What weightlifting can teach you about everyday philosophy?

No matter if you are an entrepreneur, a software engineer or you work in an international corporation. If you feel a disconnection between your mind and body, or your wants and “haves”, or you feel depressed. Weightlifting can strengthen your body, soul, spirit, and… understanding.

I have been an existentially perturbed kid. I didn’t work out hard, because I didn’t see a purpose. “You know, I could go above and beyond, but in six thousand years, all the molecules that comprise me at present will dissipate throughout the galaxy. Nothing will remain”. I always had that in the back of my mind. Talking about what this nihilism and sort of meaninglessness brings, I always thought caring about your body and physical proves is ultimate defiance against vagueness stupidity of existence. “Let’s move some weight, why not?”. And that’s how I ripped a tone of benefits. They were not physical benefits necessarily. Let me go over 5 top reasons that are not physiological per se (even if they have physiological components).

1. It increases your positivity.

It moves away your mind approaches seemingly insurmountable obstacles and problems.

It presents your mind a way to surmount the insurmountable by persistent willingness to fail.

When I see a guy who seems overwhelmed or depressed, I can’t stop myself from not inviting him to a gym. I think at least male depression is often rooted, at least in the most part, when a man faces many problems in his life that seem overwhelming or they cannot overcome. They believe they will never overcome and they lose hope. I think lifting is the best solution here. It will not solve all those other problems directly, but it will give you a sense of control over your own life. It will give you a sense that at least physically you are progressing. This is something. This is a small victory that most depressed people lack. I think the “victory orientation” of the brain is the most important component of all. It rewires the brain to show you the worth of trying when you don’t have to try. You can just give up, obviously. That option is always there. But lifting teaches you that if you don’t give up on your problems and instead just keep smashing against them, eventually you are going to break right onto the other side. “You’re wrong! Lifting is a false equivalence fallacy. Lifting weights is nothing equal to the problems I face.”. There is some truth to that. There are people who can say “I tried already and my problems didn’t disappear”. But that’s not what I’m saying. Lifting is a cool thing because you will likely make progress for that effort. It teaches you that if you push hard enough, you will see the reward. That’s a really important thing to teach your brain. Even if all these problems presently seemed insurmountable don’t disappear, it will change how you think about them.

2. Instills the down-to-earth sense of humility.

It doesn’t matter if you experience the highest highs or the lowest lows, the iron will never lie to you. 45lbs plate always weights the same 20kg. That’s not going to change (even though conversion between the imperial metric system introduces inaccuracy). You may be changing around it, but in the end, it’s 45lbs of weight, no matter what. More than 35, less than 50. The weight doesn’t become lighter or heavier and that is grounding. It gives you a point of reference in your life. A reality check. And I believe it also instills a natural sense of stoicism as well. Because regardless if you are coming to the gym happy or depressed, you still have to prepare yourself to that 220lbs bench press, or the barbell will smash your ribcage. It’s the visceral focus that you get prior to that lift, heightened awareness and toughness, that allows you to hit your new personal records. This keeps you grounded and sane because you have to reach that, dig deep into yourself. It’s almost like a form of meditation.

3. It fosters and improves the relationship with consistency and discipline.

Everyone has their own lifting system that works for them. When I lift, I usually do it 5 times a week. Many people would reach burnout because they try to give 100% out of themselves. Giving out 100% almost every day, being fatigued… “Oh my… I have to beat my personal record again?”. It burns them out. A lot of seasoned lifters would say “you should only lift 3 times a week” because training more will raise cortisol. I would say — just feel it out. Experiment with different forms and see what works for you. Everyone’s physiology is different. If I lift only 3 times a week, I don’t reach my full potential, but I know many people who make great results training 3 times a week. I’m not going to the gym, telling myself for a whole day “oh, it will hurt again, it will be strenuous ”. I’m just coming to see what happens. I’m a competitive guy. But sometimes, I don’t feel like I can give 100% out of myself. Sometimes I can only give 60%. But I still show up. And that’s the most important thing for me — keep a habit. Because if you want to make it a part of your life, you keep it a habit. You will see the incredible progression over time. Sometimes you see those guys going to the gym for two or three months 6 times a week, making some gains, burning out, and giving up, saying “it is what it is”. Sometimes I’m tired of giving 100%, but the beauty of the gym is, if you keep showing up, you will progress.

4. It’s really useful to be strong.

I used to always have a strong grip in everyday life. But in these days, we often forget how useful it is to be strong. It’s no longer necessary, perhaps, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word, but if you’re strong, people sense physical strength a lot more than looks. You can have someone who is huge, and size will always be a factor of intimidation to bullies, but oftentimes you will find people who gained functional strength, even if they still slender. They radiate that confidence, strength. It’s good because it signals to potential douchebags that you’re not to be played with. Everything that requires strength, now you don’t need to ask for help. For example — moving houses. Everyone moves from time to time. Levarages, pulleys, etc. are no longer needed — you can use your natural strength. Self-defense is always a factor. Man is a wolf to another man. It’s not ideal, but it is what it is. Most men are not looking for your best interest. The power of arguments has to step back for the power of fists. You might have only a couple of situations in your life when you have to fight. Hopefully, you won’t have any. But if you find yourself in that situation, those situations happen fast. Maybe some crazy hobo throws at you. You cannot prepare for that. Seconds can separate you from a disaster. Even if you know martial arts, street fights become messy. Strength will be your last resort in those situations.

5. It increases your overall sense of wellbeing.

I find when I’m lifting, it’s the time in between the gym I enjoy the most. It’s sort of equilibrium of contentedness life and usually, everyone is sitting at that point between 1 and 10. Let’s say somebody is at the point of 4 just resting happiness, or resting contentedness. When he begins to lift, he might be unhappy going to the gym sometimes: “It sucks, it’s going to hurt”. But even though he’s going to have these spikes of unhappiness when going to the gym, the overall level of happiness that he will have will reach higher plateaus.

From all the things I’ve tried in life, to improve my overall quality of experience, lifting has been far and away the single best thing I’ve ever done in terms of increasing the quality of life at that resting period, just between the lifting. I hope you consider picking up some weights, too!

Thanks for reading! 😊 If you enjoyed it, share it with your friends! Sharing is caring.

PS Before you question my authority, please remember I’m a professional teacher. You should always listen to teachers 🙃

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