Big Problems by Andy Boyle

Author:Andy Boyle [Boyle, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

WEIGHT LIFTING, AND WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT

Before I regale you with a tale that took me through hell, I’d first like to walk you through a bit of heaven. Or rather, what I think is quite angelic. (And is probably how Saint Michael the Archangel got his well-defined pecs.)

All my research has pointed to one type of exercise that folks repeatedly say gets you the best results in the most efficient way possible: strength training.

Lifting weights.

More specifically, lifting weights with a barbell. Or as I call it, going to the iron church to pray to the lord of gains. (I do not call it that, but I thought adding to the religious imagery would help.)

That means using one of those long pieces of iron, putting weights on the sides, and then using your body plus gravity to move it. It can be scary, it can be hard, but the science shows it’s one of the best ways for you to build and maintain muscle mass when combined with a good diet.

Note the most important words there: “a good diet.”

If you continue to eat like trash, or at least don’t curb some of your more trash-like eating, no matter how often you do cardio or lift weights, you won’t see any improvement.

You can’t out-fit a bad diet.

Not everyone wants to lift weights. I get it. But think of it this way: You know people who have physiques you envy? While they have their own bodies, their own genetics, their own past choices, how do you think the vast majority of them got to look the way they do?

Exercise that involved strength.

One example I’ll cite is Alison Brie. She’s an actress known for her roles on Community and Mad Men, and also for being just a delightful human being.

But when she wanted to take on the role of Ruth Wilder on the Netflix series GLOW, or Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, she stopped doing one thing that had been a regular part of her exercise routine.

Cardio.

She was in generally good shape, she told one magazine, but she wanted to be able to do all her own stunts.2 That meant she needed some help, and to rethink her fitness plan.

Instead, while working with a trainer, Brie focused on one thing: getting as strong as possible.3 That meant traditional barbell work, such as deadlifts, squat variations, and hip thrusts. It also meant pull-ups, push-ups, and other work focusing on her core.

The goal was to get as strong as she possibly could, her trainer, Jason Walsh, told Self magazine.

Now, while most of us don’t need to prepare to portray a wrestler in the ring, the same sort of strength exercises Brie worked on are what many folks do in the gym to get stronger.

The stronger you are, the bigger your muscles get. The bigger your muscles get, the more visually appealing—in a traditional, Western sense—you generally are.

This goes for men and women. From a health perspective, more muscle means you burn more calories at rest.

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