What Are The Benefits Of Lifting Weights?

Lifting weights has delivered great benefits to me since I started pumping iron as a teenager.

From ages 14–23 I lifted off and on, and I honestly did not really know what I was doing. As a result of that I did not receive the many benefits of lifting weights.

My form was questionable, my physique was underdeveloped, and my overall athletic ability was not maximized.

I was a second-rate sprinter in college, and I struggled to add new muscle to my frame after I graduated.

It was not until I started to read non-mainstream articles about how to actually build muscle and strength that I started to see real changes.

The misinformation I was being fed by popular magazines was getting me nowhere. The non-mainstream information I was consuming allowed me to start to receive the benefits of lifting weights.

I cannot stress enough the importance of strength training for every human on the planet. Nothing else that you do will make you look and feel better.

If you want to be physically stronger, mentally tougher, have increased confidence, and look like a superhero then the iron is your new best friend.

The top 10 benefits of lifting weights are:

1) You Will Build Mental Toughness

Of all the benefits of lifting weights, building mental toughness is the most important.

Many athletes and lifters today are soft. They play their sport, they get hit in the mouth once, and they quit.

I have seen many athletes who folded at the first sign of adversity when they played their sport. I’ve also seen many people in life who crumble at the first sign when things are going south.

I’ve been injured, had debt up to my eyes, and gone through self-doubt at the beginning of my career as a personal trainer.

Lifting weights and overcoming resistance in the gym helped me develop the mental fortitude to overcome those situations.

When you get through brutal workouts, whether it be bodybuilding, powerlifting, or being out on the track sprinting in the summer, you will build a toughness and moxie that cannot be purchased in a store.

There will be some days when you will not be able to complete all of your sets and reps. It takes the right mindset to get back up off the mat when you have been knocked down.

The mental toughness you build from lifting weights will carry over and have benefits that help out other areas of your life.

2) You Will Develop Confidence

As a youth, my confidence was at ZERO.

I would not dare take off my shirt at a pool. When I wore a tank top to high school one day I was ridiculed for 8 straight hours.

At the of the age of 15, that can break you like Bane broke Batman. I was absolutely broken.

When I arrived at East Stroudsburg University as a walk-on sprinter, I would not even wear the sprinter speedsuit for track and field because a size small was baggy on me.

Nothing looks good on you when you are a young man coming to the weigh-in at almost 6 feet tall and 130 pounds with no muscle mass.

When I began to lift weights and eat like an athlete my body began to change. Along with my physique, my confidence also began to grow.

Tank tops and pools no longer scared me. Talking to women became way easier because no longer was I thinking about looking like a scarecrow when I approached them.

When you begin to pump the iron, your confidence will soar like the Eagles did in Super Bowl 52.

There is nothing better in this world than walking around with 100 percent confidence in who you are.

3) You Will Earn Physical Strength

The hallmark of a superhero has always been physical strength.

When you think of Luke Cage, Superman, and The Hulk the first thing that comes to your mind is “That son of a gun is strong!”

Lifting weights in a progressive fashion will allow you to increase your strength to levels that you could of never dreamed of.

In high school and even in college, I could barely bench press my bodyweight. Pull-ups were a wash and my deadlift was laughable.

Fast forward to my late 20’s and early 30’s and I was able to attain a 260lb bench press, a 100lb weighted pull-up, and a 465lb deadlift.

I have also done walking barbell lunges with 315lbs and hip thrusted 669.5lbs.

I never took anabolic steroids either. I’m not the world’s strongest man but these numbers represent an incredible progression from where I started which was in the gutter.

My bodyweight also went from 130lbs to a high of 182lbs during my first run as a natural bodybuilder. I typically walk around about 162–168lbs.

If you want to get physically stronger than 99 percent of all people on Earth, you should begin to lift weights.

4) You Can Forge A Spectacular Physique

Many folks say they do not care about how they look but I will tell you that many people are not telling the truth.

If no one cared about how they look, why would these same people invest so much time in searching for clothing that hides their fat?

Why would these people buy a smoke and mirrors product like a waist trainer?

Why would these people spend hours dolling up to get ready to go out on Friday night to a lame club?

Because they care about how they look! Everybody does and it is not a bad thing at all.

Caring for your health and your appearance is not vain as it shows that you respect your body.

Some people take it overboard, but there are bad apples in every area of life. Not caring about your health or appearance is disrespectful to yourself and to your quality of life.

The ultimate way to improve how you look is to begin to lift weights. The iron is your chisel and you are the sculptor.

Are you a man who wants to build a bigger chest? Spend time performing dips, barbell/dumbbell bench presses, and push-ups.

Are you a woman who wants to build a bigger booty? Spend time performing barbell hip thrusts, barbell hip extensions, and split squats or lunges.

Genetics will dictate how you look untrained. But you can stretch those genetics to the max by consistently engaging in pumping iron.

There was no way on Earth I was going to walk around my entire life at almost 6 feet tall and 130 pounds.

If you do not like how you look or feel lifting weights 3 to 5 days per week will become your new ally in conquering that thought.

5) You Will Feel Great

Your health is your wealth.

We only have one body but so many folks abuse their body and then wonder why they have so many ailments and so much pain.

