As of this past Saturday I have finally decided to stop lifting.

Let me first say I've dedicated a substantial amount of my life to lifting and dieting. I'm not some redditor who never body built. I'm also now 37 years old and I can say with certainty there's nothing in it to be gained any more. This is why I'm stopping. I can elaborate further though....

1. At this age no one cares that you lift and are in shape. People just don't give a f*ck. It's different when you're younger because physical appearance is so much more important to everyone. Now it's like ok good for you but I don't really care at all that you're jacked or if you're a fat obese slob. You win no special points for putting in the effort. This is also true with women. They're more interested in your money than your muscles past the age of 35.

2. Adding to the point of #1, no matter what I do at this age I still won't look very good. The physique is only one part of being attractive. The reality is even by being good with diet and staying active, I still look old. Or at the very least, I look older. No amount of lifting can change this and it's very discouraging to put in so much effort knowing that your ceiling is so limited because you simply cannot turn back the clock to look like you did when you were younger. I'm talking about in the face here. Physique has arguably been better in my 30s than my 20s.

3. Everything hurts. And I'm not trying to sound like a beta bitch here but it's impossible to recover and enjoy the workouts when it feels like I'm just endlessly trying to make it through the workout. There have always been times things hurt over the years when I was younger so this isn't about pushing through to when those nagging injuries eventually pass. I can still go and suck it up. The difference now is that those nagging injuries seem to have no end in sight. Before I could work around them and after awhile get back to feeling good and in a good rhythm. Now I just endlessly manage the nagging injuries every single workout. It sucks.

4. Adding on to #3, I can't really make progress. Part of this is being older too and part of it is if I'm always managing the smaller nagging injuries I'm never in a state where everything can be clicking so it's f*cking hard to actually feel like I'm making progress. All the effort goes to just maintaining and that's seriously sucking the joy out of lifting in the first place.

5. Everyone else is obese. The bar for people thinking you look good is so low and you really don't get extra points for clearing the bar higher than need be, unless you clear it so high you're gracing the cover of magazines which I'm not and that's more of a status thing that people are attracted to anyway fyi. So if the bar is low and there's no points for clearing it much higher than need be what's to be gained by obsessing over it so much and dieting perfectly for that small extra edge that no one even notices except me?

6. I don't f*cking want to live forever. So before anyone says you should do it for your health and for yourself ask are you really looking forward to being 70 years old with the way the world is heading? Sh*t even if the world wasn't a sh*tshow are you really looking forward to being 70+ years old and breathing air just to breathe it? I know I'm going to lose most of you on this one and that's ok. But my goal in life really is not to live as long as humanly possible. It's just not worth it. If things are bothersome now I can't imagine how much it's going to suck at that age.



So that's it. I'm done. There's really nothing to make this worthwhile any more. I just want to rot as fast as possible. Reality is I'm maybe giving up 3 years early before I hit my 40s. Once you're 40+ it's for sure over. Everyone lifting in that age bracket and trying to care about their appearance is in cope mode. Your time is up and all that's left is a slow march to death and I suppose being so close to that stage I figure might as well get an early start to rotting away.

Tom Brady has entered the chat.

Busy trying men?

It's true I haven't met anyone that cares about lifting since 2013. I can't even fit into xl shirts and I can't get stronger naturally. Does anyone care if I rep 225....no.

I'm 231 lbs and still feel skinny when I'm out in public too because everyone is obese now

Yep


I'll probably go workout tomorrow after I'm done with this mini temper tantrum, but truth is I'll go back to working out because I'm mentally broken and it's all that I know to do. When I really think about it the logical thing really would be to just stop and be done. But I'm broken so I have no doubt I'll go back and continue being miserable with nothing good coming from it for me.

spending a lot of time lifting/dieting is silly. just do stuff you actually enjoy to stay fit and maybe 1 or 2 days a week cycle through some machine weights to help maintain muscle/bone health...probably don't even need that if the stuff you like involves resistance.

I kind of imagine that no matter the age, the better one looks the better they feel? I'm talking more emotional than physical because aches/pains increase with age

I enjoy working out, so I work out, even though I'm about to be 34 this year. Working out a few times a week is more fun than being weak and out of shape. All there is to it.

If it feels like that big of a hassle, you're doing it wrong.

I'm more productive when I workout but part of that might also be when I stop working out I stop eating properly too. Like, I lifted Saturday morning and have since binged on sugar and pizza for now entering the 4th straight day without working out at all.

But then you think, productive with what? Work stuff? Who f*cking cares about work stuff anyway? All it does is makes me a better slave for someone else so my there's really not any value in being more productive either. Like I said just let me rot and watch amazon prime and play app games on my iphone until I die. That's what I've been doing for 3 days straight plus throwing in the occasional team meeting for work this week. Haven't even gotten dressed. Only showered every other day so far.

Are ppl in their late 30s that lift and look good just on tech?

Chris elkins
Chestbrah

Should I also stop lifting at 35?

I’m currently 30

I'm 37 and OP is wrong and a little b*tch.

I'm working on my sub 6min mile this year and STARTED boxing.

That said, I don't lift heavy anymore, I've had it with injuries to joints.

30+ mantra is...

Be healthy
Avoid injury
Be sexy

You sound burned out. I hit this phase at 25 so you’re a bit late to the game, but my advice would be to take a break and then genuinely try to figure out a frequency and routine that you ENJOY.

Run, play a sport, do martial arts - and mix in some lifting or calisthenics 1-2x per week. DO NOT LIFT FOR OTHERS because you’re correct - nobody really gives a fuk - this is ultimately what’s burning you out.

Sounds like your programming is chit.

What a load of crap

Well that's the thing is that it doesn't help us apparently. I'm huge but it means nothing now? Idk how big you are. Idk anyone my age that lifts anymore. Nobody talks about irl either. I could go to the gym and there would be plenty of 6ft 250 lb guys like Sam Sulek in there too that are on the whole pharmacy. Idk it just feels pointless to me.

Other than shoulder injury I don’t have any other injuries

Late 30's checking in, and I feel it's more important now than ever before. I hate the feeling of being even a little bit out of shape. Both physically and mentally feel like complete chit if I'm not training my ass off. But, not everyone is cut out for it.

Have you thought about trying men instead pheggot?

whiny little bitch thread ----->

Find other things to do that keep you in shape. I mix in Muay Thai, BJJ, Judo. Lifting is only part of the game, and a tedious one at that due to the repetitive nature of it. Start a martial art, climbing, running, hydrox, buy a trials bike. Loads of chit you can do to break the pure lifting days up.

Sounds stupid. But hey, fuk you

grinding away at boring repetitive lifting doesn't really mean in shape. just don't eat too much, eat some healthy foods, stay active and stay prayed up

If ur married in late 30s y even lift

I know u will say for health but still

This pseudo-alpha meathead drivel is the worst part of the lifting community.

Half of your reasons consist of how other people see you. If that's why you lift then you may as well quit.

I'm 49 and I start to feel lethargic and chitty all the time if I take any extended amount of time off lifting.

Yeah you have to work around soreness and injury, and yeah you don't male progress like you used to, but the alternative is to feel old and that's worse.

Try men

lulwut?
The worst part of the 'lifting community'(misc), are the daily threads from non lifters about why they don't even lift.

a natural course...lifting was traditionally a thing a very small amount of somewhat autistic people did until it got trendy for silly reasons. if you enjoy it knock yourself out, but you can still pursue health without it.

If u lift to live like Zyzz and pull sloots what age is too old for that