Hacker News Reader

Comment by criddell | Hacker News Reader

450 lb deadlifts and 250 lb bench press seems like a lot though. Surely general metabolic health and long health span doesn’t require that kind of weight, does it? I’m thinking with a lot of weight on the bar, there’s probably some point where the chance of injury outweighs the potential long term benefits.

View on HN

It's decent but nothing crazy. I think most men could achieve it within 4-6 years. Generally, you can build muscle until age 40 without TRT at which point sarcopenia sets in and you lose on average 10% of muscle mass per decade. Thus it's better to have a reserve. When you look at causes of death for old people, there is case after case of falling -> broken hip -> catch something and die in the hospital. Having a good base of muscle makes this significantly less likely.

WRT to injuries: in terms of physical activity, lifting has some of the lowest injury rates, leaps and bounds lower than something like basketball or sprinting. While they are possible, joints adapt to loads over time and having a strong back + spine makes it a lot less likely to pull something in daily life. With intelligent load management (sleeping + eating well, not putting in more volume than you can recover from, listening to your body) injuries are extremely infrequent and generally minor---I have not had a serious injury in the 5 or so years I have been lifting.

I think lifting is too-often overlooked in health discussions, and, given how important avoiding metabolic conditions and immobility is for general health and happiness, I would argue it's just as important as cardio as a physical activity.

Well, it certainly depends on a person. If someone is a big guy he might need that much weight to even break a sweat, exercising with 120 lbs bar would do nothing for them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com