Is lifting weights bad

[luke wilson]

Paleo

My diet is heavily meat and fat based, like every meal most days but my breakfast isn't heavy, in fact the lightest meal of the day, due to well... work.

I have gained muscle mass from working out but compared to the guys on protein shakes... not that much....

But from your post I suppose it is a no for protein shakes.

I was reading the spec on what is in a protein shake and it is impossible to compete with that by just eating... you'll be eating so much meat it'll be like wow!

Thanks for letting me know it is milk derived... as you can imagine, don't do dairy.

I was asking the question as well I feel like I have got to a place in my workout regime where I have somewhat plateaued.

 

[Carl]

Paleo

My diet is heavily meat and fat based, like every meal most days but my breakfast isn't heavy, in fact the lightest meal of the day, due to well... work.

I have gained muscle mass from working out but compared to the guys on protein shakes... not that much....

But from your post I suppose it is a no for protein shakes.

I was reading the spec on what is in a protein shake and it is impossible to compete with that by just eating... you'll be eating so much meat it'll be like wow!

Thanks for letting me know it is milk derived... as you can imagine, don't do dairy.

I was asking the question as well I feel like I have got to a place in my workout regime where I have somewhat plateaued.

The reason you can't keep up is because most guys who work out take on massive amounts of carbohydrates and calories in general. This leads to muscles constantly loaded with glycogen which is burned by anaerobic exercise, and huge insulin spikes which promote unnaturally large muscles. The ridiculously high protein intake is not even necessary for them past a certain point, yet they waste money on shakes and powders due to marketing.


You could mimic this on paleo by consuming mountains of root vegetables, but that wouldn't be in line with the goal of trying to reduce inflammation, be as healthy as possible, and be of service to others and our true selves.

 

[Redrock12]

I've been weightlifting ever since I had a heart attack just over two years ago. I feel great and I love doing it, so long as I restrict it to no more than three times a week, forty minutes each time for thirteen different exercises.
I also spend twenty minutes on a recumbent bike, and, weather permitting, use a bike as transportation.
I would heartily recommend weightlifting and cycling for anyone in my age bracket (I'm 68y/o). :) :) :)

 

[Corvus]

The reason you can't keep up is because most guys who work out take on massive amounts of carbohydrates and calories in general. This leads to muscles constantly loaded with glycogen which is burned by anaerobic exercise, and huge insulin spikes which promote unnaturally large muscles. The ridiculously high protein intake is not even necessary for them past a certain point, yet they waste money on shakes and powders due to marketing.

Exactly. Not just that it is derived from milk but many proteins have artifical sweateners like aspartame, and that that does not have aspartame have similar sweateners so for those naive that think they are free from consequences of aspartame by using different proteins they are deluding themselves. And I thought it has nothing to do with proteins but with that sweateners, that is carbs that you gain muscle mass and now Carlisle post only confirmed it. And there are also dozens of others chemicals in there wich I doubt are beneficial for health, and many do not use only proteins but also carb and vitamin supplementation, and you can gain with proteins couple of kilograms depending on individual, not more with just proteins. It has also to do with genetics and weight, of course that those heavier can lift more and have more muscle mass. But take someone with same weight on those supplements or carb diet and someone on paleo diet(with same years of experience or practice, and same exercises) , I bet on paleo guy because energy depot in paleo guy is higher. I started lifting with 15-16 years when still active in sport and because of it and strength, it became a healthy habit, but most do it for looks. From your post it seems you are looking for the same thing - looks, influence of most gym enviroment where stronger, higher, looks, etc.. no matter consequences is the norm and goal. Take an average healthy guy in 70, 80 thies years of last century with today s projected image of "perfect" guy by society and his looks and you ll see my point.

 

[Thor]

I've suffered very severe back pains for many years and have tried just about anything in the book and out of it to get over it. In my experience weight lifting can be good. But it's important to also work on flexibility at the same time. Lifting weights tends to grow the muscles and make them hard and fixed in the same position. That's why many of the heavy lifters walk around like walls with feet and eyes. From an energetic perspective, as I understand it, what blocks the energy's movement in the body is particularly joints that aren't flexible. The reason for all the stretches in the different asanas in yoga is (among other things) to make all joints as open as possible. Much the same principle is used in Qigong, where the goal is to make the muscles as soft as possible to allow the joints to move freely.

Another thing that I believe is important to bear in mind when lifting weights is that most exercises at the gym are focused on the large and visible muscle groups. If you exercise these hard you will look strong and probably feel strong but many of the smaller muscles around the spine and pelvis, for instance, often get neglected and from a back-health perspective this can be detrimental.

