The meathead margin: how lifting weights might have saved my life
jakeseliger.com
jakeseliger.com
Maybe it's confirmation bias, but I strongly agree with Jake's observations; working in a related field, I'm ever-more struck by the absolute inequality of care offered to people. Of course, obvious societal inequalities (e.g. socioeconomic status, age) have an impact here, but there are less obvious issues which can have quite an impact: one's level of education multiplied by confidence to interact with (rather than just be a passenger within) the system can have a big impact. And there's sheer dumb luck, too - being physically located near a good center, or having a good doctor (many aren't) who specialises in your cancer available to you, or even just having an acquaintance who can support and guide with research and advice, can have a 'Sliding Doors'-like impact on the course of someone's life.
(If anyone knows meaningful work that's being done to address such issues, I'd be very interested to hear...)
I guess I hold the (idealised) view that doctors and hospitals should be held to higher standards than the other professions you listed, to varying degrees.
It's probably also harder make an evidence-based decision about a doctor than some other professions.
I don't know the exact physical mechanism behind this effect, but I can say that the intensity of the exercise seems to be important. Before starting to lift weights, my primary forms of exercise were walking and casual cycling, and those didn't have anywhere near the same effect.
Starting Strength
How to be a supple leopard
Two ideas that are much better together than apart
A major source of injury is not completely movements to full range of motion - not squatting below parallel, not locking out at the top of a deadlift, not touching your chest with the bar on a bench press or overhead press, etc. Not everyone has the flexibility/mobility to do that, but you're more prone to injury if you don't. So if you work a mobility program congruently with strength you will gradually get the mobility you need to complete the entire movement and not just part of it.
You'll regret getting strong and moving heavy-weight with bad mobility - you get those long term injuries you can't shake because now your own musculature is pulling things out of alignment too. The wrong muscles get activated in movements to overcome mobility flaws and they only get stronger and more dominant so it's like compounding interest on a debt.
I find that if I don't stretch frequently, squatting and deadlifting makes me tighter and tighter over time until I get injured.
You can't really get into the right positions, especially at the bottom of those lifts, if you have tight muscles from the waist down.
I definitely understand how this poor fellow would feel this way. Lifting when feeling sick or emotionally / physically tired is not fun. What can help is to mix things up. Doing nothing but squats, bench, overhead press, and deadlifts? Go to a park and do a bunch of bodyweight exercises on the climbinb bars. Switch your barbell routines over to dumbbell workouts - they are generally less neurally taxing and easier to tackle but can still get you plenty strong. Change up sets, reps, weights, and rest periods to add variety. You're not prepping for a meet in two months so specialization is not a paramount concern.
There's a youtube channel called Boho beautiful. It's a couple that does yoga videos, and are fit vegans.
I would be curious if you did blood work on them, vs a fit weight lifter who would have the better results, and possibly life expectancy.
So if you were to chose one life style (meat eating weight lifter) vs Vegan Yoga Training. Which would be better for you. I suspect the vegan yoga would be better.
I watched a video from Brian Johnson, a guy that is spending millions to try and live longer, and get all kinds of tests. The way he measures progress is by comparing how well his organs function vs someone that is younger. I think blood work is big part of that.
My main source of exercise, for 40+ years, has been cycling. Therefore I have very little upper body strength. This may be a liability when I get older and start losing that strength, increasing the chances of injury.
I personally think that young people should do some strength work in addition to the easy and fun aerobic activities like walking and cycling. The dangers of over training are their own beast, but not a worry for most people.
While the runners are well trained and otherwise healthy, the activity puts enough stress on the whole body that weaknesses are surfaced and something somewhere will fail at some point.
> By diet group, there were 116,894 omnivores (whose diet does not exclude animal products), 329 lacto- and/or ovo-vegetarians (whose diet excludes meat, but includes dairy and/or eggs), 310 pesco-vegetarians (whose diet excludes meat except for fish and seafood) and 140 vegans (whose diet excludes all animal products). After an average follow-up of 18 years, 39,763 participants were deceased. The risk of all-cause mortality did not statistically significantly differ among the four diet groups.