While an occasional cheat meal or night out is a necessary part of life, crushing your body consistently with drugs, alcohol, a lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and inactivity will destroy your body.

When you begin to lift weights and live the fit life you will know the difference between when your body is healthy and performing optimally to when you know it will fail an inspection.

As a person who respects their body, the best way to show it that you care is to lift weights to make it healthier, stronger, leaner, and substantially more resistant to pain.

Many people are in significant pain every day because of their daily choices. You are what you do consistently.

There is no better feeling in the world than waking up and feeling youthful, spry, and strong due to your commitment to the iron.

The worst year of my life was in 2007.

After 4 years of collegiate track, I took a break from training. I was super stressed out from relationships and a lack of direction with what I actually wanted to do with my life.

2007 also coincided with me not lifting and eating junk for the entire year. I felt like pure garbage every morning.

Once I begin to lift again in 2008, I felt renewed like Batman escaping Bane’s prison.

The 1 year break is something I would not ever do again, but the lesson of that break showed me how valuable the iron is.

6) You Will Face Weekly Challenges

One of the greatest benefits you will get from lifting weights is the regular challenges that are presented to you when you train.

You will reveal a lot about yourself when you perform RP-21 squats and you only reach 18 of the 21 required reps for the day.

Will you cry and complain that you did not reach 21 reps? Or will you take it personally and make it a goal to reach 21 reps the next time you squat?

As you continue to overcome the challenges that lifting presents, you will build the mental fortitude required to fight through tough times.

I know for a fact that my tenacity in the gym helped me tremendously when I was at the beginning of building my fitness business and times were very lean.

I would think to myself “If I could complete the lunges of death, why am I freaking out about getting clients?”

Nothing I’ve ever done was as hard as the Lunges of Death.

In my mind, if I can do that, I can easily deal with the process of becoming successful in the fitness business.

7) You Will Build Your Foundation

Have you ever seen a building at its genesis?

You might think to yourself, “That place looks like garbage right now. It will take forever to build.”

When you look at that same building 3 years later when the construction is complete you say “That building looks absolutely phenomenal. They made tremendous progress!”

Your body is the same as that building.

When you first begin to lift weights, you will more than likely look bad just like the building at the beginning.

But as you continue to lift, your physique will begin to come together just like the building.

If you do it right, you will look in the mirror and at your progress pictures in a few years and think “All of my hard work and consistent efforts have paid off.”

Developing a building is just like developing your body.

It will be hard to see the finish line at the start. But if you are consistent, you will eventually cross it.

8) You Can Dominate Your Sport

With all things being equal the bigger, stronger, and more powerful athlete wins every time.

How do you get bigger, stronger, and more powerful? By moving relatively heavy weights.

Lifting weights, in addition to my sprint training has allowed me to run fast times in my 30’s and crush some younger sprinters in competition.

Many coaches do not have a grasp on how to lift and therefore they do not have their athletes following a legit lifting program.

When they do attempt to have the athletes lift it always ends up looking like one of the most blasphemous workouts ever complete with partial squats, excessive cussing, and no emphasis on programming.

As an athlete, there is no reason why you should not receive all of the benefits of lifting weights.

Weight training is not the primary means to the end to win in your given sport, like in bodybuilding, powerlifting, or weightlifting.

But being stronger, more powerful, and more resistant to injury will increase your chances of success.

When it is the offseason, it is time to focus on getting strong, muscular, and powerful.

During your actual season, your goal should switch to sustain the strength you gained in the offseason. You can do this with a low-volume lifting program.

9) You Can Almost Bulletproof Your Body

The benefits of lifting weights is not all centered around about building bigger muscles and gaining strength.

Lifting weights is also about making your body highly resistant to injury.

When you are weak and you do not perform any strength training, you are more susceptible to injury.

Lacking strength shows up during activities like helping your friend move. Because you are weak, you have a much higher chance of blowing out your back when you try to lift that couch.

When you have been deadlifting and squatting for years, that couch has almost no chance of causing any injury. Your body is rock solid.

Your joints, tendons, and bones will also be stronger too. There is no fun in being frail and brittle.

10) Your Clothes Won’t Make You

One of my biggest pet peeves is when some folks dramatically overspend on clothing.

Their hope is that the clothes make them look better and will hide their lack of fitness.

I’ve seen cats in $500 jeans, $300 sneakers, $200 shirts, and a range of expensive accessories. Meanwhile, they sport a cheaply made $1 body.

When you are in great, physical condition, you can make the much less expensive clothing look like they were made by a top designer.

As a man, you can go to Marshalls and buy:

•$12-$20 shirt
•$25 jeans
•A pair of basic Chuck’s. Sometimes they have them for $19.99!

After you put the clothes on, you will look like a flat out stud because you are committed to the iron.

As a woman, you can go to TJ Maxx and buy:

•A $15-$30 sundress
•$30 heels

After you put the clothes on, you will look like a cold stallion because you are committed to the iron.

When you lift weights you make every outfit look good regardless of the brand. The clothing doesn’t make the man or woman.

Conclusion

These are the top 10 benefits for why you need to lift weights. Nothing is stopping you from starting your journey today.

I’ll holla at you next time,
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman