Why are people so obsessed with gymming and lifting?

[Azerate]

Because regardless of how advanced we become as humanity, we still worship the most basic things such as athletic body, physical stamina, looks. Many people genuinely believe that people who are fit are better human beings than those who aren't.

Lets rather talk about why people even wanna pay for a gym membership. I tie my shoes and 30 mins later im done with my 5k run. It costed nothing. If I wanna do strength work I can just do some exercises at home, or go to a local park that has some items like a chin up bar, so I can do 10 of them, break do something else and so on.

TLDR; Gym is overrated, and you dont need it. Free shit is better.

I am one of the people who pay for gym membership for my runs. Here's why:
-an electronic treadmill has proper surface to run on which is easier on your legs
-it's easy to set up a phone/tablet/tv and watch whatever you want while running
-in the winter it's too cold to run outside, and in the summer it's too hot to run outside,
-random people aren't getting in your way on the pavement
-no obstacles, streets etc. that will stop you and mess up your schedule/system
-you can control the speed and height without relying on your flawed judgement, when I used to run outside I tended to slow down as I was getting tired without noticing, on a treadmill this won't happen because you input the speed and that's how fast it moves no matter what

So yeah, it is definitely worth spending money because I can do what I wanna do in a comfortable, reliable way. The convenience is well worth it. Sure you can go for a run for free, you can also bake your own bread for free, make your own burgers, build your own furniture etc. to save some money, but usually people prefer to spend some money to have it done for them. Free shit is not always better.

[nocturnus]

I used to be an insurance examiner. People who spend a lot of time at the gym or, even worse, run as their primary form of exercise, are considered risk factors, not healthy people. While being obese may strip a few years off of your life on average, doing the types of exercise people here are advocating is going to shred your knees and back by age 50.

Do a moderate amount of simple body weight exercises at home. That’s all you need to do to maximize health benefits, and it doesn’t come at the cost of your joints and back, which are significantly more likely to ruin your later life than any other health problems that could be caused by lack of exercise.

We are even starting to see scientific evidence that too much exercise may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Ultimately, this stupid obsession a lot of people have with “health” is asinine. A lot of people just want an excuse to shit on overweight people, when in reality being a shitty driver or drinking a little too much is FAR more likely to shorten your life or ruin your health than being overweight. Again, this comes from working in insurance, so there is copious amounts of math backing this.

Bottom line, don’t eat too shitty, do a moderate amount of body weight exercises at home, and you’ll be fine.

Running is bad for your knees and an extremely inefficient way to burn calories, we already knew that.

Spending "a lot of time" in the gym doesn't really say anything; it all depends on what you do and how you do it. The number one cause of unhealthy weight lifting is doing exercises improperly and where I'm from, insurance companies don't even ask whether you go to the gym or not when they calculate your insurance premium. They do, however, demand to know if you smoke, for instance.

Being overweight isn't just horrible because it could shorten your life, but also because it massively decreases the quality of your life.

[Djuntas]

Because regardless of how advanced we become as humanity, we still worship the most basic things such as athletic body, physical stamina, looks. Many people genuinely believe that people who are fit are better human beings than those who aren't.



I am one of the people who pay for gym membership for my runs. Here's why:
-an electronic treadmill has proper surface to run on which is easier on your legs
-it's easy to set up a phone/tablet/tv and watch whatever you want while running
-in the winter it's too cold to run outside, and in the summer it's too hot to run outside,
-random people aren't getting in your way on the pavement
-no obstacles, streets etc. that will stop you and mess up your schedule/system
-you can control the speed and height without relying on your flawed judgement, when I used to run outside I tended to slow down as I was getting tired without noticing, on a treadmill this won't happen because you input the speed and that's how fast it moves no matter what

So yeah, it is definitely worth spending money because I can do what I wanna do in a comfortable, reliable way. The convenience is well worth it. Sure you can go for a run for free, you can also bake your own bread for free, make your own burgers, build your own furniture etc. to save some money, but usually people prefer to spend some money to have it done for them. Free shit is not always better.

