Is it worth to lift weight, or I am wasting my time?

[Loritah]

After 2 years hitting the gym, and loving every day, I am now wondering if it is all worth it?
I love working out, I don't lift weights like a body builder or anything, I enjoy it, but have not seeing a great change, and the other thing that is making me so angry is my joints hurt.
First my knees and now my shoulder :-( I wonder if I am doing more damage than good to my body???
Still my arms are flabby, after trying 1000000 exercises, I eat as healthy as I can without killing myself or being too strict, but again I am 5'3 and weight 123, but the fat wont go away and I refuse to starve myself!
I am 39 YO, so I wonder if I am getting old or what? Is it worth it? Am I suppose to drink supplements to see better results?

[PurmaBulker1984]

If you enjoy it then it's definitely worth it. There are so few healthy, enjoyable activities. If you have found one you like stick with it.

Now for the joints. Picking up on the signals from your post. When you say you don't work out like a bodybuilder, does that mean you aren't using a real program. The problem with making up your own routine is that you may be doing too much low weight volume, which wears on the joints. Sounds like you need to take a few week break from what you were doing to heal. Try some active rest like sports, hiking, or even elliptical if you hate everything else. Then come back on a real program that moderates volume and has deloads built in for joint recovery.

[BS57]

After 2 years hitting the gym, and loving every day, I am now wondering if it is all worth it?
I love working out, I don't lift weights like a body builder or anything, I enjoy it, but have not seeing a great change, and the other thing that is making me so angry is my joints hurt.
First my knees and now my shoulder :-( I wonder if I am doing more damage than good to my body???
Still my arms are flabby, after trying 1000000 exercises, I eat as healthy as I can without killing myself or being too strict, but again I am 5'3 and weight 123, but the fat wont go away and I refuse to starve myself!
I am 39 YO, so I wonder if I am getting old or what? Is it worth it? Am I suppose to drink supplements to see better results?

Weird, everyone I know who half-asses things are generally happy with their results.

[Loritah]

Weird, everyone I know who half-asses things are generally happy with their results.

I like my back, and my legs, but can't get it right with my arms,they look like a 200 pound women.
I do follow a program, change it every 4 months, I don't over do it, 3 - 4 reps 10 to 15 each, I do weights 3 times a week, 2 days I do cardio.

[Garage Rat]

The benefits out weight the negatives of not doing anything.
You might want to get a trainer for awhile to get you going in the right direction with training technique and programing as well as sound diet program.
The fat will not go away without an eating and training program focused on losing fat just to be real with you.
If you feel good with what your doing then stick with it.

[air2fakie]

You can switch certain exercises you do w/ equivalent ones that'll be easier on your joints (e.g., free weights to machines/cables for certain things). You're being overly critical of your arms, but what exercises are you doing for them specifically and is it the back of your arms that are flabby or the same overall? You can try to tone the problem areas but you will need to adjust your diet too - it's not that hard to make changes to reduce calories and also make sure you're getting enough protein, etc. You don't need to starve. Keep at it - esp if you enjoy it - you likely are way better off working out every day than if you didn't.

[Loritah]

You can switch certain exercises you do w/ equivalent ones that'll be easier on your joints (e.g., free weights to machines/cables for certain things). You're being overly critical of your arms, but what exercises are you doing for them specifically and is it the back of your arms that are flabby or the same overall? You can try to tone the problem areas but you will need to adjust your diet too - it's not that hard to make changes to reduce calories and also make sure you're getting enough protein, etc. You don't need to starve. Keep at it - esp if you enjoy it - you likely are way better off working out every day than if you didn't.

One of my mayor problems is getting more protein, I do have enough after the gym, (morning) and a good amount at lunch, and snacks but dinner not so much, (i don't always eat dinner)
I am doing cable pull (with a good amount of weight) and bench dips (maybe not doing enough?) so it is my triceps the biggest problem

[ncsuLuke]

Sounds like you need to dial in your diet and pick a real program and stick with it. There is no need to change every 4 months.

