I’ve clocked 4300 miles on my running app since 2011, after growing up hating running, so I’m aware of the grind. But there are different ways to run and some are more enjoyable to different people. I have to believe this is true in the lifting world as well.

Of course find what works for you, but 4300 miles even in your ideal setting ends up being discipline based over motivation. By that point you're running because you're supposed to run, not necessarily because you want to run. That's what I mean about lifting.

There's only so much novelty in a squat, so you have to find something beyond that. For me it was powerlifting, for others it's getting bigger, and others it's getting better in their sport.

Also, I deal with people and complex problems all day long. The gym is my retreat. I speak to no one and focus on the relatively simple task of picking up a weight.

Not sure I agree. At a point in my youth I ran 3000 miles in a year based on motivation (college competition, I was really motivated to keep the number one spot in the leaderboard).

Gatekeeping weight lifting? Come on. Let people work out the way that works for them.

I don't think of it as gate keeping at all. I'm being honest that anything you do for a long period of time becomes about discipline and not motivation. People say things to me like 'you must really like working out!' I don't think about it in a like not like way. It's just something I know is good for me and I do it.

And the reason I mentioned accepting the grind is because exercise is a life long activity. There is only so much novelty, so the faster someone finds the discipline to do it beyond novelty motivation, the better.