Vision

Building Muscle = Ego?

93 posts in this topic

Besides the benefits of exercising by itself (e.g. endorphins, reduced anxiety, BDNF, etc)...

Are there any benefits to building muscle other than looking good? Or is it just to please the ego out of vanity? 

Edited by Vision

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Of course there are benefits. Not an expert so i can't exactly list them. You please your ego out of vanity only if you are in front of the mirror all the time and take selfies and post them online like a monkey believing that you are the muscles and that your body will not grow old ugly and weak and eventually die. Still nothing wrong with it after you realize that you are not your muscles or tits or whatever and that forming a sense of self from these things that come and go is an unstable foundation. 

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Being alive = Ego, Do what you want but come from a healthy place

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Everything done out of desire or need is driven by ego but that does not mean these things are bad. As @BlackMaze said don't do it to show off and pick up girls (ofcourse that's a benefit) but do it for better health and longevity and so that you can enjoy greater health and can focus on what's really important such as your LP. For a male, quality of health increases proportional to how much lean muscle tissue you have but it does not have to be excessive nor should it be fake (e.g. using steroids, and 20 chemicals in huge plastic pots). 

Aim at acquiring muscle through natural means (calisthenics & bodyweight) combined with some iron work so that you also work on your agility, flexibility and overall mobility rather than being big and stiff


“If you find yourself acting to impress others, or avoiding action out of fear of what they might think, you have left the path.” ― Epictetus

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var mymuscle = x

var visionmuscle = get_muscle_size(vision)


if mymuscle <= visionmuscle:
	mymuscle += mymuscle
      
else:
	beatup(vision)
      

 

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PURE EGO. I've been personal trainer for 12 years. I've met lot of bodybuilders and they have a huge narcissistic ego. Once I had a discussion with a bb pro about his training system which was scientifically wrong and stupid, he instead of accepting the critique tokk that as a personal attack to his ego.

Dont want to generalize but often they are dumb and just accept flattery, other than that are attacks.

usually the muscle development is a compensation for psychological issues, feeling inferior, small...

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8 minutes ago, Rajneeshpuram said:

PURE EGO. I've been personal trainer for 12 years. I've met lot of bodybuilders and they have a huge narcissistic ego. Once I had a discussion with a bb pro about his training system which was scientifically wrong and stupid, he instead of accepting the critique tokk that as a personal attack to his ego.

Dont want to generalize but often they are dumb and just accept flattery, other than that are attacks.

usually the muscle development is a compensation for psychological issues, feeling inferior, small...

and you took it as an attack to your ego not accepting your advise. unless he was doing really bad execution or something, there is no such thing as scientifically incorrect. you lift you eat you gain.

Edited by ilja

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1 hour ago, ilja said:

and you took it as an attack to your ego not accepting your advise. unless he was doing really bad execution or something, there is no such thing as scientifically incorrect. you lift you eat you gain.

You dont understand the situation. I exposed in social media that his system was wrong so newbies dont fall in his mistake. He became so anger that said if I countinued exposing his mistakes he'd go to my home to beat me.

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7 hours ago, Vision said:

Or is it just to please the ego out of vanity? 

It depends on your mindset about it. There is a certain point where building muscle becomes pure ego, but doing it to be healthy and fit doesn't need to be about ego.

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1 hour ago, Rajneeshpuram said:

Once I had a discussion with a bb pro about his training system which was scientifically wrong and stupid, he instead of accepting the critique tokk that as a personal attack to his ego.

Dont want to generalize but often they are dumb and just accept flattery, other than that are attack

Sounds like you have a huge orange shadow there my friend. Remember that this person is probably doing what he thinks is best to be happy and to feel loved with the knowledge and information and resources he has available. This person is not stupid, they just have a different worldview to you. Make sure not to look down on people just because they are at a different stage of perception of reality. We are all growing and learning from our own mistakes. Looking back at my teenage years, I can see a lot of dysfunction but that's ok, at that time I though that was the best thing to do. 

Perhaps you need to put more work into your self-development as well if you perceive your clients as stupid and dumb. 


“If you find yourself acting to impress others, or avoiding action out of fear of what they might think, you have left the path.” ― Epictetus

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This is the wrong attitude. You want a healthy Ego man. So yes go lift weights so you can be strong for yourself and others. 

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Let's be honest with ourselves.  If you are working on getting big muscles it's typically for vanity reasons.

There is the occasion where senior citizens work out to strengthen themselves purely for health reasons.  But they aren't looking to get big just to strengthen.  This can be the case for younger adults too - but by and large people wanna get bigger and stronger for vanity reasons not for health reasons even though those come along with.

As was stated, it doesn't have to be a bad thing- as everything is purely relative.   But should be recognized. 

This is not to discourage weight lifting its awesome! And If you are working out with weights purely for health reasons that's fine I'm just stating what is typically the case...even those who do it for health only may find themselves flexing in the mirror...


 

Wisdom.  Truth.  Love.

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Working out moderately (or intensely, but only for a few exercises) at the gym 3 or 4 days per week is fine and healthy. However, if someone becomes obsessed with it, it's an issue.

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2 hours ago, Rajneeshpuram said:

PURE EGO. I've been personal trainer for 12 years. I've met lot of bodybuilders and they have a huge narcissistic ego. Once I had a discussion with a bb pro about his training system which was scientifically wrong and stupid, he instead of accepting the critique tokk that as a personal attack to his ego.

Dont want to generalize but often they are dumb and just accept flattery, other than that are attacks.

usually the muscle development is a compensation for psychological issues, feeling inferior, small...

Would rather have them then don't.Just your opinion same as theirs. :)

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4 hours ago, Michael569 said:

Sounds like you have a huge orange shadow there my friend. Remember that this person is probably doing what he thinks is best to be happy and to feel loved with the knowledge and information and resources he has available. This person is not stupid, they just have a different worldview to you. Make sure not to look down on people just because they are at a different stage of perception of reality. We are all growing and learning from our own mistakes. Looking back at my teenage years, I can see a lot of dysfunction but that's ok, at that time I though that was the best thing to do. 

Perhaps you need to put more work into your self-development as well if you perceive your clients as stupid and dumb. 

I dont have any orange shadow, I just wanted to expose wrong claims to prevent people of injury. This person had  a infantile reaction, with anger and violence this is stupid no matter what. I'm not pretending to feel superior, I just avoid conflicts, and this kind ogf guys interpret any disagreements with a attempt to his honour and other paranoids.

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1 hour ago, Rajneeshpuram said:

I dont have any orange shadow, I just wanted to expose wrong claims to prevent people of injury. This person had  a infantile reaction, with anger and violence this is stupid no matter what. I'm not pretending to feel superior, I just avoid conflicts, and this kind ogf guys interpret any disagreements with a attempt to his honour and other paranoids.

alright alright relax.

@28 cm unbuffed  your name kinda is already big ego.

 

Edited by ilja

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Pretty much. Why would you want bulging muscles? Only to feed your self-esteem.

But exercise for health is not ego. But exercise for health will not give you bulging muscles. It will make you fit and lean.


You are God. You are Truth. You are Love. You are Infinity.

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19 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Pretty much. Why would you want bulging muscles? Only to feed your self-esteem.

But exercise for health is not ego. But exercise for health will not give you bulgingmuscles. It will make you fit and lean.

for strength. you feel differently when you have proper muscles, every physical activity is lighter and you have an overall feeling of satisfaction through your muscles.

Edited by ilja

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