Since that thread was posted I was curious to ask the question Up to what point extra muscle is an health positive ? But as many threads nowadays in this forum, i just forgot about it. Yet since late August I've been back lifting after a 14 years hiatus. I'd been lifting on and off in my twenties and followed a proper Powerlifting routine (Westside inspired ) in 2002 and possibly early 2003 before stopping completely for mostly professional reasons @83kgs, although i'd been around 90kgs on bodybuilding routines. After taking a few kgs of fat and losing some muscles, a few years later, I started to have issues with slipped disks and a doctor back home claimed that if I ever tried to squatt or pull 200kg again, or another significant weight, i'd go straight to the surgery table. Which encouraged me picking up other sports once I again had plenty of time to practice. Problem is I suffered a whole bunch of injuries in tennis, golf and even swimming, and can't really run these days, or do side movement with my knee, so went lifting again. After about 6 weeks of full body workout lowering progressively the number of reps, I moved to a Beyond 5/3/1 routine with a powerlifting perspective, mostly low reps joker sets, and reps on the lower range on accessory exercises, but still saw my weight jump from 85 to 94 kgs in that time . I only supplement with 1 dose of proteins a day and 5 g creatin and don't look fatter, I don't how much water is responsible for the added weight. So now, while what I'm most keen to is increasing 1 rep max, which doesn't work nearly as fast as putting on weight, I don't mind bulking up, quite the contrary actually. But for the last couple of weeks i developed what appears to be sleep apnoea, which seems to hit hard heavier folks, including muscular men involved in sports, and is nothing to joke about. https://www.bodybuilding.com/conten...obstructive-sleep-apnea-and-bodybuilding.html To finish with the personal story, I'm now considering, besides getting a breathing mask to sleep, whether eat less and switch to a higher intensity program , which is fine in the sense I don't like much sets over 3 reps, but when bulking up so easily it feels a shame not to take profit of it. I was also considering HGH before the sleep apnea showed (or flared) up, and still might go for it, as it doesn't necessarily add weight overall to someone and seems to help men in their mid 40s and above deal with injuries, sleep, and getting a better mood overall. But the basic question is, while having muscles might be necessary to be healthy, how much muscle becomes unhealthy ?
Is this offset the amount of cancer-causing red meat one must consume? Or am I destined to a life of chicken breasts and powder protein?
One often hears that creatin causes a weight increase of approximately 2 or 3 kg, due to water retention. YMMV. I'm not sure whether a forum about trading is the right place to ask. Asking at bodybuilding.com might be more appropriate.
Indeed, I read similar numbers about creatine, also that the water ends up within muscles, which is actually pretty good for strength. As of : "I'm not sure whether a forum about trading is the right place to ask. Asking at bodybuilding.com might be more appropriate." This is the Health and Fitness part of the forum, where you guys definitely talk about weightlifting and several posts go on the line in this thread of "Bigger is Healthier", thought I'd post in this forum with which i'm more familiar than on a lifting forum. Plenty of threads about sleep apnea on bodybuilding forums btw, i might copy and paste the post above and start a new thread there. For those who find the article linked above too long, here's the conclusion, which gives an idea about what it is about : "Today, everything is supersized—including the bodybuilders, powerlifters, strongmen, and NFL and college players who dominate competitive sports. But as these men test their physical limits, unforeseen dangers that were previously unknown have arisen along with their bodyweight, in part because evolution has not kept up with their gains in size. For some, it may well be an airway blockage that makes every breath at night a struggle for survival." https://www.bodybuilding.com/conten...obstructive-sleep-apnea-and-bodybuilding.html
Indeed, that additional water ends up in the muscles, giving them a "fuller" look. Whether water makes you stronger, or whether the water supports the muscle to become stronger is something I don't know. I tried creatine in the past but it had no strength benefit for me. So I stopped using it, and lost the 2 kg body weight it had caused me to increase. I go to the gym to stay fit and healthy. But I don't push myself by training for 1rm max. That makes me too vulnerable to get injured, is my experience. So some training sessions I use sets of 3 or 5 reps, whereas other sessions I use sets of 12 reps.
Natural genetic potential? Ideally achieved with the minimum dose of properly performed exercise required to get there in order to avoid the deleterious effects of chronic overtraining.
Yes, steroids are not famous for increasing life's expectancy and are most likely widely used in the sports mentioned, yet while they help, they are not needed to become fairly massive, massive to a point that can get one health troubles it seems. No doubt some must carry extra muscles more easily than others, but while wishing it was true, I doubt the concept of "Bigger is healthier"
Yes, there are different somatotypes and variations therein. But I don't think that achieving the natural genetic potential for the majority of people will cause them any harm. It will likely do them good because it will help control fat buildup, provide shock absorption in falls, and mobility in old age. Along with a host of other benefits, including those that are the subject of this thread. We are speaking in broad terms about the general population, and not about obscure genetic anomalies.