[zfnmxt]

Modern life enables the most effective exercise (really "training" is the correct word) in the history of humanity.

There is no more potent stressor (in regards to the degree of adaptations that result---I guess getting shot in the face is a more potent stressor, but it's hard to recover from) than weightlifting. For example, you can radically change your physiology just doing a single (hard) set of 5 deadlifts a week. Spending just ~30 seconds a week under acute stress can take a human male who cannot lift 185 lbs to one who can lift 405 lbs in a number of months. It's radically, stupidly, unreasonably, and absurdly effective.

We have the most understanding and most effective tools to take advantage of the adaptive mechanisms of our bodies than ever before.

I think people think that "exercising" has to be this pervasive, incessant thing that invades every facit of life and requires constant discipline. Even the linked article hints at this---walk 45 minutes daily, stand all the time, etc. All that shit constitutes (for all but the most untrained) extremely small stressors that are rapidly adapted to (and hence no longer do anything but maintain your existing level of fitness) and that take a lot of time (and can be rather uncomfortable, like standing for hours). More is not better. If you disrupt homeostasis with one set of 5 deadlifts, you've disrupted homeostasis! The adaptation is in motion. It doesn't matter that it only took 30 seconds. And unlike standing or walking, it's easy to effectively increase the stress to reap more adaptations: add weight to the bar. (To be clear, I'm not discouraging walking/standing/Zumba/whatever---they're all better than doing nothing and they can complement weightlifting. I'm just pointing out that there are much more efficient ways to rapidly accrue useful stress (well, I'd argue the amount of useful stress you can accrue from walking or Zumba or whatever is limited because the activities themselves can't be effectively scaled to result in more stress) and if you were to choose only one, the choice should be weightlifting.)

Deadlifts are life's panacea. You should be doing them.

[pjc50]

> Spending just ~30 seconds a week under acute stress can take a human male who cannot lift 185 lbs to one who can lift 405 lbs in a number of months. It's radically, stupidly, unreasonably, and absurdly effective.

185 lbs is 83 kg; 405 lb is 183 kg.

As someone who has been doing a 5x5 deadlift set every week (plus other stuff) for about three years: this is a wild exaggeration that sounds like some sort of supplement marketing claim. Perhaps you forgot a few hidden variables? For example, I'm over 40.

(It was also very apparent when I had COVID and was out of the gym for over a month that I "lost" about 25kg from my working weight)

[zfnmxt]

It's not a wild exaggeration and it's possible for most (healthy) middle-aged men within a year (usually a lot less), except for the truly unendowed. (We don't control our genetics and/or other ailments, but I think it's better as a policy to not try to rank yourself in this regard and just be Pollyannaish about it and assume you can achieve it.)

5x5 deadlifts is generally too much volume and probably constitutes overtraining for you if they're sufficiently heavy. Admittedly, when you're not particularly strong it's less stress and more recoverable (because they can't be that heavy).

Not being able to deadlift 405 after three years is generally indicative of poor programming (if you're trying to get stronger, at least) and/or poor recovery. You have to eat, you have to sleep, and you have to increase the weight each time.

[sn9]

If you're an adult male who's been training consistently for 3 years and can't deadlift 405 for a working set, you probably need to change your programming.

Being 40 isn't really an excuse. You're 40, not 80.

Try looking into 5/3/1, Hepburn style programming, or Tactical Barbell.

[sawmurai]

If those 30 seconds are the total time the bar is in your hands and off the floor it sounds reasonable tho, doesn’t it? The numbers quoted match about what I personally experienced

[zfnmxt]

I don't know about that, 30 seconds is for the whole set and was just a rough estimate. Time-holding-the-bar isn't particularly relevant here (other than to emphasize the point it doesn't take much).

[RobKohr]

Yeah, I was doing 5x5 forever. It is a good starter, but you will plateau.

Everyone will have their own methods here, but after years of having marginal growth per year I changed it up.

I now only do 1 set per exercise, 3-4 exercises per day. For arm focused exercises I do 15 reps in 1 set. For everything else, I do 20 reps for a set.

If I succeed, then I up the weight for the next exercise (2.5lbs for arms, 5lbs for everything else).

If I fail, I do a drop set and shave off 20% per set taking just 30 seconds per drop.

I use the drop set as both the thing to help the growth, and the thing to punish me for failing to increase the initial set. If I get my 20 reps, I get to move on, so I push really hard because the drop set totally sucks.

If I fail 3 weeks in a row, I drop the weight.

Been doing this for the last two years and I am 47, and each year I have increased my strength by 20-40% depending on the exercise.

I also keep the number of exercises per day to be minimal. With 5 days in the week, I do just 3-4 exercises per day. M, W, R are 1-2 from the 5x5 program (squats, deadlifts, bench, should-to-overhead, rows) along with some extras that I want to focus on. Tues, Thur are more extras, and ones that I am willing to sacrifice if I have a busy week. This means I can still hit the gym just 3 days a week, and hit the core exercises. Also, the core exercises are rough, so Tue/Thur are almost like easy days.

Here is my schedule:

M: Bench, 20degree lying dumbell curl, Squat

Tues: Lat Raises, Hip Thrusts, Neck exercises (put a plate on your head and do lifts from 4 different angles while lying down)

Wed: Overhead press, Deadlift, Cable Row

Thur: Tricep Rope Kettlebell swing Lat Pull down

Fri: Dumbbell Bench Dumbbell Shoulder Barbell Row Front Squat

You'll notice their are some repeats in there with cables and dumbbells. This is helps hit the muscle groups twice a week, but with some variation and some different stabilization. I chart all this in a google spreadsheet with each column being a week so I can see my progress, and so I can see if I missed anything from the core days in the week, and I happily change up days so I ALWAYS hit the core 3 day exercises.

[sawmurai]

Agreed, it’s like doing static HTML instead of an SPA for a simple website. It’s not glamorous, it’s not exciting but it’s incredibly efficient.

I have been lifting for 18 years now and it’s become like brushing my teeth: I just do it without thinking much about it. Just basic stuff - squats, bench, deadlift, few vanity additions. The older I get the more I see how much my peers physically suffer without it.

[econ]

Yeah, it's pretty wild.

One can also do 10-20 seconds of cardio a few times per week and have real results.