When I first discovered TRP I was surprised by what I found. I honestly don't remember exactly how I stumbled upon this sub but it had nothing to do with exercise. I had just gone through a rough patch with a girl and the messages about the psychology and motivations of women completely encapsulated my emotions at the time, so I dug in. Scattered throughout the posts and mixed in with the foreign acronyms, one subject came up time and time again in the comments: lifting.

I had been working out on and off for about a year and a half and I got down to my lowest weight since high-school, where I still sit. I'm not ripped by any means, but I'm in better shape than the average guy on the street. The benefits of being in shape were - and still are - extremely obvious to me, which is why I got - and still get - extremely frustrated when I see people respond with dismissive comments regarding lifting. For example, in the asktrp sub there are several posts a day in which a poor sap has been "deceived" or cheated on by a woman who's grown tired of his lame ass, or he'll groan about how he can't get a girl. Someone will inevitable pipe up telling him to lift, and on occassion the poor sap will respond with something like "What will that do? I'm still not good looking."

Without going into the tangled web of bullshit that makes a person think like that I want to quickly explain the science behind why we tell you to lift. And to do that I want to tell a short story.

This past Sunday I was with one of my girls and feeling on top of the world. I stopped for a moment and had what I can only describe as a flashback to my days of being a pussy. Two years ago I would have been drunk, depressed, playing video games and watching sports on a Sunday afternoon... getting so fucked up that I wouldn't even be able to form a complete sentence. But today I was sober, with a beautiful woman and sitting on the couch as she was making some stew for me in the kitchen. I had changed a lot. And I was happy.

Mindfulness, or "living in the moment" has played a large role in my change. My environment is also a big factor along with the people who I have chosen to surround myself with. But more than either of those things, I credit lifting (and exercise in general) as the main catalyst that has helped me completely transform my life.

Exercise provides a number of psychological benefits, which are well documented and obvious to anyone who has stuck with a consistent regiment for any period of time --

A study "published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 1999, divided 156 men and women with depression into three groups. One group took part in an aerobic exercise program, another took the SSRI sertraline (Zoloft), and a third did both. At the 16-week mark, depression had eased in all three groups. About 60%–70% of the people in all three groups could no longer be classed as having major depression. In fact, group scores on two rating scales of depression were essentially the same. This suggests that for those who need or wish to avoid drugs, exercise might be an acceptable substitute for antidepressants.

-- Excerpt from a Harvard Exercise and Depression Report

Depressed adults who took part in a fitness program displayed significantly greater improvements in depression, anxiety, and self-concept than those in a control group after 12 weeks of training... The exercise participants also maintained many of these gains through the 12-month follow-up period.

-- Excerpt from a psychiatric study published by the US National Library of Medicine

Beyond the psychological benefits, you will also develop self-confidence as you begin to see your muscles grow. (Do I really need to provide sources for this? Just go to the club and look at how the skinny guys act compared to the gorillas if you want to see the two extremes.) Not only will you feel better about yourself, but you will be measurably healthier. Your blood pressure will normalize, your heart rate will fall within a normal range, and you'll notice a reduction in soreness. If you have lower back pain from sitting at a desk all day, it will be minimized. Your bones will be more resistant to fractures. Your skeleton will age slower. I don't know about you, but to me THAT'S FUCKING COOL. You will literally be a super hero compared to the guy who hasn't set foot in a gym his entire life.

And not only that, for an hour you'll forget about all the bullshit in your life that isn't perfect. That girl who you only fucked once. That girl who wouldn't give you the time of day. That asshole at work who stole your idea. That grandma who ran over your dog. Whatever the fuck it is. Lifting is meditation.

So before you sigh at another comment telling you to lift, think of the benefits. Try it out.