Functional vanity

Earlier this summer I was having a talk with a friend about our different exercise regimens.  I am all about weight lifting, while he focuses on activities more like running and swimming.  One of the things he said about his regimen is that he likes to focus on functional strength.  He pointed out that weight lifters do curls, which is a silly exercise because nobody actually curls in real life.  Practising that motion is a waste of time.

He is right, mostly.

Certainly curls are not a way to make your body perform day to day physical tasks more effectively.  I am trying to recall a single place in my life where I curled weight aside from the gym and I can't come up with one.  Rows and pushups come slightly closer to real tasks, I guess, but even those aren't that much use most of the time.

My friend's regimen of running and swimming was *useful*, as far as he was concerned, and weight lifting was not.

I rolled this around in my brain awhile, and came to the conclusion that I was right all along, and he is wrong.

Whew.  For a while there I was worried I was going to have to grow and change or something.

He was right that I am not going to suddenly be called upon to do curls in regular life.  It won't matter if I can curl 30 kilos or 50 kilos.  But in his life he isn't likely to be called upon to run fast or swim far for some serious purpose either!  In nearly all cases the specific things he is practising are going to only be used to practise more, same as me.  I can run if I have to, I can swim if needed, and being a little better just won't matter, in much the same way that curling a little more weight isn't important.  Some people might well realize real gains in life by doing exercises of one type or other, but neither me nor my friend really expect that, given our baseline level of athleticism and ability.

But there are reasons to curl... big arms!  That is an actual function that matters to me.  Sure, it is easy to dismiss as cosmetic or frivolous, but looking hot is actually far more important to me than swimming further or running faster.  I can, without any doubt, say that some really fun times in my recent past came about because of having big arms instead of skinny ones.  I can also say that if I were significantly better (or worse!) at swimming it wouldn't have any of those benefits at all.  For me, big arms are a lot more functional than running ability.

You could definitely argue that swimming would be likely to get me more cut, though not as big, which could easily have the same sorts of benefits.  That is true enough.  Actual swimming ability though?  Irrelevant.

Any type of exercise is going to have health benefits in terms of reducing stress, increasing longevity, etc.  The only real choice is what kind of exercise, and for me weight lifting actually gives me exactly the sort of functional changes I want.  Plus, the weights are right in my building.  I don't even have to go outside to use them!  Convenience is as good an argument as any, in my book.