. Because they are [usually] forced to get people in and signed up to a gym membership.

That's why you might find that they don't do a thorough assessment or history before starting up.

But for me (I'm an Exercise Scientist which is above a PT, so Bachelors Degree), I have also programmed in for me, a lot of things that I don't necessarily have to use the gym for. So Karate, swimming, walking or anything else I can do on my own, with my daughter or attend a class.

My question is, how many of you hate lifting and are committed to it anyway, and what advice do you have to make it less miserable?

I do find lifting tedious every now and again, but my trainer has done my programming in a way that it is specific for my goals. And also the movements he has me doing, is related to my Martial Arts Training.

But also I find music to help with my training as a whole, and that I actually realised today when I was at the gym that I have different tastes when it comes to different movements.

So for example any PUSH movement I do country, but any PULLING movement is Rock.

But when it comes to Explosiveness (i.e Deadlift) I have to have AC/DC.

- i am very very sceptical of personal trainers. I know a couple of decent ones but , from what i have observed, most are useless. Look into their credentials a lot if you decide to pay them. Tbh for what a lot of them charge i would personally use one of the highly rated online coaches as i at least know they are good in their field.

I'd be careful about Online Coaches, even though they are "good in their field", you don't actually know if they are who they claim to be.

Even if they are 'real', they can't program appropriately for you let alone provide you with advice on your current state of health.

Part of the minimums that I work with, along with PT's who should at a minimum be getting:

- Pre-Exercise Questionnaire

- Base Healh Standards (Heart Rate - Resting, Blood Pressure*)

- Appropriate Minimums (Exercise Testing)

*Unless there are absolute contraindications requiring you make an appointment with your doctor

give yourself a metric to evaluate performance using. This is based on lifting to benefit another sport (eg a martial art!). Lift for a bit and see if your flexibility has improved; kick has gotten harder; throw X has gotten more explosive etc.

Film yourself when doing whatever it is your wanting to see an improvement on, so you can have a visual guestimation of the differences between reps when evaluating performance.

[Zaine]

For those that say there is no need to strength train in martial arts i would refer them to pictures of some of the old time guys: they are usually built like the side of a barn! Even slightly more modern: look at the Karateka Terry O'Neill (i am a member of a KUGB club so he comes to mind straight away) in his youth. Also look at the Hojo Undo equipment used in the past and the equivalents used in China too. Body conditioning and strengthening used to be viewed as important parts of training and it is only relatively recently i think that this has waned (whether the waning of this and the rise of McDojos ran by people who look massively out of shape is a coincidence isn't for me to say!)

Interestingly, while I generally have a lack of motivation to do weight lifting, I am easily motivated to do work with hojo undo equipment such as the Chi Ishi and the like. I think that it's because I connect to the hojo undo work more directly to karate. I understand that doing squats with a weight rack can be easily traced to improvement in kicking power, but doing it with hojo undo equipment makes me feel like I'm improving my karate more, somehow.

[DarthPenguin]

All good points from Nidan_melbourne there - tbh as an exercise scientist by trade his opinion is likely a very good one to listen to!

I do hear you on the online coaches too, i don't use one but was just thinking of ideas outside the local PT. Personally i like to read up on things and if i am unsure of benefits etc. i run stuff by my brother in law (he is a CSCS, a professional strength coach for a sports team and has degrees in exercise science) but am aware not everyone has that as a sounding off board!

The health points are all very very good ones too - need to be fit to train!

Totally hear you on the music bit too - i have certain songs i unconsciously time for certain lifts (hadn't realised it until i just thought about it after your message!).

The filming point is also a good one - on top of filming what you want to see an improvement on it might be worth filming your exercise technique too and looking over that

[DarthPenguin]

For those that say there is no need to strength train in martial arts i would refer them to pictures of some of the old time guys: they are usually built like the side of a barn! Even slightly more modern: look at the Karateka Terry O'Neill (i am a member of a KUGB club so he comes to mind straight away) in his youth. Also look at the Hojo Undo equipment used in the past and the equivalents used in China too. Body conditioning and strengthening used to be viewed as important parts of training and it is only relatively recently i think that this has waned (whether the waning of this and the rise of McDojos ran by people who look massively out of shape is a coincidence isn't for me to say!)

