Why do you lift weights?

Really…why? The most obvious answer is sports enhancement. Rare is the sport or the athlete that doesn’t employ strength training in their preparations.

I remember back when Pete Rose was advocating for weightlifting among baseball players. It certainly seemed to work for him, but at that time, in Major League Baseball, it was considered taboo.

The comment that I recall hearing was that it would make you “muscle bound.” In other words, you couldn’t move effectively. It seems ridiculous now but it was a widely held belief.

Keep in mind, once upon a time, Tour de France riders would smoke on the Tour because they thought cigarettes opened up their lungs. History sometimes does correct itself.

Charlie Hustle (Pete Rose) forever changed the way players trained for baseball. The game later evolved to where big muscle hitters were everywhere, some (maybe many) using performance enhancing drugs. The era of huge muscles led to another era of greater drug testing and huge scrutiny in the game.

Another 70’s era baseball player, pitcher Rollie Fingers, forever changed the way baseball pitchers trained. Rollie advocated for strengthening of the muscles on the back of the shoulder in order to decelerate the pitching arm once the ball was released.

This was initially met with great skepticism. Now, we know that pitchers at all levels need to focus on strength training for those muscles in the upper back and the back of the shoulder.  If you see a dugout with players using an elastic band and pulling forward, they’re missing the point. 

Injuries happen when a throwing athlete cannot adequately decelerate, or slow down, their arm. That and young pitchers throwing too much junk or too many pitches are real problems in baseball.

So, other than for enhancing sports performance, why do you lift weights?

All females should be doing strength training. All of you. Research clearly shows that bone density in females is heavily impacted (no pun intended) by strength training and weightbearing activities. Osteoporosis can be largely prevented by an active lifestyle.

Some of us are using strength training in the pursuit of the Fountain of Youth. Well, maybe that’s too harsh. We know that adults lose ½-1% of muscle mass each year past 28. Unless you do something. Like lift weights.

Having the ability to lead an active lifestyle as we age adds years to our lives and helps us avoid most of the problems senior citizens have. So it’s not chasing the impossible (our youth), but keeping what we have. And staying active.

It would be easy for me to jump in here and condemn those that lift weights just to look good. For most of us, that’s part of it. Although I really don’t seek big biceps (curls for girls—ask a young person), I do take some pride in staying fit and trim.

And when someone says “you look good for a man your age,” yeah, I like that. I do take some pride in that.

But whatever your reason for lifting weights, I commend you. We would all be healthier if we did that. (Although I still don’t understand dropping weights when you lift.)