Giving Up

[skjill]

When you were actually trying to get strong, as opposed to merely staving off death, did you ever have a workout or series of workouts so discouraging that you considered giving up altogether?

What kept you going?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't know. But discouraging workouts fade with time, while being a pussy would be permanent.

[Fiddler]

I'm gonna type that up and tape it to the wall in the gym.

[Mark E. Hurling]

What kept you going?

Not giving in to accepting being a weak fuck who had trouble getting up off the toilet.

[nykid]

I don't know. But discouraging workouts fade with time, while being a pussy would be permanent.

Lol. Cracked me up.

[David Kirkham]

What kept you going?

Dude. I've never had that bad of a workout. Everyone blows it. I blew my squats (again) tonight. But I PR'd my press. Find a win somewhere and just keep going.

The greatest irony of all is you have to be strong to run the marathon of life. I enjoy life so I lift to keep running.

[Alexander Dargatz]

What kept you going?

You have to live with your choices. Who do you want to be? Do you really want to give up without even trying? And do you really want to try half-hearted, in an alibi-workout? Can you look yourself in the eyes afterwards? How do you get self respect?
Do you want to be weak or strong?

For me, it's never been a question of motivation (maybe i'm mentally deranged). For me, it's rather the opposite question: when should I be smart and rather not push through pain or overtrain? I sometimes do too much being afraid of giving up/doing not enough.

[This Old Man]

I used to lift with a young fellow whose goal was to deadlift 2.5x his own body weight. He was a big guy, and 2.5x his body weight came out to well over six hundred pounds. It was a significant challenge even for him.

He trained very hard, and one day while going for a PR he pulled his hamstring off his hip bone. He had to have surgery to repair it, and while he was out recovering, he came down with a MRSA infection.

He was very discouraged. He had to take several months off, maybe a couple of years, but eventually he healed and came back to lifting. I think he eventually made his goal a couple of years later.

Being stubborn helps.

[rmscott_75077]

what keeps me going?

About 10 - 15 years ago I could not squat my own weight but sure could run. I used to visit my grandfather as much as possible in the nursing home. His legs were too week to walk. His case is not unique. The nursing home is a very depressing place, but also a good eye opener. I decided after one visit, I was going to do what ever is required so that my legs are as strong as possible till the day I die. I don't want to be trapped like that with out doing everything in my control to prevent it from happening.

[greywar]

When you were actually trying to get strong, as opposed to merely staving off death, did you ever have a workout or series of workouts so discouraging that you considered giving up altogether?

What kept you going?

Watching relatives and friends degenerate into piles of immobile goo for no reason before dying in their 50s helps keep me going and was why I started in the first place.