[dkarl]

A lot of things have sold me on the value of weight training for size and strength, but watching my parents decline physically has been the biggest. I don't think they understood how close they were to losing the ability to enjoy specific activities.

They thought of weight training as kind of a meathead thing, something you do to belong to a meathead tribe, and they couldn't see why I would do it since 1) they raised me to value intellect over physicality, and 2) there's no way I could ever enjoy the benefits of being perceived as a meathead, since our genetics didn't allow for it.

My efforts to get them to see it as a practical means for improving their lives went nowhere, until my mom realized she was having trouble stepping up onto curbs. Now she works with a trainer once a week, and she's thinking doing it twice a week since once isn't killing her. Better late than never.