You don't need to do anything. But when you get your deadlift to 400, your perspective may change.
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How strong is strong enough?
I hear Mark talking about how bad his shoulders and knees are getting. It has me thinking how this plays out long term. When I get through the novice phase, is it OK to maintain? Do I need to lift heavier and heavier and heavier. If I’m strong, and I’m happy with my weight totals in each lift, can I just stay at those weights and maintain my strength? If I’m deadlifting 400lbs do I need to go to 500lbs? What is the best way to maintain strength and joint health?
TMPHBITEU
You don't need to do anything. But when you get your deadlift to 400, your perspective may change.
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How did you draw the conclusion that Rip's joint problems derive from his training history?Originally Posted by jtp1242
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Have you heard Rip talk about all his motorcycle accidents, or falling off horses and roofs and such? Ever wonder what kinda shape he’d be in if NOT for lifting heavy?
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I don’t think your quality of life changes much when you get your deadlift from 400 to 500 other maybe boosting your ego a bit more.
Don’t get your deadlift to 500 because of how it’ll improve your life now. Do it so that when you get sick with something, are post surgery, etc., that even a significant loss of strength still keeps you stronger than most people.
How much strength do you need? That’s up to you, but I don’t know why you’d stop?
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I definitely agree with that second half. Don't prepare for average, prepare for peak. And know that peak will be worse than you think. Events that cause loss of strength, for example...
For the first half...in my experience, it's hard to say whether the differential ability to exert force on the last 10% of my gains has directly made life commensurately better or not. I think it has, but maybe not...I admit that I'm biased, because I'm dedicated to training. But two weeks ago, I squatted 500 for the first time, in my 50s. This past weekend, I helped load up my in-laws' entire house full of 50 years of stuff. I'm pretty sure that went better than it would have back when I first squatted 405.
What I definitely do know is that the total benefits of continuing to pursue those gains in strength absolutely have improved my life, on a daily basis.
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Yeah. It is interesting how much harder going from 400 to 500 is than it seemingly was from 135 to 405. It feels like more adaptation had to occur, but really, it was more stress that had to happen to drive increasingly smaller results.
Walking up a flight of stairs probably doesn’t feel significantly different whether you squat 300, 400 or 500 pounds. But, if you’ve just been in the hospital with Extra drug-resistant TB (friend of mine just had that) for 3 months, even being able to walk up a flight of stairs may be entirely dependent on how much you squatted prior to going in.
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