Track your macros, eat in a caloric surplus, follow a real program, and lift with some real intensity and you will see a lot more progress.

[air2fakie]

One of my mayor problems is getting more protein, I do have enough after the gym, (morning) and a good amount at lunch, and snacks but dinner not so much, (i don't always eat dinner)

Definitely add dinner to your new diet routine - esp since you said you don't want to starve. You can go lighter on carbs, but get a decent amount of protein in the hours before you go to sleep.

I am doing cable pull (with a good amount of weight) and bench dips (maybe not doing enough?) so it is my triceps the biggest problem

Bench dips are great, just be careful they or your form doing them aren't aggravating your shoulders. Tricep kickbacks and extensions help tighten that back part of the arm closest to the body, but you still need to reduce the fat. If you do a good overall workout program and get your nutrition in order, the arm flab will go away on their own.

[AZLRS]

After 2 years hitting the gym, and loving every day, I am now wondering if it is all worth it?
I love working out, I don't lift weights like a body builder or anything, I enjoy it, but have not seeing a great change, and the other thing that is making me so angry is my joints hurt.
First my knees and now my shoulder :-( I wonder if I am doing more damage than good to my body???
Still my arms are flabby, after trying 1000000 exercises, I eat as healthy as I can without killing myself or being too strict, but again I am 5'3 and weight 123, but the fat wont go away and I refuse to starve myself!
I am 39 YO, so I wonder if I am getting old or what? Is it worth it? Am I suppose to drink supplements to see better results?

Loritah, I definitely feel you. Kind of feel similar way about training myself. I guess it all boils down to how exactly you are tackling the tree main components:
- training regularly (we all skip workouts due to work/other issues)
- food quality (we all eat junk some time)
- sleep quality (at least 7+ hours per day for an average person)

At least in my experience, it was very hard for me in general to stick to the best practices in all three of those.

Having said that, I would you should ask yourself if it's worth it, because it's definitely is.

Probably you would agree that you would have felt worse if you hadn't exercised at all. If I were you, I would try to figure out what exactly is causing the pain and fix it so as not to receive an injury by continuing status quo.

All the best,
Alexander

[Natty1980]

First of all 2 years is a decent amount of time but not a very long time for a natural.
Second: I wonder what you mean by "I don't lift weights like a body builder or anything". Results are proportional to commitment. Little intensity, frequency, volume --> little results. Also, you don't need "1000000 exercises", 2-3 per muscle group are sufficient to obtain 90% of the results.
Then consider your diet: eating healthy is not necessarily a prerequisite for muscle growth. In order to grow you need to eat more calories than you burn. This is mandatory, consider it the no. 1 rule of BB: your body obeys the laws of physics. Moreover you need to hit your protein intake target (about 100-120 g / day for you), fat intake target (60-70 g for you) and get sufficient animal protein to have a full AA spectrum.
On the other hand you can get rid of fat by eating less calories than you burn. So the two objectives (growing muscles and cutting) are usually achieved in different times.
Usually one wants to put on a decent muscular mass before cutting, which is easier and more rewarding aesthetically.
Once you do everything right for 6-12 months without improving, then you can complain about lack of results and investigate further the cause, but I guess that won't be the case. Age matters but not too much, there are excellent examples of people who started after 40 and got outstanding results in the forum.

[LactoseTolerant]

I don't lift weights like a body builder or anything

That's like saying you kinda drive a car but you're not trying to get into Formula One. It's possible to be a good driver without winding up a professional racer but some people seem to think being a bad driver is the only alternative.

[jademonkey]

123 is not very heavy for 5'-3"

But sure you may still have some fat. That has little to do with the gym and a lot to do with eating. To lose fat you need to sustain negative calories.

