Do you care about physical strength or muscles?

[noname223]

I don't care about both. I was bullied for being obese. I only care about low weight. I know muscles can increase your metabolism but I am too lazy for it. I just eat very healthy and not much of it. But doing sports I don't know. I know this is kind of an unhealthy stance but I see it like a waste of time. I don't know people cope differently. I think many mentally ill people can profit from sports a lot. There are many studies on that especially when the people have depression.

But for me it does not work that well. I tried it in clinic often. In a group sports can distract me. But I think I am more stimulated by cognitive distraction. Reading some books written by suicidal people comforted me the most. DFW described so accurately how it feels. It gave me the feeling I am not the only one with this. Furthermore writing or reading in this forum gives me a similar feeling.

Now back to the topic. I think a man with many muscles can look very good. Moreover it is said A healthy mind is in a healthy body. I think there is some truth in it.
I think sometimes it looks artificial. I would not say a person with many muscles looks always better. For me it is more important to train my mind. Lol.

I think this stems from teenager and childhood experiences. My mind could have gone another route. But seemingly it did not. If my obsessive behavior went in a different direction I might would spend all my time in a gym instead of writing daily a lot of texts in a suicide forum.

My mom hit me as a child/teenager. She was stronger than me. She decreased with her abuse when I was 15. I resisted her attacks and showed her it does not phyiscally hurt me anymore. Weirdly this changed her behavior. But honeslty I stull was abused emotionally etc. My strength did not really help me. Even if I was able to hit her back I did not feel like it. Hiting your own mother. Maybe it would have been self-defence. It just felt bad. The worst things already happened when I was way younger. When I was unable to stop her.

It felt like my strength did not help me. I was really obese. The teenagers in my school bullied me a lot because of it. I had a lot of physical strength but I could not defend myself with it. I was outnumbered. And even when I hit them back I was scared they told it the teachers which they did. Even though I only defended myself. It was all so cynical.

I just had the experiences my strength was no help. But I also was bullied for being stupid or uneducated. I think this changed. Studying gave me strength and self-esteem. Moreover the abuse nudged me into this direction. With my logic/eagerness I could set me free. This was at least my first feeling. But in reality I only was driven by a manic episode.


I always hated physical fighting as child. I only liked to fight with my dad for fun. He did not hurt me. We did not mean it seriously. I think it is a great achievement that in our current societies physical strength is not that important anymore. This is one reason why I dislike the notion of anarchism. I don't want to fight against anyone. Also not with weapons. Our actions should be led by rationality and reason. We should not bcome barbaric again.

But it is true depending on where you live physical strength can protect you. For example at night lonely on a street. I think especially women are scared to get attacked. Violence against women is not that seldom. I have met many who got assaulted. Not always the physical strength is decisive I think. Sometimes the victims are just too shocked, kind of paralyzed. There are some self-defence courses which could be helpful. Probably especially for victims of violence to regain the feeling of security and control.

I am not that often surrounded with other people. I am not on the street at night usuall. I try to avoid dangerous situations. And in case someone has the intention to hurt me I hope he completes the job and kills me. I hate to make it myself. The pressure of this decision is tormenting me. But it way more likely one ends with even more debilitating conditions than I currently have. So I avoid such situations. I already experienced enough pain.

 

[Foresight]

I care about strength. I actually think my anxiety goes down when I'm stronger. It's like my mind feels safer when my body is less vulnerable. I also think exercise trains my mind.

 

[Suicidebydeath]

Physical strength is important for all the reasons you said. Even if someone is a 'pacifist' they should aim to be physically strong and capable so it's there when it's needed, but not to the point where it would actually be detrimental to health. I personally think its unfortunate that fighting can feel so negative, self-defense should be able to be non-competitive and fun.

 

[WhatPowerIs]

The gym would probably be good for me. I've had stick arms my whole life so I haven't ever been a very physically strong person. Physical strength would be a good quality to have, and it can be helpful in plenty of everyday situations such as carrying heavy objects and the sort.

 

[Hollowman]

My depression has caused me to lose muscle and it's worsening my mental state.

 

[Lily (Osako)]

i have body dysmorphia so no matter how thin and toned I get, it's never enough. I'll never look good or acceptable to myself.

 

[Superdeterminist]

Both are important, but I think muscles are more valuable. Many people admire muscular bodies, and negatively judge men perceived to lack muscle. Also you can't really use strength in today's world, since the police have the monopoly on violence. If you have muscle, you are probably going to be strong anyway.

 

[chloramine]

Physical strength is important to me to an extent. Being physically stronger than people who might be dangerous helps with feeling unsafe all the time and gives more options in worst case situations. Depression has made staying fit next to impossible, but I try when I can. Sports have also been a lifeline throughout my existence. I don't think it's more important than my brain or my ability to think, but it's one aspect of safety for me.

 

[emptyjokes]

I've been on-and-off with strength training for a few years now, and it was always nice to notice a heavy object feeling a little lighter from time to time. I'm saving up cash to build a gym in my room currently, and I think it'll be a big deal once it's all put together. Weights and dieting can be pretty simple(if you want it to be). Move big things around and eat good food, results will follow. Nothing else in my life is that straightforward!

