HBP, HCM and strength training...

[Gunnhild Bruno]

Where did you get this bizarre idea?

Yes, and have you ever watched an Olympic weightlifting meet? If elite lifters are all obese people who weigh more that 300 pounds, please explain why weight classes exist.

[Mark Rippetoe]

He did say "at 6'1", even though it is still a bizarre statement with no basis in fact.

[FatButWeak]

SmokingSnake,

I’m not sure what you mean here by “it” (are you referring to Valsalva?) or “living as an Olympic lifter” (huh?), and I’m not sure what, exactly, you mean by “extreme”. But it sounds like you’re coming from the assumption that being devoted to lifting is somehow unhealthy, or unhealthier than a life full of traditional cardio. This is an assumption that could do with some examining.

FYI, there are some indications that steady-state cardio, especially as you push into higher mileages, can actually poses a danger to the heart. You might want to do a search on medical journal articles on steady-state cardio and atrial fibrillation, for example, and long-distance running/endurance cardio and cortisol. Yes, studies that show that long-distance/steady-state cardio can be risky are correlative, and, of course, correlation is not causation, but keep in mind that the case for steady state cardio being somehow necessary for cardiac health or better for cardiac health than weight training is also built on correlation and/or poorly designed studies featuring lots of begging the question.

There is also a case to be made that weight training and interval training (which is essentially what metcons are) may be more protective for the heart not only because they “work” the cardiovascular system (“cardio” is not the only thing that works that system), but because these activities produce adaptations to A) maximal efforts and B) transitioning rapidly between being sedentary or moderately active and making a maximal effort.

So I suggest you take Rip’s advice and get yourself checked out. If the results come back that your heart is healthy, ditching all or most of the long distance running and sticking to weight training and HIIT-style cardio may be the best thing you can do for your future cardiac health.

This is well written and well reasoned. OP should heed.

[grubinski]

Perhaps he read this.... this guy was a pretty good weight lifter, and his career ended due to high blood pressure. Note the height and weight ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hossein_Rezazadeh

[SmokingSnake]

Well I saw the roundtable considering "tall athletes" and I think Jim Wendler said it's just not healthy to do what it takes in order to be great in this sport, you gotta put up with the sacrafice of getting really heavy which just isn't healthy at the long run as he said, idk this was my interpretation of that video. I really don't have any idea on the physical condition of an elite lifter as I never read any scientific articles or anything close on that matter. If there is some suggested article which is recent I would love to read one if u can link me up

When looking around on some olympic weightlifters today, one can't deny that one of the top lifters is the Iranian Hossein Rezazadeh, which had this physical profile at the 2004 Summer Olympics(not sure what it is now):
* Bodyweight: 162.95 kg
* Height: 6 foot 1 inch (1.86 metres)

So that was one exapmle.

And spar considering weight classes, ofc I didn't mention the other weight classes of the smaller guys, if someone is 5'5 he would be way smaller, but I would assume that the ratio of pounds per feet would be somewhat similar.

BTW, don't bombard me here, I am no fitness junky, I am doing SS and it's the best thing that have happend to me strengthwise, I would recommend anyone to buy the book and start squatting.

I always find it funny when people claim and argue about all the stupid things in the gym, like that hypothropy is between 6-10 Reps and that 1-5 is for pure strength with minimal muscle growth, I would immediately ask a veteran ABC junky if he can even move a 315lb deadlifted bar -which he obviously can't as he won't go over 200 lbs for his entire career lots of the times because it's "bad for the back"- and after I go through the work set, as a novice who's training for like 6 months and is obviously stronger I would later on ask him, if it was the hand on god who moved the bar, or am I just a really decorated physicist that just beat down Galileo's theory and somehow manipulated the 9.8m/s pull towards the center of the earth aka gravity.

I also love sitting back in between sets for 6-7 minutes and be amused of all the BB junkies that run around the gym like the roof's on fire because they won't ever pass the 2 minute line in between sets or the apocalypse would come.

Thanks RIP for showing me the truth :P

[Steve Hill]

I am here to tell you that it is not healthy to be at the top of any sport. Injury, stress from training, travel, and the requirements of the sport to push the human body to never before seen limits, and impose loads and / or positions on it all make it (the extreme of sport) very much non-optimal for health. In the years that I was racing my best, I was continually sick because of immune system depression, in the summer I would lose weight precipitously from training in the heat, I had exercise-induced IBS (that's irritable bowel syndrome - not fun), and was almost always nursing some nagging injury. It's the price you pay to be that good. It is not healthy. I wouldn't trade my success at it for anything.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

And spar considering weight classes, ofc I didn't mention the other weight classes of the smaller guys, if someone is 5'5 he would be way smaller, but I would assume that the ratio of pounds per feet would be somewhat similar.

I was going to concede that I had read your last comment in a hurry, but this is still a weird statement. Go on YouTube and look up clips of the Worlds and the Olympics. The Olympic lifters who are 5’5” are anything but obese. Density is one thing. Obesity is entirely different.

I also think it strange that you are trying to decide whether you’ll have to “live like an Olympic lifter” now, when you are a novice. Look, SS is to help you maximize your gains from the novice effect. While you will always have to eat somewhat more than the average person to fuel your training, you’re not supposed to eat as much as recommended in SS for the rest of your life.

Also, even at 6’1”, you may not be able to reach 300 pounds even if you want to, whether in muscle or fat. Google “overfeeding trials”. You have to keep in mind that the very heavy elite lifters you’re talking about are genetically gifted for not only strength, but also for size. Not to mention that fewer heavy lifters are obese than you’d think. Big, yes. Obese--not necessarily.

So stop facing Solomon’s Dilemma before you have a baby to chop in half. Train, eat, grow. Provided that your heart is currently healthy, don’t worry too much about the fat that you gain during your novice phase. Don’t mess up your gains or stress your body unnecessarily with high volumes of cardio. If it turns out that you are, indeed, one of the rare genetic freaks who has the potential to become an elite lifter at 6’1”, worry about all of this if and when that becomes apparent. Chances are that you will never have to make such a decision.

BTW, don't bombard me here, I am no fitness junky

We’re not trying to “bombard” you. The world is full of Silly Bullshit (I believe that’s Rip’s TM) about health, diet and exercise, and about weight training in particular. We all need to learn to challenge all the assumptions that we have been “bombarded” by in our gym classes, from magazines, TV, the Internet, the fitness industry, the government, and medical professionals. Otherwise, we will work against our health and strength goals.

And life in general is full of silly bullshit about lots of stuff. When it comes to just about any topic, it’s a good idea to learn to ask ourselves where on earth we got such an idea.