"I occasionally do self-improvement stuff for work fell-running, Hula-Hooping, getting up early and despite sincerely appreciating some of it, and saying I'll keep it up, I never do. Until a year ago, when I went to a gym to write about lifting heavy weights. This was, to say the least, surprising. I have never enjoyed exercise: I hated it at school, and worked out in my 20s only as an adjunct to an eating disorder."
"It sucks you in There's an internal momentum to weightlifting: progress is quantifiable, incremental and happens when you persevere with no need for natural aptitude. You get better just by showing up, and that's what keeps me coming. But this is good and bad. We had one of those rare, perfect autumn mornings of golden sun the other day, but I spent much of it in a grey, stale-smelling, artificially lit hangar where they were playing the worst crimes of Capital FM, lifting lumps of metal."
A previously sedentary person repeatedly tried short-lived self-improvement activities but rarely sustained them until a year ago, after a gym visit to write about lifting heavy weights. The person, who never enjoyed exercise and once associated workouts with an eating disorder, adopted thrice-weekly heavy lifting regardless of weather. Weightlifting provided measurable, incremental progress that rewarded perseverance and regular attendance, but sometimes conflicted with appealing alternatives and required tolerance for bland gym environments. The activity emphasized rest between efforts and regular recovery days. The local lifting community included people persevering despite chronic health issues and demanding schedules.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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