I prefer calistenics as it is a bit harder to mess up. One can build a beautifully harmonious and resilient body just with these. As far as strength goes I need just enough to leverage my body smartly but that is my personal choice.
I used to keep reef aquariums. I've learned that keeping the same aquarium successful at one year, is very different than success at ten years. As the probability of something catastrophic killing the tank increases with time. Log term, I've had things like pumps failing, tanks cracking, a power grid going out for a week. Catastrophic things are almost inevitable long term. After all something 3,000 wars in recorded human history. So even war breaking out could happen.
About calisthenics, I think it's for people with proper motor coordination. You have to be able to pay attention to your whole body because one hand out of position can also mean an injury. Gym equipment, or even free weights, have way more "form cues" you can use to see if you're doing them right (if you truly care about form, that is).
Strength and muscle mass do seem to be very good predictors for longevity. Lifting weights does seem to be one of the best ways to increase these two things. The acute effects on blood pressure don't seem to be problematic for healthy individuals and don't really cause a chronic increase in blood pressure.
There's a lot of controversy over being vegan vs. being an omnivore, but it seems like the actual data on outcomes (read: not theoretical mechanisms) suggest that:
1. If you tell the average person to follow an omnivorous diet vs. telling them to eat a vegan one, even if you give them some basic guidance on how to eat healthy (try to stick to minimally processed foods, etc.), doing the latter does tend to improve various biomarkers associated with longevity. [0] for example, suggests this.
2. There's no clear case that this difference is caused by something other than differences in:
a. Average caloric intake (meat-eaters tend to eat more calories, and very broadly speaking, more calories = worse health)
b. Saturated fat (meat tends to have more saturated fat, which is associated with higher apoB, a big factor that contributes to heart disease)
c. Nutritional opportunity cost (obviously, all else equal, eating meat means you're not going to be eating something else - for example, eating a lot of meat could mean you don't get sufficient fiber intake, which seems to have positive effects on health).
I think weight lifting being good for your health is relatively uncontroversial. The data does not really seem to suggest that meat in a balanced diet has detrimental effects, though the jury is still out.
It might very well be the case that the vegan yoga trainer lives longer than the meat-eating weight lifter, but it would probably be a mistake to infer a causal relationship between an otherwise healthy diet with meat in it/weight lifting and lower life expectancy.
I'm interested in this study, if you could link it. Most comparisons I read are observational studies, not experimental.
Veganism is associated with a slew of health problems.[0] But regardless of that, the first two statements are completely unrelated. Weightlifters don't naturally have higher blood pressure, and lifting weights regularly lowers your blood pressure, it doesn't raise it. I've seen the flushed, red, vascular look you're talking about. I'm sure in some people it's natural due to low body fat and I'm sure in some people it's a combination of pre-workout and creams designed to give exactly that look.
As compared to what?
Yes. You can’t get B12 on a vegan diet. Vegans supplement it.
Side note about B12: a B12 deficiency from a vegan diet largely comes from environmental sterilization. B12 is bacteria-produced. You could drink stream water and get your B12 “naturally”, too.
Well that's the million dollar question, isn't it?
In terms of longevity, I feel there's probably some minimum amount of exercise you need to do, after you might be better off at addressing other things if you have other deficiencies. (dental health, snoring, etc)
Thinking in terms of a sports car. You can do all kinds of things to maintain and improve the engine. But if you want long term success, don't forget about the breaks or other systems that might need take you out a lot earlier.
Or maybe just the meat. My local food store has a butcher section and you can see them working. The head butcher, a large man, has this characteristic red look on his face too. I'm guessing his diet is probably a lot of meat.
I remember my statistics class, we would calculate the probability of event B given event A.
