[_yb2s]

Doing the traditional powerlifting lifts like you mentioned is something can can be sustained long term, and has incredible health benefits. I am a competitive strength athlete, and there are a ton of people in the community that have been lifting competitively for as much as 40-50 years and are still in great shape. Proper form and technique are critical to preventing injury, I have only seen people get injured when they are doing things unsafely or incorrectly. I have never had a major injury or issue with heavy weight training, and have been doing it for 17 years now myself. It's been life changing for me- I have so much more energy, focus, mental strength, and calm.

Competitive bodybuilding however is a totally different thing (very different lifts- mostly light weight, very high rep), and I think the extreme diet and drugs alone takes a toll on your body regardless of the workouts.

[tuatoru]

I'd add overhead presses and weighted pullups and pushups to squats and deadlifts. Bench presses are for impressing other gym rats. Overhead presses are much more beneficial for your shoulders.

[_yb2s]

If you're seriously training the basic lifts, you also need to do lots of accessory lifts to balance things out, and ideally have a professional teach form. I would argue that both overhead presses, and bench presses are valuable, and complementary for generally becoming strong. The bench press is unique in that it engages more of the upper body muscle in a single, coordinated movement than almost any other lift... some refer to it as the upper body equivalent of a squat. Overhead pressing is also valuable, but isn't a replacement for it, it's just different.

[HyperSane]

Competitive bodybuilders almost universally use anabolic steroids to achieve extremely unnatural levels of muscle, which is hard on the heart.