Body image and weight have been a major struggle for me throughout my life. Ever since I was young, I was known as the “skinny guy” and “slender man”. My friends, uncles, aunties, and even parents used to call me that, but deservingly so. I was always taller than my friends, but I would be the same weight or even weighed less than my friends that were four to five inches shorter than I was. I looked awkward and I knew I always wanted to gain weight, but I couldn’t for many different reasons. This always bothered me and was something that was my biggest insecurity. I also hated being the center of attention because I could feel everyone judging me and making fun of me from a distance.
It wasn’t until senior year in high school that I really focused on my weight and made it one of my top priorities. After finishing my senior year basketball season in late spring, I weighed in at 150 pounds soaking wet. At 6’4 this weight is very unhealthy, and something needed to change. It was hard for me to go to school and be seen because I struggled with my confidence and didn’t want anyone to see me. Any chance that I could to be at home, I would take. Being skinny really took a toll on me and I let it ruin my high school experience. So, I looked myself in the mirror and knew I wanted to make an extreme transformation for myself. A week after my high school sports career ended, I stepped into the gym and started strength training. This is where my journey started.
Fast forward to current day, I am currently 205 pounds but more importantly I have found that strength training has helped me grow as a person immensely. Throughout my first couple years of college I have been strength training and eating right on a day to day basis. Lifting weights has so many great benefits to it and I am so glad I found it when I did. The main things that strength training have helped me with is my confidence, my health, and my mind. It does so many wonders and I am feeling so much better because of it. Strength training has allowed me to be the person I always wanted to be and has really helped me come out of my shell.
This spring break, I got the chance to lift weights at a gym that I was unaccustomed to. It was a home gym where people from all over Hawaii come to lift weights at. This particular gym had different types of people, some big and some small. But, after talking to some people at the gym, one common denominator for them is there passion and commitment to strength training. For them at that gym, lifting weights is their sanctuary and what takes their mind of all the tough problems that they have. So, stepping into this new space felt comfortable and easy. They all had the same mindset and passion for lifting as I did, and it made me feel at home. Talking to many of the guys at the gym even inspired me to learn more about what weight training does for a person and definitely made me more invested in this lifestyle.
One of the biggest benefits of strength training is losing body fat. If you are overweight and looking for a routine that can help you diminish body fat, then strength training is a good way to help with that. According to a shape.com article on the benefits of lifting weights, the combination of a low-calorie diet and weight training resulted in greater fat loss than a combination of a low-calorie diet and walking workouts. The article also adds that strength training is better at helping people lose body fat compared with cardio because while aerobic exercise burns both fat and muscle, weightlifting burns almost exclusively fat. To simplify this, an article by Carmen Chai explains that weightlifting helps with the building of muscles, and having more muscle causes you to burn more calories, thus causes a person to lose more fat. In my own body I have realized that my stomach became leaner and more defined from strength training, losing a lot of the fat I had before strength training.
Another positive benefit of strength training is building and creating stronger bones. One might think that lifting can only help you gain muscle, but no it can also help with keeping your bones strong and healthy. In a health.com article written by Jacqueline Andriakos, she points out that weight training is essential because it can help prevent bone loss, potentially build bone, and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures down the line. Furthermore, research done by Gina Shaw solidified that lifting heavy weights over a period of time not only maintains bone mass but can even build new bone. The combination of strength training with a healthy diet can result in strong and healthy bones for a long period of time. I have even noticed immense progress in my own bones, feeling stronger and healthier than I ever did before.
Along with the health benefits that strength training result in, it can also help with a healthy and open mind. According to a HuffPost article written by Sarah Klein, strength training can do wonders for your mental health. Strength training has been linked with reduced anxiety and depression symptoms as well as improved self-esteem. A study by Brett Gordon and others found that in a meta-analysis of 33 clinical trials including 1877 participants, strength training was associated with a significant reduction of depressant symptoms. From personal experience I can attest to these findings because I have found that strength training has helped free my mind. One to two hours in the gym daily can really help my mental state by taking my mind off of anything else and also strengthen my mind by pushing myself thru pain and adversity.
Far Right: Deston Watanabe
Throughout the week at the home gym or my “new space” I was lucky enough to have great conversations with some of the guys regarding what strength training did for them. My first interviewee, Deston Watanabe, touched on the meaning of weight training and what the Lopes gym did for him.
Cole: “How many years have you been training at the Lopes gym in Hawaii Kai?”
Deston: “I’ve been training in that gym for about 4 years now.”
Cole: “How has your experience in the gym been thus far?”
Deston: “It’s been good so far, I go on my own time when no one else goes so I can get in and get out without worrying about someone getting in my way.”
Cole: “How has weight training benefited your mind, body, health and just you as a person?”
Deston: “Well, lifting weights has changed my life, really. Before, I would stay in the house all day and play videogames, but now I feel more active and better overall.”
Another member from the gym I interviewed was Spencer Lopes, the owner of the gym. He too talked about the meaning of weight training in his life.
Cole: “How many years have you been training at the Lopes gym in Hawaii Kai?”
Spencer: “I’ve been training in my gym for about 8 years now.”
Cole: “How has your experience in the gym been thus far?”
Spencer: “Um, it’s been great, it gives me a place to meet all my friends, they all come over to the house and train. It’s just a great activity to do.”
Cole: “How has weight training benefited your mind, body, health and just you as a person?”
Spencer: “Um, it’s helped me be a lot more confident. I’d say strength training has giving me confidence throughout the years. It has allowed me to cope with my anxiety and stress well and it has giving me the ability to play collegiate sports.”
There are many different things that a person can do for a healthier mind and body. For me, that is weight training and eating healthy. There are a lot of factors and sacrifices that a person needs to make to get their most ideal results from weight training. It might be losing an hour or two of sleep in order to go the gym before work, cutting out a certain food that they like, or even missing out on some fun things with their friends or family. Weight training isn’t easy and definitely isn’t for most people. But, if you are willing to work hard and make sacrifices for yourself than weight training can do wonders for you, it definitely did for me.
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