In addition to this there is a lot of benefit to be derived from exercising muscle groups in a way that require brain-muscle coordination. Many of these exercises will be almost impossible to do to begin with as the neural pathways that connect the command to move a particular muscle one way, while moving another muscle another way are just not there. One example is to swing one arm in one direction and the other arm in the opposite direction or move the big toe towards the floor while pointing the remaining toes up in the air and then the other way around or just to spread the toes like you spread your fingers.

There are also many treatment modalities that link the physical body, emotional body (psyche) and energetic body (aura). Imbalances in one body will have a spill-over effect on the other bodies and therefore you can also have treatments of one of the bodies in order to alleviate problems in one of the other bodies. For instance, I did a SRT session with Patrick Rodriguez the other day and one of the effects of it was that a tension and pain in my lower back that I haven't been able to get rid of for years became much less painful. The point I'm trying to make is that if the physical body becomes very taught and stiff, this could have a spill over effect on the emotional and energetic bodies, which could be working in the opposite direction as your Work.

Just my two cents :)

 

[baxterdavid]

The only way that weight lifting is unhealthy is if you do not have good form when you lift, because this can ruin your joints and bones... but overall, it is not bad for your health
it is extremely good for health it gets your body working better faster and more efficient.

 

[A Jay]

I agree with what's already been said on the protein shakes, the majority are full of toxins and even those that aren't won't give anyone the 'edge' that is implied with using them. It's basically all marketing, sufficient protein is required to allow for muscle growth but excess protein does nothing to further stimulate the growth process that is triggered by exercise.

For reference, comparing one's progress to others is a terrible idea. Everyone's response to exercise is different and it depends on several factors, most of which are determined before we're born. So, long as you keep track of your progress and your records show a continual increase in strength, then eating a healthy diet and detoxing the mind and body will allow maximum muscle growth to occur according to your genetics.

I was asking the question as well I feel like I have got to a place in my workout regime where I have somewhat plateaued.

You feel like you've plateaued, or your records show a lack of strength gains over the course of several workouts?

 

[Approaching Infinity]

I agree with what's already been said on the protein shakes, the majority are full of toxins and even those that aren't won't give anyone the 'edge' that is implied with using them. It's basically all marketing, sufficient protein is required to allow for muscle growth but excess protein does nothing to further stimulate the growth process that is triggered by exercise.

Yep. Phinney and Volek mention in their book that there's no evidence that anything above 2.5g/kg body weight gets assimilated by the body in a day. That's a very doable amount in terms of just eating plenty of meat. So when doing resistance training or anything like that, there isn't any real need to be consuming a ton of protein.

 

[A Jay]

I agree with what's already been said on the protein shakes, the majority are full of toxins and even those that aren't won't give anyone the 'edge' that is implied with using them. It's basically all marketing, sufficient protein is required to allow for muscle growth but excess protein does nothing to further stimulate the growth process that is triggered by exercise.

Yep. Phinney and Volek mention in their book that there's no evidence that anything above 2.5g/kg body weight gets assimilated by the body in a day. That's a very doable amount in terms of just eating plenty of meat. So when doing resistance training or anything like that, there isn't any real need to be consuming a ton of protein.

I just rechecked TASLCL, because this stuck out to me.

On page 60 they state:

No one has ever shown that more that 1.5 gram/kg improves human protein synthesis.

And on page 210 they say:

When looked at over the course of a day, there is no credible evidence that protein intakes above 2.5g/kg body weight lead to greater nitrogen balance or accumulation of lean tissue.

For some reason I had it in my head that these quotes were talking about the same process, so I thought there was no benefit to consuming >1.5g/kg in terms of building new muscle. Thanks for the inadvertent clarification AI!

 

[Mr. Premise]

My feeling is weightlifting = good, bodybuilding = bad, and the shakes and supplements bodybuilders take = real bad.

 

[l apprenti de forgeron]

My feeling is weightlifting = good, bodybuilding = bad, and the shakes and supplements bodybuilders take = real bad.

Yes, I'm very agree with that.

 

[cubbex]

The protein shakes most of the time is some protein formula that is easily absorbed, to increase the synthesis as far as I've read you need leucin, but then there's the limit of protein one should take per day, or they, and this is something I didn't know, but after you pass your limit of protein it becomes carbohydrates and this may explain why some bodybuilders take more protein shakes. So there is a contradiction, taking a high meat diet has proven that gives constant spikes of amino acids including leucine, but it doesn't increase protein synthesis, then there's no need to supplement nor to give too much importance to the BCAA that are 3 amino acids including leucine to improve synthesis. What seems to be the case, is that as your fat can be body inflammation, excess on muscle can be another type of inflammation but redirected like a train track. Basically to build muscle you need to create damage, and then you need to repair it with protein, but the main focus appears to be to increase the inflammation on the muscle with carbohydrates and then repair it more with the protein?