Interestingly, while I generally have a lack of motivation to do weight lifting, I am easily motivated to do work with hojo undo equipment such as the Chi Ishi and the like. I think that it's because I connect to the hojo undo work more directly to karate. I understand that doing squats with a weight rack can be easily traced to improvement in kicking power, but doing it with hojo undo equipment makes me feel like I'm improving my karate more, somehow.

Makes perfect sense to me - you are still performing resistance training but just varying the equipment based on personal preference!

[Nidan Melbourne]

For those that say there is no need to strength train in martial arts i would refer them to pictures of some of the old time guys: they are usually built like the side of a barn! Even slightly more modern: look at the Karateka Terry O'Neill (i am a member of a KUGB club so he comes to mind straight away) in his youth. Also look at the Hojo Undo equipment used in the past and the equivalents used in China too. Body conditioning and strengthening used to be viewed as important parts of training and it is only relatively recently i think that this has waned (whether the waning of this and the rise of McDojos ran by people who look massively out of shape is a coincidence isn't for me to say!)

Interestingly, while I generally have a lack of motivation to do weight lifting, I am easily motivated to do work with hojo undo equipment such as the Chi Ishi and the like. I think that it's because I connect to the hojo undo work more directly to karate. I understand that doing squats with a weight rack can be easily traced to improvement in kicking power, but doing it with hojo undo equipment makes me feel like I'm improving my karate more, somehow.

Hojo Undo counts definitely; especially with the Okiniwan Tools/Items they use for training.

Especially when it comes to grip training, and from what I know about some of the items grip is greatly improved. not something that normal exercise items can really train in the same way.

Which is something a lot of people actually overlook when training.

[bushido_man96]

I look at lifting weights as taking medicine. I do it because I want to be able get myself off the toilet when I'm older. I'm doing it because I want to do TKD into my 70s. I'm doing it because I plan to be independent until the day I die.

Loaded skeletal movement has all kinds of benefits. Increasing the muscle mass of your body is good because the muscle requires a lot of energy from your body. Therefore, those with higher muscle mass tend to have higher resting metabolic rates; the body is burning more at rest in order to keep those muscles up. Increasing muscle mass can also be a boon to those lean towards diabetic issues from being overweight. Muscle mass going up and body fat going down helps out there. Weight training (especially with barbell exercises like the squat and deadlift) also increase bone density, which is exceedingly important as we age.

You mentioned the soreness aspect. It's possible to lift three days a week and not experience a whole lot of soreness. When I started it up seriously, I did squats, and upper body press movement, and then deadlifts, all in the same workout, three days a week. I was sore for about the first week, but after that, I didn't really experience a lot of soreness, and I was still increasing the weight each workout. So you don't have to be in a steady state of soreness to be improving. "No pain, no gain" is a silly and outmoded concept. Now, as one gets stronger and starts pushing his/her limits more and more, then there could be days here and there where some soreness sets in. But by and large, it doesn't have to be that way.

Finding a good barbell coach is tough, too. And good ones will be pricey. Coaches that have the Starting Strength Coach credential (SSC) are very good; they know how to coach the squat, press, bench press, deadlift, and power clean very well, and they know how to program the lifts. There are Starting Strength Gyms popping up in cities all over the place; if you're in the US, there might be one nearby, and you can probably reach out for a coaching session. If you don't have one in your area, many SSCs have online coach options that are very thorough, and they have a good system with parameters set in place for getting the best quality video footage of your lifts so they can evaluate technique. They also have some good software to illustrate the stuff back to you. Again, they are pricey, but they are good at it.

I don't know that I could say that I hate lifting. I've never been as strong as I'd like to be, and the stronger you get, the harder it gets, for sure. I never enjoyed grinding out sets of squats at 380 lbs. But when I finished the set and racked the weight, I felt pretty darn good about myself.