So I wonder if perhaps if you are prone to high blood pressure, a vegan yoga training would be better for you, than meat eating and heavy weight training. Or even a just a life style where you are eating less, while still having some muscle mass, is just better.
But people will do what is easier, since they perceive they are better at it. Being a heavy set man, pushing weights is a lot easier than going for a mile run.
I can’t imagine wanting to live through that horror of detachment, which makes me admire people like Jake who demonstrate an extreme level of courage.
Live every day, folks. That promise of finally getting to do what you want after you retire is cheap and hollow.
That would be nice but unfortunately the human body doesn't seem to work like that. You can try to live a healthy life but there is no guarantee you'll make it into your eighties.
If you have twice the mass you are rolling twice the dice.
(Yes I’m sure this sounds woefully ignorant of how things work)
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-ele...
For one individual they might have a number of genetic factors that in a world of perfect models could be used to calculate risk of an organ cancer per gram of the organ.. In the case of breast cancer there are studies on breast reduction and risk, but the one I found is not freely available..
Sometimes that's just how the world is tho.
Each session is designed to take around 45 minutes:
*Day 1: Push (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps)*
1. *Compound Movements:*
- Bench Press: 4 sets x 8-12 reps
- Overhead Press (Barbell or Dumbbell): 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Incline Dumbbell Flyes: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Tricep Dips: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Tricep Rope Pushdowns: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Plank variations: 3 sets x 45 seconds to 1 minute
1. *Compound Movements:*
- Deadlifts: 4 sets x 8-12 reps
- Bent Over Rows (Barbell or Dumbbell): 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Pull-ups or Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Face Pulls: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Hammer Curls: 3 sets x 12-15 reps per arm
- Barbell or Dumbbell Shrugs: 3 sets x 15-20 reps*Day 3: Legs (Quads, Hamstrings, Calves)*
1. *Compound Movements:* - Squats (Back or Front): 4 sets x 8-12 reps
- Romanian Deadlifts: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Leg Press: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Hamstring Curls: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Standing Calf Raises: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
1. *Compound Movements:*
- Overhead Press (Barbell or Dumbbell): 4 sets x 8-12 reps
- Push-Ups (weighted if possible): 3 sets x 10-15 reps
- Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Tricep Skull Crushers: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Cable Crossover: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
- Close Grip Bench Press: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
- Bicycle Crunches: 3 sets x 20 reps per sideI've never been the recipient of cancer surgery or had to undergo this kind of long recovery the author has, but I was a professional nutrition coach in a previous life and I have eaten for weight gain in the traditional weightlifting sense, both "clean bulks" and "dirty bulks" and about everything in between.
I would much rather be 30 pounds overweight and try to lose that weight than be 15 pounds underweight and try to gain it. If you're really killing it in the gym, 4-6 days a week, 60-ish minutes of heavy weight training at bulking RPEs of 8-9, and hitting the numbers of sets you need to be for muscle hypertrophy, eating becomes the worst part of your day. The classic "dirty bulk" of a couple big macs and a non-diet soda for lunch is great for the first few days (maybe) but it becomes a chore very quickly, and it's easily 5x worse when you're trying to eat clean and realize your lunch is going to be 2.25 pounds of chicken breast plus multiple normal servings of rice and broccoli. It's a big part of why people bulking end up eating less healthy foods (the caloric density), and seeming eat all day every day (because they do).
To be clear, this is for traditional bulking. And you only really do that if you're trying to get bigger weightlifting numbers for the sake of getting bigger weightlifting numbers. Nobody casually gets a 450 lb backsquat, they do this kind of stuff to get there.
And probably 25 in the poor part of the world. I'm not a vegetarian but I wonder if the people that do this sort of thing realize the impact of what they are doing, it's the equivalent of consuming 1000+ chickens on an annual basis and that's not all they eat. I get it that kids in their teenage years eat a lot because they grow so fast and really need it but this feels excessive to me.