Easy on your knees? I have never heard anyone say a treadmill is good for that.
Watching content while your exercising is to much....Look around, enjoy the nature and shit where you run. Getting out not looking at a screen is nice.
To cold to run? What climate are you in, norway or canada? Here in cold Denmark its not a problem...your warm after 1 KM, just wear gloves, a hat and long running pants.
Random people.-..like dog walkers? Or do you live in a very urban area.
No idea what you mean by obstacles, again you must live in like New York if thats an issue.
Control the speed? I just use a smartwatch to run with. Tells all I need to know...But Endomondo thats free also works fine for your phone. I can easily control my phase/speed, I know when im slacking off or not...You just dont know your body well enough...I can tell excatctly how fast im going by the 30 sec's....So 5.30 or 6.0 mins pr km etc. I usually stay around 5.30


Again, if you live in a big million people city I get it but else...

Also @Akka "So basically : convenience and efficiency."

Do you really need 75 different machines...Now a days people meme shit that they dont even wanna go outside of their home to do shit, but are fine with going down to the gym, when you can easily just save time and do it at home...Again as I said unless you are very pro about it (That means its not just health, but if you're literally competiting) I dont get it...Only thing I like about gyms is the courses...Its fun I guess. Anyway I know that if I wanna run all it takes it to get my shoes on, step outside and im done 30 mins later.

[durrtygoodz]

Lest we forget that Sam Bennett couldn't do a single pullup at the NHL combine.

Proficiency in the gym does not necessarily equal athleticism, and I'll take my athleticism over "gains" any day.

How are pullups sport specific to hockey?

[Kathandira]

gym is tricky because society expects men to go gym but not women. also you waste a lot of time on gym if you dont do it with having clock in mind.


Id say gym is good if its 30min per week 3 times max... or 2 times 40min.. If you do it too often its just waste of time. I know it because I used to spend MANY hours weekly in gym and it was huge waste of time.


Whether it will give you mental benefits depends whether people will compliment your posture or not

Depends on your goals imo. If you are aiming at power lifting as a hobby, 30m 3 days a week is too little time spent.

But if you are just trying to maintain a slender figure, 30m of high intensity cardio 3 days a week could benefit you.

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Staying healthy is good but I've always thought gyms were pointless.

You can exercise just as well if not better in your own apartment .. you only need some weights, a mat and a pair of running shoes.
Other than that it's

-free
-don't have to be around random people and interact with them, good if you're introverted or self conscious
-saves time as you don't have to waste any on driving there and back
-more flexible times, you don't have to care if the gym is closed whatnot
-you can combine exercise with actual work that needs doing like cleaning or yard work

Depends on your goals. If you just want to keep a nice figure, sure, at home workouts will keep your slender and toned. If you want to build some serious muscle mass, you'll need more than a few dumbbells and a yoga mat.

[Revi]

Staying healthy is good but I've always thought gyms were pointless.

You can exercise just as well if not better in your own apartment .. you only need some weights, a mat and a pair of running shoes.
Other than that it's

-free
-don't have to be around random people and interact with them, good if you're introverted or self conscious
-saves time as you don't have to waste any on driving there and back
-more flexible times, you don't have to care if the gym is closed whatnot
-you can combine exercise with actual work that needs doing like cleaning or yard work

As someone who used to think that too, let me share why I changed my mind.
- You very quickly outgrow whatever dumbbells you have at home, and building a complete home gym in prohibitively expensive.
- The access to professional equipment and space gives you much greater variation in the exercises available to you.
- Going to a gym helps mentally, by removed distractions and being in a space dedicated to what you want to do.

Working out at home can work just fine, but most people have more success maintaining their habit in the gym than at home for a reason.

[Kumorii]

Depends on your goals. If you just want to keep a nice figure, sure, at home workouts will keep your slender and toned. If you want to build some serious muscle mass, you'll need more than a few dumbbells and a yoga mat.

highly depends on your initial size and what dumbells you got...Hell, even most pro people prefer dumbbells, even at the gym. because it trains stability muscles more than bars. Though bars are good for heavy weights. You can build muscle with either, but sure, if you wanna go strongman you need to lift heavy af which gets expensive at home real quick.

[justandulas]

First, your body is your one and only temple. It is all you have. Take care of it

Second, to look attractive to the opposite sex. No girl wants to date a fat guy, and no guy wants to date a fat woman. Being attractive helps find higher quality mates

[nocturnus]

highly depends on your initial size and what dumbells you got...Hell, even most pro people prefer dumbbells, even at the gym. because it trains stability muscles more than bars. Though bars are good for heavy weights. You can build muscle with either, but sure, if you wanna go strongman you need to lift heavy af which gets expensive at home real quick.