Also, how often and what do you do at the gym? If you go often and work hard, you tend to burn calories and build muscle. If you go every now and then, you tend to not really get anywhere and yes, you may get joint pain cuz your joints never get the chance to be accustomed to the loads.

My guess is you should get on a program that has you doing each movement frequently enough to get your joints up to par, heavy enough to stimulate muscle growth. And then from there, you decide if you want more or less total body weight. If you want less fat, eat less than you burn. If you want more muscle, eat more than you burn and work hard in the gym. Not hard = moving all the time. Hard = 8-12 reps super hard then rest a few minutes.

[t_raven]

Sounds like you don't know what to expect from what you are doing.

Excercises won't make your arm fat go away or tighten up loose skin. If you have a "flabby" area, you need to lose fat, and that's a full body process. Unfortunately for a lot of women, arms are one fo the last places they lose fat.

"I eat as healthy as I can without killing myself or being too strict", none of us know exactly what that means. You might be eating clean, or you might be eating like total chit because you don't know what healthy eating is.

Even if you change nothing and you maintain, isn't that better than giving up and getting weaker and fatter year after year?

[Loritah]

Sounds like you don't know what to expect from what you are doing.

Excercises won't make your arm fat go away or tighten up loose skin. If you have a "flabby" area, you need to lose fat, and that's a full body process. Unfortunately for a lot of women, arms are one fo the last places they lose fat.

"I eat as healthy as I can without killing myself or being too strict", none of us know exactly what that means. You might be eating clean, or you might be eating like total chit because you don't know what healthy eating is.

Even if you change nothing and you maintain, isn't that better than giving up and getting weaker and fatter year after year?

Hahahaha Thanks for the replies!

I eat 70 - 30 more or less. Hit the gym 5 times a week. My breakfasts are very healthy (I add protein, carbs, and fat), Snack: high protein muffins (I bake them), or nuts and fruit, or peanut butter + fruit, for lunch (my heaviest meal) Whatever I cook, I cook daily, and I get the highest amount of carbs, fat and calories on this meal.
And then snack on fruit or a smoothie, and sometimes I have dinner (half a sandwich) sometimes I sleep hungry lol.

I love that I am stronger, what bothers me is having my joints suffer, and not seeing a high amount of results. Conclusion: it is the food I eat!

[Loritah]

123 is not very heavy for 5'-3"

But sure you may still have some fat. That has little to do with the gym and a lot to do with eating. To lose fat you need to sustain negative calories.

Also, how often and what do you do at the gym? If you go often and work hard, you tend to burn calories and build muscle. If you go every now and then, you tend to not really get anywhere and yes, you may get joint pain cuz your joints never get the chance to be accustomed to the loads.

My guess is you should get on a program that has you doing each movement frequently enough to get your joints up to par, heavy enough to stimulate muscle growth. And then from there, you decide if you want more or less total body weight. If you want less fat, eat less than you burn. If you want more muscle, eat more than you burn and work hard in the gym. Not hard = moving all the time. Hard = 8-12 reps super hard then rest a few minutes.

Thanks for your advice.
I go 5 times a week, almost never miss it, for me is like going to work. At the moment I do 3 days weights, 2 days cardio and abs.
I was hoping that those 2 cardio days will help me lose some fat.

[BS57]

I like my back, and my legs, but can't get it right with my arms,they look like a 200 pound women.
I do follow a program, change it every 4 months, I don't over do it, 3 - 4 reps 10 to 15 each, I do weights 3 times a week, 2 days I do cardio.

If you're unhappy with the lack of progress, stop doing the same things and expecting different results.

My previous post was because it sounds like you half-ass it. but expect stellar results.

Doesn't work that way.

Get your diet on track (for fat loss) and get on an actual proven program in order to see results, which means you'd have to commit to sticking with both for an extendeg period of time (minimum of 6 months).

Read: https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=165843261

Also, take advice here from some with a grain of salt. There's at least one 16 year old here advising you.

[AtharavD10]

The more you lift the weights the more you can build your muscle.