Is building muscles even worth it?

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it is enough for me that I no longer protrude ungracefully at ungraceful points, and that my clothes fit decently without distortion.

What is CP?

I used to do weight training a lot and was obsessive for many years and I wondered if at times it made me depressed because I worked out too much and sometimes didn't eat enough food. I used to end up totally dead in the head and could not speak much. This could have been the overload of going to the gym where the lights are bright and lots of people are there and the music is loud but I wondered if I used too much energy so my brain was left without.

There's worse things you could do with your time.

I'd say it's better to look at things from the perspective of building strength, as it's a bit more linear and controllable than building muscle. With strength building, your results are easily quantifiable by more weight on the barbell, or if training for something athletic, better sprint times, jump higher, etc. But with training for muscle, your results are much more subjective, and I think much more genetically limited. Maybe that's a bit fatalist of a thought process, but some people are just better cut out for it. Look at, say, random people in Africa or something. A lot are more muscular than steroid using gym goers in the States even though they eat like 50 grams of protein a day and don't "work out." So in that regard it's better to save your sanity and just work for strength and athletic gains and take whatever comes as far as muscle gains.

But eh, it's fun. You can pick up normal everyday things easier. Carry groceries better. Pick up car parts easier. Jump higher. Sprint better. Girls smile at you more and are more attracted to you. Guys talk to you much more respectfully. You have a bit more slack in your diet from the muscles repairing themselves using more calories (and a tiny amount of increased BMR from more muscle mass.) For me my eye contact has gotten better without me having to "work" on it, so either I'm more "confident" or my hormonal levels have gotten better from lifting thus leading to more "confidence." Overall it's not bad. Not magical, but it's a good hobby.

Exercise is such that if you stop six weeks in, you do not lose that progress.

I totally support seeking and maintaining fitness of any sort.

Here are some factors that mean it is not the perfect use of time for everyone:

> It is possible to obsess over how you look and lose many hours unnecessarily looking at your own body in the mirror.

> It is possible to become obnoxiously cocky with new found muscle mass.

> It is possible to become dangerously aggressive with said mass. Not only for others who might suffer the blow of your rage, but also for you should you underestimate who you pick on (many martial artists need not have a, what we traditionally think to be, ''good physique'').

> It is possible that you might resort to steroids or other such drugs, should you not acquire muscle mass soon enough.

So long as you are modest, humble, peaceful, and patient, then, it is a fantastic use of your time. Join in!

Yes building muscle is worth it. However it depends on why you are doing it.