I was hoping to pick your brains on where you stand on the sport of powerlifting now and whether you consider it to be (broadly) unhealthy?
I know both Austin and Jordan have moved away from competing, at least on the regular and Austin has posted about focusing more on conditioning recently.
This is somewhat in contrast to how most approach powerlifting training which is to get as big as possible with little regard for waistline measurements or conditioning. Outside of super heavyweight classes the general consensus is just “don’t get fat”, yet that isn’t very well defined within powerlifting circles, to the point many powerlifters are above a healthy waistline and still considering themselves leaner.
I know for some people the needle barely moves on strength unless they gain weight and flirt with obesity. Nothing makes a difference to them unless they pack on pounds. At which point they either focus on something else, that may not be as adherence promoting to them from a physical activity perspective or put on 20lbs and 5 inches to improve a poverty bench. It feels like a catch 22 of sorts from a physical activity pov.
I guess at which point the question is, can powerlifting at competitive levels for the general population (ie competitive but not the highest levels of the sport where the biologically advantaged specimens reside) truly be considered health-promoting?
I think powerlifting can be a part of a very healthy lifestyle, provided people don’t follow silly advice regarding weight management, avoiding conditioning, and otherwise achieve the same health targets (e.g. the vital 5) as the gen pop.
I think the training has a higher risk of injury (slightly) due to the likelihood of someone focusing on SBD (to the exclusion of other exercises) and the potential for an overuse injury.
I was actually hoping for some more nuance on this, such as whether you believe it is truly possible to be healthy within the context of the five factors you’ve stressed here and be highly competitive in powerlifting?
I do not know of any powerlifters in the heavier classes who would be capable of running 1.5 miles in 10-12 mins. Not without a whole dedicated period of conditioning training and probably weight loss, both of which would be regressive to some extent for their powerlifting competitiveness. It is also likely they aren’t quite achieving some of the other five including aerobic conditioning, given most powerlifters at an elite level prioritise volume of resistance training.