 

[summers]

I'm not saying I'm in any kind of exceptional shape. But I can say the time I've put in at the gym (for aesthetics, not strength) has allowed me to have quite a few good experiences.

i have body dysmorphia so no matter how thin and toned I get, it's never enough. I'll never look good or acceptable to myself.

What about going for the opposite, and bulking up. You probably can't even picture yourself big like this, but you may like it when you get there.

 

[GenesAndEnvironment]

 

[MountainMonkey]

before my turn of events that caused severe depression, I was addicted to ultra running. I would enter ultra marathons in the mountains. My training consisted of running 15-20 miles per day, with elevation gain. The endorphins were incredible. I felt so high, I loved everything around me. I miss that.

I'm now away from the mountains, completely depressed. I go to the gym, indoors, stale air, breathing in recycled oxygen and other peoples farts. Utter disdain for city humans. It's not the same, but I go because on days I don't I am filled with negative, angry emotions, and thoughts about the death and destruction of all humans around me, including myself. Those emotions cause physical and mental anguish. The gym alleviates my depression and anger, but doesn't fix it.

 

[Regrets]

I can't stop caring. I have been going to the gym for so long that if I take few weeks off I see my body deteriorate and I can't stand it.

 

[Julgran]

I don't care about both. I was bullied for being obese. I only care about low weight. I know muscles can increase your metabolism but I am too lazy for it. I just eat very healthy and not much of it. But doing sports I don't know. I know this is kind of an unhealthy stance but I see it like a waste of time. I don't know people cope differently. I think many mentally ill people can profit from sports a lot. There are many studies on that especially when the people have depression.

But for me it does not work that well. I tried it in clinic often. In a group sports can distract me. But I think I am more stimulated by cognitive distraction. Reading some books written by suicidal people comforted me the most. DFW described so accurately how it feels. It gave me the feeling I am not the only one with this. Furthermore writing or reading in this forum gives me a similar feeling.

Now back to the topic. I think a man with many muscles can look very good. Moreover it is said A healthy mind is in a healthy body. I think there is some truth in it.
I think sometimes it looks artificial. I would not say a person with many muscles looks always better. For me it is more important to train my mind. Lol.

I think this stems from teenager and childhood experiences. My mind could have gone another route. But seemingly it did not. If my obsessive behavior went in a different direction I might would spend all my time in a gym instead of writing daily a lot of texts in a suicide forum.

My mom hit me as a child/teenager. She was stronger than me. She decreased with her abuse when I was 15. I resisted her attacks and showed her it does not phyiscally hurt me anymore. Weirdly this changed her behavior. But honeslty I stull was abused emotionally etc. My strength did not really help me. Even if I was able to hit her back I did not feel like it. Hiting your own mother. Maybe it would have been self-defence. It just felt bad. The worst things already happened when I was way younger. When I was unable to stop her.

It felt like my strength did not help me. I was really obese. The teenagers in my school bullied me a lot because of it. I had a lot of physical strength but I could not defend myself with it. I was outnumbered. And even when I hit them back I was scared they told it the teachers which they did. Even though I only defended myself. It was all so cynical.

I just had the experiences my strength was no help. But I also was bullied for being stupid or uneducated. I think this changed. Studying gave me strength and self-esteem. Moreover the abuse nudged me into this direction. With my logic/eagerness I could set me free. This was at least my first feeling. But in reality I only was driven by a manic episode.


I always hated physical fighting as child. I only liked to fight with my dad for fun. He did not hurt me. We did not mean it seriously. I think it is a great achievement that in our current societies physical strength is not that important anymore. This is one reason why I dislike the notion of anarchism. I don't want to fight against anyone. Also not with weapons. Our actions should be led by rationality and reason. We should not bcome barbaric again.

But it is true depending on where you live physical strength can protect you. For example at night lonely on a street. I think especially women are scared to get attacked. Violence against women is not that seldom. I have met many who got assaulted. Not always the physical strength is decisive I think. Sometimes the victims are just too shocked, kind of paralyzed. There are some self-defence courses which could be helpful. Probably especially for victims of violence to regain the feeling of security and control.

I am not that often surrounded with other people. I am not on the street at night usuall. I try to avoid dangerous situations. And in case someone has the intention to hurt me I hope he completes the job and kills me. I hate to make it myself. The pressure of this decision is tormenting me. But it way more likely one ends with even more debilitating conditions than I currently have. So I avoid such situations. I already experienced enough pain.

I think that muscles look good on men, if they aren't too big - think a martial arts fighter - they are lean but muscular, in contrast to body builders who look like Belgian blue cows, in my opinion. When it comes to women, I don't think that muscles look good them, so I think that they should only be lean.

That's me talking with stick arms and somewhat of a beer belly

 

[Apathetic]

I care a lot about my physical appearance. I go to the gym and I watch what I eat, but I feel like it's entirely rooted in my insecurities and a false belief that maybe getting in shape will solve some of these issues. Spoiler alert, they don't.