Weight lifting, or any lifting for that matter, is beautiful in its simplicity and elegance, as well as its brutal effectiveness. Lifting can be done anywhere, any time, in almost any space. If you have something heavy, pick it up. Something light? Press it. Very very simple.

Lifting is also fascinating as a tool to show you, in a very short period of time, how hard someone is willing to go to produce results. One workout, usually a leg or back workout, and you can learn all you need to know about a person and how hard they want to push themselves.

Weight training also changes people's perceptions of you. For me, I quickly became a “meathead, box of rocks, curl bro” to those who did not lift as seriously as me. Most significantly, I had several instances of girls I barely recognized from high school and hadn’t talked to for years suddenly interested in me. Nothing to do with who I was as a person “though that had also changed,” but everything to do with the consistent progress updates on Instagram and talking about fitness almost daily.

Lifting changes your perception of daily life and how you plan your entire life. The same went for guys at my school. People I barely knew would message me or come up to me in class and ask for advice on training, eating, supplements, you name it. It was flattering, but also very intriguing that I would be the individual they thought of.

Lifting, like any other activity, automatically puts you in someone's stereotype of that group. Tell someone you’re a football player and they make assumptions about who you are and how you act. Same with baseball, swimming, you name it. For lifting, there's an entire company that plays off this perception. Planet Fitness has an entire commercial series and product tools designed around the “lunk” as they call it.

A lunk is a large, and in shape individual (usually bodybuilder) that wears revealing lifting clothes, drinks from a gallon jug, and makes noise when he or she lifts weights. Basically, any bodybuilder or power lifter. Naturally, people sometimes put me into that category, without even knowing me. Because being a serious lifter is not something you can easily hide, it’s out in the open all the time and people constantly judge you and who you are for it, for the better or worse.

Personally, I believe lifting to be the greatest pastime in the world. You need no skill to start, there's competition at every level, anyone can enjoy the benefits and you’re never too old to begin. It’s a form of exercise that has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years, and nobody that stuck to it and gave their all, failed to see results.

To my fellow lifters out there, I urge you to stick with it and keep making progress, transforming your body into that perfect image. Everyone else that's never tried or is on the fence, give it three months. Find a program for you, eat some good food and lift for three months. You will see progress and you will look back and amazed at where you started. May the iron be ever in your favor.