Powerlifting Unhealthy?

[TripleOG]

For the longest I was doing Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulk routine with great results. As the years went by and health diminished, I simply wasn't recovering enough to warrant the routine.

I found the right mix of volume and intensity after switching to Stronglifts 5x5 (with weighted pullups added on Workout B).

 

[Deleted member 5487]

Power lifting definitely crashes your CNS for many days afterwards. You may feel like ***t for one week straight. Bench presses, deadlifts and military presses were my main exercises for more than 5 years. I started to recover when I finally dropped them, even though I developed outstanding back muscles I can not recommend them. There are better surrogates.

People over do volume when it comes to big lifts. Only a 16 year old football player can handle 5x5.

4x2 with only two movements every other day is far more practical

deads/press 4x2
rest
weight pull ups/squats 4x2
...etc.

 

[Arrade]

I love lifting heavy/powerlifting. Honestly what crashes the CNS more and adds you power is the olympic lifts.
I plan to get back into that model of lifting, it's addicting making tiny adjustments to your form and feeling elated adding 5-10 lbs to such a heavy and demanding exertion.

If you want to feel power try Clean and Jerking.

 

[Arrade]

CNS crash can be overcome overtime, honestly I loved how it made me feel over the "pump."
I expect heavy lifting really has more nervous system and mental effects, the people who train that way are much more calm and hyperfocused.

 

[vulture]

If you lift competitively, I seriously doubt it’s gonna be healthy, if you increase weights taking it easy, avoiding muscle failure or pushing yourself too hard, I think it’s good to keep bones, joints and muscles healthier, along with several other benefits compared to being all day sitting

 

[sladerunner69]

Power lifting definitely crashes your CNS for many days afterwards. You may feel like ***t for one week straight. Bench presses, deadlifts and military presses were my main exercises for more than 5 years. I started to recover when I finally dropped them, even though I developed outstanding back muscles I can not recommend them. There are better surrogates.

Similar situation here, I lifted heavy for a long time. I notice the easier I take things in the gym, the better I feel in general. However, a normal gym routine for me would be an hour of intense, strenuous, heavy lifting which forced out grunts and stuff. Since Ive lowered the intensity as recommended by others on this forum, to where I don't push myself towards failure on every set, and instead I leave one or two reps "in the tank", I have felt more energy the following few days but alas, smaller muscles.

 

[sladerunner69]

CNS crash can be overcome overtime, honestly I loved how it made me feel over the "pump."
I expect heavy lifting really has more nervous system and mental effects, the people who train that way are much more calm and hyperfocused.

They are calm and hyper at the same time, then?

 

[Beastmode]

I used the Stronglifts app which is a 5x5 training model (3x per week) for 3 months and I did well with it. It's periodized so whatever "starting off" load of my max lifts with each exercise was very light. In fact, I recall starting off even lower than the recommended amount. My first few weeks of the periodized loads felt like I wasn't working out much. However, since I started off so light, I experienced very little soreness, felt more energized and gained a fair amount of muscle after a few months.

I would question the approach (how much, how often, current health, etc) more than the exercises. Most go too hard too fast and have a compromised metabolism already. I recall getting to some pretty heavy loads towards the end and not getting anywhere near failure. Most importantly, not feeling I need to recover afterward.

 

[Arrade]

They are calm and hyper at the same time, then?

Hyperfocused I suppose was poor phrasing. More like calm enough to really establish attention

 

[lampofred]

Hyperfocused I suppose was poor phrasing. More like calm enough to really establish attention

Calm and alert sounds like great thyroid though so why is that bad?

 

[Arrade]

Calm and alert sounds like great thyroid though so why is that bad?

I'm pro-lifting. I don't see anything bad with it

 

[Spartan300]

One thing missing from the views expressed here is age. My bet is that those promoting multiple sets with some/all to failure are guys in their 20s. You can get away with things in your 20s that you cannot in your 40s/50s.

Heavy lifting to failure with routines regularly promoted in the fitness magazines will start to dig you into a hole. Tanked libido, androgens etc.

 

[aquaman]

I’m loving moderate, regular lifting at the moment. Up to 2 years ago I was doing 3x a week and Alwats trying to lift heavier on my lifts.

Now I just do 50-70% of my previous rep volumes and go 1-4 times a week .. mixing things up and keeping it interesting. And only doing 1-2 sets. And trying to leave the gym feeling good, like I want to do 20 mins more but I make myself leave

Also doing concentric-only lifting a lot now using bands and pulleys, and single leg curls and extensions on the concentric, dropping it down with double leg on the eccentric. Feels amazing, and fun. No stress on body.

 

[YourUniverse]

The urge to lift hard comes and goes, probably in conjunction with metabolism. Sometimes the thought of picking heavy things up is stress inducing, sometimes its something I yearn for.

I think its healthiest to go with what your inclinations tilt toward and to not push anything one way or the other, much like using taste and hunger as gauge for food intake

 

[Arrade]

The urge to lift hard comes and goes, probably in conjunction with metabolism. Sometimes the thought of picking heavy things up is stress inducing, sometimes its something I yearn for.

I think its healthiest to go with what your inclinations tilt toward and to not push anything one way or the other, much like using taste and hunger as gauge for food intake

That’s a valid point, I find it myself recently since I’ve been in poor health.
When I’m well I’m driven to workout.

Let this not be an excuse to abstain if you have the sufficient energy though, as lifting increases IGF-1 and lowers estrogen, I think I’m terms of metabolic reward it snowballs itself.

 

[Spartan300]

I agree. For the first time in a long time I'm not feeling the urge to workout and this time I'm listening to my body.

In the past I would have continued to train. I'll get back into it when it feels right.

 

[Jsaute21]

Power lifting definitely crashes your CNS for many days afterwards. You may feel like ***t for one week straight. Bench presses, deadlifts and military presses were my main exercises for more than 5 years. I started to recover when I finally dropped them, even though I developed outstanding back muscles I can not recommend them. There are better surrogates.

Yep, I concur. I have gone through powerlifting periods and gained significant strength but it’s not worth it for your CNS. Body gets achey, libido goes down and it results in to much bulk for my liking. I would much rather do a high intensity sprint/plyometric workout 1x a week. Also tough on the CNS but much more conducive to an athletic physique and healthy metabolism. All that resistance results in too much of an eccentric load. I concur with Peat that eccentric training is particularly harmful to CNS as well as causing stiffness and DOMS.