Because if the main focus is muscle building, there is a healthier alternative and good brands that sell the supplement, a supplement that also shows mental benefits and strength benefits, that is creatine. And creatine works even of you do not take huge loads of protein, and it increases the strength overall. But there seems to be something funny, you either build muscle by creating big damage, or by being healthy.

There are researches that show that fish oils improve muscle gains along with potent multivitamins, as I introduced the fish oils and a good multivitamin, this seems to be true, but not because it builds the muscle, but because overall they improve my mood and because it has been proven that it works against the cortisol levels, and it help to have a better sleep and rest. So maybe, the constant intake of carbohydrates that work by providing energy and reducing the cortisol is what works for these folks?

Also I want to mention, if you can, watch the documentary Iron Generation. There's a part where they basically and indirectly accept, that they take steroids, and this indeed do improve the protein synthesis.

 

[A Jay]

The protein shakes most of the time is some protein formula that is easily absorbed, to increase the synthesis as far as I've read you need leucin, but then there's the limit of protein one should take per day, or they, and this is something I didn't know, but after you pass your limit of protein it becomes carbohydrates and this may explain why some bodybuilders take more protein shakes. So there is a contradiction, taking a high meat diet has proven that gives constant spikes of amino acids including leucine, but it doesn't increase protein synthesis, then there's no need to supplement nor to give too much importance to the BCAA that are 3 amino acids including leucine to improve synthesis. What seems to be the case, is that as your fat can be body inflammation, excess on muscle can be another type of inflammation but redirected like a train track. Basically to build muscle you need to create damage, and then you need to repair it with protein, but the main focus appears to be to increase the inflammation on the muscle with carbohydrates and then repair it more with the protein?

Yes, the protein supplements are a means of increasing protein synthesis, but whether that increase in protein synthesis equals a measurable increase in strength and hypertrophy above what would have occurred without protein supplementation is not certain. However, the supplements will not force the body to go beyond its genetic limits, and neither will eating protein in excess of one's daily requirements. So, if there is any benefit to be gained from protein powders it is that they may help one reach their genetic ceiling of strength and size earlier than without, and that is only if the individual is not getting adequate nutrition otherwise. So a proper diet, sufficient rest, and consistent training should be the focus of anything wanting to increase strength and/or size.

I think the recommendation for carbohydrates after a workout has to do with insulin increasing protein uptake post exercise. However, I'm not sure that post workout carbs are a good idea for those who are on the ketogenic diet as Phinney and Volek are quoted here:

Post Exercise carbohydrates are a bad idea when keto-adapted (page 61)
Glycogen usage during exercise is dramatically reduced anyways
Post exercise carbs rapidly decrease the release of fatty acids and oxidation of fat in the muscle (page 61)
carbs diminishes the beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity and other cardio-metabolic risk markers (page 61)
insulin has anabolic effects by increasing amino acid uptake and protein synthesis, but only a small amount of insulin is necessary to achieve a maximal effect (page 57)
When you weight the trivial benefit of insulin stimulating carbs on protein balance vs. potent negative effect on fat breakdown, limiting carbs seem the better choice. (page 58)

__https://docs.google.com/document/d/12-4OoCg1pciaHyJnMqfar67Y1ag55QaY8rm7vfhPr-4/edit?pli=1#

Because if the main focus is muscle building, there is a healthier alternative and good brands that sell the supplement, a supplement that also shows mental benefits and strength benefits, that is creatine. And creatine works even of you do not take huge loads of protein, and it increases the strength overall. But there seems to be something funny, you either build muscle by creating big damage, or by being healthy.

There are researches that show that fish oils improve muscle gains along with potent multivitamins, as I introduced the fish oils and a good multivitamin, this seems to be true, but not because it builds the muscle, but because overall they improve my mood and because it has been proven that it works against the cortisol levels, and it help to have a better sleep and rest. So maybe, the constant intake of carbohydrates that work by providing energy and reducing the cortisol is what works for these folks?

Also I want to mention, if you can, watch the documentary Iron Generation. There's a part where they basically and indirectly accept, that they take steroids, and this indeed do improve the protein synthesis.

Again, it goes back to a proper diet, adequate rest, and consistent training. Any and everything else, if there is any benefit, is just gravy.