What I can confirm about that article is that doubling my strenght would matter absolutely nothing in my daily routine; I can’t remember the last time I had to lift something heavier than a pack of water bottles. Also I am not overweight and I don’t suffer from any physical pain in particular (yet), so my brain ended up framing that article as “you’ll feel miserable for an hour thrice a week, but at least you’ll solve problems that you mostly don’t have”. Which is not exactly great for motivation.
This is a massive misread of the article. The benefit of lifting is the feeling of joy in the merely material, and of transforming the feeling of being embodied from a feeling of trappedness to a feeling of capabilities being granted to you.
Until I’d gained some muscle, I didn’t know that getting out of bed shouldn’t actually feel like much, physically, or that walking up a bunch of stairs shouldn’t tire you out, or that carrying groceries around shouldn’t be onerous. I felt cursed by the necessity of occupying space while shuffling around this mortal coil. And now I do not. Moreover, I no longer feel that I need some special justification for existing, because simply residing in the material is now a privilege.
The first time I moved apartments after I started seriously lifting, I enjoyed it. I had always suffered while moving before lifting, ending up sore and tired and cranky, but after lifting, I didn’t feel any negatives.
I’ve heard that often, when someone who says, I don’t care about strength, what’s it good for, I’ve no use for it, etc. actually gives weight training a try and gets the noob gains, then funnily enough, you don’t hear that from them again.
I don’t care about strength and have no use for it; several years of lifting later, I have gotten my noob gains and still have no use for strength (with the exception of possibly helping with some occasional back pains I used to have). Nothing in my daily life hinges on my deadlift doubling—not even carrying in the groceries.
Chapin is describing a range of gains—“Until I’d gained some muscle, I didn’t know that getting out of bed shouldn’t actually feel like much, physically, or that walking up a bunch of stairs shouldn’t tire you out, or that carrying groceries around shouldn’t be onerous. I felt cursed.” If you can remove a general feeling of being cursed and get a license to live in the material world, wow! If you can solve chronic pain with strength training, great! If you can climb stairs without getting tired, a lot of people already can, but good! If you can carry groceries, like most people can, okay!
Since most normal people’s gains will fall in the last two types (for real, what percent of the people feel they “need some special justification for existing” because they’re physically not-that-bad-kinda-on-the-weak-side?), you have a point that for a lot of people who already can do things without bother, this won’t move the needle. Yet, for many who can do these things, doing them without bother may be nice (and prospectively under-appreciated) - feeling less exhaustion in your life generally and having more energy to do things you really want to do are quite good benefits.
But even if the benefits are more trivial than Chapin characterizes, I think your characterizing the costs as “feel[ing] miserable” is a bit much (though obviously everything is subjective here). Again, for some, sure, it’s misery. For most, it’s challenging and uplifting and potentially even energizing (especially after the first couple workouts).
So, we have Chapin claiming (BB−c), and I suggest it’s probably more like (B−c) or at worst (b−c), either of which should be more motivating than your (b−C). But I agree the benefits seem trumped up by Chapin.
What I can confirm about that article is that doubling my strenght would matter absolutely nothing in my daily routine; I can’t remember the last time I had to lift something heavier than a pack of water bottles. Also I am not overweight and I don’t suffer from any physical pain in particular (yet), so my brain ended up framing that article as “you’ll feel miserable for an hour thrice a week, but at least you’ll solve problems that you mostly don’t have”. Which is not exactly great for motivation.
This is a massive misread of the article. The benefit of lifting is the feeling of joy in the merely material, and of transforming the feeling of being embodied from a feeling of trappedness to a feeling of capabilities being granted to you.
The first time I moved apartments after I started seriously lifting, I enjoyed it. I had always suffered while moving before lifting, ending up sore and tired and cranky, but after lifting, I didn’t feel any negatives.
I’ve heard that often, when someone who says, I don’t care about strength, what’s it good for, I’ve no use for it, etc. actually gives weight training a try and gets the noob gains, then funnily enough, you don’t hear that from them again.
I don’t care about strength and have no use for it; several years of lifting later, I have gotten my noob gains and still have no use for strength (with the exception of possibly helping with some occasional back pains I used to have). Nothing in my daily life hinges on my deadlift doubling—not even carrying in the groceries.
Chapin is describing a range of gains—“Until I’d gained some muscle, I didn’t know that getting out of bed shouldn’t actually feel like much, physically, or that walking up a bunch of stairs shouldn’t tire you out, or that carrying groceries around shouldn’t be onerous. I felt cursed.” If you can remove a general feeling of being cursed and get a license to live in the material world, wow! If you can solve chronic pain with strength training, great! If you can climb stairs without getting tired, a lot of people already can, but good! If you can carry groceries, like most people can, okay!
Since most normal people’s gains will fall in the last two types (for real, what percent of the people feel they “need some special justification for existing” because they’re physically not-that-bad-kinda-on-the-weak-side?), you have a point that for a lot of people who already can do things without bother, this won’t move the needle. Yet, for many who can do these things, doing them without bother may be nice (and prospectively under-appreciated) - feeling less exhaustion in your life generally and having more energy to do things you really want to do are quite good benefits.
But even if the benefits are more trivial than Chapin characterizes, I think your characterizing the costs as “feel[ing] miserable” is a bit much (though obviously everything is subjective here). Again, for some, sure, it’s misery. For most, it’s challenging and uplifting and potentially even energizing (especially after the first couple workouts).
So, we have Chapin claiming (BB−c), and I suggest it’s probably more like (B−c) or at worst (b−c), either of which should be more motivating than your (b−C). But I agree the benefits seem trumped up by Chapin.