> All my fun hobby projects are just jokes

I exercise/lift weights, and you should too. My reps/effort/weight/PRs are a joke. I'm ~50% percentile on strengthlevel.com despite really fucking trying for ~6yrs now.

Many people are better than me at the EXACT SAME THING that I'm trying, at my bodyweight/age/sex. It doesn't discourage me. There is always room to improve. I track every workout, go to RPE 8-9, and try to do progressive overload. Seeing the numbers go up helps. I know it won't continue into infinity, especially as the decades go on... but yknow, I'm building a mentality here, not just a body. And when the weights go down, I'll be in the correct mental space for it.

I _loathe_ every. single. minute. of weightlifting. I'd rather be doing ANYTHING else. But I do it anyway. I think it teaches me things about life.

The only true goal is to grow and be better than yesterday. Effort is the reward.

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littlexsparkee 19 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It helps to know how achy the body gets without it. In my case, the back pain I had from desk work is entirely gone now. If you focus on the form rather than reps and getting through it, paired with some good music, you can reach a focus state. There are off days of course, but I'm surprised that I enjoy it much more than I used to, where my motivation dropped off quickly due to being externally motivated (visible gains). Now it's kind of cool to just see your ability change over time, better balance, capability to do more advanced exercises, etc.

	▲	AlexErrant 18 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Hehe yeah. Perhaps I exaggerate with "I _loathe_ every. single. minute. of weightlifting." More precisely, I never _look forward_ to a workout. I don't hate every squat. In fact, it's (I can't believe I'm saying this) somewhat satisfying in the moment whenever I do decide to go RIR=0. I'm wiped, but like, in a "hell yeah I did that" way. But starting a session? I'm still as reticent as I was on day 1 lol. Maybe someday I'll pick up a sport or something as the others suggest, but I love programming too much to pick up other hobbies >_>

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throwaway384034 18 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> I'm ~50% percentile on strengthlevel.com

That's not the population. It is the average among other weightlifters which is where you would expect to be. Most of the population can't do a pull up.

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skulk 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

6 years of on-and-off trying and I could only get to p50 squat, and even being able to do that feels like a serious accomplishment. ... I should really get back into it huh

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throwaway2037 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is a good post. Low ego. Regarding strength relative to others, don't beat up yourself too much about that rating. It's probably mostly genetics. Just do the best that you can do. I checked myself. I am in the bottom quartile. Horrible really, but I don't care. I can see and feel the difference from regular weight training.

Two questions: (1) Why do you loathe weightlifting? Is it painful, boring, etc.?

(2) If you dislike it so much, how do you find the motivation to continue? Personally, if my motivation is low to do a particular exercise (lift or cardio), I burnout quickly.

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CookieCrisp 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Hear hear! It took me a bit but I've reached the point where I'm enjoying just "growing". I think we grew up in a world that molded us to compete, and to judge ourselves based on others, but I think with AI we're going to reach a point where our hobbies are going to be just seeing what we can accomplish for ourselves.

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sqeak 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I have multiple herniated discs in my back so working out isn't possible. The V.A. wouldn't help with it either... But thanks for the suggestion! I'll be going the way of the people in the article so ya'll enjoy what you got! Many of us have nothing. :)

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AlexErrant 18 hours ago | parent [-]

Perhaps my advice was too narrow/specific to my situation. If you can't deadlift, then don't. But there are many other things you can do, as the other commenters have suggested.

But if you're in the mentality of _not wanting_ to have anything, then all the advice in the world will bounce off you.

My suggestion, then, is to work on that mentality. Do something to get you anything, to get you out of that "Many of us have nothing" mindset. Build momentum. Physically doing something is often what it takes to break a mental barrier. The mind spirals and digs a hole, especially at night. But you get to participate in life/society/people during the day, which is why doing bodily things affects the mind and can break its loops.

You won't "win" on the first attempt. But you'll make progress. And the real win-condition is to keep playing.

The first step is always the hardest. I wish you the best.

	▲	cindyllm 16 hours ago \| parent [-]
		[dead]

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faeyanpiraat 19 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Try doing some sports as well, I do weightlifting, but I do bouldering as well with friends, it is not only fun it also develops your strength in a kind of complementary way to lifting (also increases you stats on balance and other related stuff)

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albinowax_ 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

50th percentile on there is pretty strong! I've also lifted for around six years and I'm very light so my raw numbers are terrible but I'm still proud of them