[doggwalker]

I went to my first powerlifting meet in the early 90s.

The problem with powerlifting is it really beats up your body over time and as you age. Once you get past 405lbs or so for squat you are almost insuring future disc herniation. Disc herniation is a concern with aging even without constantly loading 400lbs+ on your spine. This is patently obvious but when young and indestructible hitting PRs becomes completely obsessive and that is another problem. There are not many things that give the rush of hitting a new PR or milestone with strength. Your strongest pound for pound in powerlifting weight classes relative to your height at much higher body weight than what is healthy. Pull up a group photo of any hardcore powerlifting gym and that will be super obvious. Instagram and people posting PR videos has caused this explosion in powerlifting popularity and conventional deadlift popularity along with Rippetoe. It use to be an almost deviant aspect of bodybuilding for guys obsessed with strength with a disregard for aesthetics. If I could start over I would never powerlift. I would train absolute strength still but I would also focus on relative strength. Relative strength as displayed by the number of pull ups or muscle ups you can do. I would always want to be able to pass the army running/situp/pushup standards. I would mostly squat with a belt squat and trap bar and be very careful about loading the spine instead of the ridiculous powerlifting game of seeing if you can get your legs strong enough to break your spine over time.

[throw1234651234]

I am still under the delusion that you can stay healthy if you never lift beyond near-perfect form. But I say this as someone who has been working out all his life and still only has a 3.5 plate deadlift.

I also stretch religiously, run, and hang on the pullup bar to decompress.

You made a very good note about army standards - they are actually pretty good at ensuring overall health. Especially if you go to SOF with the swimming requirements (Pararescue, SEALs). If someone has anything against the military, Iron Man standards are pretty much the same thing.

As a side note, I take glucosomine for joints. Jury is still out on it, but most doctors feel like it at least doesn't hurt.

edit: Another thing to worry about here is posture. If you are lardotic and you squat or OHP, you put way more pressure on your spine than someone with ideal posture. Contrary to popular belief, I don't believe lifting fixes this. At the very least, you have to worry about form way more.