I hate lifting

[dimples4christ1]

@servantj Can you swim? You won’t get bulky but it will bring that lean muscle to your upper body.

 

[raceequality]

@servantj Why do you want to put on muscle? For health, to attract women, or something else?

I consider myself a cyclist above all else, and I lift mainly to maintain bone density. As you probably know, you need to do something weight-bearing or your bone density will decrease as you age. The good news is that you don't need to do a ton of lifting for general health. You could get away with something like 30 minutes 3 days per week if you use your time efficiently and don't sit there on your phone.

If you're trying to attract women, you're barking up the wrong tree.

 

[advise]

@servantj I want to join a group class for lifting. That would be way more fun for me. Les Mills pump is a class for lifting but I’m sure there are others. Or possibly CrossFit. If you have access to a class, you should try it—you might love it.

Don’t hesitate to join even if you are not the same (age, gender, whatever) as everyone else in the class. They’re all paying (or getting paid) to be there and they should welcome you! Or fuck them if they don’t welcome you, there’s other classes out there.

Edited for typos

 

[luvforgod]

@servantj Yeah, only doing cardio is just gonna make you look like a wet noodle. If you actively WANT to look muscular, you need to work in strength training.

I've always loved cardio too. I need to work up a hardcore sweat for a minimum of an hour a day, otherwise my depression and anxiety start to spiral. (I'm like a Border Collie. If I'm not run adequately on a daily basis I become destructive and will probably destroy your living room out of spite.)

I was running half marathons on a near daily basis and reaching 80 mpw before I got injured recently. Now I am going out of my goddamned mind. However, I have found a good outlet in dumbbell HIIT and kickboxing workouts (which I turn into dumbbell HIIT with 5 and 8 pound weights).

I was never a biggest fan of strength training either. I think a good way to get started, as a cardio junkie, is to work strength training, bodyweight fitness and dumbbells into your cardio workouts. I've found that it made me want to improve my strength and musculature and I started craving more strength training workouts.

I'm sure you also must know that strength training is important to be a better, stronger, faster runner or cyclist. Just like other sports have to train cardio and do running drills to be better at their sport, we need to incorporate strength training to be better/faster/stronger at our sport.

Also think about the overtraining injuries and biomechanical issues common in running and cycling. Start with strength training (e.g. core and back) that would help you prevent these types of injuries.

That might get the ball rolling for you in strength training and lead you to actually liking it instead of dreading it.

 

[karolina7y8]

@servantj How do you feel about combat sports? Muay Thai is great cardio and conditioning.