Hypertrophy does require substantial weight, but yeah, you don't need a gym. Just decent equipment like TRX suspension straps, for instance.

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First, your body is your one and only temple. It is all you have. Take care of it

Second, to look attractive to the opposite sex. No girl wants to date a fat guy, and no guy wants to date a fat woman. Being attractive helps find higher quality mates

What you're saying is true, in the greater, general sense. Just don't forget that attraction is subjective. But yeah, fat people are generally regarded as physically unattractive.

Being attractive doesn't only help you find more attractive mates (not better "quality" mates), but also has a positive effect on almost every other aspect in life; work, meetings, social gatherings, business deals, etc.

[Kathandira]

highly depends on your initial size and what dumbells you got...Hell, even most pro people prefer dumbbells, even at the gym. because it trains stability muscles more than bars. Though bars are good for heavy weights. You can build muscle with either, but sure, if you wanna go strongman you need to lift heavy af which gets expensive at home real quick.

Totally. Thats really all I meant. At home dumbbells and resistance bands are great.

[Nynax]

I used to be an insurance examiner. People who spend a lot of time at the gym or, even worse, run as their primary form of exercise, are considered risk factors, not healthy people. While being obese may strip a few years off of your life on average, doing the types of exercise people here are advocating is going to shred your knees and back by age 50.

Do a moderate amount of simple body weight exercises at home. That’s all you need to do to maximize health benefits, and it doesn’t come at the cost of your joints and back, which are significantly more likely to ruin your later life than any other health problems that could be caused by lack of exercise.

We are even starting to see scientific evidence that too much exercise may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Ultimately, this stupid obsession a lot of people have with “health” is asinine. A lot of people just want an excuse to shit on overweight people, when in reality being a shitty driver or drinking a little too much is FAR more likely to shorten your life or ruin your health than being overweight. Again, this comes from working in insurance, so there is copious amounts of math backing this.

Bottom line, don’t eat too shitty, do a moderate amount of body weight exercises at home, and you’ll be fine.

I'm pretty sure that running thing was debunked years ago...

Certainly, my life's personal anecdotes, all the older people I know that have always been runners are the most physically mobile and definitely not the ones with knee problems.

[justandulas]

Hypertrophy does require substantial weight, but yeah, you don't need a gym. Just decent equipment like TRX suspension straps, for instance.

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What you're saying is true, in the greater, general sense. Just don't forget that attraction is subjective. But yeah, fat people are generally regarded as physically unattractive.

Being attractive doesn't only help you find more attractive mates (not better "quality" mates), but also has a positive effect on almost every other aspect in life; work, meetings, social gatherings, business deals, etc.

Yea I didn’t mean that in a demeaning objectifying way. I just meant it in a purely biological stand point.

The same person, if fat, could be stunning if in shape. Being healthy and fit not only helps your attractiveness to a mate, but gives you confidence that’s equally attractive

[Krekal]

As someone with a lot of mental issues, gymming has done wonders for me

Ever since I started, I
Sleep regularly
Eat healthy
Not sad as often
Feel motivation and drive
Skin has improved
Physical health has improved
It's easier to focus


I look forward to the gym, and I think anybody who makes it their hobby or lifestyle are right in doing so. Some people make partying their lifestyle, ruining their bodies and mind chasing their high, some people make fucking bottled ships their lifestyle

[Soj88]

Lets rather talk about why people even wanna pay for a gym membership. I tie my shoes and 30 mins later im done with my 5k run. It costed nothing. If I wanna do strength work I can just do some exercises at home, or go to a local park that has some items like a chin up bar, so I can do 10 of them, break do something else and so on.

TLDR; Gym is overrated, and you dont need it. Free shit is better.

Total bs. What you put into the gym, you will get out. A gym has alot of kit that you wont have at home. If you just do chin ups, 5k runs and body weighted exercises then you'll only go so far.

The true answer is what do you want from the gym, its broad spectrum and just saying you dont understand why people pay membership shows you dont really understand yourself. Each to there own on what they want.

A gym can give you powerlifting and bodybuilding and much more than a casual 3 day week.