Tangentally, some clever children, when told to "Think of the starving kids in Africa. Finish your plate" will retort with "Then give me a stamp". Someone who's hobby is improving their squat or deadlift, and picking up lots of chicken at the store, is not (intuitively to me, at least) taking food off the plate of someone with less - especially those >3 timezones away. That's a distribution problem, not a lack-of-food-worldwide problem
Body dysmorphia sucks already, you don't want to add to that the loss of love for food.
[0] https://mennohenselmans.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein...
My goal when I was lifting seriously was to get to 1/2/3/4 plates on my overhead press, bench, squat, and dead respectively. The middle 2 numbers are easier than the outer two - it's surprising how much harder OHP is to increase than bench. And the 4 plate DL is attainable for sure, I was up to about 365 at my best, and had hit the 315 target for squats - but it takes a long time to build up to 405 incrementally.
I've just recently got back on the wagon and it's been interesting to see how much strength I lost - where I was usually squatting in the 225-240 range at my peak, i started back up w? squatting 135 and it was surprisingly difficult. Crazy how much our bodies can change with a little stimulus.
In the US they use 45 lb bars and plates. So one plate (per side) is 135 lbs, two plates is 225 lbs, three plates is 315 lbs, four plates is 405 lbs, five is 495 lbs, six is 585, seven is 675 and so forth
also:
One plate is usually 20kg or 45lbs depending on where you live.
But:
A one-plate lift, then, is 135 pounds. Two plates is 225 pounds. Three plates is 315. Four plates is 405. Five plates is 495.
I changed the text after looking through a bunch of results.
So "hand me a plate" means give me a 45 pound plate. "Lift one plate" means 135 pounds.
If you search "1 plate overhead press" or "1 plate ohp", you'll see many references to how that's a 135lb lift.
> and I was working my deadlift reps towards 225 lbs—four plates, in meathead parlance.[1]
in meathead talk that means 2 plates, because they typically count one side only. at least in my experience thats always been the case. so 405lbs deadlift is 4 plates (aside) 8 plates total.
These aren’t uncommon numbers for someone who has never exercised before.
Here's the reference I use: https://exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards
Try to get someone under 150lbs that weight untrained and they’d be immovable objects.
As someone who does actually understand this topic, no untrained person is going to start squatting at 145 or deadlift at 225 unless they want to injure themselves upfront. They would start both with an empty bar and move up slowly from there once they have the form perfect. Untrained people don’t lift actual weight. From there, most would move to a 75 pound squat and a 95-115 pound deadlift.
i think you mean 225, my example number was not OPs starting number.
Geraldwhen:
> You need 0 bulk to pull 405. Teenage girls can do that.
405 isn’t even a competitive deadlift in the upper half of weight classes for teenage girls.
I’ve worked with highschool athletes and it’s not uncommon.
Spend less time watching teenage girls lift on YouTube.
Most of us aren’t Brian Shaw. Most of us will never pick a thousand pounds off the ground. That’s okay. Be realistic with your goals and what it takes to reach them.
To thine own self be true, you know.
115lbs as a starting max for a man is a joke. You might put 95 on the bar to illustrate basic form, but you cannot deadlift 95 the same as 495. You’ll start rowing the barbell if you setup correctly on 95lbs just from leverage alone.
(Anticancer role of lidocaine in oral squamous cell carcinoma through IGF2BP2-mediated CAV1 stability)
It's not even a mouse or rat study. It's less valuable than that.
Lidocaine, taken systemically, is associated with serious side effects. It's the only known "cure" for tinnitus, but its side effect profile is so nasty that pretty much nobody uses it.
Don't give irresponsible advice.
Treat them the same as you would that one weird guy who tells you that drinking urine will cure everything that ails you.
Locally-delivered lidocaine to SCC-diseased oral areas and tumorous lymph nodes is totally feasible.
It's humanized tumors in mice with humanized immune systems. Totally a mouse/rat study.
Don't be the guy who misleads researchers and sick people out of deep ignorance.