Are You a Lifter or a Cycler?

For those of us who are into fitness, it is sometimes hard to talk about what we do do for our routines. This is particularly true when a fitness lifestyle includes regular weight training. For many people (even those who do it), weight training is still taboo.

The late Jack Lalanne fought this aversion for the eighty years of his career. It simply never went away. People were always somehow against the idea of weight training for anything. That was because they thought it would have adverse effects on both sexes--that it would cause mannishness in women and a muscle-bound state in men.

Lalanne never believed any of this. Thus, he was responsible for getting football players to use weights (something that is far more common nowadays), and women to use them as well. He knew that the prejudices against this type of training were groundless, winning a Mr America title in 1955, continuing to do two-hour workouts until the day that he died at ninety-six. All of his appearances showed him as the epitome of fitness and coordinated movement.

He invented many of the machines that are common in the clubs today. That was after founding many of the establishments purchased by Bally's. The point is that Jack actively promoted what he believed in, which is part of our legacy today. Yet, some of us still have trouble using weights. What is our problem?

Many of us still suffer from the belief that weightlifting will somehow hurt us. That is, it will make us into something that we will ultimately regret--something less than the image we would like to see reflected back in the mirror.This fear may be less prevalent than it was, but it is still with us.

That is why many of us have no difficulty saying "I run five miles every other lunch hour, but drop our voice when we talk about the other days for weight-lifting. In other words, we think it is OK to do an aerobic activity, but not OK to do controlled resistance training. And, that is in spite of the fact that almost every health club today has an entire floor devoted to a virtual myriad of weight-training machines.

The only good thing about this is that people still actually train with weights. It is just that they are embarrassed to say so, That is, we still go through the whole circuit at least every other day in addition to our aerobic training, which is as it should be. But it would be better if we did not feel uncomfortable about our lifting efforts. That could cause us to eventually stop, opting only for some form of aerobics. Or, worse yet, it could make us stop doing any kind of a fitness routine whatsoever. That is the one very sad result of not having faith in what we do when it comes to anything.

Most experts would agree that the best fitness routine is a combination of weight-training and an aerobic activity (such as cycling, rowing or stair-climbing.) The standard health club is set up for this, and there is good reason. This type of training provides for maximum muscle-toning along with cardiovascular development. It is a combination that Lalanne spent eighty tears promoting. And, it is something that most of us deep down know should be good for us. Yet, we shy away from it. Why?

Most likely it is because of that old stigma against weight-lifting. Too many of us are oppressed by this. That is very bad because most of us are coming from current sedentary backgrounds, only vaguely remembering what it was like being out for a sport in high school.Or, we are part of an even greater number who, never having had any athletic experience, are entering "brave new world" of fitness--a place filled with the same old absurdities that Lalanne spent eighty years fighting. That is very sad because we need not only a good cardiovascular workout, but also a responsible weight -training program.

What can be done about this? One can simply be told to endure his or her embarrassment. That is a very Stoic, very stiff upper-lip, very self-reliant and very effective answer. But, for that to work, there must be a conviction that the stigma is absurd in the first place. There is enough proof of that in the real world today, but the human psyche is not easily persuaded. In other words, just knowing that may not be enough, especially when talking about this with skeptical others.

One option when with these skeptics (and there are many) is to focus only on the aerobic portion. Then, if asked what is done when at the club, the immediate answer can be '"Treadmill for an hour or cycling for forty minutes," without getting into anything at all about the use of weights. The advantage is to stay clear of the negative feedback. But the most important thing before that is to be sure within that weight-lifting is indeed as good as Lalanne and a growing number of others believe.

Of course, the better way is to blatantly admit that we do weight-training in addition to aerobic activity. In that way we can try educating the skeptics, who are still living with prejudices that ought to be outgrown. Getting them to actually do so could be a major step in saving our USA from its obesity epidemic and other related health problems. But, the potential good which can come of this self-affirmation is minimal. Therefore, silent perseverance is best for most (unless, of course, we are part of the very small minority who thrive on social dissonance.)

For further thought on weight-lifting as part of a fitness lifestyle order my ebook "Think and Grow Fit"

About the Author

Obese 45 years ago; state champion power lifter 1978; in better shape today at 61 than when on swim team in high school

http://blog.foreverfitness.info

Author of "Think and Grow Fit" the no hype guide to getting fit and staying that way forever

http://www.foreverfitness.info

Author (mark19). Submitted on Tue, 5 Jul 2011 Time: 5:38 PM

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