For example, is lifting 50 pounds much healthier than lifting 10 pounds?
In: Biology
Yeah you get to the point of diminishing returns but it varies from person to person, lets say you start lifting 5lb dumbbells and work your way up to 20s, you can keep increasing the weight and can get bigger muscles and stronger bones or less body fat but yeah you won’t be noticeable “healthier” you’ll be stronger but not necessarily live longer or something like that.
Context matters a lot. Strength is not a great indicator of health….but we can make some casual assumptions
Say we use the law of averages; 160lb adult male.
Being able life 50 pounds….agsin which lift certainly means you are stronger. If the lift is a squat under 45lbs as a max would certainly make you very weak so likely body composition of fat and not muscle
Back to general statements – taking anything to extremes is usually unhealthy in some aspect. Body builders have extreme diets which aren’t great and are prone to injury
Once you reach the point where you’re getting very large, it starts to be a detriment. The bigger you are, the more your heart has to work to pump blood throughout your body, and while your heart will be stronger than a regular persons, there will be diminishing returns.
Now, unless you’re actually lifting and eating to get large, you’re probably going to be just fine. In that case, you only need to worry about not overworking yourself and/or damaging yourself with improper technique.
Absolutely, unequivocally yes.
Getting bigger and going higher increases risk to joints, connective tissue, and demands on the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
It’s going to be really difficult to decide what “healthy” really means. If we are talking pure longevity, that’s actually associated with lower protein intake and athletic activity. If you want to get to 100, it’s legumes, walking, and sleep.
But there are a lot of ways to define “healthy”, and you should decide your own values. I try to keep things reasonable in the gym, but there are a lot of advantages to focusing on driving up your numbers.
One unintended consequence of working out moderately is that it’s kinda boring. There’s a lot of motivational power to striving towards goals.
Weight lifting is a form of resistance training. There needs to be some resistance, some stress to your body, and some level of difficulty to get the maximum benefit from it. If you lift weights consistently (which is another important aspect), that 10 pound weight would eventually become effortless and no longer provide you any significant benefit. You would need to increase the weight at that point. The actual number never matters, only that enough resistance is being provided for it to challenge your body.
Latest Answers