[Djuntas]

Total bs. What you put into the gym, you will get out. A gym has alot of kit that you wont have at home. If you just do chin ups, 5k runs and body weighted exercises then you'll only go so far.

The true answer is what do you want from the gym, its broad spectrum and just saying you dont understand why people pay membership shows you dont really understand yourself. Each to there own on what they want.

A gym can give you powerlifting and bodybuilding and much more than a casual 3 day week.

Yea, but 99% of the people paying for a gym is not your kind of people. If you train like you write here it makes sense, but for me the hole meme (Cause meme's are always true) with paying for a gym membership and not even using it...Or just going there to do casual stuff you can do for free at home...Actually sec, i'll look it up for my own country Denmark...Ok, found numbers for 2014 (Bit dated, but looking at it quickly its probably worse now) made by Yougov an analytical firm...20% of people who paid for membership said in a survey they dont even use the membership the last 30 days...

These gym memberships are just milking people for money. Tie your shoes, get out and run and do some strength exercises...Who wants to sweat inside a room with 20 other dudes next to you...Its piss warm, and then you haft to deal with there germs when they dont wipe machines off.

[skakruk]

It's the ideal beauty standard now for men to be bodybuilders. Most of us will probably live long enough to see it change again though, so prioritizing a healthy back over bulging biceps might not be the dumbest thing.

Yeah... but when have big muscles ever been unsightly, truly?

[Akka]

Also @Akka "So basically : convenience and efficiency."

Do you really need 75 different machines...Now a days people meme shit that they dont even wanna go outside of their home to do shit, but are fine with going down to the gym, when you can easily just save time and do it at home...Again as I said unless you are very pro about it (That means its not just health, but if you're literally competiting) I dont get it...Only thing I like about gyms is the courses...Its fun I guess. Anyway I know that if I wanna run all it takes it to get my shoes on, step outside and im done 30 mins later.

Seem to me you "don't get it" only because you simply completely ignored everything but the sum up "convenience and efficiency". If you don't want to bother to read the actual detailed arguments, that's your problem.

[Nynax]

Yea, but 99% of the people paying for a gym is not your kind of people. If you train like you write here it makes sense, but for me the hole meme (Cause meme's are always true) with paying for a gym membership and not even using it...Or just going there to do casual stuff you can do for free at home...Actually sec, i'll look it up for my own country Denmark...Ok, found numbers for 2014 (Bit dated, but looking at it quickly its probably worse now) made by Yougov an analytical firm...20% of people who paid for membership said in a survey they dont even use the membership the last 30 days...

These gym memberships are just milking people for money. Tie your shoes, get out and run and do some strength exercises...Who wants to sweat inside a room with 20 other dudes next to you...Its piss warm, and then you haft to deal with there germs when they dont wipe machines off.

At least in the States, that actually IS the business model. Sign people up for year long contracts, and hope only a minority actually use it. Most gyms don't have anything near the capacity to actually handle having ALL of their members as weekly regulars.

[jackofwind]

How are pullups sport specific to hockey?

They're not, that's my point.

Even a top 5 NHL draft pick (who is obviously very athletic and has excellent conditioning, and was the #1 NA ranked draft member at the time) isn't necessarily able to do popular gym-specific exercises like pullups.

Being drafted 4th overall without being able to do a single pullup is pretty good evidence that they aren't all that meaningful outside of the gym.

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Yeah... but when have big muscles ever been unsightly, truly?

Roid monkeys are pretty unsightly. I have yet to meet a girl who thinks that mass-focused BB's (like Masone) are attractive.

[Djuntas]

At least in the States, that actually IS the business model. Sign people up for year long contracts, and hope only a minority actually use it. Most gyms don't have anything near the capacity to actually handle having ALL of their members as weekly regulars.

Can't say im surprised. Again if the 1-5% gym-goers gets something real out of it, but...like im in class now with some younger people...And im like...please, your pencil arms and physique is as average as mine (I have no real strength besides doing reps on the chip up bar at my local park now and then and some stuff at home)...you really think gym is gonna change that, your just wasting your money and time for something you can do at home for free....But alas they talk about their gym going like its important...Im like bitch please, go try run with me and say thats not more fruitful than your instagram-light workout.

Anywho, courses are fun. Last time I paid for a gym I did try crossfit, and fun enough my brother is deep into it...So if you are serious about it, then it makes sense, but 95% of the people who pay dont.